§ 138-464. Oil and gas well permit requirements.

(a)

A person wanting to engage in and/or operate in oil and/or gas production activities shall apply for and obtain an oil, gas or combined well permit under this article and shall indicate what type of well permit is requested. It shall be unlawful for any person acting either for himself or acting as an agent, employee, independent contractor, or servant for any person to drill any well, assist in any way in the site preparation, re-working, fracturing or operation of any such well or to conduct any activity related to the production of oil and/or gas without first obtaining an oil, gas or combined well permit issued by the city in accordance with this article. Such activities include, but are not limited to, re-working, initial site preparation, drilling, operation, construction of rigs or tank batteries, fracturing and pressurizing.

(1)

A permit shall not be required for seismic surveys. The operator conducting the seismic survey, however, shall provide notice to the oil and gas inspector in no less than seven business days prior to the commencement of any seismic survey activities on site, and therein shall provide the following information:

a.

The operator/applicants name, phone number, address, and, if possible, email address; if the operator is a corporation, the state of incorporation, and if the operator is a partnership, the names and addresses of the general partners shall be provided;

b.

The location of seismic survey;

c.

The date and time the seismic survey will be conducted;

d.

A detailed explanation of the seismic survey method to be used on site; and

e.

The date and time the seismic survey will be completed.

(2)

Under no circumstances may explosive charges, including, but not limited to, the use of dynamite be used in any way related to the preparation and/or operation of conducting a seismic survey without the authorization of the city's fire chief.

(b)

The operator must apply for and obtain an oil, gas or combined well permit for the drilling, re-drilling, deepening, re-entering, activating or converting of each well. The operator may apply for and obtain a blanket well permit for more than one well if multiple wells are located on the same tract of land. Under a blanket permit, all proposed wells must be individually identified and in compliance with all requirements of this article.

(c)

An oil, gas or combined well permit shall not constitute authority for the re-entering and drilling of an abandoned well. An operator shall obtain a new well permit in accordance with the provisions of this article if the operator is re-entering and drilling an abandoned well.

(d)

When an oil, gas or combined well permit has been issued to the operator for the drilling, re-drilling, deepening, re-entering, activating or converting of a well, such oil, gas or combined well permit shall constitute sufficient authority for drilling, operation, production gathering or production maintenance, repair, re-working, testing, plugging and abandonment of the well and/or any other activity associated with mineral exploration at the site of such well; provided, however, that a new or amended permit shall be obtained before such well may be reworked for purposes of re-drilling, deepening or converting such well to a depth or use other than that set forth in the then current permit for such well.

(e)

Any person who intends to re-work a permitted well using a drilling rig to fracture stimulate a permitted well after initial completion or to conduct seismic surveys or other exploration activities shall give written notice to the oil and gas inspector no less than ten days before the activities begin. The notice must identify where the activities will be conducted and must describe the activities in detail, including whether explosive charges will be used, the duration of the activities and the time the activities will be conducted. The notice must also provide the address and 24-hour telephone number of the person conducting the activities. If requested by the oil and gas inspector, the person conducting the activities will post a sign on the property giving the public notice of the activities, including the name, address and 24-hour phone number of the person conducting the activities.

(f)

The following requirements shall apply to all fracture stimulation operations performed on a well:

(1)

At least 48 hours before operations are commenced, the operator shall post a sign at the entrance of the well site advising the public of the date the operations will commence;

(2)

Flowback operations to recover fluids used during fracture stimulation shall be performed during daylight hours only unless the oil and gas inspector approves such operations during non-daylight hours;

(3)

A watchperson shall be required at all times during such operations; and

(4)

At no time shall the well be allowed to flow or vent directly to the atmosphere without first directing the flow through separation equipment or into a portable tank.

(g)

An oil, gas or combined well permit shall automatically terminate, unless extended, if drilling is not commenced within 90 days from the date of the issuance of the permit. Drilling must commence within 90 days from the date of the issuance of the permit on at least one well under a blanket permit, as described above, in order to maintain the validity of the permit for the multiple wells. Each well covered by a blanket permit must begin within 365 days or a new permit must be obtained. A well permit may be extended by the oil and gas inspector for an additional 90 days upon request by the operator and proof that the regulatory standards of the requested permit for such location have not changed.

(h)

The oil, gas or combined well permits required by this article are in addition to and are not in lieu of any permit which may be required by any other provision of this Code or by any other governmental agency.

(i)

No additional oil, gas or combined well permit or filing fees shall be required for:

(1)

Any wells, existing, previously permitted or approved by the city, within the corporate limits of the city on the effective date of the ordinance from which this article is derived;

(2)

Any wells that drilling has commenced on the effective date of the ordinance from which this article is derived;

(3)

Any wells in existence or on any wells on which drilling has commenced on land annexed into the city after the effective date of the ordinance from which this article is derived; or

(4)

Any well that was planned for the land 90 days before the effective date of its annexation and one or more licenses, certificates, permits, approvals, or other forms of authorization by a governmental entity were required by law for such well and the completed application for the initial authorization was filed before the date the annexation proceedings were instituted. A person shall have 45 days after the enactment of the ordinance from which this article is derived or annexation into the city to designate an oil and/or gas operation as a preexisting operation by filing a site plan drawn to scale that shows the proposed location of the well with respect to survey lines and the proposed associated production facilities, if any, with the oil and gas inspector.

(j)

No oil, gas or combined well permit shall be issued for any well to be drilled within any public park without the prior consent of the city council. The city council shall review the insurance and security requirements on an individual basis prior to issuing the permit.

(k)

No oil, gas, or combined well permit shall be issued for any well to be drilled within 750 feet of a floodplain.

(1)

For floodplains identified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on the most current Federal Insurance Rate Map (FIRM), except for zones A or X, the distance measurement from the proposed well bore shall be calculated as a straight line, without regard to intervening structures or objects, to the closest exterior point of the base flood elevation topographic contour.

(2)

For zones A and X, or all other areas within the city's corporate limits, in which the proposed well bore is within 775 feet of any type of surface water conveyance, including, but not limited to, creeks, streams, drainage ditches, or other constructed stormwater conveyance systems, calculating distance in a straight line from the conveyance centerline, an approximate flood study shall be prepared by the applicant and approved by the city engineer or designee. Upon completion of the approximate flood study, if the city engineer or designee determines that the proposed well bore is within 100 feet of any type of surface water conveyance, or other flood hazard area, then a detailed flood study shall be prepared by the applicant and approved by the city engineer or designee. All distance measurements shall be consistent with other provisions contained in this article.

(l)

No oil, gas, or combined well permit shall be issued for any well to be drilled that is in noncompliance with any standard, provision, procedure, and/or recommendation as described in the city's engineering design and construction standards manual.

(m)

No oil, gas, or combined well permit shall be issued for any well to be drilled on city-owned property without the prior consent of the city council. The city council shall review the insurance and security requirements, potential environmental impacts, and threats to public health and safety, on an individual basis prior to city council issuing the permit.

(n)

By acceptance of any permit issued pursuant to this article, the operator expressly stipulates and agrees to be bound by and comply with the provisions of this article. The terms of this article shall be deemed to be incorporated in any oil, gas or combined well permit issued pursuant to this article with the same force and effect as if this article was set forth verbatim in such permit.

(Ord. No. 2007-06-056, § 2(39-328), 6-5-2007)