West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 35 - Oil And Gas › Title 35 - LEGISLATIVE RULE DIVISION OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION OFFICE OF OIL AND GAS › Series 35-06 - Abandoned Wells Rules › Section 35-6-4 - Financial Responsibility Requirements

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
4.1. General requirements. Operators shall comply with W. Va. Code '22-6-26, and any rules promulgated thereunder, and W. Va. Code ''22-10-4 and 5, and any rules promulgated thereunder, for all wells.
4.2. Wells for which an operator is known but are presently unbonded. Operators of wells which are currently unbonded shall comply with W. Va. Code '22-6-26, and any rules promulgated thereunder, and with ''22-10-4 and 5, and any rules promulgated thereunder, by filing form OP-7 for single wells or form OP-8 for multiple wells as provided in the following sections, or form OP-77 to transfer such well to the operator's existing fifty thousand dollar ($50,000) blanket bond.
4.3. Demonstration of unjust hardship; suspension of financial responsibility requirements; percentage payments.
4.3.a. An operator desiring to demonstrate unjust hardship as a result of having to comply with W. Va. Code ''22-10-4 and 22-10-5 and therefore, fulfill the legal duties imposed by demonstrating financial responsibility under either W. Va. Code ''22-10-4 (b)(1) or (2), shall file with the chief a request to be authorized to suspend financial responsibility or make percentage payments. Such request shall, in addition to any other information as the operator believes establishes such unjust hardship, include information which may be requested by the chief.
4.3.b. An operator who demonstrates to the satisfaction of the chief that complying with the financial responsibility requirements will result in an unjust hardship may be authorized to either suspend the financial responsibility requirements in accordance with W. Va. Code '22-10-4(b) (1), or make percentage payments in accordance with W. Va. Code '22-10-4(b) (2), and the rules promulgated thereunder.
4.3.c. All requests for determinations of unjust hardship under this section shall be in writing and shall be responded to in writing by the Office of Oil and Gas within thirty (30) days of the receipt of the written submittal requesting a determination by the Office of Oil and Gas.
4.3.d. Demonstration of financial responsibility by percentage payments. An operator may be authorized by the chief to demonstrate financial responsibility by supplying a percentage of any required amount in accordance with the following schedule: supplying twenty percent of any required amount by no later than the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four; forty percent no later than the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five; sixty percent no later than the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-six; eighty percent by the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven; and one hundred percent by the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight. Such payment shall be accompanied by such forms as prescribed by the chief. In the event an operator is not in compliance with the required percentage demonstration of financial responsibility by the required date, the operator shall be considered to be in violation of the financial responsibility requirements, and the chief shall order the well(s) shut in, and may order the wells to be plugged.
4.3.e. The chief shall have the right to forfeit any amounts deposited prior to the completion of depositing the total amount in the event that the chief complies with procedures to forfeit a bond.
4.3.f. Demonstration of unjust hardships to suspend financial responsibility requirements. Except for demonstrating financial responsibility in compliance with W. Va. Code '22-10-4(b)(2), the determination of unjust hardship to suspend the demonstration of financial responsibility shall not extend beyond the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five. In the event an operator is not in compliance with the demonstration of financial responsibility by the required date as set forth previously, the operator shall be considered to be in violation of the financial responsibility requirements, and the chief shall order the well(s) shut in, and may order the wells to be plugged.