(1) A permit is
required from the Supervisor before any person shall conduct operations
described in Chapter 0400-52-01 through Chapter 0400-52-12. Each permit, when
granted, shall expire 365 days after issuance unless the applicant has
commenced operations and reasonably continues said operations pursuant to the
permitted objective. Any permit now in force shall expire 365 days from the
date of this rule unless permittee complies with this requirement. If a
permitted location is to be abandoned without the commencement of any drilling
activity, then the operator shall notify the Supervisor in writing within 30
days after expiration of the permit.
(2) No work shall begin on a well pursuant to
this chapter before a permit for such work on the well has been issued by the
Supervisor. Furthermore, any work the operator may do, or may have done, shall
be at his own risk and with the full understanding that the Supervisor may find
it necessary to require changing the well location or operation plans, or
otherwise deny the permit because of noncompliance with applicable rules and
regulations and require that the well be plugged. No requests for exceptions
shall be considered for a well that was started before a permit was issued.
(a) A legible copy of this permit shall be
displayed on location upon commencement of drilling operations and remain on
display at said location until completion of the well.
(3) Fifteen day progress on drilling, upon
request of the Supervisor, shall be mailed to the Supervisor describing well
activities for the previous week.
(4) Organization Report (Form CN-0219) shall
be made to the Supervisor prior to the issuance of a permit. The applicant
shall name all parties responsible for the well and give contact information
for them on the Organization Report consistent with the record submitted to the
Secretaries of States for any corporation or limited liability company. If such
persons have previously filed an Organization Report with the Supervisor, it
shall not be necessary to submit another report, unless there has been a change
in the information originally submitted.
(5) The operator shall indicate on the permit
application, on a space provided, if the operator has the legal right to drill
and produce the well.
(6) A notice
to surface owners of oil and gas estates is required as follows:
(a) No later than the filing of the
application with the Department for a permit to drill and prior to initiating
any site preparation, the applicant shall give notice by certified mail, return
receipt requested, of his intent to drill to the property owner or owners of
the surface of the land to be drilled or to be affected by the surface
disturbances listed in subparagraph (c) of this paragraph.
(b) The property owners to be notified under
this paragraph shall be the property owners of record in the property tax
assessor's office in the county where the property is located.
(c) The notice shall include a well location
plat which shows the proposed location of the oil and gas well site, the
proposed location of all new ingress and egress, the location of all
diversions, drilling pits, dikes, and related structures and facilities, the
location of proposed storage tanks and all other surface disturbances. Said
plat shall comply with Chapter 0400-52-03.
(d) The notice shall state that the property
owner and applicant have 15 working days from the date of mailing to discuss
the location of surface disturbances in connection with the drilling operation.
It shall also state that if the property owner and applicant are unable to
resolve differences regarding the location of surface disturbances, either or
both may request in writing a hearing before the Supervisor or his
representative. The notice shall provide the name and address of the
Supervisor.
(e) The applicant shall
file with the Supervisor, as a part of the application, written certification
that the notice required by subparagraph (a) of this paragraph has been given,
including the name and address of each property owner given notice and the date
on which each notice was mailed.
(f) The applicant and the property owners
given notice under subparagraph (a) of this paragraph shall attempt to resolve
any differences between them regarding surface disturbances related to the
proposed drilling operation. If those differences cannot be resolved, then a
hearing and order may be obtained as follows:
1. Any property owners entitled to notice (or
the applicant) may request, within 15 working days of the mailing of the notice
required in subparagraph (a) of this paragraph, that the Supervisor or his
representative conduct a hearing. A request for hearing under this paragraph
shall be in writing to the Supervisor, and shall be mailed by certified mail,
return receipt requested within 15 working days of the mailing of the notice
required in subparagraph (a) of this paragraph. The purpose of the hearing
shall be to minimize the impact of the proposed drilling operation on the
surface of the land.
2. The hearing
shall be conducted as a contested case pursuant to the Administrative
Procedures Act under Title 4, Chapter 5, Part 3 and shall be held before a
hearing officer sitting alone. For purposes of the hearing, the Supervisor or
his representative shall be the hearing officer. The hearing shall be held
within 10 working days of receipt of a request for hearing by the Supervisor or
his representative, and shall be held in the county of the proposed oil and gas
well. Notice of the hearing shall be given to all persons entitled to notice
under subparagraph (a) of this paragraph and the applicant.
3. The hearing officer shall render a
decision within 10 calendar days of the hearing. The decision shall be
considered a final order not subject to further agency review pursuant to
T.C.A. §
4-5-315(a)(1).
4. For purposes of this subparagraph,
"working day" means all calendar days excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal
holidays as designated in T.C.A. §
15-1-101. .
(g) Notwithstanding any other requirement for
a permit to drill, such a permit may only be issued:
1. If the applicant submits to the Supervisor
statements of no objection signed by all property owners entitled to notice
under subparagraph (a) of this paragraph; or
2. If a hearing is not requested as provided
in part (f)1 of this paragraph; or
3. Upon the issuing of a final order pursuant
to part (f)3 of this paragraph.
(h) For purposes of satisfying the
requirements of subparagraph (g) of this paragraph for issuing a permit:
1. The Supervisor may treat the persons named
in the applicant's certification of property owners, under subparagraph (e) of
this paragraph, as being all of the property owners entitled to notice under
subparagraph (a) of this paragraph, unless the Supervisor has actual notice to
the contrary.
2. If a request for
hearing as provided in part (f)1 of this paragraph is not delivered to the
office of the Supervisor within 15 working days plus 3 additional days after
the date notice-of-intent to drill was mailed to each property owner, as stated
in the applicant's certification of notice, under subparagraph (e) of this
paragraph, the Supervisor may assume that no hearing was requested, unless he
has actual notice to the contrary.
(7) Inspection and approval of all access
roads, surface disturbances, and pollution control structures at a proposed
well site by the designated gas and oil field inspector is required prior to
the issuance of any permit under this chapter.
(8) Permits shall not in any way be construed
as a certification by the State of Tennessee that any property interest in the
premises covered by a permit is vested in the permit; they are issued solely
under the regulatory powers vested in the Board and the Department under the
provisions set forth in Title 60 of the Tennessee Code and the rules and
regulations promulgated by the Board pursuant to Title 60.
(9) In the event of litigation over a
particular tract of land, or in the event a tract of land is contested as to
the ownership of oil and gas rights, the policy of the Board shall be to issue
permits in order to preserve the physical integrity of that particular tract
without prejudicing any claimants to the title of that land.
(10) In the case of any well that is proposed
to be fractured using a cumulative total of more than 200,000 gallons of
water-based liquids:
(a) The Supervisor shall
give notice to the public by e-mail, including a list of interested persons and
agencies who have requested such notification, and by posting on the Department
website. The Public Notice shall include the following information:
1. Name, address, and telephone number of the
Division contact where further information can be obtained.
2. Name and location of the
applicant.
3. The location of the
well proposed to be fractured.
4. A
brief description of the well plan including information regarding the sources
of water to be used as base fluid, fracturing methods, whether or not an
Aquatic Resource Alteration Permit for water withdrawal will be required, and
estimated amounts and methods of wastewater disposal.
5. A brief description of the procedures for
the Supervisor to make a final determination of whether to issue the
permit.
(b) Interested
persons may submit written comments for 30 days from the date of Public Notice.
Any comments received shall be considered by the Supervisor, and the Supervisor
shall provide written responses to those comments. Prior to Public Notice, the
Supervisor may require additional information from the applicant in these
cases, including but not limited to information on water sources, fracturing
methodologies, and methods of wastewater disposal. The Supervisor will notify
the public of permit issuance or denial through the Division's
website.
(c) The applicant shall
provide the Department's Public Notice of the proposed well to owners of any
property within 1/2 mile of the proposed well head or any residence that
has any drinking water wells within a 1/2 mile radius of the proposed
wellhead within 14 days of the date of the Public Notice. In the case of a
horizontal well, the 1/2 mile radius shall be measured from the terminus
of the horizontal well bore. The determination of the presence of any such
drinking water wells shall include at a minimum the information available on
the Division of Water Resources Well Log Tracking System. The applicant shall
collect a sample of any such well at the request of the owner and have the
sample analyzed for Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH), BTEX
(benzene/toluene/ethyl benzene/xylene), pH, chlorides, Total Organic Carbon
(TOC) and Total Dissolved Solids, to demonstrate the condition of the water
well prior to the drilling of the well to be fractured. Landowners opting for
their well to be sampled by the applicant must submit a written request to the
applicant within 14 days of receiving the Public Notice from the operator or
the applicant is under no obligation to sample the well. Sampling results shall
be provided to the Supervisor and drinking water well owner as soon as results
are obtained. Sample collection protocols shall be comparable to those
specified in the Department's "Quality System Standard Operating Procedure for
Chemical and Bacteriological Sampling of Surface Water". Sample analyses shall
be conducted by a certified laboratory utilizing standard methods and minimum
detection levels consistent with Tennessee Department of Health
laboratories.
