[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Oil
City 10-11-1982 by Ord. No. 2404 (Ch. 121 of the 1986 Code). Amendments
noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Oil and Gas Well Ordinance
of the City of Oil City."
For the purpose of this chapter, the following words and terms
shall have the scope and meaning hereinafter defined. All other technical
or gas and oil industry words or phrases used hereinafter and not
specifically defined shall have the meaning customarily attributable
to them by prudent operators in the oil and gas industry.
The City of Oil City.
Any tract of land subject to an oil, gas and mineral lease
or other oil and gas development contract, or any unit composed of
several tracts and leases but operated as one lease, and any tract
of land in which the minerals are owned by an operator or someone
holding under it or him but which, due to a free royalty ownership,
is developed and operated on a separate tract.
Any oil or gas well which has not been drilled to an existing
oil- or gas-bearing rock formation prior to the adoption of this chapter.
Any well which is not currently being operated for the production
of gas or oil.
Any well that is currently being operated for the production
of oil or gas.
A regulatory device used by the City to monitor the operation
and production of oil and gas wells within the City limits.
Includes both the singular and plural and shall mean and
include any person, individual, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
club, society, cooperative, trust, municipal corporation or political
subdivision, whatsoever.
Any operation which changes the physical characteristics
of an existing operating or nonoperating oil or gas well, including
drilling deeper, shooting or hydrofracturing.
Any product or by-product of the oil and/or gas drilling,
reworking or production process which, by its nature, can be harmful
or irritating to the social and/or physical environment. Examples
of "waste" include, but are not limited to, surface loss of oil, gas,
sludge, basic sediment and brine.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person to maintain and operate an oil
or gas well within the City of Oil City without first filing for and
obtaining a permit from the City Building Inspector.
B.
Any person who wishes to retain the right to operate an existing
well in the City under this section must make application for a permit
within one year from the effective date of the adoption of this chapter.
Any person who wishes to operate a new well, an existing operating
well or an existing nonoperating well in the City must first obtain
a permit under this section prior to placing such wells into operation.
The permit application shall contain the following data and be subject
to the following:
(1)
The application shall be made upon a general application form to
be supplied by the City.
(2)
A copy of a map which shows the location of all known wells which
the person filing for the permit wishes to operate and which shall
designate the City lot number(s) upon which the well(s) are located.
The map shall also contain the exact location of any storage and separating
tanks which are presently on the site.
(4)
A separate permit application shall be required for each well.
C.
Upon receiving the appropriate filing information and data as detailed
hereinabove, the City Building Inspector shall inspect the premises
containing the well(s) to verify the accuracy of the application data.
The Building Inspector shall issue the permit within 30 days after
receiving the application data, provided that the application meets
all terms and conditions imposed by this chapter.
D.
The permit, once approved, shall be effective for a period of one year from the date of issuance. In order for a well to remain operating, the permit must be renewed prior to the expiration date. The permit is not transferable, and upon the sale, rental or lease of any oil or gas well(s), the new operator, owner or party in interest shall make application for a permit in accordance with Subsection B within 30 days of any transaction and before any operation of the affected well(s).
A.
All new wells must have storage and separating tanks installed underground or, if above ground, must be properly screened from public view, as per Chapter 310, Zoning, of the Code of the City of Oil City. The City Building Inspector shall be notified prior to the placement of any of the above equipment so that he may view the proposed location of said equipment. The City Building Inspector may require the relocation of the equipment to assure and maintain the public's safety and welfare.[1]
Any person who seeks to undertake reworking operations on an
existing, operating or nonoperating well shall, prior to any reworking,
notify the City Building Inspector of the intention to do so. Said
reworking site shall be maintained in such a manner so as to protect
the general public from hazards associated with the reworking process
and so as to minimize any potential environmental degradation.
A.
All new oil and gas wells drilled within the City of Oil City shall
meet the following requirements with regard to location:
(1)
In areas designated in Chapter 310, Zoning, of the City of Oil City as residential, i.e., R-1, R-2 and R-3, no new well(s) shall be drilled and operated at any location which is nearer than 300 feet to an adjacent surface property line or public street right-of-way without the written approval of the adjacent surface property owner(s).
(2)
In areas designated in Chapter 310, Zoning, of the City of Oil City as either commercial or industrial, i.e., C-1, C-2, C-3, C-4, I-1 or I-2, no new well shall be drilled and operated at any location which is nearer than 100 feet to any adjacent surface property line or public street right-of-way, without the written approval of the adjacent surface property owner(s).
B.
It shall be unlawful for any person to drill a new oil or gas well
within the City of Oil City without first filing for and obtaining
a permit from the City Building Inspector. The permit application
for new oil or gas wells shall contain the following data and be subject
to the following:
(1)
The application shall be made upon a general application form to
be supplied by the City.
(2)
A copy of a map which shows the location of all new well(s) to be
drilled on a lease and which shall designate the City lot number(s)
upon which the well(s) will be drilled. The map shall also contain
the proposed location of any new storage and separating tanks on the
lease or the exact location of any existing storage and separating
tanks that may already exist on the site.
C.
Upon the receipt of the appropriate filing information and data as
detailed above, the City Building Inspector shall inspect the premises
containing the proposed new well(s) to verify the accuracy of the
application data. The City Building Inspector shall issue the permit
for the new well(s) within 30 days after receiving the application
data, provided that the application meets all terms and conditions
imposed by this chapter.
D.
The new well permit, once approved, shall be effective for a period of one year from the date of issuance. Once the permit is issued for the new well(s), the well(s) shall be termed "operating" as per the meaning of the term under this chapter. Limitations on and renewal of operating oil and gas well permits are delineated in § 212-3. Failure to abide by the regulations for operating wells as outlined in this chapter or to renew the permits for the same shall render the well(s) "nonoperating" as per the definition.
All waste produced at an operating well lease shall be disposed
of in a proper manner. At no time shall any waste be transmitted onto
or into the streets or alleys of the City of Oil City, nor shall any
waste be dumped directly or indirectly into any sanitary or storm
sewer owned, operated or maintained by the City of Oil City.
B.
Operators of all oil and gas production equipment in the City shall
limit their daily hours of operation from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. so
as to minimize disturbance to the general public.
C.
Any person engaged in the operation of oil and gas production shall
be required to keep his tanks and pumping equipment painted as to
maintain the site in a neat and orderly manner, particularly with
regard to on-site storage of production equipment.
All persons maintaining and operating oil and gas well(s) must
also meet any additional federal, state and local laws which pertain
to the operation of oil and gas wells.
Any applicant or person affected by a decision of the City Building
Inspector may, within 10 days of such decision, appeal to the Board
of Appeals, consisting of the five members of City Council, for review.
Such review shall be conducted during a specially scheduled meeting.
The Board of Appeals may affirm, reverse or modify the decision of
the City Building Inspector.
Any person violating any provision of this chapter shall, upon
conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay the costs of prosecution and
a fine not exceeding $300 and, in default of the payment of such costs
and fine, be committed to the Venango County jail for a period not
to exceed 30 days.
