Current through Register Vol. 18, September 20, 2024
(1)
No person shall commence the drilling of an oil or gas well or stratigraphic
test well or core hole without filing an application for permit to drill on
Form No. 22 and obtaining a drilling permit from the board. If the proposed
well or hole is not located within the boundaries of a delineated field for
which, after public hearing, an order has been entered by the board that
drilling permits may issue for locations within that field without further
public hearing, the applicant must:
(a) At
its own expense, cause publication of notice in a format prescribed by the
board in one issue of a newspaper in general circulation in Helena and a
newspaper of general circulation in the county where the proposed well or hole
is located; and
(b) File proof of
such publication in the form of a copy of the page on which the ad appears
showing the ad and the date of publication or an affidavit of the
publisher.
(2) Prior to
the commencement of recompletion operations on any oil or gas well, notice
shall be delivered to the board of such intention on Form No. 2, and approval
shall be obtained.
(3) When a
permit is sought for a 320 acre drilling or spacing unit, Form No. 22 as filed
with the board shall include a description of the lands to be
included.
(4) The staff of the
board shall refer an application for permit to drill to the board for notice
and public hearing if:
(a) An interested
person shall, as to any application for permit to drill for which published
notice is required, file in the form hereinafter set forth a written demand for
an opportunity to be heard concerning such application; or
(b) The staff determines that a person
applying for a drilling permit or approval of recompletion operations is not in
substantial compliance with the board's rules governing the applicant's
operations in Montana; or
(c) The
planned drilling operations require further environmental review.
(5) In those instances where such
requests for a permit to drill have been the subject of notice and public
hearing, the board shall, after such hearing, either:
(a) Enter its order granting such permit
under such conditions as the board shall find proper and necessary;
or
(b) Enter its order denying the
application for the permit.
(6) A demand for opportunity to be heard
concerning any application for permit to drill for which published notice is
required must:
(a) Be in writing;
and
(b) Set forth the name,
address, and telephone number of each party making the demand, and their
ownership interest, if any, in the lands surrounding the drill site;
and
(c) Set forth the specific
reasons why the party requests a hearing regarding the issuance of the proposed
drilling permit; and
(d) Be
received by the board no later than ten (10) days after the date of the
publication of the notice. Where the notice is not published on the same day in
the newspapers specified in paragraph (1) (a) of this rule, the deadline for
receiving demands for hearing will be measured by the later publication date.
Service of such demand may be made on the board personally, by mail, or by FAX
transmission; and
(e) Be
simultaneously served upon the applicant for the permit by written copy mailed
or FAX transmitted to the address or number set forth in the published notice.
A certificate of such service must accompany the demand as filed with the
board.
(7) Surface owner
concerns which are subject to the provision of
82-10-504, MCA (Surface Damage and
Disruption Payments) will not be the subject of a public hearing before the
board.
Sec.
82-11-111, MCA; IMP, Sec.
82-11-122,
MCA;
