Rules & Regulations of the State of Tennessee
Title 0400 - Environment and Conservation
Subtitle 0400-52 - Drilling, Re-Entering, Plugging and Abandoning Exploratory and Exploitation Oil and Gas Wells (Transferred from 1040-02)
Chapter 0400-52-09 - Well Abandonment (Transferred from 1040-02-09)
Section 0400-52-09-.06 - TEMPORARY ABANDONMENT

(a) The operator shall submit a Temporary Well Abandonment Information form (CN-1368) for each well to be placed in Temporary Abandonment. This form can be obtained from Water Resources/Oil and Gas Program.

(b) The operator shall submit a $100 fee for each well per year to be placed in Temporary Abandonment.

(c) Each well shall be capped in such a manner as to have no open casing exposed to the environment (i.e., swedge with locked ball-valve or any other viable protection). The operator shall conduct a well integrity test prior to placing a well into Temporary Abandonment, if no such test has been conducted within the prior 15 years and there has been no oil or gas production from the well in that same time period. Integrity testing shall at a minimum consist of either a Mechanical Integrity Test (MIT) on the casing, or a pressure test on the casing using tubing and and a packer to a minimum of 500 psi. Alternative well integrity confirmation methods, including annual pressure monitoring at the well head, may be accepted at the discretion of the Supervisor.

(d) Any well shown on the Annual Well Report (Form CN-1272) that indicates no production shall be placed in Temporary Abandonment status or plugged.

(e) All fees received for Temporary Abandonment shall be placed in an account that shall be set aside to be used only for funding the plugging of abandoned oil and gas wells.