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Title 41. Public Resources


Published: 2015

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Title 41. PUBLIC RESOURCES
Chapter 41.03. ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY CONTROL COMMISSION

[Repealed, Sec. 4 ch 120 SLA 1971. For current law, see AS 44.46 and AS 46.03].

Chapter 41.05. RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

Sec. 41.05.010. - 41.05.030. Hydrological data. [Repealed, Sec. 4 ch 41 SLA 1977. For current law, see AS 41.08.017 , 41.08.020(b) and 41.08.035].

 Repealed or Renumbered

Sec. 41.05.040. - 41.05.100. Mineral resources. [Renumbered as AS 41.98.010 - 41.98.100].

 Repealed or Renumbered

Chapter 41.06. GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES

Sec. 41.06.005. Jurisdiction over geothermal resources.

 (a) The commission has jurisdiction under this chapter over geothermal wells to prevent waste, to protect correlative rights, and to ensure public safety.

 (b) The Department of Natural Resources has jurisdiction under this chapter over management of geothermal leases and units in the public interest and to effect development.

Sec. 41.06.010. Waste prohibited; investigation.

The waste of geothermal resources in the state is prohibited. The commission may investigate to determine whether waste exists or is imminent, or whether other facts exist that justify or require action by the commission to prohibit waste.

Sec. 41.06.020. Authority of commission; application.

 (a) The commission has jurisdiction over all persons and property, public and private, necessary to carry out the purposes and intent of this chapter.

 (b) The authority of the commission applies to all land in the state lawfully subject to the police power of the state, including private land, municipal land, state land, land of the United States, and land subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, and to all land included in a voluntary cooperative or unit plan of development or operation entered into in accordance with AS 38.05.181 . When land that is subject to the commission's authority is committed to a unit agreement involving land subject to federal jurisdiction, the operation of this chapter or a part of this chapter may be suspended if

 (1) the unit operations are regulated by the United States; and

 (2) the conservation of geothermal resources is accomplished under the unit agreement.

 (c) This chapter applies

 (1) to wells drilled in search of, in support of, or for the recovery or production of geothermal resources;

 (2) when a person engaged in drilling activity not otherwise subject to the provisions of this chapter encounters geothermal resources, fluid, or water of sufficient heat or pressure to constitute a threat to human life or health unless the drilling operation is subject to oil and gas drilling regulation under AS 31.05;

 (3) in areas and under conditions in which the commission determines that drilling may encounter geothermal resources, fluid, or water of sufficient heat or pressure to constitute a threat to human life or health.

 (d) To the extent the provisions of AS 31.05 do not conflict with the provisions of this chapter, the provisions of AS 31.05 are applicable to wells drilled in search of, in support of, or for the recovery or production of geothermal resources.

 (e) Nothing in this chapter limits the authority of the department

 (1) over geothermal resources under AS 38.05.181 ; or

 (2) to approve and manage geothermal units or operations that include state land.

Sec. 41.06.030. Unitization.

 (a) The commissioner shall require the filing and approval of a plan of development and operation on a geothermal system that includes state land.

 (b) Lessees of all or part of a geothermal system that includes state land may enter into a unit agreement for cooperative development, with the approval of the commissioner. The commissioner may suspend or modify the approved development plan in accordance with the unit agreement.

 (c) If the owners of at least two-thirds of the leasehold interests in a geothermal system ratify a unit agreement approved under (b) of this section by the commissioner, the commissioner may enforce the agreement as to lessees not a party to the agreement by allocating production under the principle of correlative rights and by apportioning costs and revenues.

 (d) [Repealed, Sec. 18 ch 38 SLA 2010].

 (e) The commissioner may adopt regulations under AS 44.62 to carry out the purposes and intent of this chapter for duties assigned to the department, including the promotion of maximum economic recovery.

Sec. 41.06.035. Reservoir management; commission's regulations.

 (a) The commission may issue well-spacing and pooling orders, place limits on production, and impose reinjection requirements for the purpose of preventing waste and to protect correlative rights in a geothermal system.

 (b) The commission may adopt regulations under AS 44.62 and issue orders appropriate to carry out the purposes and intent of this chapter for duties assigned to the commission, including orders regarding the establishment of drilling units for pools as set out in AS 31.05.100 and orders regarding unitized operation and integration of interests as set out in AS 31.05.110 .

Sec. 41.06.040. Regulations; requirements; inspections.

 (a) The commission shall adopt regulations under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act), issue orders, and take other appropriate action to carry out the purposes and intent of this chapter, including adopting regulations to prevent

 (1) geothermal resources, water or other fluids, and gases from escaping into strata other than that in which they are found, unless in accordance with an approved reinjection program;

 (2) contamination of surface and groundwater;

 (3) premature degradation of a geothermal system by water encroachment or otherwise;

 (4) blowouts, cavings, and seepage; and

 (5) unreasonable disturbance or injury to neighboring properties, prior water rights, prior oil or gas rights, human life, health, and the natural environment.

 (b) The commission shall require the operator of a geothermal well to file an adequate individual or blanket surety bond to ensure compliance with regulations adopted under this section.

 (c) The commission shall require a geothermal operator to notify the commission if the operator discovers significant quantities of hydrocarbon substances, helium, or fissionable materials.

 (d) The commission and its staff may enter upon any property, public or private, to inspect a geothermal operation for compliance with regulations adopted under this section.

 (e) [Repealed, Sec. 18 ch 38 SLA 2010].

Sec. 41.06.050. Permits to drill.

 (a) A person shall apply for and receive a permit from the commission before drilling a well in

 (1) search of geothermal resources; or

 (2) support of the recovery or production of geothermal resources.

 (b) The application required in (a) of this section must contain sufficient information to enable the commission to determine if the operation of the well will interfere with or impair a prior water, oil, or gas right.

 (c) A person must submit a separate permit application for each well. The permit application must be in the form or format required by the commission and include all information required by the commission.

 (d) As soon as practicable after receiving an application under (a) of this section, the commission shall approve or deny the application for a permit to drill.

 (e) In making the determination under (d) of this section, the commission shall consider whether the

 (1) proposed well will significantly interfere with or substantially impair a prior water, oil, or gas right;

 (2) proposed well is contrary to a provision of this chapter, a regulation adopted by the commission, another law, or an order, stipulation, or term of a permit issued by the commission; and

 (3) applicant is in violation of a provision of this chapter, a regulation adopted by the commission, another law, or an order, stipulation, or term of a permit issued by the commission; the commission shall consider the magnitude of the violation.

Sec. 41.06.055. Regulatory cost charge for geothermal wells.

 (a) Each person that, on the first day of a state fiscal year, operates a well within the jurisdiction of the commission for which a permit to drill has been issued under AS 41.06.050 shall pay to the commission an annual regulatory charge for each well that has not, before the first day of that state fiscal year, been

 (1) plugged and abandoned; and

 (2) reported as abandoned in accordance with regulations of the commission.

 (b) The commission shall annually determine the regulatory cost charge to be paid under this section. The regulatory cost charge to be paid by a person for a state fiscal year must be based on the total volume during the most recent calendar year for the wells described in (a) of this section of which the person was the operator on the first day of the fiscal year as a percentage of the total volume during the same calendar year for all wells described in (a) of this section. In this subsection, "total volume" means the sum of the volume of all geothermal resources produced from a well and all fluids and substances injected or otherwise artificially introduced into the well.

 (c) The commission shall determine the regulatory cost charges levied under this section so that the total amount to be collected approximately equals the appropriations made for the operating costs of the commission that have been incurred under this chapter for the fiscal year.

 (d) The commission shall collect the regulatory cost charges imposed under this section. The Department of Administration shall identify the amount of appropriations made for the operating costs of the commission under this chapter that lapse into the general fund each year. The legislature may appropriate an amount that is at least equal to the lapsed amount to the commission for its operating costs under this chapter for the next fiscal year. If the legislature makes an appropriation to the commission under this subsection that is equal to or greater than the lapsed amount, the commission shall reduce the total regulatory cost charge collected for that fiscal year by a comparable amount.

 (e) The commission may adopt regulations relating to the investigation of the accuracy of reported information and for collecting required payments under this section.

Sec. 41.06.060. Definitions.

In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires,

 (1) "commercial use" means the sale of heat or power to a third party;

 (2) "commission" means the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission created under AS 31.05.005 ;

 (3) "correlative rights" means the right of an owner of each property in a geothermal system to produce without waste the owner's just and equitable share of the geothermal resources in the geothermal system; a just and reasonable share is an amount, so far as can be practically determined and so far as can be practically produced without waste, that is substantially in proportion to the quantity of recoverable geothermal resources under the owner's property relative to the total recoverable geothermal resources in the geothermal system;

 (4) "geothermal fluid" means liquids and steam at temperatures greater than 120 degrees Celsius or any commercial use of liquids and steam naturally present in a geothermal system at temperatures less than 120 degrees Celsius;

 (5) "geothermal resources"

 (A) means the natural heat of the earth at temperatures greater than 120 degrees Celsius, or any use of that heat for commercial purposes, measured at the point where the highest-temperature resources encountered enter or contact a well or other resource extraction device or any commercial use of the natural heat of the earth;

 (B) includes

 (i) the energy, including pressure, in whatever form present in, resulting from, created by, or that may be extracted from that natural heat;

 (ii) the material medium, including steam and other gases, hot water, and hot brines constituting the geothermal fluid naturally present, as well as substances artificially introduced to serve as a heat transfer medium; and

 (iii) all dissolved or entrained minerals and gases that may be obtained from the material medium, but excluding hydrocarbon substances and helium;

 (6) "geothermal system" means a stratum, pool, reservoir, or other geologic formation containing geothermal resources;

 (7) "operator" means a person drilling, maintaining, operating, producing, or in control of a well;

 (8) "owner" means the person who has the right to drill into or produce from a geothermal system and to appropriate the geothermal resources produced from a geothermal system for that person and others;

 (9) "waste" means, in addition to its ordinary meaning, physical waste, and includes an inefficient, excessive, or improper production, use, or dissipation of geothermal resources, including

 (A) drilling, transporting, or storage methods that cause or tend to cause unnecessary surface loss of geothermal resources;

 (B) locating, spacing, drilling, equipping, operating, producing, or venting of a well in a manner that results or tends to result in reducing the ultimate economic recovery of geothermal resources;

 (10) "well" means a well drilled, converted, or reactivated for the discovery, testing, production, or subsurface injection of geothermal resources.

Chapter 41.07. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

[Repealed, Sec. 2 ch 93 SLA 1972].

Chapter 41.08. GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS

Sec. 41.08.010. Division of geological and geophysical surveys.

There is established in the department a division of geological and geophysical surveys under the direction of the state geologist.

Sec. 41.08.015. State geologist.

The commissioner shall appoint the state geologist, who must be qualified by education and experience to direct the activities of the division.

Sec. 41.08.017. Hydrological and seismic hazard data declared to be of public interest.

 (a) Systematic collection, recording, evaluation, and distribution of data on the quantity, location, and quality of water of the state in the ground, on the surface of the ground, or along the coasts, are in the public interest and necessary to the orderly domestic and industrial development of the state.

 (b) Systematic collection, evaluation, archival, and distribution of geologic data and information on earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and engineering geology and identification of potential seismic, volcanic, and other geological hazards throughout the state are in the public interest and necessary to orderly, safely, and cost-effective development in the state.