Utah Code § 40-10-25.2 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-10 / § 40-10-25.2
§ 40-10-25.2. Liability limitation for abandoned mine reclamation.
Status: in_force

(1) The state is not liable for any costs or damages resulting from action taken or not taken to carry out an abandoned mine reclamation plan. (2) (a) Subsection (1) does not preclude liability for costs or damages resulting from gross negligence or intentional misconduct by the state. (b) For purposes of this section, reckless, willful, or wanton misconduct constitutes gross negligence.
Utah Code § 40-5-6 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-5 / § 40-5-6
§ 40-5-6. Mine rescue team required -- Immunity of rescue participants.
Status: in_force

(1) Each mine owner shall maintain and support a mine rescue team at such owner's mine or otherwise ensure the availability of a mine rescue team in the event of an emergency, in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, and the regulations promulgated under it. (2) An individual, mine owner, or sponsoring owner who participates in a mine rescue operation during an emergency at the owner or sponsor's mine and who in good faith provides emergency care or assistance to an injured person during the emergency, is not liable in damages to such injured person on account of rendering emergency care or assistance.
Utah Code § 40-10-19 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-10 / § 40-10-19
§ 40-10-19. Information provided by permittees to division -- Inspections by division -- Signs required at operations entrances -- Violations reported by reclamation officers -- Copies of records and reports available to public.
Status: in_force

(1) For the purpose of developing, administering, and enforcing any permit under this chapter, or of determining whether any person is in violation of any requirement of this chapter, the division shall require any permittee to provide information relative to surface coal mining and reclamation operations as the division deems reasonable and necessary in the division's rules. (2) The authorized representatives of the division, without advance notice and upon presentation of appropriate credentials: (a) shall have the right of entry into, upon, or through any surface coal mining and reclamation operations or any premises in which any records required to be maintained under Subsection (2) are located; and (b) may at reasonable times, and without delay, have access to and copy any records, inspect any monitoring equipment or method of operation required under this chapter. As required by Subsection 40-8-17(2), this entry and access are conditions to obtaining an approved state permit to conduct surface mining operations. (3) The inspections by the division shall: (a) occur on an irregular basis averaging not less than one partial inspection per month and one complete inspection per calendar quarter for the surface coal mining and reclamation operation covered by each permit; (b) occur without prior notice to the permittee or the permitee's agents or employees except for necessary onsite meetings with the permittee; and (c) include the filing of inspection reports adequate to enforce the requirements of and to carry out the terms and purposes of this chapter. (4) Each permittee shall conspicuously maintain at the entrances to the surface coal mining and reclamation operations a clearly visible sign which sets forth the names, business address, and phone number of the permittee and the permit number of the surface coal mining and reclamation operations. (5) Each reclamation officer, upon detection of each violation of any requirement of this chapter, shall forthwith inform the operator in writing and shall report in writing the violation to the division. (6) Copies of any records, reports, inspection materials, or information obtained under this chapter by the division shall be made immediately available to the public.
Utah Code § 40-8-17 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-8 / § 40-8-17
§ 40-8-17. Responsibility of operator to comply with applicable rules, regulations and ordinances -- Inspections.
Status: in_force

(1) The approval of a notice of intention shall not relieve the operator from responsibility to comply with all other applicable statutes, rules, regulations, and ordinances, including but not limited to, those applying to safety, air and water pollution, and public liability and property damage. (2) As a condition of consideration and approval of a notice of intention, each applicant or operator under a notice of intention shall permit members of the board, the division, or other state agency having lawful interest in the administration of this act, to have the right, at all reasonable times, to enter the affected land and all related properties included in the notice of intention, whether or not approved, to make inspections for the purposes of this act.
Utah Code § 40-12-202 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-12 / § 40-12-202
§ 40-12-202. Responsibility and control of produced water.
Status: in_force

(1) Unless otherwise provided by statute or a legally binding agreement, this section applies. (2) (a) Produced water from an oil or gas producing well is the responsibility of the operator of the oil or gas producing well. (b) The operator has a possessory interest in produced water from a oil and gas activity, including the right to: (i) take possession of the produced water; (ii) engage in the nonconsumptive use of produced water in an oil and gas activity; and (iii) obtain proceeds from an action described in this Subsection (2)(b). (3) When a person with a possessory interest in produced water under Subsection (2) transfers the produced water to a transferee, upon transfer, the transferee has a possessory interest in the produced water and is liable for the disposal of the produced water.
Utah Code § 40-6-9.1 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-6 / § 40-6-9.1
§ 40-6-9.1. Payment information to royalty owners.
Status: in_force

(1) When payment is made to an owner of a royalty interest for the sale of oil or gas produced from that royalty interest pursuant to the requirements of Section 40-6-9, the following information shall be included on the payor's check stub or on an attachment to the form of payment: (a) the lease, property, or well name, and any lease, property, or well identification number from which production is attributed; (b) the month and year of the sales included in the payment; (c) the total volume of oil or gas sold, as measured by the means and upon the standards prescribed by the board pursuant to Subsection 40-6-5(2)(g); (d) the average price per unit of oil or gas sold; (e) the total amount of state severance, ad valorem, and other production taxes; (f) a list of any other deductions or adjustments; (g) the net value of total sales after taxes are deducted; (h) the royalty owner's interest, expressed as a decimal number, in sales from the lease, property, or well; (i) the royalty owner's share of the total value of sales prior to any deductions; (j) the royalty owner's proportionate share of the sales value less the royalty owner's proportionate share of the deductions, as applicable; and (k) an address at which additional information pertaining to the royalty owner's interest in production may be obtained and questions may be answered. (2) (a) A royalty owner who fails to receive the information required by this section may notify the board by certified mail of the problem and request that the division conduct an investigation. (b) The division shall conduct the investigation and report to the board concerning: (i) whether the matter has been resolved; or (ii) whether further action is necessary and its recommendations for resolution of the matter. (c) The board may take any action it considers necessary to resolve the matter pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. (3) A royalty owner damaged by a violation of this section may proceed as provided in Subsection 40-6-11(7).
Utah Code § 40-14-101 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-14 / § 40-14-101
§ 40-14-101. Definitions.
Status: in_force

As used in this chapter: (1) "Board" means the Board of Oil, Gas, and Mining created in Section 40-6-4. (2) "Division" means the Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining created in Section 40-6-15. (3) "Eligible permit" means a permit: (a) enforced by the division; and (b) identified for expedited review in board rule under Section 40-14-203. (4) "Expedited review" means a review of an eligible permit that: (a) is performed by a qualified reviewer; (b) is completed within the number of days established by board rule under Section 40-14-203; and (c) concludes with the issuance of a preliminary permit decision. (5) "Permit" means any of the following issued under this title: (a) a permit; (b) a plan; (c) a license; or (d) an administrative authorization made by the director. (6) "Preliminary permit decision" means a recommendation to the division by a qualified reviewer under expedited review to: (a) approve a permit application for final technical review and approval; (b) deny a permit application; or (c) return the permit application to the applicant with a description of the permit application's deficiencies. (7) "Qualified reviewer" means a professional engineer, land surveyor, geologist, landscape architect, or other licensed professional certified by the division to review an application for an eligible permit under this chapter.
Utah Code § 40-6-8 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-6 / § 40-6-8
§ 40-6-8. Field or pool units -- Procedure for establishment -- Operation.
Status: in_force

(1) The board may hold a hearing to consider the need for the operation as a unit of one or more pools or parts of them in a field. (2) The board shall make an order providing for the unit operation of a pool or part of it, if the board finds that: (a) Such operation is reasonably necessary for the purposes of this chapter; and (b) The value of the estimated additional recovery of oil or gas substantially exceeds the estimated additional cost incident to conducting such operations. (3) The order shall prescribe a plan for unit operations that shall include: (a) a description of the lands and of the pool or pools or parts of them to be so operated, termed the unit area; (b) a statement of the nature of the operations contemplated; (c) an allocation to the separately owned tracts in the unit area of all the oil and gas that is produced from the unit area and is saved, being the production that is not used in the conduct of operations on the unit area or not unavoidably lost. The allocation shall be in accord with the agreement, if any, of the interested parties. If there is no such agreement, the board shall determine the relative value, from evidence introduced at the hearing of the separately owned tracts in the unit area, exclusive of physical equipment, for development of oil and gas by unit operations, and the production allocated to each tract shall be the proportion that the relative value of each tract so determined bears to the relative value of all tracts in the unit area; (d) a provision for adjustment among the owners of the unit area (not including royalty owners) of their respective investment in wells, tanks, pumps, machinery, materials, equipment, and other things and services of value attributable to the unit operations. The amount to be charged unit operations for any such item shall be determined by the owners of the unit area (not including royalty owners); but if the owners of the unit area are unable to agree upon the amount or correctness, the board shall determine them. The net amount charged against the owner of an interest in a separately owned tract shall be considered expense of unit operation chargeable against his interest in the tract. The adjustments provided for may be treated separately and handled by agreements separate from the unitization agreement; (e) a provision providing how the costs of unit operations, including capital investments, shall be determined and charged to the separately owned tracts and how these costs shall be paid, including a provision providing a procedure for the unit production allocated to an owner who does not pay the share of the cost of unit operations charged to such owner, or the interest of such owner, to be sold and the proceeds applied to the payment of such costs. The operator of the unit shall have a first and prior lien for costs incurred pursuant to the plan of unitization upon each owner's oil and gas rights and his share of unitized production to secure the payment of such owner's proportionate part of the cost of developing and operating the unit area. This lien may be enforced in the same manner as provided by Title 38, Chapter 1a, Part 7, Enforcement of Preconstruction and Construction Liens. For such purposes any nonconsenting owner shall be deemed to have contracted with the unit operator for his proportionate part of the cost of developing and operating the unit area. A transfer or conversion of any owner's interest or any portion of it, however accomplished, after the effective date of the order creating the unit, shall not relieve the transferred interest of the operator's lien on said interest for the cost and expense of unit operations; (f) a provision, if necessary, for carrying or otherwise financing any owner who elects to be carried or otherwise financed, allowing a reasonable interest charge for such service payable out of such owner's share of the production; (g) a provision for the supervision and conduct of the unit operations, in respect to which each owner shall have a percentage vote corresponding to the percentage of the costs of unit operations chargeable against the interest of the owner; (h) the time when the unit operations shall commence, and the manner in which, and the circumstances under which, the unit operations shall terminate; (i) such additional provisions that are found to be appropriate for carrying on the unit operations, and for the protection of correlative rights; and (j) the designation of a unit operator. (4) No order of the board providing for unit operations of a pool or pools shall become effective unless and until the plan for unit operations prescribed by the division has been approved in writing by those owners who, under the board's order, will be required to pay 70% of the costs of the unit operation, and also by the owners of 70% of the production or proceeds that will be credited to interests which are free of cost, such as royalties, overriding royalties, and production payments, and the board has made a finding, either in the order providing for unit operations or in a supplemental order, that the plan for unit operations has been so approved. If the persons owning required percentage of interest in that unit area do not approve the plan for unit operations within a period of six months from the date on which the order providing for unit operations is made, the order shall be ineffective and shall be revoked by the board unless for good cause shown the board extends this time. (5) An order providing for unit operations may be amended by an order made by the board in the same manner and subject to the same conditions as an original order providing for unit operations, provided: (a) If such an amendment affects only the rights and interests of the owners, the approval of the amendment by the owners of royalty, overriding royalty, production payments and other such interests which are free of costs shall not be required. (b) No such order of amendment shall change the percentage for the allocation of oil and gas as established for any separately owned tract by the original order, or change the percentage for allocation of cost as established for any separately owned tract by the original order. (6) The board, by an order, may provide for the unit operation of a pool or pools or parts thereof that embrace a unit area established by a previous order of the division. The order, in providing for the allocation of unit production, shall first treat the unit area previously established as a single tract, and the portion of the unit production allocated shall then be allocated among the separately owned tracts included in the previously established unit area in the same proportions of those specified in the previous order. (7) An order may provide for unit operations on less than the whole of a pool where the unit area is of such size and shape as may be reasonably required for that purpose, and the conduct will have no adverse effect upon other portions of the pool. (8) All operations, including, but not limited to, the commencement, drilling, or operation of a well upon any portion of the unit area shall be deemed for all purposes the conduct of such operations upon each separately owned tract in the unit area by the several owners. The portions of the unit production allocated to a separately owned tract in a unit area shall, when produced, be deemed, for all purposes, to have been actually produced from such tract by a well drilled. Operations conducted pursuant to an order of the board providing for unit operations shall constitute a fulfillment of all the express or implied obligations for each lease or contract covering lands in the unit area to the extent that compliance with such obligations cannot be had because of the order of the board. (9) The portion of the unit production allocated to any tract, and the proceeds from the sale, shall be the property and income of the several owners, subject to the rights of royalty owners, to whom, or to whose credit, they are allocated or payable under the order providing for unit operations. (10) No division order or other contract relating to the sale or purchase of production from a separately owned tract shall be terminated by the order providing for unit operations but shall remain in force and apply to oil and gas allocated to such tract until terminated in accordance with the provisions thereof. (11) Except to the extent that the parties affected agree and as provided in Subsection (3)(e), no order providing for unit operations shall be construed to result in a transfer of all or any part of the title of any person to the oil and gas rights in any tract in the unit area. All property, whether real or personal, that may be acquired in the conduct of unit operations hereunder shall be acquired for the account of the owners within the unit area and shall be the property of the owners in the proportion that the expenses of unit operations are charged, unless otherwise provided in the plan of unit operation. (12) This section shall apply only to field or pool units and shall not apply to the unitization of interests within a drilling unit as may be authorized and governed under the provisions of Section 40-6-6.
Utah Code § 40-1-3 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-1 / § 40-1-3
§ 40-1-3. Boundaries to be marked.
Status: in_force

Mining claims and mill sites must be distinctly marked on the ground so that the boundaries thereof can be readily traced.
Utah Code § 40-11-8 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-11 / § 40-11-8
§ 40-11-8. Findings to issue a permit.
Status: in_force

Before issuing a permit, the board shall find that: (1) the application meets all of the requirements described in Section 40-11-6; and (2) the interested parties described in Subsection 40-11-7(4) all received proper notice.
Utah Code § 40-8-9.1 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-8 / § 40-8-9.1
§ 40-8-9.1. Civil penalty for violation of chapter -- Informal conference -- Public hearing -- Contest of violation or amount of penalty -- Collection -- Criminal penalties -- Civil penalty for failure to correct violation -- Civil penalties.
Status: in_force

(1) (a) (i) A permittee who violates a permit condition or other provision of this chapter, may be assessed a civil penalty by the division. (ii) If the violation leads to the issuance of a cessation order under Subsection 40-8-9(3), the civil penalty shall be assessed. (b) (i) The penalty may not exceed $5,000 for each violation. (ii) Each day of a continuing violation may be considered to be a separate violation for purposes of the penalty assessments. (c) In determining the amount of the penalty, consideration shall be given to: (i) the permittee's history of previous violations at the particular mining operation; (ii) the seriousness of the violation, including any irreparable harm to the environment and any hazard to the health or safety of the public; (iii) whether the permittee was negligent; and (iv) the demonstrated good faith of the permittee in attempting to achieve rapid compliance after notification of the violation. (2) (a) Within 30 days after the issuance of a notice or order charging that a violation of this chapter has occurred, the division shall inform the permittee of the proposed assessment. (b) The person charged with the penalty shall then have 30 days to pay the proposed assessment in full, or request an informal conference with the division. (c) The informal conference held by the division may address either the amount of the proposed assessment or the fact of the violation, or both. (d) If the permittee who requested the informal conference and participated in the proceedings is not in agreement with the results of the informal conference, the permittee may, within 30 days of receipt of the decision made by the division in the informal conference, request a hearing before the board. (e) (i) Prior to any review of the proposed assessment or the fact of a violation by the board, and within 30 days of receipt of the decision made by the division in the informal conference, the permittee shall forward to the division the amount of the proposed assessment for placement in an escrow account. (ii) If the permittee fails to forward the amount of the penalty to the division within 30 days of receipt of the results of the informal conference, the operator waives any opportunity for further review of the fact of the violation or to contest the amount of the civil penalty assessed for the violation. (iii) If, through administrative or judicial review, it is determined that no violation occurred or that the amount of the penalty should be reduced, the division shall, within 30 days, remit the appropriate amount to the operator with interest accumulated. (3) (a) A civil penalty assessed by the division shall be final only after the person charged with a violation described under Subsection (1) has been given an opportunity for a public hearing. (b) If a public hearing is held, the board shall make findings of fact and shall issue a written decision as to the occurrence of the violation and the amount of the penalty which is warranted, incorporating, when appropriate, an order requiring that the penalty be paid. (c) When appropriate, the board shall consolidate the hearings with other proceedings under Section 40-8-9. (d) A hearing under this section shall be of record and shall be conducted pursuant to board rules governing the proceedings. (e) If the person charged with a violation does not attend the public hearing, a civil penalty shall be assessed by the division after the division: (i) has determined: (A) that a violation did occur; and (B) the amount of the penalty which is warranted; and (ii) has issued an order requiring that the penalty be paid. (4) At the request of the board, the attorney general may bring a civil action in a court with jurisdiction under Title 78A, Judiciary and Judicial Administration, to recover a civil penalty owed under this chapter. (5) Any person who willfully and knowingly violates a condition of a permit issued pursuant to this chapter or fails or refuses to comply with an order issued under Section 40-8-9, or any order incorporated in a final decision issued by the board under this chapter, except an order incorporated in a decision under Subsection (3), shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both. (6) Whenever a corporate permittee violates a condition of a permit issued pursuant to this chapter or fails or refuses to comply with any order incorporated in a final decision issued by the board under this chapter, except an order incorporated in a decision issued under Subsection (3), a director, officer, or agent of the corporation who willfully and knowingly authorized, ordered, or carried out the violation, failure, or refusal shall be subject to the same civil penalties, fines, and imprisonment that may be imposed upon a person under Subsections (1) and (5). (7) Any person who knowingly makes a false statement, representation, or certification, or knowingly fails to make a statement, representation, or certification in an application, record, report, plan, or other document filed or required to be maintained pursuant to this chapter or an order or decision issued by the board under this chapter shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both. (8) (a) An operator who fails to correct a violation for which a notice or cessation order has been issued under Subsection 40-8-9(3)(b) within the period permitted for a correction of the violation shall be assessed a civil penalty of not less than $750 for each day during which the failure or violation continues. (b) The period permitted for correction of a violation for which a notice of cessation order has been issued under Subsection 40-8-9(3)(b) may not end until: (i) the entry of a final order by the board, in a review proceeding initiated by the operator, in which the board orders, after an expedited hearing, the suspension of the abatement requirements of the citation after determining that the operator will suffer irreparable loss or damage from the application of those requirements; or (ii) the entry of an order of the court, a review proceeding initiated by the operator, in which the court orders the suspension of the abatement requirements of the citation. (9) Money received by the state from civil penalties collected from actions resulting from this chapter shall be deposited into the division's Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund as established under Section 40-10-25.1 and shall be used for the reclamation of mined land impacts not covered by reclamation bonds.
Utah Code § 40-10-17 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-10 / § 40-10-17
§ 40-10-17. Performance standards for all coal mining and reclamation operations -- Additional standards for steep-slope surface coal mining -- Variances.
Status: in_force

(1) Any permit issued pursuant to this chapter to conduct surface coal mining shall require that the surface coal mining operations will meet all applicable performance standards of this chapter, and such other requirements as the division shall promulgate. (2) General performance standards shall be applicable to all surface coal mining and reclamation operations and shall require the operations as a minimum to: (a) Conduct surface coal mining operations so as to maximize the utilization and conservation of the solid fuel resource being recovered so that reaffecting the land in the future through surface coal mining can be minimized. (b) Restore the land affected to a condition capable of supporting the uses which it was capable of supporting prior to any mining, or higher or better uses of which there is reasonable likelihood, so long as the use or uses does not present any actual or probable hazard to public health or safety or pose any actual or probable threat of water diminution or pollution, and the permit applicant's declared proposed land use following reclamation is not considered to be impractical or unreasonable, inconsistent with applicable land use policies and plans, involves unreasonable delay in implementation, or is violative of federal, state, or local law. (c) Except as provided in Subsection (3) with respect to all surface coal mining operations backfill, compact (where advisable to insure stability or to prevent leaching of toxic materials) and grade in order to restore the approximate original contour of the land with highwalls, spoil piles, and depressions eliminated (unless small depressions are needed in order to retain moisture to assist revegetation or as otherwise authorized pursuant to this chapter); but in surface coal mining which is carried out at the same location over a substantial period of time where the operation transects the coal deposit and the thickness of the coal deposits relative to the volume of the overburden is large and where the operator demonstrates that the overburden and other spoil and waste materials at a particular point in the permit area or otherwise available from the entire permit area is insufficient, giving due consideration to volumetric expansion, to restore the approximate original contour, the operator, at a minimum, shall backfill, grade, and compact (where advisable) using all available overburden and other spoil and waste materials to attain the lowest practicable grade but not more than the angle of repose, to provide adequate drainage and to cover all acid-forming and other toxic materials, in order to achieve an ecologically sound land use compatible with the surrounding region. In surface coal mining where the volume of overburden is large relative to the thickness of the coal deposit and where the operator demonstrates that due to volumetric expansion the amount of overburden and other spoil and waste materials removed in the course of the mining operation is more than sufficient to restore the approximate original contour, the operator shall, after restoring the approximate contour, backfill, grade, and compact (where advisable) the excess overburden and other spoil and waste materials to attain the lowest grade but more than the angle of repose, and to cover all acid-forming and other toxic materials, in order to achieve an ecologically sound land use compatible with the surrounding region and that the overburden or spoil shall be shaped and graded in such a way as to prevent slides, erosion, and water pollution and is revegetated in accordance with the requirements of this chapter. (d) Stabilize and protect all surface areas, including spoil piles affected by the surface coal mining and reclamation operation to effectively control erosion and attendant air and water pollution. (e) Remove the topsoil from the land in a separate layer, replace it on the backfill area, or if not utilized immediately, segregate it in a separate pile from other spoil, and when the topsoil is not replaced on a backfill area within a time short enough to avoid deterioration of the topsoil, maintain a successful cover by quick growing plant or other means thereafter so that the topsoil is preserved from wind and water erosion, remains free of any contamination by other acid or toxic material, and is in a usable condition for sustaining vegetation when restored during reclamation; except if topsoil is of insufficient quantity or of poor quality for sustaining vegetation, or if other strata can be shown to be more suitable for vegetation requirements, then the operator shall remove, segregate, and preserve in a like manner the other strata which is best able to support vegetation. (f) Restore the topsoil or the best available subsoil which is best able to support vegetation. (g) For all prime farmlands, as identified in the rules, to be mined and reclaimed, specifications for soil removal, storage, replacement, and reconstruction, the operator shall, as a minimum, be required to: (i) segregate the A horizon of the natural soil, except where it can be shown that other available soil materials will create a final soil having a greater productive capacity, and if not utilized immediately, stockpile this material separately from other spoil, and provide needed protection from wind and water erosion or contamination by other acid or toxic material; (ii) segregate the B horizon of the natural soil, or underlying C horizons or other strata, or a combination of these horizons or other strata that are shown to be both texturally and chemically suitable for plant growth and that can be shown to be equally or more favorable for plant growth than the B horizon, in sufficient quantities to create in the regraded final soil a root zone of comparable depth and quality to that which existed in the natural soil, and if not utilized immediately, stockpile this material separately from other spoil, and provide needed protection from wind and water erosion or contamination by other acid or toxic material; (iii) replace and regrade the root zone material described in Subsection (2)(g)(ii) above with proper compaction and uniform depth over the regraded spoil material; and (iv) redistribute and grade in a uniform manner the surface soil horizon described in Subsection (2)(g)(i). (h) Create, if authorized in the approved mining and reclamation plan and permit, permanent impoundments of water on mining sites as part of reclamation activities only when it is adequately demonstrated that: (i) the size of the impoundment is adequate for its intended purposes; (ii) the impoundment dam construction will be so designed as to achieve necessary stability with an adequate margin of safety compatible with that of structures constructed under Public Law 83-566 (16 U.S.C. 1006); (iii) the quality of impounded water will be suitable on a permanent basis for its intended use and that discharges from the impoundment will not degrade the water quality below water quality standards established pursuant to applicable federal and state law in the receiving stream; (iv) the level of water will be reasonably stable; (v) final grading will provide adequate safety and access for proposed water users; and (vi) these water impoundments will not result in the diminution of the quality or quantity of water utilized by adjacent or surrounding landowners for agricultural, industrial, recreational, or domestic uses. (i) Conducting any augering operation associated with surface mining in a manner to maximize recoverability of mineral reserves remaining after the operation and reclamation are complete and seal all auger holes with an impervious and noncombustible material in order to prevent drainage except where the division determines that the resulting impoundment of water in the auger holes may create a hazard to the environment or the public health or safety; but the permitting authority may prohibit augering if necessary to maximize the utilization, recoverability, or conservation of the solid fuel resources or to protect against adverse water quality impacts. (j) Minimize the disturbances to the prevailing hydrologic balance at the mine site and in associated offsite areas and to the quality and quantity of water in surface and groundwater systems both during and after surface coal mining operations and during reclamation by: (i) avoiding acid or other toxic mine drainage by such measures as, but not limited to: (A) preventing or removing water from contact with toxic-producing deposits; (B) treating drainage to reduce toxic content which adversely affects downstream water upon being released to water courses; and (C) casing, sealing, or otherwise managing boreholes, shafts, and wells and keep acid or other toxic drainage from entering ground and surface waters; (ii) (A) conducting surface coal mining operations so as to prevent, to the extent possible using the best technology currently available, additional contributions of suspended solids to streamflow or runoff outside the permit area, but in no event shall contributions be in excess of requirements set by applicable state or federal law; and (B) constructing any siltation structures pursuant to this Subsection (2)(j)(ii) prior to commencement of surface coal mining operations, such structures to be certified by a qualified registered engineer to be constructed as designed and as approved in the reclamation plan; (iii) cleaning out and removing temporary or large settling ponds or other siltation structures from drainways after disturbed areas are revegetated and stabilized and depositing the silt and debris at a site and in a manner approved by the division; (iv) restoring recharge capacity of the mined area to approximate premining conditions; (v) avoiding channel deepening or enlargement in operations requiring the discharge of water from mines; (vi) preserving throughout the mining and reclamation process the essential hydrologic functions of alluvial valley floors in the arid and semiarid areas of the state; and (vii) such other actions as the division may prescribe. (k) With respect to surface disposal of mine wastes, tailings, coal processing wastes, and other waste in areas other than the mine working or excavations, stabilize all waste piles in designated areas through construction in compacted layers, including the use of incombustible and impervious materials, if necessary, and assure the final contour of the waste pile will be compatible with natural surroundings and that the site can and will be stabilized and revegetated according to the provisions of this chapter. (l) Refrain from surface coal mining within 500 feet from active and abandoned underground mines in order to prevent breakthroughs and to protect health or safety of miners; but the division shall permit an operator to mine near, through, or partially through an abandoned underground mine or closer to an active underground mine if: (i) the nature, timing, and sequencing of the approximate coincidence of specific surface mine activities with specific underground mine activities are jointly approved by the departments, divisions, and agencies concerned with surface mine reclamation and the health and safety of underground miners; and (ii) the operations will result in improved resource recovery, abatement of water pollution, or elimination of hazards to the health and safety of the public. (m) Design, locate, construct, operate, maintain, enlarge, modify, and remove or abandon, in accordance with the standards and criteria developed pursuant to the division's rules, all existing and new coal mine waste piles consisting of mine wastes, tailings, coal processing wastes, or other liquid and solid wastes, and used either temporarily or permanently as dams or embankments. (n) Insure that all debris, acid-forming materials, toxic materials, or materials constituting a fire hazard are treated or buried and compacted or otherwise disposed of in a manner designed to prevent contamination of ground or surface waters and that contingency plans are developed to prevent sustained combustion. (o) Insure that explosives are used only in accordance with existing state and federal law and the rules adopted by the board, which shall include provisions to: (i) provide adequate advance written notice to local governments and residents who might be affected by the use of the explosives by: (A) publication of the planned blasting schedule: (I) in a newspaper of general circulation in the locality; and (II) as required in Section 45-1-101; and (B) mailing a copy of the proposed blasting schedule to every resident living within 1/2 mile of the proposed blasting site and by providing daily notice to resident/occupiers in these areas prior to any blasting; (ii) maintain for a period of at least three years and make available for public inspection upon request a log detailing the location of the blasts, the pattern and depth of the drill holes, the amount of explosives used per hole, and the order and length of delay in the blasts; (iii) limit the type of explosives and detonating equipment, the size, the timing and frequency of blasts based upon the physical conditions of the site so as to prevent injury to persons, damage to public and private property outside the permit area, adverse impacts on any underground mine, and change in the course, channel, or availability of ground or surface water outside the permit area; (iv) require that all blasting operations be conducted by trained and competent persons, and to implement this requirement, the division shall promulgate rules requiring the training, examination, and certification of persons engaging in or directly responsible for blasting or the use of explosives in surface and coal mining operations; and (v) provide that upon the request of a resident or owner of a man-made dwelling or structure within 1/2 mile of any portion of the permitted area, the applicant or permittee shall conduct a preblasting survey of the structures and submit the survey to the division and a copy to the resident or owner making the request, the area of which survey shall be decided by the division and shall include such provisions as promulgated. (p) Insure that all reclamation efforts proceed in an environmentally sound manner and as contemporaneously as practicable with the surface coal mining operations; but where the applicant proposes to combine surface mining operations with underground mining operations to assure maximum practical recovery of the mineral resources, the division may grant a variance for specific areas within the reclamation plan from the requirement that reclamation efforts proceed as contemporaneously as practicable to permit underground operations prior to reclamation: (i) if the division finds in writing that: (A) the applicant has presented, as part of the permit application, specific, feasible plans for the proposed underground mining operations; (B) the proposed underground mining operations are necessary or desirable to assure maximum practical recovery of the mineral resource and will avoid multiple disturbance of the surface; (C) the applicant has satisfactorily demonstrated that the plan for the underground mining operations conforms to requirements for underground mining in the jurisdiction and that permits necessary for the underground mining operations have been issued by the appropriate authority; (D) the areas proposed for the variance have been shown by the applicant to be necessary for the implementing of the proposed underground mining operations; (E) no substantial adverse environmental damage, either onsite or offsite, will result from the delay in completion of reclamation as required by this chapter; and (F) provisions for the offsite storage of spoil will comply with Subsection (2)(v); (ii) if the board has adopted specific rules to govern the granting of the variances in accordance with the provisions of this Subsection (2)(p) and has imposed such additional requirements as considered necessary; (iii) if variances granted under this Subsection (2)(p) are to be reviewed by the division not more than three years from the date of issuance of the permit; and (iv) if liability under the bond filed by the applicant with the division pursuant to Section 40-10-15 shall be for the duration of the underground mining operations and until the requirements of this Subsection (2) and Section 40-10-16 have been fully complied with. (q) Insure that the construction, maintenance, and postmining conditions of access roads into and across the site of operations will control or prevent erosion and siltation, pollution of water, damage to fish or wildlife or their habitat, or public or private property. (r) Refrain from the construction of roads or other access ways up a stream bed or drainage channel or in such proximity to the channel so as to seriously alter the normal flow of water. (s) Establish on the regraded areas and all other lands affected, a diverse, effective, and permanent vegetative cover of the same seasonal variety native to the area of land to be affected and capable of self-regeneration and plant succession at least equal in extent of cover to the natural vegetation of the area; except that introduced species may be used in the revegetation process where desirable and necessary to achieve the approved postmining land use plan. (t) (i) Assume the responsibility for successful revegetation, as required by Subsection (2)(s), for a period of five full years after the last year of augmented seeding, fertilizing, irrigation, or other work in order to assure compliance with Subsection (2)(s), except in those areas or regions of the state where the annual average precipitation is 26 inches or less, then the operator's assumption of responsibility and liability will extend for a period of 10 full years after the last year of augmented seeding, fertilizing, irrigation, or other work; but when the division approves a long-term intensive agricultural postmining land use, the applicable five or 10 year period of responsibility for revegetation shall commence at the date of initial planting for this long-term intensive, agricultural postmining land use, except when the division issues a written finding approving a long-term, intensive, agricultural postmining land use, as part of the mining and reclamation plan, the division may grant exception to the provisions of Subsection (2)(s); and (ii) on lands eligible for remining, assume the responsibility for successful revegetation for a period of two full years after the last year of augmented seeding, fertilizing, irrigation, or other work in order to assure compliance with the applicable standards, except in areas of the state where the average annual precipitation is 26 inches or less, assume the responsibility for successful revegetation for a period of five full years after the last year of augmented seeding, fertilizing, irrigation, or other work in order to assure compliance with the applicable standards. (u) Protect offsite areas from slides or damage occurring during the surface coal mining and reclamation operations and not deposit spoil material or locate any part of the operations or waste accumulations outside the permit area. (v) Place all excess spoil material resulting from coal surface mining and reclamation activities in a manner that: (i) spoil is transported and placed in a controlled manner in position for concurrent compaction and in a way to assure mass stability and to prevent mass movement; (ii) the areas of disposal are within the bonded permit areas and all organic matter shall be removed immediately prior to spoil placement; (iii) appropriate surface and internal drainage systems and diversion ditches are used so as to prevent spoil erosion and movement; (iv) the disposal area does not contain springs, natural water courses, or wet weather seeps unless lateral drains are constructed from the wet areas to the main underdrains in a manner that filtration of the water into the spoil pile will be prevented; (v) if placed on a slope, the spoil is placed upon the most moderate slope among those upon which, in the judgment of the division, the spoil could be placed in compliance with all the requirements of this chapter and shall be placed, where possible, upon or above a natural terrace, bench, or berm, if this placement provides additional stability and prevents mass movement; (vi) where the toe of the spoil rests on a downslope, a rock toe buttress of sufficient size to prevent mass movement, is constructed; (vii) the final configuration is compatible with the natural drainage pattern and surroundings and suitable for intended uses; (viii) design of the spoil disposal area is certified by a qualified professional engineer, and to implement this requirement, the division shall promulgate rules regarding the certification of engineers in the area of spoil disposal design; and (ix) all other provisions of this chapter are met. (w) Meet such other criteria as are necessary to achieve reclamation in accordance with the purposes of this chapter, taking into consideration the physical, climatological, and other characteristics of the site. (x) To the extent possible, using the best technology currently available, minimize disturbances and adverse impacts of the operation on fish, wildlife, and related environmental values, and achieve enhancement of these resources where practicable. (y) Provide for an undisturbed natural barrier beginning at the elevation of the lowest coal seam to be mined and extending from the outslope for the distance as the division shall determine shall be retained in place as a barrier to slides and erosion. (3) (a) Where an applicant meets the requirements of Subsections (3)(b) and (c), a permit without regard to the requirement to restore to approximate original contour provided in Subsections (2)(c), (4)(b), and (4)(c) may be granted for the surface mining of coal where the mining operation will remove an entire coal seam or seams running through the upper fraction of a mountain, ridge, or hill (except as provided in this Subsection (3)) by removing all of the overburden and creating a level plateau or a gently rolling contour with no highwalls remaining, and capable of supporting postmining uses in accord with the requirements of this Subsection (3). (b) In cases where an industrial, commercial, agricultural, residential, or public facility (including recreational facilities) use is proposed for the postmining use of the affected land, the division may grant a permit for a surface mining operation of the nature described in Subsection (3)(a) pursuant to procedures and criteria set forth in the rules, including: (i) the applicant's presentation of specific plans for the proposed postmining land use which meet criteria concerning the type of use proposed; (ii) the applicant's demonstration that the proposed use would be consistent with adjacent land uses and existing state and local land use plans and programs and with other requirements of this chapter; and (iii) procedures whereby the division provides the governing body of the unit of general-purpose government in which the land is located and any state or federal agency which the division, in its discretion, determines to have an interest in the proposed use, an opportunity of not more than 60 days to review and comment on the proposed use. (c) All permits granted under the provisions of this Subsection (3) shall be reviewed not more than three years from the date of issuance of the permit, unless the applicant affirmatively demonstrates that the proposed development is proceeding in accordance with the terms of the approved schedule and reclamation plan. (4) The following performance standards shall be applicable to steep-slope surface coal mining and shall be in addition to those general performance standards required by this section; but the provisions of this Subsection (4) shall not apply to those situations in which an operator is mining on flat or gently rolling terrain, on which an occasional steep slope is encountered through which the mining operation is to proceed, leaving a plain or predominantly flat area or where an operator is in compliance with provisions of Subsection (3): (a) Insure that when performing surface coal mining on steep slopes, no debris, abandoned or disabled equipment, spoil material, or waste mineral matter be placed on the downslope below the bench or mining cut; but spoil material in excess of that required for the reconstruction of the approximate original contour under the provisions of Subsection (2)(c) or this Subsection (4) shall be permanently stored pursuant to Subsection 40-10-17(2)(v). (b) Complete backfilling with spoil material shall be required to cover completely the highwall and return the site to the appropriate original contour, which material will maintain stability following mining and reclamation. (c) The operator may not disturb land above the top of the highwall unless the division finds that the disturbance will facilitate compliance with the environmental protection standards of this section; but the land disturbed above the highwall shall be limited to that amount necessary to facilitate this compliance. (d) For the purposes of this Subsection (4), "steep slope" means any slope above 20 degrees or such lesser slope as may be defined by the division after consideration of soil, climate, and other characteristics of an area. (5) The board shall promulgate specific rules to govern the granting of variances from the requirement to restore to approximate original contour provided in Subsection (4)(b) pursuant to procedures and criteria set forth in those rules including: (a) written request by the surface owner concerning the proposed use; (b) approval of the proposed use as an equal or better economic or public use; and (c) approval of the proposed use as improving the watershed control in the area and as using only such amount of spoil as is necessary to achieve the planned postmining land use.
Utah Code § 40-2-401 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-2 / § 40-2-401
§ 40-2-401. Necessity of certificate.
Status: in_force

(1) A person may not work in an occupation referred to in Section 40-2-402 unless granted a certificate by the commission. (2) (a) (i) The commission may grant a temporary coal mine foreman certificate or a temporary coal mine surface foreman certificate to an applicant who is: (A) recommended by a coal mine; and (B) interviewed and found competent by two panel members. (ii) A certificate granted under Subsection (2)(a)(i) remains in effect until: (A) the next scheduled certification test; (B) the person is retested; or (C) the commission terminates the certificate. (b) (i) The commission may grant a surface foreman certificate to a current holder of an underground mine foreman certificate, if the applicant has three years of varied surface mining experience. (ii) A surface foreman certificate applicant may receive credit for surface experience in any other industry that has substantially equivalent surface facilities, if the applicant has performed or is presently performing the duties normally required of a surface foreman. (3) (a) The commission shall collect a fee described in Subsection (3)(b) for each temporary certificate. (b) The commission shall establish the fee by following Section 63J-1-504. (4) (a) An owner, operator, contractor, lessee, or agent may not employ a worker in any occupation referred to in Section 40-2-402 who is uncertified. (b) The certificate shall be on file and available for inspection to interested persons in the office of the coal mine. (5) The commission shall grant a certificate to an applicant referred to in Section 40-2-402 who: (a) passes the certification test administered by the panel; and (b) meets the qualifications specified in Section 40-2-402. (6) (a) The commission may grant a certificate to an applicant involved in gilsonite or other hydrocarbon mining as provided by rule. (b) The commission shall enact rules governing the certification procedure, test, and qualifications for applicants involved in gilsonite or other hydrocarbon mining. (7) The commission may by rule require certification and recertification of other coal mine occupations, including the certification of a new coal miner.
Utah Code § 40-6-17 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-6 / § 40-6-17
§ 40-6-17. Cooperative research and development projects.
Status: in_force

The board and the Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining are authorized to enter into cooperative agreements with the national, state or local governments, and with independent organizations and institutions for the purpose of carrying out research and development experiments involving energy resources to the extent that the project is funded or partially funded and approved by the Legislature.
Utah Code § 40-2-104 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-2 / § 40-2-104
§ 40-2-104. Rulemaking authority.
Status: in_force

In accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act, the commission may make rules necessary to implement this chapter.
Utah Code § 40-10-18.1 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-10 / § 40-10-18.1
§ 40-10-18.1. Suspension of underground mining upon finding of immediate danger to inhabitants at surface.
Status: in_force

In order to protect the stability of the land, the board shall suspend underground coal mining under urbanized areas, cities, towns, and communities and adjacent to industrial or commercial buildings, major impoundments, or permanent streams if, after proper notice and hearing, there is a finding of imminent danger to inhabitants of the urbanized areas, cities, towns, and communities.
Utah Code § 40-6-10 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-6 / § 40-6-10
§ 40-6-10. Procedures -- Adjudicative proceedings -- Emergency orders -- Hearing examiners.
Status: in_force

(1) (a) The Board of Oil, Gas, and Mining and the Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining shall comply with the procedures and requirements of Title 63G, Chapter 4, Administrative Procedures Act, in their adjudicative proceedings. (b) The board shall enact rules governing its practice and procedure that are not inconsistent with Title 63G, Chapter 4, Administrative Procedures Act. (2) When an emergency requiring immediate action is found by the division director or any board member to exist, the division director or board member may issue an emergency order according to the requirements and procedures of Title 63G, Chapter 4, Administrative Procedures Act. (3) A notice required by this chapter, except as otherwise provided, shall be given at the election of the board by: (a) personal service; or (b) (i) one publication in: (A) a daily newspaper of general circulation in the city of Salt Lake and county of Salt Lake, Utah; and (B) all newspapers of general circulation published in the county where the land is affected, or some part of the land is situated; and (ii) electronic publication in accordance with Section 45-1-101. (4) (a) Any order made by the board is effective on issuance. (b) All rules and orders issued by the board shall be: (i) in writing; (ii) entered in full in books to be kept by the board for that purpose; (iii) indexed; and (iv) public records open for inspection at all times during reasonable office hours. (c) A copy of any rule, finding of fact, or order, certified by the board or by the division director, shall be received in evidence in all courts of this state with the same effect as the original. (5) The board may act upon its own motion or upon the petition of any interested person. (6) (a) The board may appoint a hearing examiner to take evidence and to recommend findings of fact and conclusions of law to the board. (b) Any member of the board, division staff, or any other person designated by the board may serve as a hearing examiner. (c) The board may enter an order based on the recommendations of the examiner.
Utah Code § 40-8-16 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-8 / § 40-8-16
§ 40-8-16. Approved notice of intention valid for life of operation -- Withdrawal, withholding, or refusal of approval -- Procedure and basis.
Status: in_force

(1) An approved notice of intention or approved revision of it remains valid for the life of the mining operation, as stated in it, unless the board withdraws the approval as provided in Subsection (2). (2) The board or the division shall not withdraw approval of a notice of intention or revision of it, except as follows: (a) Approval may be withdrawn in the event that the operator substantially fails to perform reclamation or conduct mining operations so that the approved reclamation plan can be accomplished. (b) Approval may be withdrawn in the event that the operator fails to provide and maintain surety as may be required under this chapter. (c) Approval may be withdrawn in the event that mining operations are continuously shut down for a period in excess of five years, unless the extended period is accepted upon application of the operator. (3) Approval of a notice of intention may not be refused, withheld, nor withdrawn by the division until the operator, who holds or has applied for such approval, has had an opportunity to request a hearing before the board, present evidence, cross-examine, and participate fully in the proceedings. Based on the record of the hearing, the board will issue an order concerning the refusal, withholding, or withdrawal of the notice of intention. If no hearing is requested, the division may refuse, withhold, or withdraw approval of a notice of intention. (4) In the event that the division or the board withdraws approval of a notice of intention or its revision, all mining operations included under the notice shall be suspended in accordance with procedures and schedule approved by the division.
Utah Code § 40-8-12.5 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-8 / § 40-8-12.5
§ 40-8-12.5. Reclamation required.
Status: in_force

Every operator shall be obligated to conduct reclamation and shall be responsible for the costs and expenses thereof.
Utah Code § 40-11-12 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-11 / § 40-11-12
§ 40-11-12. Requirement to record.
Status: in_force

An operator shall file a record of the permit and a description of the impacted land with the recorder's office in each county where the storage facility is located.
Utah Code § 40-8-18 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-8 / § 40-8-18
§ 40-8-18. Notice of intention to amend or revise operations -- Procedure.
Status: in_force

(1) (a) An operator conducting mining operations under an approved notice of intention for a large mining operation or a complete notice of intention for a small mining operation shall submit to the division an amended or revised notice of intention when a change in mining operations will occur. (b) The operator shall submit a notice of intention to amend or revise mining operations in the form required by the rules made by the board in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act. (2) (a) The division shall review and approve or disapprove an amendment of a notice of intention for a large mining operation within 30 days of receipt of a notice of intention to amend mining operations. (b) The division shall review and determine that an amendment of a notice of intention for a small mining operation is complete within 30 days of receipt of the notice of intention to amend mining operations. (c) The division is not required to provide for public comment for an amendment of a notice of intention. (3) The division shall process and consider a notice of intention to revise mining operations in the same manner and within the same time period as an original notice of intention. (4) The operator is authorized and bound by the requirements of the existing notice of intention until the division acts on the amendment or revision and any revised surety requirements are established and satisfied. (5) Although approval of an amendment to the notice of intention by small mining operations is not required, the small mining operator shall file a revised surety before implementing the amended notice of intention. (6) An operator may not use this section to convert a small mining operation to a large mining operation.
Utah Code § 40-8-3 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-8 / § 40-8-3
§ 40-8-3. Purpose.
Status: in_force

The purpose of this act is to provide that from the effective date of the act, except as otherwise provided in this act, all mining in the state shall include plans for reclamation of the land affected.
Utah Code § 40-10-22 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-10 / § 40-10-22
§ 40-10-22. Violation of chapter or permit conditions -- Inspection -- Cessation order, abatement notice, or show cause order -- Suspension or revocation of permit -- Review -- Costs assessed against either party.
Status: in_force

(1) (a) Whenever, on the basis of any information available, including receipt of information from any person, the division has reason to believe that any person is in violation of any requirement of this chapter or any permit condition required by this chapter, the division shall immediately order inspection of the surface coal mining operation at which the alleged violation is occurring, unless the information available to the division is a result of a previous inspection of the surface coal mining operation. When the inspection results from information provided to the division by any person, the division shall notify that person when the inspection is proposed to be carried out, and that person shall be allowed to accompany the inspector during the inspection. (b) When, on the basis of any inspection, the division determines that any condition or practices exist, or that any permittee is in violation of any requirement of this chapter or any permit condition required by this chapter, which condition, practice, or violation also creates an imminent danger to the health or safety of the public, or is causing, or can reasonably be expected to cause significant, imminent environmental harm to land, air, or water resources, the division shall immediately order a cessation of surface coal mining and reclamation operations or the portion thereof relevant to the condition, practice, or violation. The cessation order shall remain in effect until the division determines that the condition, practice, or violation has been abated, or until modified, vacated, or terminated by the division pursuant to Subsection (1)(e). Where the division finds that the ordered cessation of surface coal mining and reclamation operations, or any portion of same, will not completely abate the imminent danger to health or safety of the public or the significant imminent environmental harm to land, air, or water resources, the division shall, in addition to the cessation order, impose affirmative obligations on the operator requiring him to take whatever steps the division deems necessary to abate the imminent danger or the significant environmental harm. (c) When, on the basis of an inspection, the division determines that any permittee is in violation of any requirement of this chapter or any permit condition required by this chapter, but the violation does not create an imminent danger to the health or safety of the public or cannot be reasonably expected to cause significant, imminent environmental harm to land, air, or water resources, the division shall issue a notice to the permittee or his agent fixing a reasonable time but not more than 90 days for the abatement of the violation and providing opportunity for conference before the division. If upon expiration of the period of time as originally fixed or subsequently extended, for good cause shown, and upon the written finding of the division, the division finds that the violation has not been abated, it shall immediately order a cessation of surface coal mining and reclamation operations or the portion of same relevant to the violation. The cessation order shall remain in effect until the division determines that the violation has been abated or until modified, vacated, or terminated by the division pursuant to Subsection (1)(e). In the order of cessation issued by the division under this subsection, the division shall determine the steps necessary to abate the violation in the most expeditious manner possible and shall include the necessary measures in the order. (d) When on the basis of an inspection the division determines that a pattern of violations of any requirements of this chapter or any permit conditions required by this chapter exists or has existed, and if the division also finds that these violations are caused by the unwarranted failure of the permittee to comply with any requirements of this chapter or any permit conditions or that these violations are willfully caused by the permittee, the division shall initiate agency action by requesting the board to issue an order to show cause to the permittee as to why the permit should not be suspended or revoked and shall provide opportunity for a public hearing. If a hearing is requested, the board shall give notice in accordance with the rules of practice and procedure of the board. Upon the permittee's failure to show cause as to why the permit should not be suspended or revoked, the board shall immediately enter an order to suspend or revoke the permit. (e) Notices and orders issued under this section shall set forth with reasonable specificity the nature of the violation and the remedial action required, the period of time established for abatement, and a reasonable description of the portion of the surface coal mining and reclamation operation to which the notice or order applies. Each notice or order issued under this section shall be given promptly to the permittee or his agent by the division, and the notices and orders shall be in writing and shall be signed by the director, or his authorized representative who issues such notice or order. Any notice or order issued under this section may be modified, vacated, or terminated by the division, but any notice or order issued under this section which requires cessation of mining by the operator shall expire within 30 days of actual notice to the operator unless a conference is held before the division. (2) (a) The division may request the attorney general to institute a civil action for relief, including a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or any other appropriate order in a court with jurisdiction under Title 78A, Judiciary and Judicial Administration, whenever a permittee or the permittee's agent: (i) violates or fails or refuses to comply with any order or decision issued under this chapter; (ii) interferes with, hinders, or delays the division or its authorized representatives in carrying out the provisions of this chapter; (iii) refuses to admit the authorized representatives to the mine; (iv) refuses to permit inspection of the mine by the authorized representative; (v) refuses to furnish any information or report requested by the division in furtherance of the provisions of this chapter; or (vi) refuses to permit access to and copying of such records as the division determines necessary in carrying out the provisions of this chapter. (b) Notwithstanding Title 78B, Chapter 3a, Venue for Civil Actions, if the attorney general brings the action described in Subsection (2)(a) in the district court, the attorney general shall bring the action in the county in which: (i) the surface coal mining and reclamation operation is located; or (ii) the permittee of the operation has the permittee's principal office. (c) (i) The court shall have jurisdiction to provide such relief as may be appropriate. (ii) Any relief granted by the court to enforce an order under Subsection (2)(a)(i) shall continue in effect until the completion or final termination of all proceedings for review of that order under this chapter, unless, prior to this completion or termination, the Utah Supreme Court on review grants a stay of enforcement or sets aside or modifies the board's order which is being appealed. (3) (a) A permittee issued a notice or order by the division pursuant to the provisions of Subsections (1)(b) and (1)(c), or any person having an interest which may be adversely affected by the notice or order, may initiate board action by requesting a hearing for review of the notice or order within 30 days of receipt of it or within 30 days of its modification, vacation, or termination. Upon receipt of this application, the board shall cause such investigation to be made as it deems appropriate. The investigation shall provide an opportunity for a public hearing at the request of the applicant or the person having an interest which is or may be adversely affected to enable the applicant or that person to present information relating to the issuance and continuance of the notice or order or the modification, vacation, or termination of it. The filing of an application for review under this subsection shall not operate as a stay of any order or notice. (b) The permittee and other interested persons shall be given written notice of the time and place of the hearing in accordance with the rules of practice and procedure of the board, but the notice may not be less than five days prior to the hearing. This hearing shall be of record and shall be subject to judicial review. (c) Pending completion of the investigation and hearing required by this section, the applicant may file with the board a written request that the board grant temporary relief from any notice or order issued under this section, together with a detailed statement giving the reasons for granting this relief. The board shall issue an order or decision granting or denying this relief expeditiously; and where the applicant requests relief from an order for cessation of coal mining and reclamation operations issued pursuant to Subsections (1)(b) or (1)(c), the order or decision on this request shall be issued within five days of its receipt. The board may grant the relief under such conditions as it may prescribe, if a hearing has been held in the locality of the permit area on the request for temporary relief and the conditions of Subsections 40-10-14(4)(a), 40-10-14(4)(b), and 40-10-14(4)(c) are met. (d) Following the issuance of an order to show cause as to why a permit should not be suspended or revoked pursuant to this section, the board shall hold a public hearing after giving notice in accordance with the rules of practice and procedure of the board. Within 60 days following the hearing, the board shall issue and furnish to the permittee and all other parties to the hearing an order containing the basis for its decision on the suspension or revocation of the permit. If the board revokes the permit, the permittee shall immediately cease surface coal mining operations on the permit area and shall complete reclamation within a period specified by the board, or the board shall declare as forfeited the performance bonds for the operation. (e) Whenever an order is entered under this section or as a result of any adjudicative proceeding under this chapter, at the request of any person, a sum equal to the aggregate amount of all costs and expenses (including attorney fees) as determined by the board to have been reasonably incurred by that person in connection with his participation in the proceedings, including any judicial review of agency actions, may be assessed against either party as the court, resulting from judicial review, or the board, resulting from adjudicative proceedings, deems proper. (f) Action by the board taken under this section or any other provision of the state program shall be subject to judicial review by the Utah Supreme Court as prescribed in Section 78A-3-102, but the availability of this review shall not be construed to limit the operation of the citizen suit in Section 40-10-21, except as provided in this latter section.
Utah Code § 40-10-25.1 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-10 / § 40-10-25.1
§ 40-10-25.1. Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund created -- Contents -- Use of money.
Status: in_force

(1) (a) There is created an expendable special revenue fund known as the "Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund." (b) (i) The fund shall consist of the money specified in Subsections (2) and (3). (ii) The money of Subsection (2) shall be segregated from the money of Subsection (3). (2) (a) Money received by the state from the following sources shall be deposited into the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund: (i) recovered liens filed against privately owned land as provided by Section 40-10-28; (ii) fees for the use of reclaimed lands as provided by Section 40-10-28; (iii) fines collected for violations of this chapter or any rule or order issued under this chapter; (iv) donations designated for reclamation of abandoned mines; and (v) interest credited to the fund pursuant to Subsection (2)(b). (b) Money received under Subsection (2)(a) shall be invested by the state treasurer and the income earned shall be credited to the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund, except interest income earned over $19,000 per year shall be credited to the General Fund. (c) The division may at any time expend money deposited into the fund under Subsection (2)(a) to accomplish the purposes of the abandoned mine reclamation program. (3) (a) (i) Money received by the state from the secretary of the United States Department of Interior, which is granted as special state set-aside money in accordance with 30 U.S.C. Sec. 1232 et seq. shall be deposited in the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund. (ii) Money deposited into the fund under Subsection (3)(a)(i) shall be invested by the state treasurer and the income earned shall be credited to the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund. (b) After August 3, 1992, the division shall use the money deposited into the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund under this Subsection (3) to accomplish the purposes set forth in Sections 40-10-25 through 40-10-28.1. (c) Except as provided in Subsection (3)(d), the money deposited into the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund under this Subsection (3) shall be made available to the division through legislative appropriations. (d) The director of the division with the concurrence of the board may at any time expend money deposited into the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund under Subsection (3)(a) for any emergency requiring immediate reclamation.
Utah Code § 40-10-8 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-10 / § 40-10-8
§ 40-10-8. Exploration rules issued by division -- Contents -- Confidential information not to be publicly available -- Penalty for violation -- Division approval required for removal of excess coal.
Status: in_force

(1) Coal exploration operations which substantially disturb the natural land surface shall be conducted in accordance with exploration rules issued by the division. The rules shall include, at a minimum: (a) the requirement that prior to conducting any exploration under this section, any person must file with the division notice of intention to explore, and the notice shall include a description of the exploration area and the period of proposed exploration; and (b) provisions for reclamation in accordance with performance standards in Section 40-10-17 of all lands disturbed in exploration, including excavations, roads, drill holes, and the removal of necessary facilities and equipment. (2) Information submitted to the division pursuant to this section as confidential concerning trade secrets or privileged commercial or financial information which relates to the competitive rights of the person or entity intending to explore the described area shall not be available for public examination. (3) Any person who conducts any coal exploration activities which substantially disturb the natural land surface in violation of this section or rules issued pursuant to it shall be subject to the provisions of Section 40-10-20. (4) No person shall remove more than 250 tons of coal pursuant to an exploration permit without the specific written approval of the division.
Utah Code § 40-6-23 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-6 / § 40-6-23
§ 40-6-23. Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining Restricted Account.
Status: in_force

(1) As used in this section: (a) "Account" means the Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining Restricted Account created by this section. (b) "Division" means the Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining. (2) (a) There is created a restricted account within the General Fund known as the "Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining Restricted Account." (b) The account consists of: (i) deposits to the account made under Section 51-9-306; (ii) appropriations of the Legislature; and (iii) interest and other earnings described in Subsection (2)(c). (c) The Office of the Treasurer shall deposit interest and other earnings derived from investment of money in the account into the account. (3) (a) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the division shall use money from the account to pay the costs of programs or projects administered by the division. (b) An appropriation provided for under this section is not intended to replace the following that is otherwise allocated for the programs or projects described in Subsection (3)(a): (i) federal money; or (ii) a dedicated credit. (4) Appropriations made in accordance with this section are nonlapsing in accordance with Section 63J-1-602.1.
Utah Code § 40-8-19 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-8 / § 40-8-19
§ 40-8-19. Transfer of mining operation under approved notice of intention.
Status: in_force

Whenever an operator succeeds to the interest of another operator who holds an approved notice of intention or revision covering a mining operation, by sale, assignment, lease, or other means, the division may release the first operator from the first operator's responsibilities under the first operator's approved notice of intention, including surety, provided the successor assumes all of the duties of the former operator, to the satisfaction of the division, under this approved notice of intention, including its then approved reclamation plan and the posting of surety. Upon the satisfactory assumption of such responsibilities by the successor operator, under conditions approved by the division, the approved notice of intention shall be transferred to the successor operator.
Utah Code § 40-6-5 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-6 / § 40-6-5
§ 40-6-5. Jurisdiction of board -- Rules.
Status: in_force

(1) The board has jurisdiction over all persons and property necessary to enforce this chapter. The board shall make rules in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act. (2) The board shall make rules and orders as necessary to administer the following provisions: (a) Ownership of all facilities for the production, storage, treatment, transportation, refining, or processing of oil and gas shall be identified. (b) Well logs, directional surveys, and reports on well location, drilling, and production shall be made and filed with the division. Logs of wells marked "confidential" shall be kept confidential for one year after the date on which the log is required to be filed, unless the operator gives written permission to release the log at an earlier date. Production reports shall be: (i) filed monthly; (ii) accurate; and (iii) in a form that reasonably serves the needs of state agencies and private fee owners. (c) Monthly reports from gas processing plants shall be filed with the division. (d) Wells shall be drilled, cased, cemented, operated, and plugged in such manner as to prevent: (i) the escape of oil, gas, or water out of the reservoir in which they are found into another formation; (ii) the detrimental intrusion of water into an oil or gas reservoir; (iii) the pollution of fresh water supplies by oil, gas, or salt water; (iv) blowouts; (v) cavings; (vi) seepages; (vii) fires; and (viii) unreasonable: (A) loss of a surface land owner's crops on surface land; (B) loss of value of existing improvements owned by a surface land owner on surface land; and (C) permanent damage to surface land. (e) The drilling of wells may not commence without an adequate and approved supply of water as required by Title 73, Chapter 3, Appropriation. This Subsection (2)(e) is not intended to impose additional legal requirements, but to assure that existing legal requirements concerning the use of water have been met before the commencement of drilling. (f) Subject to Subsection (9), an operator shall furnish a reasonable performance bond or other good and sufficient surety, conditioned for the performance of the duty to: (i) plug each dry or abandoned well; (ii) repair each well causing waste or pollution; (iii) maintain and restore the well site; and (iv) except as provided in Subsection (8), protect a surface land owner against unreasonable: (A) loss of a surface land owner's crops on surface land; (B) loss of value of existing improvements owned by a surface land owner on surface land; and (C) permanent damage to surface land. (g) Production from wells shall be separated into oil and gas and measured by means and upon standards that are prescribed by the board and reflect current industry standards. (h) Crude oil obtained from any reserve pit, disposal pond or pit, or similar facility, and any accumulation of nonmerchantable waste crude oil shall be treated and processed, as prescribed by the board. (i) Any person who produces, sells, purchases, acquires, stores, transports, refines, or processes oil or gas or injects fluids for cycling, pressure maintenance, secondary or enhanced recovery, or salt water disposal in this state shall maintain complete and accurate records of the quantities produced, sold, purchased, acquired, stored, transported, refined, processed, or injected for a period of at least six years. The records shall be available for examination by the board or the board's agents at any reasonable time. Rules enacted to administer this Subsection (2)(i) shall be consistent with applicable federal requirements. (j) Any person with an interest in a lease shall be notified when all or part of that interest in the lease is sold or transferred. (k) The assessment and collection of administrative penalties is consistent with Section 40-6-11. (l) The board shall regulate the disposition, transfer, use, transport, recycling, treatment, and disposal by injection of produced water, as defined in Section 40-12-101, during, or for reuse in an oil and gas activity, as defined in Section 40-6-2.5, including disposal by injection pursuant to authority delegated to the board by the United States Environmental Protection Agency to be done in a manner that protects surface water and fresh water resources. (3) The board has the authority to regulate: (a) all operations for and related to the production of oil or gas including: (i) drilling, testing, equipping, completing, operating, producing, and plugging of wells; and (ii) reclamation of sites; (b) the spacing and location of wells; (c) operations to increase ultimate recovery, such as: (i) cycling of gas; (ii) the maintenance of pressure; and (iii) the introduction of gas, water, or other substances into a reservoir; (d) the disposal of salt water and oil-field wastes; (e) the underground and surface storage of oil, gas, or products; and (f) the flaring of gas from an oil well. (4) For the purposes of administering this chapter, the board may designate: (a) wells as: (i) oil wells; or (ii) gas wells; and (b) pools as: (i) oil pools; or (ii) gas pools. (5) The board has exclusive jurisdiction over: (a) class II injection wells, as defined by the federal Environmental Protection Agency or a successor agency; (b) pits and ponds in relation to these injection wells; (c) when granted primacy by the Environmental Protection Agency, class VI injection wells, as defined by the Environmental Protection Agency or a successor agency; and (d) storage facilities, as that term is defined in Section 40-11-1. (6) The board has jurisdiction: (a) to hear questions regarding multiple mineral development conflicts with oil and gas operations if there: (i) is potential injury to other mineral deposits on the same lands; or (ii) are simultaneous or concurrent operations conducted by other mineral owners or lessees affecting the same lands; and (b) to enter the board's order or rule with respect to those questions. (7) The board has enforcement powers with respect to operators of minerals other than oil and gas as are set forth in Section 40-6-11, for the sole purpose of enforcing multiple mineral development issues. (8) Subsection (2)(f)(iv) does not apply if the surface land owner is a party to, or a successor of a party to: (a) a lease of the underlying privately owned oil and gas; (b) a surface use agreement applicable to the surface land owner's surface land; or (c) a contract, waiver, or release addressing an owner's or operator's use of the surface land owner's surface land. (9) (a) The board shall review rules made under Subsection (2)(f) to determine whether the rules provide adequate fiscal security for the fiscal risks to the state related to oil and gas operations. (b) During the board's review under this Subsection (9), the board may consider the bonding schemes of other states. (10) The board may make rules, in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act, related to procedures under Title 19, Chapter 12, Pollution Control Act, for certification by the director of the division.
Utah Code § 40-11-4 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-11 / § 40-11-4
§ 40-11-4. Board and division permit authority.
Status: in_force

To the extent required to authorize and issue permits and to regulate geologic carbon sequestration, the board and the division shall have authority: (1) over all persons and property necessary to administer and enforce this chapter and this chapter's objectives; (2) to regulate activities relating to a storage facility, including construction, operation, and closure; (3) to enter, at a reasonable time and manner, a storage facility to: (a) inspect equipment and surface storage facilities; (b) observe, monitor, and investigate operations; or (c) inspect records the board requires the operators maintain at the storage facility; (4) to require that storage operators provide assurance, including bonds, that money is available to fulfill the storage operator's duties; (5) to exercise continuing jurisdiction over storage operators and storage facilities, including the authority, after notice and hearing, to amend provisions in a permit and to revoke a permit; (6) to dissolve or change the boundaries of any unit that is within or near a storage reservoir's boundaries; and (7) to oversee the expenditure of money from the fund to accomplish the purposes of this chapter.
Utah Code § 40-14-203 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-14 / § 40-14-203
§ 40-14-203. Final permit decision by division -- Appeal.
Status: in_force

(1) (a) The division shall conduct a final technical review and make a final administrative decision for a permit application upon completion of an expedited review. (b) To make a final administrative decision on a permit application, the division shall: (i) review a preliminary permit decision for the permit application; (ii) conduct a final technical review of the permit application; and (iii) (A) approve the permit application; (B) deny the permit application; or (C) return the permit application to the applicant with a description of the permit application's deficiencies. (2) Except as otherwise provided in this title, a permit applicant may appeal the division's final administrative decision as provided in Section 40-8-13.1.
Utah Code § 40-14-202 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-14 / § 40-14-202
§ 40-14-202. Expedited review request -- Preliminary permit decision.
Status: in_force

(1) (a) An applicant for an eligible permit may request an expedited review of the applicant's permit application. (b) An applicant that requests expedited review shall, in a form and manner determined by the division: (i) submit a written request to the division for an expedited review of the applicant's permit application; (ii) pay all costs associated with the expedited review; and (iii) submit a completed application to a qualified reviewer. (2) (a) The division may establish a process for a qualified reviewer to complete an expedited review of a permit application for an eligible permit. (b) A qualified reviewer shall perform an expedited review: (i) subject to all standards, technical specifications, scope of review, and other requirements as determined by the division; (ii) on a timeline established by the division; and (iii) in accordance with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations. (3) A qualified reviewer shall submit a preliminary permit decision to the division at the completion of an expedited review, including: (a) an analysis of the basis for the recommendation; and (b) supporting documentation, as determined by the division.
Utah Code § 40-6-20 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-6 / § 40-6-20
§ 40-6-20. Use of surface land by owner or operator.
Status: in_force

(1) An owner or operator may: (a) enter onto surface land under which the owner or operator holds rights to conduct oil and gas operations; and (b) use the surface land: (i) to the extent reasonably necessary to conduct oil and gas operations; and (ii) consistent with allowing the surface land owner the greatest possible use of the surface land owner's property, to the extent that the surface land owner's use does not interfere with the owner's or operator's oil and gas operations. (2) Subject to Subsection (3), except as is reasonably necessary to conduct oil and gas operations, an owner or operator shall: (a) mitigate the effects of accessing the surface land owner's surface land; (b) minimize interference with the surface land owner's use of the surface land owner's property; and (c) compensate a surface land owner for unreasonable: (i) loss of a surface land owner's crops on the surface land; (ii) loss of value to existing improvements owned by a surface land owner on the surface land; and (iii) permanent damage to the surface land. (3) An owner or operator is not required to: (a) obtain location or spacing exceptions from the division or board; or (b) utilize directional or horizontal drilling techniques that are not: (i) technologically feasible; (ii) economically practicable; or (iii) reasonably available. (4) The requirements of Subsection (2) do not apply to the extent that they conflict with or impair a contractual provision relevant to an owner's or operator's use of surface land for oil and gas operations. (5) (a) The provisions of this section do not prevent: (i) a person from seeking a remedy allowed by law; or (ii) an owner or operator and a surface land owner from addressing the use of surface land for oil and gas operations through: (A) a lease; (B) a surface use agreement; or (C) another written contract. (b) An agreement described in Subsection (5)(a)(ii) shall control: (i) the use of surface land for oil and gas operations; and (ii) compensation for damage to the surface land caused by oil and gas operations.
Utah Code § 40-13-203 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-13 / § 40-13-203
§ 40-13-203. Criminal penalties.
Status: in_force

(1) It is unlawful for a person to intentionally or knowingly: (a) for the purpose of evading this chapter or an order issued under this chapter, make or cause to be made a false statement, representation, or certification in a report, record, account, or memorandum required by this chapter or by the order; (b) omit or cause to be omitted from a report, record, account, or memorandum, a full, true, and correct entry as required by this chapter or by an order; (c) fail to make a statement, representation, or certification in an application, record, report, plan, or other document filed or required to be maintained pursuant to this chapter or an order issued under this chapter; (d) remove from this state or destroy, mutilate, alter, or falsify a record, account, or memorandum; or (e) fail or refuse to comply with: (i) an order issued under Section 40-13-201; or (ii) an order incorporated in a final decision issued by the board under this chapter, except an order incorporated in a decision under Subsection 40-13-202(6). (2) A person who violates Subsection (1) is guilty of a class B misdemeanor, and upon conviction, for each violation, is subject to: (a) a fine of not to exceed $1,000 as provided in Section 76-3-301; (b) imprisonment for a term not to exceed six months as provided in Section 76-3-204; or (c) both a fine and imprisonment. (3) If a permittee violates Subsection (1), a director, officer, or agent of the permittee may be held criminally responsible in accordance with Section 76-2-205. (4) A criminal proceeding for a violation described in Subsection (1) shall be commenced, as provided in Section 76-1-302, by no later than two years from the date of the alleged violation. (5) The division or board may impose a civil penalty under Section 40-13-202 in addition to prosecution under this section.
Utah Code § 40-6-14 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-6 / § 40-6-14
§ 40-6-14. Fee on oil and gas -- Payment of fee -- Collection -- Penalty and interest on delinquencies -- Payment when product taken in-kind -- Interests exempt.
Status: in_force

(1) (a) There is levied a fee as provided in Subsection (1)(b) for oil and gas: (i) produced; and (ii) (A) saved; (B) sold; or (C) transported from the field in Utah where the oil or gas is produced. (b) The fee imposed under this Subsection (1) is equal to the product of: (i) .002; and (ii) the value of the oil or gas determined in accordance with Section 59-5-103.1. (2) (a) The State Tax Commission shall administer the collection of the fee, including any penalties and interest. (b) The money collected shall be deposited in the Oil and Gas Conservation Account created in Section 40-6-14.5. (c) Time periods for the State Tax Commission to allow a refund or assess the fee shall be determined in accordance with Section 59-5-114. (3) (a) Each person having an ownership interest in oil or gas at the time of production shall be liable for a proportionate share of the fee equivalent to that person's ownership interest. (b) As used in this section "ownership interest" means any: (i) working interest; (ii) royalty interest; (iii) interest in payments out of production; or (iv) any other interest in the oil or gas, or in the proceeds of the oil or gas, subject to the fee. (4) (a) The operator, on behalf of the operator and any person having an ownership interest in the oil or gas, shall pay the fee to the State Tax Commission: (i) quarterly; and (ii) as provided in Subsections (4)(b) and (c). (b) For purposes of Subsection (4)(a), the quarterly fee payments are due as follows: (i) for the quarter beginning on January 1 and ending on March 31, on or before June 1; (ii) for the quarter beginning on April 1 and ending on June 30, on or before September 1; (iii) for the quarter beginning on July 1 and ending on September 30, on or before December 1; and (iv) for the quarter beginning on October 1 and ending on December 31, on or before March 1 of the next year. (c) The fee required by this section shall be reported to the State Tax Commission on forms provided by the State Tax Commission. (5) (a) Any fee not paid within the time specified shall: (i) carry a penalty as provided in Section 59-1-401; and (ii) bear interest at the rate and in the manner prescribed in Section 59-1-402. (b) (i) The fee, together with the interest, shall be a lien upon the oil or gas against which the fee and interest are levied. (ii) The operator shall deduct from any amounts due to the persons owning an interest in the oil or gas, or in the proceeds at the time of production, a proportionate amount of the charge before making payment to the persons. (6) (a) When product is taken in-kind by an interest owner who is not the operator and the operator cannot determine the value of the in-kind product, the operator shall: (i) report 100% of the production; (ii) deduct the product taken in-kind; and (iii) pay the levy on the difference. (b) The interest owner who takes the product in-kind shall file a report and pay the levy on the interest owner's share of production excluded from the operator's report. (7) This section shall apply to any interest in oil or gas produced in the state except: (a) any interest of the United States; (b) any interest of the state or a political subdivision of the state in any oil or gas or in the proceeds of the oil or gas; (c) any interest of any Indian or Indian tribe in any oil or gas or in the proceeds produced from land subject to the supervision of the United States; or (d) oil or gas used in producing or drilling operations or for repressuring or recycling purposes.
Utah Code § 40-8-22 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-8 / § 40-8-22
§ 40-8-22. Division cooperation -- Agreements.
Status: in_force

(1) The division shall cooperate with other state agencies, local governmental bodies, agencies of the federal government, and appropriate private interest in the furtherance of the purposes of this act. (2) The division is authorized to enter into cooperative agreements with these agencies, as may be approved by the board, in furtherance of the purposes of this act and may accept or commit funds in connection thereto as may be appropriated or otherwise provided for the purpose and as specifically approved by the board, except that such actions shall not result in any delegation of powers, responsibility, or authority conferred upon the board or division by this act.
Utah Code § 40-6-7 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-6 / § 40-6-7
§ 40-6-7. Agreements for repressuring or pressure maintenance or cycling or recycling operations -- Plan for development and operation of pool or field.
Status: in_force

(1) An agreement for repressuring or pressure maintenance operations, cycling or recycling operations, including the extraction and separation of liquid hydrocarbons from natural gas, or for carrying on any other methods of unit or cooperative development or operation of a field or pool or a part of either, is authorized and may be performed, and shall not be held or construed to violate any statutes relating to trusts, monopolies, or contracts and combinations in restraint of trade, if the agreement is approved by the board as being in the public interest and promotes conservation, increases ultimate recovery and prevents waste of oil or gas provided the agreement protects the correlative rights of each owner or producer. (2) A plan for the development and operation of a pool or field shall be presented to the board and may be approved after notice and hearing.
Utah Code § 40-1-10 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-1 / § 40-1-10
§ 40-1-10. Certified copies of records evidence.
Status: in_force

Copies of notices of location of mining claims, mill sites and tunnel sites heretofore recorded in the records of the several mining districts, and copies of the mining rules and regulations in force therein and recorded, when duly certified by the district or county recorder, shall be receivable in all tribunals and before all officers of this state as prima facie evidence.
Utah Code § 40-10-25 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-10 / § 40-10-25
§ 40-10-25. Abandoned mine reclamation program -- Expenditure priorities -- Eligible lands and water -- Requirements for use of funds for reclamation or drainage abatement -- Priority sites -- Effect of release of bond or deposit.
Status: in_force

(1) Grants made to the state by the secretary of the United States Department of Interior for the administration of an abandoned mine reclamation program and money of the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund created in Section 40-10-25.1 shall be used by the division in accordance with Sections 40-10-25 through 40-10-28.1. (2) The expenditure of money shall reflect the following priorities: (a) the protection of public health, safety, general welfare, and property from extreme danger of adverse effects of coal mining practices; (b) the protection of public health, safety, and general welfare from adverse effects of coal mining practices; (c) the restoration of land and water resources and the environment previously degraded by adverse effects of coal mining practices, including measures for the conservation and development of soil, water (excluding channelization), woodland, fish and wildlife, recreation resources, and agricultural productivity; (d) the protection, repair, replacement, construction, or enhancement of public facilities such as utilities, roads, and recreation and conservation facilities adversely affected by coal mining practices; and (e) the development of publicly owned land adversely affected by coal mining practices, including land acquired as provided in this section for recreation and historic purposes, conservation, reclamation purposes, and open space benefits. (3) Except as provided in Section 40-10-28.1, lands and water eligible for reclamation or drainage abatement expenditures under this section are those which were mined for coal or affected by coal mining, wastebanks, coal processing, or other coal mining processes and: (a) abandoned or left in an inadequate reclamation status prior to August 3, 1977, and for which there is no continuing reclamation responsibility under state or federal laws; or (b) left in an inadequate reclamation status and meet the criteria of Subsection (4)(a) or (b). (4) Funds made available under this section may be used for reclamation or drainage abatement at a site referred to in Subsection (3) if: (a) (i) operations occurred on the site during the period beginning August 4, 1977, and ending before January 21, 1981; and (ii) any funds for reclamation or abatement which are available pursuant to a loan or other form of financial guarantee or from any other source are not sufficient to provide for adequate reclamation or abatement at the site; or (b) (i) operations occurred on the site during the period beginning on August 4, 1977, and ending on or before November 5, 1990; and (ii) the surety of the mining operator became insolvent during that period, and as of November 5, 1990, funds immediately available from proceedings relating to the insolvency, or from any financial guarantee or other source, are not sufficient to provide for adequate reclamation or abatement at the site. (5) In determining which sites to reclaim, priority shall be given to those sites which are in the immediate vicinity of a residential area or which have an adverse economic impact upon a local community. (6) (a) Surface coal mining operations on lands eligible for remining will not affect their eligibility for reclamation and restoration under this chapter after the release of the bond or deposit for the operation as provided under Section 40-10-16. (b) When a bond or deposit for a surface coal mining operation on lands eligible for remining is forfeited, funds available under Section 40-10-25 may be used, if the amount of the bond or deposit is not sufficient to provide for adequate reclamation or abatement. (c) Regardless of the requirements of Subsections (6)(a) and (b), the director of the division may expend money under Section 40-10-25.1 for any emergency requiring immediate reclamation.
Utah Code § 40-6-6 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-6 / § 40-6-6
§ 40-6-6. Drilling units -- Establishment by board -- Modifications -- Prohibitions.
Status: in_force

(1) The board may order the establishment of drilling units for a pool. (2) Within each drilling unit, only one well may be drilled for production from the common source of supply, except as provided in Subsections (6) and (7). (3) A drilling unit may not be smaller than the maximum area that can be efficiently and economically drained by one well. (4) (a) Each drilling unit within a pool shall be of uniform size and shape, unless the board finds that it must make an exception due to geologic, geographic, or other factors. (b) If the board finds it necessary to divide a pool into zones and establish drilling units for each zone, drilling units may differ in size and shape for each zone. (5) An order of the board that establishes drilling units for a pool shall: (a) be made upon terms and conditions that are just and reasonable; (b) include all lands determined by the board to overlay the pool; (c) specify the acreage and shape of each drilling unit as determined by the board; and (d) specify the location of the well in terms of distance from drilling unit boundaries and other wells. (6) The board may establish a drilling unit and concurrently authorize the drilling of more than one well in a drilling unit if the board finds that: (a) engineering or geologic characteristics justify the drilling of more than one well in that drilling unit; and (b) the drilling of more than one well in the drilling unit will not result in waste. (7) The board may modify an order that establishes drilling units for a pool to provide for: (a) an exception to the authorized location of a well; (b) the inclusion of additional areas which the board determines overlays the pool; (c) the increase or decrease of the size of drilling units; or (d) the drilling of additional wells within drilling units. (8) (a) An order of the board that establishes a drilling unit may be made effective retroactively to the date of first production of an existing well located within the drilling unit if no party to the board's proceeding objects to the retroactive application. (b) An order made retroactive under this section is binding upon a party owning an interest in the drilling unit who receives proper notice of the board's proceeding. (9) (a) After an order establishing drilling units has been entered by the board, the drilling of a well into the pool at a location other than that authorized by the order is prohibited. (b) The operation of a well drilled in violation of an order fixing drilling units is prohibited.
Utah Code § 40-11-7 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-11 / § 40-11-7
§ 40-11-7. Permit hearing.
Status: in_force

(1) The board shall hold a public hearing before authorizing the division to issue a permit. (2) The board shall conduct the hearing in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 4, Administrative Procedures Act. (3) The board shall give notice no fewer than 30 days prior to the hearing by: (a) one publication in a daily newspaper of general circulation in Salt Lake City, Utah; (b) in all newspapers of general circulation published in the county or counties in which the land affected is situated; and (c) by publication in accordance with Section 45-1-101. (4) In addition to the notice required in Subsection (3), an applicant shall provide notice of the hearing and a copy of the permit application, no fewer than 30 days before the hearing to: (a) each mineral lessee within one-half mile of the storage reservoir's boundaries; (b) each mineral owner within one-half mile of the storage reservoir's boundaries; (c) each pore space owner within one-half mile of the storage reservoir's boundaries; (d) each surface owner of land within one-half mile of the storage reservoir's boundaries; and (e) any additional person the board identifies. (5) An applicant shall serve the notice described in Subsection (4) through personal service. (6) The board may, in accordance with the requirements of Section 63G-6a-116, procure the services of an administrative law judge to conduct the hearing described in Subsection (1). (7) If the board procures the services of an administrative law judge, the board may rely on the decision of the administrative law judge when deciding whether to issue a permit.
Utah Code § 40-2-204 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-2 / § 40-2-204
§ 40-2-204. Coal Miner Certification Panel created -- Duties.
Status: in_force

(1) There is created within the office the "Coal Miner Certification Panel." (2) The panel consists of: (a) the commissioner or the commissioner's designee; and (b) at least eight other members appointed by the commissioner with equal representation and participation from: (i) management of coal mine operations; and (ii) hourly coal mining employees. (3) A member appointed by the commissioner shall: (a) have at least five years' experience in coal mining in this state; (b) administer the certification test to an applicant referred to in Section 40-2-402; (c) consult with the commission about applicant qualifications specified in Section 40-2-402; (d) meet when directed by the commissioner or the commissioner's designee; and (e) hold office at the pleasure of the commissioner. (4) A member may not receive compensation or benefits for the member's service, but may receive per diem and travel expenses in accordance with: (a) Section 63A-3-106; (b) Section 63A-3-107; and (c) rules made by the Division of Finance pursuant to Sections 63A-3-106 and 63A-3-107.
Utah Code § 40-10-6 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-10 / § 40-10-6
§ 40-10-6. Powers, functions, and duties of board and division.
Status: in_force

In addition to those provided in Title 40, Chapter 8, Utah Mined Land Reclamation Act, the board and division have the following powers, functions, and duties: (1) to make and promulgate in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act, the rules as are specifically necessary for the regulation of coal mining operations and reclamation operations; (2) to authorize its employees, agents, or contractors to enter upon any property for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this chapter and Title 40, Chapter 8, Utah Mined Land Reclamation Act; (3) to establish specific reclamation and performance standards for new and existing coal mining operations and to effectuate these standards retroactively; (4) to prohibit mining and exploration operations without a permit and to establish procedures and requirements for the preparation, submission, approval, denial, termination, and modification of applications for coal mining and reclamation permits and for coal exploration permits; (5) to set and assess an application fee based on no more than the actual cost of review and processing of the application, this fee to accompany each application for a surface coal mining and reclamation permit and each application for an exploration permit; (6) to establish procedures and detailed requirements for all reclamation plans submitted as part of a permit application; (7) to condition the issuance of a permit to commence or continue surface mining operations upon the posting of performance bonds, deposits, or sureties and to make provision for the release of same in compliance with the requirements of this chapter; (8) to appoint or employ technical support, legal services, or independent consultants in furtherance of the objectives of this chapter and shall be responsible for coordination with other agencies in matters relating to mined land reclamation and the application of related law; and (9) to do all other things and take such other actions retroactively or otherwise within the purposes of this chapter as may be necessary to enforce its provisions.
Utah Code § 40-11-13 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-11 / § 40-11-13
§ 40-11-13. Reservoir integrity.
Status: in_force

(1) Carbon dioxide injected into and stored in a reservoir in compliance with the requirements of this section is not: (a) pollution, as that term is defined in Section 4-18-103; or (b) a private nuisance or a public nuisance, as defined in Section 78B-6a-101. (2) A reservoir is only appropriate for geologic carbon storage if the board determines and the operator demonstrates that: (a) carbon dioxide cannot escape the reservoir at a rate exceeding the lower of 1% or the standard recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency; (b) no additional substances will be introduced into the storage facility that could compromise the integrity of the storage reservoir; and (c) the operator has a plan to maintain the integrity of the reservoir. (3) When making a determination described in Subsection (2), the board may rely upon: (a) a finding from the Utah Geological Survey, created in Section 79-3-201 that the reservoir is appropriate for the storage of carbon dioxide; and (b) reports and findings from the Department of Environmental Quality, created in Section 19-1-104. (4) The board shall take action to enforce the provisions of this section.
Utah Code § 40-6-20.5 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-6 / § 40-6-20.5
§ 40-6-20.5. Title to pore space.
Status: in_force

(1) Title to pore space underlying the surface estate is vested in the owner of the surface estate. (2) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to increase or diminish any property right established under the laws of the state.
Utah Code § 40-11-20 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-11 / § 40-11-20
§ 40-11-20. Adoption of procedure.
Status: in_force

(1) The board may adopt procedures and criteria to determine the amount of injected carbon dioxide: (a) stored in a reservoir that has been or is being used for an enhanced oil or gas recovery project; or (b) stored in a reservoir that is a part of a storage facility. (2) The board may charge a fee to cover the costs of making a determination described in Subsection (1). (3) The division shall deposit a fee collected in accordance with Subsection (2) into the fund.
Utah Code § 40-11-18 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-11 / § 40-11-18
§ 40-11-18. Cooperative agreements and contracts.
Status: in_force

(1) The board may enter into an agreement with another government, government entity, or state agency for the purpose of carrying out the objectives described in this chapter. (2) The board may enter into a contract with a private person in order for the board to carry out the board's objectives. (3) The board shall follow Title 63G, Chapter 6a, Utah Procurement Code, when entering into an agreement or contract described in Subsection (1) or (2).
Utah Code § 40-8-10 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-8 / § 40-8-10
§ 40-8-10. Notice.
Status: in_force

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, any notification required by this chapter shall be: (1) given by the board or division by personal service to individuals directly affected; and (a) by one publication in a daily newspaper of general circulation in Salt Lake City, Utah; and (b) in all newspapers of general circulation published in the county or counties in which the land affected is situated; and (2) by publication in accordance with Section 45-1-101.
Utah Code § 40-10-6.5 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-10 / § 40-10-6.5
§ 40-10-6.5. Rulemaking authority and procedure.
Status: in_force

(1) The board shall promulgate rules under this chapter in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act. (2) Except as provided in Subsection (3), no rule which the board adopts for the purpose of the state administering a program under the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act may be more stringent than the corresponding federal regulations which address the same circumstances. In adopting such rules, the board may incorporate by reference corresponding federal regulations. (3) The board may adopt rules more stringent than corresponding federal regulations for the purpose described in Subsection (2), only if it makes a written finding after public comment and hearing, and based on evidence in the record, that the corresponding federal regulation is not adequate to protect public safety and the environment of the state. Those findings shall be accompanied by an opinion referring to and evaluating the public safety and environmental information and studies contained in the record which form the basis for the board's conclusion.
Utah Code § 40-6-1 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-6 / § 40-6-1
§ 40-6-1. Declaration of public interest.
Status: in_force

It is declared to be in the public interest to foster, encourage, and promote the development, production, and utilization of natural resources of oil and gas in the state of Utah in such a manner as will prevent waste; to authorize and to provide for the operation and development of oil and gas properties in such a manner that a greater ultimate recovery of oil and gas may be obtained and that the correlative rights of all owners may be fully protected; to provide exclusive state authority over oil and gas exploration and development as regulated under the provisions of this chapter; to encourage, authorize, and provide for voluntary agreements for cycling, recycling, pressure maintenance, and secondary recovery operations in order that the greatest possible economic recovery of oil and gas may be obtained within the state to the end that the land owners, the royalty owners, the producers, and the general public may realize and enjoy the greatest possible good from these vital natural resources.
Utah Code § 40-10-21 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-10 / § 40-10-21
§ 40-10-21. Civil action to compel compliance with chapter --  Venue -- Division and board as parties -- Court costs -- Security when temporary restraining order or injunction sought -- Other rights not affected -- Action for damages.
Status: in_force

(1) Except as provided in Subsection (2), any person having an interest that is or may be adversely affected may bring an action on the person's own behalf to compel compliance with this chapter against: (a) the state or any other governmental instrumentality or agency to the extent permitted by the 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution or Title 63G, Chapter 7, Governmental Immunity Act of Utah, which is alleged to be in violation of the provisions of this chapter or of any rule, order, or permit issued pursuant to it; (b) any person who is alleged to be in violation of any rule, order, or permit issued pursuant to this chapter; or (c) the division or board where there is alleged a failure of the division or board to perform any act or duty under this chapter which is not discretionary with the division or with the board. (2) A person may not bring an action: (a) under Subsection (1)(a) or (b): (i) prior to 60 days after the person has given notice in writing of the violation to the division and to any alleged violator; or (ii) if the attorney general has commenced and is diligently prosecuting a civil action in a court of the state to require compliance with the provisions of this chapter, or any rule, order, or permit issued pursuant to this chapter; or (b) under Subsection (1)(c) prior to 60 days after the person has given notice in writing of the action to the board, in the manner as the board prescribes by rule, except that the person may bring the action immediately after the notification in the case where the violation or order complained of constitutes an imminent threat to the health or safety of the person or would immediately affect a legal interest of the person. (3) (a) Notwithstanding Title 78B, Chapter 3a, Venue for Civil Actions, the person shall bring an action under this section in the county in which the surface coal mining operation is located. (b) In the action, the division and board, if not a party, may intervene as a matter of right. (4) (a) The court, in issuing any final order in any action brought pursuant to Subsection (1), may award costs of litigation, including attorney and expert witness fees, to any party whenever the court determines that award is appropriate. (b) The court may, if a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction is sought, require the filing of a bond or equivalent security in accordance with the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure. (5) Nothing in this section may restrict any right which any person, or class of persons, has under any statute or common law to seek enforcement of any of the provisions of this chapter and the rules promulgated under it, or to seek any other relief, including relief against the division and board. (6) (a) Any person who is injured in his person or property through the violation by an operator of any rule, order, or permit issued pursuant to this chapter may bring an action for damages, including reasonable attorney and expert witness fees, only in the judicial district in which the surface coal mining operation complained of is located. (b) Nothing in this Subsection (6) shall affect the rights established by or limits imposed under Utah workmen's compensation laws.
Utah Code § 40-10-27 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-10 / § 40-10-27
§ 40-10-27. Entry upon land adversely affected by past coal mining practices -- Conducting of studies or exploratory work -- State acquisition of land -- Lien -- Waste disposal fund -- Water pollution control and treatment plants.
Status: in_force

(1) (a) If the board, after notice and hearing, makes a finding of fact as provided in Subsection (1)(b), the agents, employees, or contractors of the division shall have the right to enter property adversely affected by past coal mining practices and any other property to have access to property adversely affected by past coal mining practices to do whatever is necessary or expedient to restore, reclaim, abate, control, or prevent the adverse effects. (b) The board shall find that: (i) land or water resources have been adversely affected by past coal mining practices; (ii) the adverse effects are at a stage where, in the public interest, action to restore, reclaim, abate, control, or prevent should be taken; and (iii) the owners of the land or water resources where entry must be made to restore, reclaim, abate, control, or prevent the adverse effects of past coal mining practices: (A) are not known; (B) are not readily available; or (C) will not give permission for the state or its political subdivisions, their agents, employees, or contractors to enter upon the property to restore, reclaim, abate, control, or prevent the adverse effects of past coal mining practices. (c) Notice of the division's right to enter the property shall be: (i) if the owners are known, given by mail; and (ii) if the owners are not known: (A) posted upon the premises; and (B) advertised: (I) once in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the land lies; and (II) as required in Section 45-1-101. (d) This entry shall be construed as an exercise of the police power for the protection of public health, safety, and general welfare and may not be construed as an act of condemnation of property nor of trespass on it. (e) The money expended for this work and the benefits accruing to the premises entered upon shall be chargeable against the land and shall mitigate or offset any claim in or any action brought by any owner of any interest in these premises for any alleged damages by virtue of the entry. (f) This Subsection (1) is not intended to create new rights of action or eliminate existing immunities. (2) (a) The agents, employees, or contractors of the division may enter upon any property for the purpose of conducting studies or exploratory work to determine the existence of adverse effects of past coal mining practices and to determine the feasibility of restoration, reclamation, abatement, control, or prevention of these adverse effects. (b) This entry shall be construed as an exercise of the police power for the protection of public health, safety, and general welfare and may not be construed as an act of condemnation of property or trespass on it. (3) The state may acquire any land by purchase, donation, or condemnation which is adversely affected by past coal mining practices if the board, after notice and hearing, determines that acquisition of this land is necessary to successful reclamation and that: (a) the acquired land, after restoration, reclamation, abatement, control, or prevention of the adverse effects of past coal mining practices, will serve recreation and historic purposes, conservation and reclamation purposes, or provide open space benefits; and (b) (i) permanent facilities such as a treatment plant or a relocated stream channel will be constructed on the land for the restoration, reclamation, abatement, control, or prevention of the adverse effects of past coal mining practices; or (ii) acquisitions of coal refuse disposal sites and all coal refuse on the sites will serve the purposes of this chapter or that public ownership is desirable to meet emergency situations and prevent recurrences of the adverse effects of past coal mining practices. (4) (a) Title to all lands acquired under this section shall be in the name of the state. (b) The price paid for land acquired under this section shall reflect the market value of the land as adversely affected by past coal mining practices. (5) (a) If land acquired under this section is considered suitable for industrial, commercial, residential, or recreational development, the division, in conjunction with the Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands, may sell this land by public sale under a system of competitive bidding, at not less than fair market value, and under any other rules promulgated to insure that the land is put to proper use consistent with local and state land use plans. (b) (i) The state, when requested after appropriate public notice, shall hold a public hearing with the appropriate notice, in the counties or appropriate political subdivisions of the state in which lands acquired under this section are located. (ii) The hearing shall be held at a time which shall afford local citizens and governments the maximum opportunity to participate in the decision concerning the use or disposition of the lands after restoration, reclamation, abatement, control, or prevention of the adverse effects of past coal mining practices. (6) (a) The state, through the division and the Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands, shall have the authority to accept lands acquired and reclaimed by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to Section 407(h) of Public Law 95-87. (b) The division has the authority to accept grants from the Secretary to carry out the purposes of Section 407(h) of Public Law 95-87. (7) (a) Within six months after the completion of projects to restore, reclaim, abate, control, or prevent adverse effects of past coal mining practices on privately owned land, the division shall itemize the money expended and may file a statement of those expenses in the office of the county recorder of the county in which the land lies, together with a notarized appraisal by an independent appraiser of the value of the land before the restoration, reclamation, abatement, control, or prevention of adverse effects of past coal mining practices if the money expended results in a significant increase in property value. (b) This statement shall constitute a lien upon the land described in it. (c) The lien may not exceed the amount determined by the appraisal to be the increase in the market value of the land as a result of the restoration, reclamation, abatement, control, or prevention of the adverse effects of past coal mining practices. (d) A lien may not be filed against the property of any person, in accordance with this subsection, who owned the surface prior to May 2, 1977, and who neither consented to nor participated in nor exercised control over the mining operation which necessitated the reclamation performed. (8) (a) The landowner may proceed to petition within 60 days after the filing of the lien to determine the increase in the market value of the land as a result of the restoration, reclamation, abatement, control, or prevention of the adverse effects of past coal mining practices. (b) The amount reported to be the increase in value of the premises shall constitute the amount of the lien and shall be recorded with the statement provided for in Subsection (7). (c) Any party aggrieved by the decision may appeal as provided by law. (9) (a) The lien provided in this section shall be recorded in the office of the county recorder of the county in which the land lies. (b) The statement shall constitute a lien upon the land as of the date of the expenditure of the money and shall have priority as a lien second only to the lien of real estate taxes imposed upon the land. (10) (a) The division may fill any voids, seal any abandoned tunnels, shafts, and entryways, and reclaim surface impacts of underground or surface mines which the division determines could endanger life and property, constitute a hazard to the public health and safety, or degrade the environment. (b) The division may make expenditures and carry out the purposes of this section without regard to the provisions of Subsections 40-10-25(2) and (3) only after all reclamation with respect to abandoned coal lands or coal development impacts have been met, except for those reclamation projects relating to the protection of the public health or safety. (c) In those instances where mine waste piles are being reworked for conservation purposes, the incremental costs of disposing of the wastes from these operations by filling voids and sealing tunnels may be eligible for funding if the disposal of these wastes meets the purposes of this section. (d) The division may acquire by purchase, donation, easement, or otherwise those interests in land it determines necessary to carry out the provisions of this section. (11) (a) The division may request the attorney general, who is hereby authorized to initiate, in addition to any other remedies provided for in this chapter, in any court of competent jurisdiction, an action in equity for an injunction to restrain any interference with the exercise of the right to enter or to conduct any work provided in this section. (b) (i) The division, in conjunction with appropriate state agencies as determined in the rules, may construct and operate plants for the control and treatment of water pollution resulting from mine drainage. (ii) The extent of this control and treatment of water pollution may be dependent upon the ultimate use of the water. (iii) This Subsection (11) may not be construed to repeal or supersede any portion of the federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 U.S.C. Sec. 1151 et seq., and no control or treatment under this Subsection (11) shall in any way be less than that required under the federal Water Pollution Control Act. (iv) The construction of a plant may include major interceptors and other facilities appurtenant to the plant. (c) The division may transfer funds to other appropriate state agencies, in order to carry out the reclamation activities authorized by this chapter.
Utah Code § 40-10-12 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-10 / § 40-10-12
§ 40-10-12. Revised permit and reclamation plan -- Application -- Transfer, assignment, or sale of rights -- Revision or modification of permit provisions.
Status: in_force

(1) (a) During the term of the permit, the permittee may submit an application for a revision of the permit, together with a revised reclamation plan, to the division. (b) An application for a revision of a permit shall not be approved unless the division finds that reclamation as required by this chapter can be accomplished under the revised reclamation plan. (c) The revision shall be approved or disapproved within a period of time established by the division. (d) (i) The division shall establish guidelines determining the scale or extent of a revision request for which all permit application information, requirements, and procedures, including notice and hearings, shall apply. (ii) Any revisions that propose significant alterations in the reclamation plan shall, at a minimum, be subject to notice and hearing requirements. (e) Any extensions to the area covered by the permit, except incidental boundary revisions, must be made by: (i) an application for a significant revision of the permit; or (ii) an application for another permit. (2) No transfer, assignment, or sale of the rights granted under any permit issued according to this chapter shall be made without the written approval of the division. (3) (a) The division shall, within a time limit prescribed in rules adopted by the board, review outstanding permits and may require reasonable revision or modification of the permit provisions during the term of the permit. (b) The revision or modification shall be: (i) based upon a written finding; and (ii) subject to notice and hearing requirements established by this chapter.
Utah Code § 40-8-6 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-8 / § 40-8-6
§ 40-8-6. Board -- Powers, functions, and duties.
Status: in_force

In addition to those provided in Title 40, Chapter 6, Board and Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining, the board has the following powers, functions, and duties: (1) To enact rules according to the procedures and requirements of Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act, that are reasonably necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter. (2) To hold hearings and to issue orders or other appropriate instruments based upon the results of those hearings. (3) To issue emergency orders according to the requirements and provisions of Title 63G, Chapter 4, Administrative Procedures Act. (4) To do all other things and take such other actions within the purposes of this act as may be necessary to enforce its provisions.
Utah Code § 40-10-6.7 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-10 / § 40-10-6.7
§ 40-10-6.7. Administrative procedures.
Status: in_force

(1) (a) Informal adjudicative proceedings shall be conducted by the division under this chapter and shall be referred to as conferences or informal conferences. (b) The conduct of conferences shall be governed by rules adopted by the board which are in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 4, Administrative Procedures Act. (2) (a) (i) Formal adjudicative proceedings shall be conducted by the division or board under this chapter and shall be referred to as hearings or public hearings. (ii) The conduct of hearings shall be governed by rules adopted by the board which are in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 4, Administrative Procedures Act. (b) Hearings under this chapter shall be conducted in a manner which guarantees the parties' due process rights. This includes: (i) the right to examine any evidence presented to the board; (ii) the right to cross-examine any witness; and (iii) a prohibition of ex parte communication between any party and a member of the board. (c) A verbatim record of each public hearing required by this chapter shall be made, and a transcript made available on the motion of any party or by order of the board.
Utah Code § 40-10-18.2 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-10 / § 40-10-18.2
§ 40-10-18.2. Applicability of other chapter provisions.
Status: in_force

The provisions of this chapter relating to permits, sureties, bonds, inspections, and enforcement, public review, and administrative and judicial review shall be applicable to surface operations and surface impacts incident to an underground coal mine with those modifications to the permit application requirements, permit approval or denial procedures, and bond requirements as are necessary to accommodate the distinct difference between surface and underground coal mining methods.
Utah Code § 40-14-201 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-14 / § 40-14-201
§ 40-14-201. Qualified reviewer -- Certification -- Conflict of interest.
Status: in_force

(1) The division may certify a qualified reviewer to perform an expedited review of an eligible permit. (2) The division may certify an individual as a qualified reviewer of an eligible permit if the individual meets the following requirements: (a) holds an active professional license in a field related to the eligible permit; (b) has at least five years of oil, gas, and mining permitting experience; (c) has not been convicted of, or pleaded guilty to: (i) an environmental crime, or a similar or related criminal offense under federal or state law; or (ii) a crime involving fraud, theft by deception, forgery, or a similar or related criminal offense under federal or state law; (d) has not had a professional license revoked or suspended by a national or state licensing board within the previous 10 years; and (e) any other requirement established by the division. (3) A qualified reviewer may not perform an expedited review for an applicant of an eligible permit if the qualified reviewer: (a) has performed services for the applicant within three years of the date of submission of the permit application; or (b) has any financial or business interest with the applicant.
Utah Code § 40-9-103 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-9 / § 40-9-103
§ 40-9-103. Participation by Utah.
Status: in_force

(1) The governor may appoint the director of the Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining to serve as the governor's official representative to the Interstate Mining Commission. (2) A copy of the bylaws of the Interstate Mining Commission shall be: (a) placed on file with the director of the Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining; and (b) available, at reasonable times, for inspection by the Legislature or an interested person. (3) As used in Article V (1), "agency of the party States" does not mean an agency of Utah. (4) A person or entity may not hold Utah liable for the obligations or solvency of: (a) the retirement system described in Article V (6); or (b) a program of employee benefits described in Article V (6).
Utah Code § 40-11-24 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-11 / § 40-11-24
§ 40-11-24. Criminal and civil violations -- Penalties -- Enforcement -- Emergency order.
Status: in_force

(1) As used in this section: (a) "Knowingly" means the same as that term is defined in Section 76-2-103. (b) (i) "Person" means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, public corporation, or any other legal or commercial entity. (ii) "Person" includes a director, officer, or agent of a legal or commercial entity. (c) "Willfully" means the same as that term is defined in Section 76-2-103. (2) (a) A person is guilty of a class B misdemeanor if the person knowingly or willfully: (i) makes or causes to be made a false statement, representation, or certification in a report, record, account, or memorandum required by this chapter or an order made under this chapter; (ii) omits or causes to be omitted a full, true, and correct entry from a report, record, account, or memorandum required by this chapter or an order made under this chapter; (iii) omits or causes to be omitted a statement, representation, or certification in an application, record, report, plan, or other document required by this chapter or an order made under this chapter; (iv) removes from this state or destroys, alters, or falsifies a report, record, account, or memorandum required by this chapter or an order made under this chapter; or (v) violates this chapter or a permit, rule, or order made under this chapter. (b) Each day that a violation under Subsection (2)(a) continues is a separate violation. (c) Upon conviction, each violation is subject to a fine of $5,000. (3) (a) The board or division may impose an administrative penalty by the process described in Subsection 40-6-11(4) on a person that violates this chapter or a permit, rule, or order made under this chapter. (b) The board or division may only impose an administrative penalty or initiate a civil action on a person that violates this chapter within two years after the day on which the board or division discovers the violation. (4) (a) The board or division may issue written notice to a person that the board or division determines is in violation of this chapter. (b) The written notice described in Subsection (4)(a) shall include: (i) the provision of this chapter that the board or division alleges the person to have violated; (ii) the facts alleged to constitute the violation; and (iii) an order for the person to take necessary corrective action no later than 45 days after the day of receipt of the written notice. (c) The board or division may bring a civil action for injunctive relief and enforcement of this chapter if a violation continues after the 45-day period described in Subsection (4)(b)(iii). (5) If the director determines that a violation of this chapter presents an immediate threat to the public health or welfare, the director may issue an emergency order in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 4, Administrative Procedures Act.
Utah Code § 40-10-2 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-10 / § 40-10-2
§ 40-10-2. Purpose.
Status: in_force

It is the purpose of this chapter to: (1) grant to the Board and Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining the necessary authority to assure exclusive jurisdiction over nonfederal lands and cooperative jurisdiction over federal lands in regard to regulation of coal mining and reclamation operations as authorized pursuant to Public Law 95-87; (2) assure that the rights of surface landowners and other persons with a legal interest in the land or appurtenances thereto are fully protected from these operations; (3) assure that surface coal mining operations are conducted so as to protect the environment, that reclamation occurs as contemporaneously as possible with the operations, and that operations are not conducted where reclamation as required by this chapter is not economically or technologically feasible; (4) assure that appropriate procedures are provided for the public participation in the development, revision, and enforcement of rules, standards, reclamation plans, or programs established by the state under this chapter; (5) promote the reclamation of mined areas left without adequate reclamation prior to the effective date of this chapter and which continue, in their unreclaimed condition, to substantially degrade the quality of the environment, prevent or damage the beneficial use of land or water resources, or endanger the health or safety of the public; and (6) wherever necessary, exercise the full reach of state constitutional powers to insure the protection of the public interest through effective control of surface coal mining operations and efficient reclamation of abandoned mines.
Utah Code § 40-8-21 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-8 / § 40-8-21
§ 40-8-21. Temporary suspension or termination of operations -- Notice to division -- Evaluation and inspection -- Release of surety -- Evidence of compliance.
Status: in_force

(1) In the case of a temporary suspension of mining operations, excluding labor disputes, expected to be in excess of five years' duration, the operator shall, within 30 days, notify the division. (2) In the case of a termination of mining operations or a suspension of such operations expected to extend for a period in excess of two years, the operator shall furnish the division with such data as it may require in order to evaluate the status of the mining operation, performance under the reclamation plan, and the probable future status of the mineral deposit and condition of the land affected. (3) Upon receipt of notification of termination or extended suspension, the division shall, within 30 days, cause an inspection to be made of the property and take whatever action may be appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of this chapter. (4) The full release by the division of surety posted under an approved notice of intention shall be prima facie evidence that the operator has fully complied with the provisions of this chapter.
Utah Code § 40-10-14 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-10 / § 40-10-14
§ 40-10-14. Division's findings issued to applicant and parties to conference -- Notice to applicant of approval or disapproval of application -- Hearing -- Temporary relief -- Appeal to district court -- Further review.
Status: in_force

(1) If a conference has been held under Subsection 40-10-13(2), the division shall issue and furnish the applicant for a permit and persons who are parties to the proceedings with the written finding of the division granting or denying the permit in whole or in part and stating the reasons, within the 60 days after the conference. (2) If there has been no conference held under Subsection 40-10-13(2), the division shall notify the applicant for a permit within a reasonable time as set forth in rules, taking into account the time needed for proper investigation of the site, the complexity of the permit application, and whether or not written objection to the application has been filed, whether the application has been approved or disapproved in whole or part. (3) Upon approval of the application, the permit shall be issued. If the application is disapproved, specific reasons shall be set forth in the notification. Within 30 days after the applicant is notified of the final decision of the division on the permit application, the applicant or any person with an interest which is or may be adversely affected may request a hearing on the reasons for the final determination. The board shall hold a hearing pursuant to the rules of practice and procedure of the board within 30 days of this request and provide notification to all interested parties at the time that the applicant is notified. Within 30 days after the hearing the board shall issue and furnish the applicant, and all persons who participated in the hearing, with the written decision of the board granting or denying the permit in whole or in part and stating the reasons. (4) Where a hearing is requested pursuant to Subsection (3), the board may, under conditions it prescribes, grant temporary relief it deems appropriate pending final determination of the proceedings if: (a) all parties to the proceedings have been notified and given an opportunity to be heard on a request for temporary relief; (b) the person requesting the relief shows that there is a substantial likelihood that the person will prevail on the merits of the final determination of the proceedings; and (c) the relief will not adversely affect the public health or safety or cause significant imminent environmental harm to land, air, or water resources. (5) For the purpose of the hearing, the board may administer oaths, subpoena witnesses or written or printed materials, compel attendance of the witnesses or production of the materials, and take evidence, including, but not limited to, site inspections of the land to be affected and other surface coal mining operations carried on by the applicant in the general vicinity of the proposed operation. A verbatim record of each public hearing required by this chapter shall be made, and a transcript made available on the motion of any party or by order of the board. (6) (a) An applicant or person with an interest which is or may be adversely affected who has participated in the proceedings as an objector, and who is aggrieved by the decision of the board, may appeal the decision of the board directly to the Utah Supreme Court. (b) If the board fails to act within the time limits specified in this chapter, the applicant or any person with an interest which is or may be adversely affected and has requested a hearing in accordance with Subsection (3), may bring an action in a court with jurisdiction under Title 78A, Judiciary and Judicial Administration. (c) Notwithstanding Title 78B, Chapter 3a, Venue for Civil Actions, the applicant or person shall bring an action described in Subsection (6)(b) in the county in which the proposed operation is located if the petition is brought in the district court. (d) Any party to the action in court may appeal from the final judgment, order, or decree of the court. (e) Time frames for appeals under Subsections (6)(a) through (d) shall be consistent with applicable provisions in Section 63G-4-401.
Utah Code § 40-6-18 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-6 / § 40-6-18
§ 40-6-18. Lands subject to chapter.
Status: in_force

This act shall apply to all lands in the State of Utah, lawfully subject to its police power, and shall apply to lands of the United States or the lands subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
Utah Code § 40-1-11 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-1 / § 40-1-11
§ 40-1-11. Interfering with notices, stakes, or monuments -- Penalty.
Status: in_force

Any person who intentionally or knowingly tears down or defaces a notice posted on a mining claim, or takes up or destroys any stake or monument marking the claim, or interferes with any person lawfully in possession of the claim, or who alters, erases, defaces, or destroys any record kept by a mining district or county recorder, is guilty of a class B misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a fine of not less than $25 nor more than $100, or by imprisonment for not less than 10 days nor more than six months, or by both the fine and imprisonment.
Utah Code § 40-13-103 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-13 / § 40-13-103
§ 40-13-103. Lands subject to chapter.
Status: in_force

This chapter applies to all lands in the state lawfully subject to the state's police power and, to the extent allowed by law, includes lands and appurtenances of the United States or the lands or appurtenances subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
Utah Code § 40-8-15 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-8 / § 40-8-15
§ 40-8-15. Notice of commencement to division -- Operations and progress report.
Status: in_force

(1) Within 30 days after commencement of mining operations under an approved notice of intention, the operator shall give notice of such commencement to the division. (2) At the end of each calendar year, unless waived by the division, each operator conducting mining operations under an approved notice of intention shall file an operations and progress report with the division on a form prescribed in the rules promulgated by the board.
Utah Code § 40-8-20 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-8 / § 40-8-20
§ 40-8-20. Applicability.
Status: in_force

This act shall apply to all lands in the state of Utah lawfully subject to its police power. No political subdivision of this state shall enact laws, regulations, or ordinances which are inconsistent with this act.
Utah Code § 40-10-5 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-10 / § 40-10-5
§ 40-10-5. Activities exempted from chapter.
Status: in_force

This chapter does not apply to the following activities: (1) the extraction of coal by a landowner for the landowner's own noncommercial use from land owned or leased by the landowner; or (2) the extraction of coal as an incidental part of federal, state, or local government-financed highway or other construction under rules established by the division.
Utah Code § 40-6-9 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-6 / § 40-6-9
§ 40-6-9. Proceeds from sale of production -- Payment of proceeds -- Requirements -- Proceeding on petition to determine cause of nonpayment -- Remedies -- Penalties.
Status: in_force

(1) (a) The oil and gas proceeds derived from the sale of production from any well producing oil or gas in the state shall be paid to any person legally entitled to the payment of the proceeds not later than 180 days after the first day of the month following the date of the first sale and thereafter not later than 30 days after the end of the calendar month within which payment is received by the payor for production, unless other periods or arrangements are provided for in a valid contract with the person entitled to the proceeds. (b) The payment shall be made directly to the person entitled to the payment by the payor. (c) The payment is considered to have been made upon deposit in the United States mail. (2) Payments shall be remitted to any person entitled to oil and gas proceeds annually for the aggregate of up to 12 months accumulation of proceeds, if the total amount owed is $100 or less. (3) (a) Any delay in determining whether a person is legally entitled to an interest in the oil and gas proceeds does not affect payments to other persons entitled to payment. (b) (i) If accrued payments cannot be made within the time limits specified in Subsection (1) or (2), the payor shall deposit all oil and gas proceeds credited to the eventual oil and gas proceeds owner to an escrow account in a federally insured bank or savings and loan institution using a standard escrow document form. (ii) The deposit shall earn interest at the highest rate being offered by that institution for the amount and term of similar demand deposits. (iii) The escrow agent may commingle money received into escrow from any one lessee or operator, purchaser, or other person legally responsible for payment. (iv) Payment of principal and accrued interest from the escrow account shall be made by the escrow agent to the person legally entitled to them within 30 days from the date of receipt by the escrow agent of final legal determination of entitlement to the payment. (v) Applicable escrow fees shall be deducted from the payments. (4) Any person entitled to oil and gas proceeds may file a petition with the board to conduct a hearing to determine why the proceeds have not been paid. (5) Upon receipt of the petition, the board shall set the matter for investigation and negotiation by the division within 60 days. (6) (a) If the matter cannot be resolved by negotiation as of that date, the board may set a hearing within 30 days. (b) If the board does not set a hearing, any information gathered during the investigation and negotiation shall be given to the petitioner who may then seek a remedy in a court of competent jurisdiction. (7) (a) If, after a hearing, the board finds the proceeds have not been deposited in an interest bearing escrow account in accordance with Subsection (3), the board may order that: (i) a complete accounting be made; and (ii) the proceeds be subject to an interest rate of 1-1/2% per month, as a substitute for an escrow account interest rate, accruing from the date the payment should have been suspended in accordance with Subsection (3). (b) If, after a hearing, the board finds the delay of payment is without reasonable justification, the board may: (i) if the proceeds have been deposited in an interest bearing escrow account in accordance with Subsection (3): (A) order a complete accounting; (B) require the proceeds and accruing interest to remain in the escrow account; and (C) assess a penalty of up to 25% of the total proceeds and interest in the escrow account; or (ii) if the proceeds have not been deposited in an interest bearing escrow account in accordance with Subsection (3), assess a penalty of up to 25% of the total proceeds and interest as determined under Subsection (7)(a). (c) (i) Upon finding that the delay of payment is without reasonable justification, the board shall set a date not later than 90 days from the hearing for final distribution of the total sum. (ii) If payment is not made by the required date, the total proceeds, interest, and any penalty as provided in Subsection (7)(b) shall be subject to interest at a rate of 1-1/2% per month until paid. (d) If, after a hearing, the board finds the delay of payment is with reasonable justification and the proceeds have been deposited in an interest bearing escrow account in accordance with Subsection (3), the payor may not be required to make an accounting or payment of appropriately suspended proceeds until the condition which justified suspension has been satisfied. (8) The circumstances under which the board may find the suspension of payment of proceeds is made with reasonable justification, such that the penalty provisions of Subsections (7)(b) and (7)(c)(ii) do not apply, include, but are not limited to, the following: (a) the payor: (i) fails to make the payment in good faith reliance upon a title opinion by a licensed Utah attorney objecting to the lack of good and marketable title of record of the person claiming entitlement to payment; and (ii) furnishes a copy of the relevant portions of the opinion to the person for necessary curative action; (b) the payor receives information which: (i) in the payor's good faith judgment, brings into question the entitlement of the person claiming the right to the payment to receive that payment; (ii) has rendered the title unmarketable; or (iii) may expose the payor to the risk of liability to third parties if the payment is made; (c) the total amount of oil and gas proceeds in possession of the payor owed to the person making claim to payment is less than $100 at the end of any month; or (d) the person entitled to payment has failed or refused to execute a division or transfer order acknowledging the proper interest to which the person claims to be entitled and setting forth the mailing address to which payment may be directed, provided the division or transfer order does not alter or amend the terms of the lease. (9) If the circumstances described in Subsection (8)(a) or (b) arise, the payor may: (a) suspend and escrow the payments in accordance with Subsection (3); or (b) at the request and expense of the person claiming entitlement to the payment, make the payment into court on an interpleader action to resolve the claim and avoid liability under this chapter.
Utah Code § 40-10-3 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-10 / § 40-10-3
§ 40-10-3. Definitions.
Status: in_force

For the purposes of this chapter: (1) "Adjudicative proceeding" means: (a) a division or board action or proceeding determining the legal rights, duties, privileges, immunities, or other legal interests of one or more identifiable persons, including actions to grant, deny, revoke, suspend, modify, annul, withdraw, or amend an authority, right, permit, or license; or (b) judicial review of a division or board action or proceeding specified in Subsection (1)(a). (2) "Alluvial valley floors" mean the unconsolidated stream laid deposits holding streams where water availability is sufficient for subirrigation or flood irrigation agricultural activities but does not include upland areas which are generally overlain by a thin veneer of colluvial deposits composed chiefly of debris from sheet erosion, deposits by unconcentrated runoff or slope wash, together with talus, other mass movement accumulation and windblown deposits. (3) "Approximate original contour" means that surface configuration achieved by backfilling and grading of the mined area so that the reclaimed area, including any terracing or access roads, closely resembles the general surface configuration of the land prior to mining and blends into and complements the drainage pattern of the surrounding terrain, with all highwalls and spoil piles eliminated; but water impoundments may be permitted where the division determines that they are in compliance with Subsection 40-10-17(2)(h). (4) "Board" means the Board of Oil, Gas, and Mining and the board shall not be defined as an employee of the division. (5) "Division" means the Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining. (6) "Imminent danger to the health and safety of the public" means the existence of any condition or practice, or any violation of a permit or other requirement of this chapter in a surface coal mining and reclamation operation, which condition, practice, or violation could reasonably be expected to cause substantial physical harm to persons outside the permit area before the condition, practice, or violation can be abated. A reasonable expectation of death or serious injury before abatement exists if a rational person, subjected to the same conditions or practices giving rise to the peril, would not expose himself or herself to the danger during the time necessary for abatement. (7) "Employee" means those individuals in the employ of the division and excludes the board. (8) "Lands eligible for remining" means those lands that would otherwise be eligible for expenditures under Section 40-10-25 or 40-10-25.1. (9) "Operator" means any person, partnership, or corporation engaged in coal mining who removes or intends to remove more than 250 tons of coal from the earth by coal mining within 12 consecutive calendar months in any one location. (10) "Other minerals" mean clay, stone, sand, gravel, metalliferous and nonmetalliferous ores, and any other solid material or substances of commercial value excavated in solid or solution form from natural deposits on or in the earth, exclusive of coal and those minerals which occur naturally in liquid or gaseous form. (11) "Permit" means a permit to conduct surface coal mining and reclamation operations issued by the division. (12) "Permit applicant" or "applicant" means a person applying for a permit. (13) "Permitting agency" means the division. (14) "Permit area" means the area of land indicated on the approved map submitted by the operator with his application, which area of land shall be covered by the operator's bond as required by Section 40-10-15 and shall be readily identifiable by appropriate markers on the site. (15) "Permittee" means a person holding a permit. (16) "Person" means an individual, partnership, association, society, joint stock company, firm, company, corporation, or other governmental or business organization. (17) "Prime farmland" means the same as prescribed by the United States Department of Agriculture on the basis of such factors as moisture availability, temperature regime, chemical balance, permeability, surface layer composition, susceptibility to flooding, and erosion characteristics. (18) "Reclamation plan" means a plan submitted by an applicant for a permit which sets forth a plan for reclamation of the proposed surface coal mining operations pursuant to Section 40-10-10. (19) "Surface coal mining and reclamation operations" mean surface mining operations and all activities necessary and incident to the reclamation of these operations after the effective date of this chapter. (20) "Surface coal mining operations" mean: (a) Activities conducted on the surface of lands in connection with a surface coal mine or subject to the requirements of Section 40-10-18, surface operations and surface impacts incident to an underground coal mine, the products of which enter commerce or the operations of which directly or indirectly affect interstate commerce. These activities include excavation for the purpose of obtaining coal, including such common methods as contour, strip, auger, mountaintop removal box cut, open pit, and area mining, the uses of explosives and blasting, and in situ distillation or retorting, leaching or other chemical or physical processing, and the cleaning, concentrating, or other processing or preparation, loading of coal for interstate commerce at or near the mine site; but these activities do not include the extraction of coal incidental to the extraction of other minerals where coal does not exceed 16-2/3% of the tonnage of minerals removed for purposes of commercial use or sale or coal explorations subject to Section 40-10-8. (b) The areas upon which the activities occur or where the activities disturb the natural land surface. These areas shall also include any adjacent land the use of which is incidental to the activities, all lands affected by the construction of new roads or the improvement or use of existing roads to gain access to the site of the activities and for haulage and excavations, workings, impoundments, dams, ventilation shafts, entryways, refuse banks, dumps, stockpiles, overburden piles, spoil banks, culm banks, tailings, holes or depressions, repair areas, storage areas, processing areas, shipping areas, and other areas upon which are sited structures, facilities, or other property or materials on the surface resulting from or incident to the activities. (21) "Unanticipated event or condition" means an event or condition encountered in a remining operation that was not contemplated by the applicable surface coal mining and reclamation permit. (22) "Unwarranted failure to comply" means the failure of a permittee to prevent the occurrence of any violation of his permit or any requirement of this chapter due to indifference, lack of diligence, or lack of reasonable care, or the failure to abate any violation of the permit or this chapter due to indifference, lack of diligence, or lack of reasonable care.
Utah Code § 40-13-205 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-13 / § 40-13-205
§ 40-13-205. Sale of equipment, installation, or material.
Status: in_force

(1) After the board determines a brine well or facility is to be abandoned, as part of the plugging and reclamation process, the division may sell or dispose of in a manner the division sees fit the following found on the site or taken from the brine well or facility: (a) drilling, producing, or operating equipment; (b) installations; or (c) material. (2) A person to whom any equipment, installations, or material is sold under Subsection (1) receives the title to the equipment, installation, or material, free of any claim. (3) When the division receives money on the sale or disposal of equipment, installation, or material under Subsection (1), the division shall: (a) apply the money to the payment of any unpaid costs and civil penalty determined by the division; and (b) if money remains after applying the money under Subsection (3)(a), the division shall return the unused money to the operator or a person who has established a legal right to the money.
Utah Code § 40-8-12 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-8 / § 40-8-12
§ 40-8-12. Objectives.
Status: in_force

The objectives of mined land reclamation are: (1) to return the land, concurrently with mining or within a reasonable amount of time thereafter, to a stable ecological condition compatible with past, present, and probable future local land uses; (2) to minimize or prevent present and future on-site or off-site environmental degradation caused by mining operations to the ecologic and hydrologic regimes and to meet other pertinent state and federal regulations regarding air and water quality standards and health and safety criteria; and (3) to minimize or prevent future hazards to public safety and welfare.
Utah Code § 40-8-5 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-8 / § 40-8-5
§ 40-8-5. Authority to enforce chapter -- Coordination of procedures -- Department of Environmental Quality.
Status: in_force

(1) (a) The board and the division have jurisdiction and authority over all persons and property, both public and private, necessary to enforce this chapter. (b) The delegation of authority to a state officer, board, division, commission, or agency to administer a law of this state relating to mined land reclamation is withdrawn and the authority is unqualifiedly conferred upon the board and division as provided in this chapter. (c) Nothing in this chapter affects the right of a landowner, or a public agency having proprietary authority under other provisions of law, to administer lands within the state, to include conditions in a lease, license, bill of sale, deed, right-of-way, permit, contract, or other instrument, if the conditions are consistent with this chapter and the rules adopted under this chapter. (2) (a) If federal or local laws or regulations require operators to comply with mined land reclamation procedures separate from those provided for in this chapter, the board and division shall make every effort to have its rules and procedures accepted by the other governing bodies as complying with their respective requirements. (b) The provisions of Subsections (2)(a) and (d) are established to minimize the need for operators and prospective operators to comply with duplicative, overlapping, or conflicting requirements. (c) Nothing in this chapter authorizes a political subdivision of the state to impose a condition or restriction on a mining operation located on state or federal land that is not imposed by a federal or state agency on the mining operation. (d) An ordinance or regulation issued by a political subdivision of the state that is more restrictive than a permit issued under this chapter for a mining operation on state or federal land is unenforceable. (3) Nothing in this chapter is intended to abrogate or interfere with the powers or duties of the Department of Environmental Quality.
Utah Code § 40-10-24 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-10 / § 40-10-24
§ 40-10-24. Determination of unsuitability of lands for surface coal mining -- Petition -- Public hearing -- Detailed statement by division.
Status: in_force

(1) (a) The board and division, with the advice of appropriate federal, state, and local agencies, shall establish a planning process enabling objective decisions based upon competent and scientifically sound data and information as to which, if any, land areas of the state are unsuitable for all or certain types of surface coal mining operations pursuant to the standards set forth in Subsections (1)(b) and (1)(c). This designation shall not prevent the mineral exploration pursuant to this chapter of any area so designated. (b) Upon petition pursuant to Subsection (2), the board shall designate an area as unsuitable for all or certain types of surface coal mining operations if the board and division determine that reclamation pursuant to the requirements of this chapter is not technologically and economically feasible. (c) Upon petition pursuant to Subsection (2), a surface area may be designated unsuitable for certain types of surface coal mining operations if these operations will: (i) (A) be incompatible with existing state or local land use plans or programs; (B) affect fragile or historic lands in which the operations could result in significant damage to important historic, cultural, scientific, and aesthetic values and natural systems; (C) affect renewable resource lands in which the operations could result in a substantial loss or reduction of long-range productivity of water supply or of food or fiber products, and the lands to include aquifers and aquifer recharge areas; or (D) affect natural hazard lands in which the operations could substantially endanger life and property, these lands to include areas subject to frequent flooding and areas of unstable geology; and (ii) where the criteria listed in Subsection (1)(c)(i) have been balanced against the economic impact of the designation in a cost-benefit analysis. (d) Determinations of the unsuitability of lands for surface coal mining, as provided for in this section, shall be integrated as closely as possible with present and future land use planning and regulation processes at the state and local levels. (e) The requirements of this section shall not apply to lands on which surface coal mining operations are being conducted: (i) on August 3, 1977; (ii) under a permit issued pursuant to this chapter; or (iii) where substantial legal and financial commitments in these operations were in existence prior to January 1, 1977. (2) (a) Any person having an interest which is or may be adversely affected shall have the right to petition the board to have an area designated as unsuitable for surface coal mining operations or to have this designation terminated. (b) The petition shall contain allegations of facts with supporting evidence which would tend to establish the allegations. Within 10 months after receipt of the petition the board shall hold a public hearing, after appropriate notice and publication of the date, time, and location of the hearing. After a person having an interest which is or may be adversely affected has filed a petition and before the hearing, as required by this subsection, any person may intervene by filing allegations of facts with supporting evidence which would tend to establish the allegations. Within 60 days after the hearing, the board shall issue and furnish to the petitioner and any other party to the hearing, a written decision regarding the petition and the reasons for it. If all the petitioners stipulate agreement prior to the requested hearing and withdraw their request, the hearing need not be held. (3) Prior to any land areas being designated as unsuitable for surface coal mining operations, a detailed statement shall be prepared by the division on: (a) the potential coal resources of the area; (b) the demand for coal resources; and (c) the impact of the designation on the environment, the economy, and the supply of coal. (4) After August 3, 1977, and subject to valid existing rights, no surface coal mining operations, except those which exist on that date, shall be permitted: (a) on any lands where this activity is precluded by Public Law 95-87; (b) on any lands which will adversely affect any publicly owned park or places included in the National Register of Historic Sites, unless approved jointly by the division and the federal, state, or local agency with jurisdiction over the park or the historic site; (c) within 100 feet of the outside right-of-way line of any public road, except where mine access roads or haulage roads join this right-of-way line and except that the division may permit these roads to be relocated or the area affected to lie within 100 feet of the road, if after public notice and opportunity for public hearing in the locality a written finding is made that the interests of the public and the landowners affected thereby will be protected; or (d) within 300 feet from any occupied dwelling, unless waived by the owner of same, nor within 300 feet from any public building, school, church, community, institutional building, or public park, or within 100 feet of a cemetery.
Utah Code § 40-12-102 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-12 / § 40-12-102
§ 40-12-102. Scope of chapter.
Status: in_force

(1) This chapter does not authorize the use of produced water as part of a consumptive beneficial use without a water right. (2) A person may engage in the nonconsumptive use of produced water in an oil and gas activity only in a manner consistent with this chapter. (3) Nothing in this chapter modifies the statutory enforcement and other duties of the state engineer under Title 73, Water and Irrigation, except as provided in Subsection 40-12-201(2).
Utah Code § 40-8-13.1 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-8 / § 40-8-13.1
§ 40-8-13.1. Procedures for review of permit orders.
Status: in_force

(1) As used in this section, "party" means: (a) the division; (b) the operator whose proposed mining operation is at issue in the permit order; or (c) if granted intervention by the board: (i) the municipality or county in which the proposed mining operation at issue in the permit order is located; or (ii) a person. (2) (a) A party may obtain the review of a permit order by filing a petition for review before the board within 30 days after the date on which a permit order is issued. (b) Only a party may file a petition for review of a permit order. (3) (a) A petition for review shall: (i) be filed and served in accordance with the board rules made in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act; (ii) include the party's name, address, and telephone number; (iii) describe the nature and extent of the party's property, financial, or other interest in the review proceeding; (iv) include a statement of the party's contentions, including, as applicable: (A) the legal authority under which the petition for review is requested; (B) the legal authority under which the board has jurisdiction to review the petition for review; (C) a statement setting forth the specific contentions that the party seeks to have litigated in the review proceeding; (D) each of the party's arguments in support of the party's requested relief; (E) a detailed description of any permit condition to which the party is objecting; (F) any modification or addition to a permit order that the party is requesting; and (G) a claim for relief; and (v) for a large mining operation permit order, if the party is not the division or the operator, include a statement and supporting documentation demonstrating that the party timely provided a substantive public comment that is compliant with rules made by the board in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act, as required by Subsection 40-8-13(6)(d)(iv). (b) A party who files a petition for review may only raise a contention in the party's petition for review or during the review proceeding that: (i) is within the board's jurisdiction; (ii) is supported with information or documentation that: (A) is cited with reasonable specificity; and (B) sufficiently enables the board to fully consider the substance and significance of the issue; and (iii) for a party other than the division or operator and with regard to a large mining operation permit order, the party raised as a substantive public comment. (4) (a) A municipality, county, or other person who is not a party may not participate in a review proceeding under this section unless granted the right to intervene by the board. (b) A municipality, county, or person seeking to intervene in a review proceeding shall file a petition with the board by no later than the sooner of: (i) 15 days of the day on which a petition for review is filed under Subsection (2); or (ii) 30 days after the date on which the permit order is issued if the person submits the petition to intervene under Subsection (4)(c). (c) A person wanting to initiate a review of a permit order who has not been granted intervention by the board shall file a petition to intervene at the same time that the person files a petition for review under Subsections (2) and (3). (d) A petition to intervene shall include: (i) the petitioner's name, address, and telephone number; (ii) the nature and extent of the petitioner's property, financial, or other interest in the review proceeding; (iii) the possible effect of a decision or order that may be entered in the review proceeding on the petitioner's interest described in Subsection (4)(d)(ii); (iv) a statement setting forth the specific contentions that the petitioner seeks to have litigated in the review proceeding; (v) a brief explanation of the basis for the contention and a concise statement of the alleged facts or evidence the petitioner intends to rely on in proving the contention at the hearing; and (vi) a statement of the relief that the petitioner seeks from the board. (e) (i) A petitioner may only raise a contention under Subsection (4)(d) on a matter within the scope of the board's jurisdiction. (ii) A petitioner may only raise a contention under Subsection (4)(d) related to a large mining operation permit order on a matter for which the person raised a substantive public comment. (f) The board shall grant a petition for intervention if the board determines that: (i) the petitioner's legal interests may be substantially affected by the review proceeding; and (ii) the interests of justice and the orderly and prompt conduct of the review proceedings will not be materially impaired by allowing the intervention. (g) (i) The board may delegate the determination of the right to intervene to a hearing examiner in accordance with rules made under Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act. (ii) A party aggrieved by a hearing examiner determination on a petition for intervention may appeal that determination to the board. The board shall make a determination on the appeal of the petition for intervention before hearing the merits of the case. (5) In a review proceeding, the operator and the division are parties to the review proceeding regardless of who files the petition for review and the operator and division do not need to file a separate petition to intervene. (6) (a) If a petition for review of a permit order is filed under this section, the board shall: (i) within 30 days from the day on which the petition for review is filed schedule: (A) an intervention hearing pursuant to Subsection (4); or (B) an administrative hearing before the board at the next regularly scheduled board public meeting; and (ii) issue the decision of the board by no later than 30 days from the day on which the administrative hearing described in Subsection (6)(a)(i)(B) is held. (b) The board may consolidate two or more petitions for review of a permit order if the board finds that consolidation will aid the just, speedy, and economical determination of the issues presented before the board. (c) The board shall conduct a de novo review of a permit order for which a petition for review has been filed under this section. (7) Review of a permit order is subject to Title 63G, Chapter 4, Administrative Procedures Act, to the extent that the chapter does not conflict with this section. (8) A person shall exhaust administrative remedies under this section before the person may seek judicial review of a permit order.
Utah Code § 40-1-6 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-1 / § 40-1-6
§ 40-1-6. Affidavit of performance of annual labor or payment of maintenance fee.
Status: in_force

(1) As used in this section, "assessment work" means the performance of labor or making of improvements on or for the benefit of a mining claim. (2) Within 30 days after the end of the annual period specified in 30 U.S.C. Sec. 28 the owner of an unpatented lode or placer mining claim, or a mill or tunnel site claim or someone on the owner's behalf, shall record an affidavit in the office of the county recorder of the county in which the claim is located setting forth: (a) the name and address of the owner of the claim; (b) the name of the claim and the serial number, if any, assigned to the claim by the United States Bureau of Land Management; (c) if assessment work was required to be performed under 30 U.S.C. Sec. 28 or other federal law to maintain the claim, a statement that the annual assessment work required to maintain the claim was performed; and (d) if the assessment work was not required to be performed under 30 U.S.C. Sec. 28 or other federal law, a statement that it is the intention of the owner to hold the claim, and if a claim maintenance fee was paid as required by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, Pub. L. 103-66 or other federal law, a statement that the fee was paid in a timely manner. (3) The affidavit, or a certified copy, shall be prima facie evidence of the facts stated in the affidavit. (4) The amendments made in this section do not affect any act or right accruing or which has accrued or been established or any suit or proceeding commenced before May 1, 1995.
Utah Code § 40-6-2.5 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-6 / § 40-6-2.5
§ 40-6-2.5. Preemption.
Status: in_force

(1) (a) As used in this section, "oil and gas activity" means activity associated with the exploration, development, production, processing, and transportation of oil and gas as set forth in Title 40, Chapter 6, Board and Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining, including: (i) drilling; (ii) hydraulic fracture stimulation; (iii) completion, maintenance, reworking, recompletion, disposal, plugging, and abandonment of wells; (iv) construction activities; (v) secondary and tertiary recovery techniques; (vi) remediation activities; and (vii) any other activity identified by the Board of Oil, Gas, and Mining. (b) Oil and gas activity does not include any activity or authority directly authorized or granted to a political subdivision by the state. (2) Subject to relevant federal law, regulation of oil and gas activity is of statewide concern and the state regulation of oil and gas activity occupies the whole field of potential regulation. (3) The legislative body of a political subdivision may enact, amend, or enforce a local ordinance, resolution, or rule consistent with its general land use authority that: (a) regulates only surface activity that is incident to an oil and gas activity; (b) does not effectively or unduly limit, ban, or prohibit an oil and gas activity; and (c) is not otherwise preempted by state or federal law.
Utah Code § 40-8-14 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-8 / § 40-8-14
§ 40-8-14. Surety requirement -- Liability of small mining operations for failure to reclaim -- Forfeiture of surety.
Status: in_force

(1) (a) After receiving notification that a notice of intention for mining operations has been approved, but prior to commencement of those operations, the operator shall provide surety to the division, in a form and amount determined by the division or board as provided in this section. (b) In determining the amount of surety under this section, the division may use the average cost of reclamation per acre. (c) The board shall annually establish a figure representing the average cost of reclamation per acre after receiving a presentation from the division concerning the average cost of reclamation per acre and providing opportunity for public comment. (2) (a) Except as provided in Subsection (3), the division shall approve the amount and form of surety. (b) In determining the amount of surety to be provided, the division shall consider: (i) the magnitude, type, and costs of approved reclamation activities planned for the land affected; and (ii) the nature, extent, and duration of operations under the approved notice. (c) The division shall approve a fixed amount estimated to be required to complete reclamation at any point in time covered by the notice of intent. (d) (i) The division shall determine the amount of surety required for notices of intention, by using cost data from current large mining sureties. (ii) The costs shall be adjusted to reflect the nature and scope of activities in the affirmative statement filed under Section 40-8-18. (e) (i) In determining the form of surety to be provided by the operator, the division shall approve a method acceptable to the operator consistent with the requirements of this chapter. (ii) The form of surety that the operator may provide includes, but is not limited to, the following: (A) collateral; (B) a bond or other form of insured guarantee; (C) deposited securities; or (D) cash. (3) (a) If the operator proposes reclamation surety in the form of a written contractual agreement, the board shall approve the form of surety. (b) In making this decision, the board shall consider: (i) the operator's: (A) financial status; (B) assets within the state; (C) past performance in complying with contractual agreements; and (D) facilities available to carry out the planned work; (ii) the magnitude, type, and costs of approved reclamation activities planned for the land affected; and (iii) the nature, extent, and duration of operations under the approved notice. (4) In determining the amount and form of surety to be provided under this section, consideration shall be given to similar requirements made on the operator by landowners, governmental agencies, or others, with the intent that surety requirements shall be coordinated and not duplicated. (5) The liability under surety provisions shall continue until liability, in part, or in its entirety, is released by the division. (6) (a) If the operator of a mining operation, including a small mining operation, fails or refuses to carry out the necessary land reclamation as outlined in the approved notice of intention, the board may, after notice and hearing, declare any surety filed for this purpose forfeited. (b) With respect to the surety filed with the division, the board shall request the attorney general to take the necessary legal action to enforce and collect the amount of liability. (c) If surety or a bond has been filed with the Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands, the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, or any agency of the federal government, the board shall certify a copy of the transcript of the hearing and transmit it to the agency together with a request that the necessary forfeiture action be taken. (d) The forfeited surety shall be used only for the reclamation of the land to which it relates, and any residual amount returned to the rightful claimant.
Utah Code § 40-6-13 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-6 / § 40-6-13
§ 40-6-13. Restrictions of production not authorized.
Status: in_force

This act shall never be construed to require, permit or authorize the board or any court to make, enter or enforce any order, rule, regulation, or judgment requiring restriction of production of any pool or of any well (except a well drilled in violation of Section 40-6-6 hereof) to an amount less than the well or pool can produce unless such restriction is necessary to prevent waste and protect correlative rights, or the operation of a well without sufficient oil or gas production to cover current operating costs and provide a reasonable return, without regard to original drilling costs.
Utah Code § 40-6-9.5 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-6 / § 40-6-9.5
§ 40-6-9.5. Permits for crude oil production -- Application -- Bond requirement -- Closure of facilities -- Availability of records.
Status: in_force

(1) The division may issue permits authorizing construction, operation, maintenance, and cessation of treating facilities and operations covered by Subsection 40-6-5(2)(h) and to approve, as part of that permit, post-cessation reclamation of the site. (2) (a) An owner and operator of a facility described in Subsection 40-6-5(2)(h) or planning to construct, operate, or maintain a facility described in Subsection 40-6-5(2)(h) shall submit to the division an application stating in detail: (i) the location, type, and capacity of the facility contemplated; (ii) the extent and location of area disturbed or to be disturbed including any pits, ponds, or lands associated with the facility; (iii) a plan for reclamation of the site; and (iv) other materials required by the division. (b) Existing facilities described in Subsection 40-6-5(2)(h) shall submit plans by July 28, 1985. (c) Application for all planned facilities must be approved and a permit issued before any ground clearing or construction may occur. (3) (a) As a condition for approval of a permit, the owner and operator shall post a bond in an amount determined by the division to cover reclamation costs for the site consistent with rules made to implement Subsection 40-6-5(2)(f). (b) Approval of a permit is also conditioned upon compliance with the laws, rules, and orders of the board. (c) Failure to post the bond is considered sufficient grounds to deny a permit. (4) The board may order the closure of a facility described in Subsection 40-6-5(2)(h) if: (a) an application is not forthcoming in the time allowed in Subsection (2); (b) a bond is not posted; (c) a violation of the rules and regulations of other state or federal agencies exists; or (d) for other material and substantial cause. (5) The owner and operator are subject to applicable state, federal, and local rules and regulations. (6) The records required to be kept by Subsection 40-6-5(2)(i) shall be available for inspection and audit by the board or the board's agents during reasonable working hours.
Utah Code § 40-6-19 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-6 / § 40-6-19
§ 40-6-19. Bond and Surety Forfeiture Fund -- Contents -- Use of fund money.
Status: in_force

(1) There is created an administrative fund within the General Fund known as the "Bond and Surety Forfeiture Fund." (2) Money collected by the Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining as a result of bond or surety forfeitures shall be deposited in the fund. (3) Interest earned on money in the fund shall accrue to the fund. (4) (a) Money from each forfeited bond or surety, together with interest, shall be used by the Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining to accomplish the requisite performance standards under the program to which the forfeited bond or surety corresponds. (b) Any money not used for a project shall be returned to the rightful claimant.
Utah Code § 40-13-402 — Utah Code / Title 40 / Chapter 40-13 / § 40-13-402
§ 40-13-402. Payment of brine proceeds.
Status: in_force

(1) (a) A payor shall pay the brine proceeds derived from the sale of the minerals extracted from the brine to persons legally entitled to payment of the brine proceeds not later than 180 days after the date of first sale, and thereafter not later than 60 days after the end of the calendar month within which brine proceeds are received for subsequent production. (b) A payor shall make a payment directly to the person entitled to the payment by the payor. (c) A payor shall include the following information with each payment made to a person entitled to payment of brine proceeds from the sale of the mined minerals: (i) unit identification; (ii) month and year of sales included in the payment; (iii) total volume of production from the unit of brine and volumes of minerals extracted; (iv) owner's interest, expressed as a decimal, in production from the unit; (v) total value of extracted dissolved minerals and chemical substances, including the price per unit of measurement at which the products were sold; (vi) owner's share of the total value of sales prior to any deductions; (vii) owner's share of the total value of sales after any deductions; and (viii) a detailed listing of the amount and purpose of any deductions. (2) (a) A delay in determining whether a person is legally entitled to an interest in the brine proceeds does not affect payments to other persons entitled to payment. (b) If accrued payments cannot be made within the time limits specified in Subsection (1), the payor shall deposit the brine proceeds credited to the eventual brine proceeds owner to an escrow account in a federally insured bank or savings and loan institution using a standard escrow document form. (c) An escrow agent shall pay the principal and accrued interest from the escrow account to the person legally entitled to the principal and interest within 30 days from the date of receipt by the escrow agent of final legal determination of entitlement to the payment.