Public Act 90-0260 of the 90th General Assembly
Public Act 90-0260
HB0771 Enrolled LRB9002948DPcc
AN ACT to amend the Illinois Oil and Gas Act by changing
Section 19.6.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Illinois Oil and Gas Act is amended by
changing Section 19.6 as follows:
(225 ILCS 725/19.6) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 5430.1)
Sec. 19.6. The Department has the following specific
powers and duties in administering the Oil and Gas Well Site
Plugging and Restoration Program, Landowner Grant Program,
and the Plugging and Restoration Fund:
(a) To adopt rules in conformity with this Act,
including rules establishing priorities for well site
plugging, repair, and restoration consistent with this Act.
(b) To adopt any transitional rules necessary to
implement the Oil and Gas Well Site Plugging and Restoration
Program and Landowner Grant Program.
(c) To collect the fees assessed by the Department under
this Act and to make deposits into the Plugging and
Restoration Fund.
(d) To deposit the amount of any forfeited surety bond
or other security in the Plugging and Restoration Fund.
(e) To recover well site plugging, repair, and
restoration costs from permittees who fail to reimburse the
Plugging and Restoration Fund for expenses attributable to
those permittees and to deposit any amounts reimbursed or
collected into the Plugging and Restoration Fund.
(f) To accept, receive, and deposit into the Plugging
and Restoration Fund any grants, gifts, or other funds that
may be made available from public or private sources.
(g) To make expenditures of amounts appropriated from
the Plugging and Restoration Fund, as it may deem appropriate
in its sole discretion, for the sole purposes of plugging,
replugging, or repairing any well, and restoring the site of
any well, including but not limited to removal of well site
equipment or production facilities, and for reimbursement to
landowners for plugging a well and restoring the site of a
well, including but not limited to removal of well site
equipment located on the landowner's property, for which the
landowner has no legal obligation to plug the wells or remove
the well site equipment, if the well is determined by the
Department to be abandoned or ordered by the Department to be
plugged, replugged, repaired, or restored under Section 8a,
19, 19.1, or 19.8 of this Act including the costs of
administering the Oil and Gas Well Site Plugging and
Restoration Program, and the Plugging and Restoration Fund,
and the Landowner Grant Program.
(h) To sell or assign any lien arising under Section
19.5 of this Act to the highest and best bidder who may agree
to become the permittee and as the permittee agree to perform
the necessary plugging or corrective work as prescribed by
the Department and to deposit the proceeds of such sale in
the Plugging and Restoration Fund or to offset Department
plugging costs.
(i) To enter into contracts in accordance with the
Illinois Purchasing Act and to administer the Landowner Grant
Program. In contracts or grants for the plugging, replugging,
repairing or restoration of a well, well site, or an
associated tank battery or production facility, the
consideration paid by the Department may include the sale and
assignment of any lien arising under Section 19.5 of this
Act.
(j) To dispose in a commercially reasonable manner, at
generally recognized market value, well site equipment,
including an associated tank battery and production facility
equipment, and any amount of hydrocarbons from the well that
is stored on the lease, by either or both of the following
methods after it has been determined to be abandoned by the
Department through inclusion of the well in the Oil and Gas
Well Site Plugging and Restoration Program:
(1) a plugging contract may provide that the person
plugging the well or remediating oil field waste
pollution, or both, will have clear title, subject to any
perfected, prior legal or equitable claim, on all well
site equipment and hydrocarbons from the well that are
stored on the lease, or hydrocarbons recovered during the
plugging operation in exchange for a sum of money
deducted as a credit from the contract price; or
(2) the well site equipment, including but not
limited to an associated tank battery and production
facility equipment, hydrocarbons from the well that are
stored on the lease, and hydrocarbons recovered during
the plugging operation may be sold at a public auction or
a public or private sale. All well site equipment and
hydrocarbons acquired by a person by sale shall be
acquired under clear title, subject to any perfected
prior legal or equitable claims.
(Source: P.A. 87-744.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July
1, 1997.