For the purpose of this article, all technical or oil and gas
industry words or phrases used herein and not specifically defined
herein shall have that meaning customarily attributed to them by the
oil and gas industry. The following words and terms, wherever and
whenever used or appearing in this article, shall have the scope and
meaning hereinafter defined and set out in connection with each:
Any person who applies for a drilling or seismic testing
permit hereunder.
Improvements, equipment or facilities of a type or design
approved by the building official.
The portion of this code or any ordinance of the city known
by that title and all amendments thereto.
The permit required by the building code.
A well is completed, for the purpose of these regulations,
thirty (30) days after the drilling crew has been released. The drilling
crew is released within the meaning of this subsection when work at
the well site for drilling or completing the well is suspended, either
temporarily or permanently.
Any structure, improvement, equipment, or facility, and each
and every part thereof, whether completed or not, and which is required,
or used or useful, for or in connection with drilling, operating,
or maintaining a well for the production of oil, gas or other hydrocarbons
from the earth, together with all parts of and appurtenances to such
structure, improvement, equipment, or facility, including, but not
limited to, foundations and sills therefor, pumphouses, engine houses
or housings, pipe-racks, postings, walkways, mud-ditches, and crown
blocks.
The designated agent of the applicant or permittee.
That the drilling derrick is in its operating position over
the well, properly anchored and supported, and that an operating crew
is on duty at the drill site at all reasonable times.
Entry onto the site with equipment and/or personnel for the
specific purpose of actually opening a well hole intended to produce
oil or gas.
The premises used during the drilling and subsequent life
of a well or wells, which is necessary for the safe operations thereof.
To build, construct, install, assemble, put together, improve,
alter, move, reconstruct, restore, renovate, renew or repair any building,
structure, improvement or facility, or any part or portion thereof
or foundations therefor, or appurtenance thereto, whether or not such
building, structure, improvement or facility is completed, or to work
upon, or in any way assist in such erection.
Oil and other fluid hydrocarbons, including liquefied gases
or other flammable liquids, having a flash point below two hundred
(200) degrees Fahrenheit. The flash point of all commodities shall
be determined by the Elliot, Abel, Abel-Pensky, or Tag closed cap
testers, but the Tag closed cap tester, standardized by the National
Institute of Standards and Technology, shall be authoritative in case
of dispute. All tests shall be in accordance with the methods adopted
by the American Society for Testing Materials, and approved by the
American National Standards Institute, or their successors.
The gaseous components or vapors occurring in or derived
from petroleum or natural gas.
The possessor of the right to explore and recover minerals
from the premises.
The owner of mineral rights.
To repair, or otherwise keep or place in working condition,
and also to permit, or authorize to exist, regardless of whether any
actual maintenance work is done. For the purposes of this article,
an oil well, well hole, derrick and production equipment shall be
deemed to be “maintained” upon the premises in and upon
which the same were or are being drilled, erected or installed, until
the following tasks are accomplished:
Every part of such derrick and production equipment shall be
removed from the drill site.
All requirements for abandonment established by the state and
any other regulatory authority having jurisdiction must be met.
All sumps, cellars, rotary mud, concrete, oil and rubbish must
be removed and the drill site cleaned and all ditches must be leveled.
All property of the city which may have been disturbed or damaged
by the operations at the drill site shall be repaired and cleaned
as needed and restored to substantially the same condition as existed
at the time of the issuance of the permit.
The repair and replacement of parts of a structure when the
repair or replacement does not alter or lessen the strength or stability
of the structure.
A drill site shall be considered nonurbanized if no occupied
commercial, residential or industrial structure exists in use within
one thousand (1,000) feet of the proposed well hole.
Only those structures that are regularly occupied by persons
at least twenty (20) hours per week.
Petroleum and other fluid hydrocarbons obtained from the
earth.
To work or act upon or to cause or permit natural or artificial
forces to function in connection with any structure, plant, equipment,
machinery, or facility with the purpose of utilizing the same for
the purpose for which it was or is erected or maintained, or for any
other purpose, and, when used with reference to a well, well hole,
derrick or production equipment, means and includes any acts or functions
performed or permitted to occur in connection with such well, well
hole, derrick or production equipment from and after the completion
of the drilling of the well, for the purpose of producing or obtaining
oil, gas, or other hydrocarbons from the ground, and for the purpose
of collecting and handling the same and making deliveries thereof
at the well or from the shipping tanks or lease tanks in the vicinity
of the well. “Operate” includes all functions performed
or permitted to occur in connection with such production, collection,
handling and delivery, including the repair, reconditioning, restoration,
perforating, redrilling or deepening of said well or well hole, and
the dehydration or cleaning of said oil prior to making such deliveries
as aforesaid.
The person, whether owner, lessee, or independent contractor,
actually in charge and in control of the drilling, maintenance, operation
or pumping of a well or lease.
A person who has legal or equitable title to the surface
of the drill site.
The maximum rate of ground movement measured by any of the
3 mutually perpendicular components of ground motion.
The written, typed or printed permission issued to an applicant
by the building official under the authority of this article.
Any person to whom a permit has been granted and issued under
and pursuant to the terms of this article by the building official.
An individual; a receiver; a trustee; a partnership; a joint
adventure; a firm; an unincorporated association; a syndicate; a club;
a society; a trust; a private corporation; a public corporation; a
municipal corporation; a county, a state, or national government;
a commission; a water district; a utility district; a political subdivision;
and a drainage, irrigation, levee, reclamation, flood control, or
water conservation district, whether acting for himself or itself
or in any representative capacity.
The location of the source of energy used in seismic testing.
This definition shall include energy caused by detonation of explosive
charges or through the use of mechanical devices such as vibratory
trucks, if approved by the city.
Pumping equipment, tubing, pipes, gauges, meters, valves,
oil and gas separators, sumps, flow tanks, production tanks, shipping
tanks, lease tanks, shipping pumps, loading racks and all other structures,
machinery, equipment and facilities, and each and every part thereof,
whether completed or not, required for or used or useful in connection
with the operation, repair, reconditioning, redrilling or maintenance
of a well or well hole, and the collection, handling and delivery
of oil, gas or other hydrocarbons therefrom, and which structures,
machinery, equipment and facilities are not included in the “derrick,”
“well,” or “well hole,” as heretofore defined.
“Production equipment” also includes any wash tanks, dehydration
plant or other equipment or facility operated or maintained by or
in behalf of the operator of said well for the purpose of separating
sand, water and other foreign substances from the oil, gas or other
hydrocarbons produced or obtained by said operator, prior to shipping
or delivering said oil from the shipping tanks or lease tanks at the
well, or in the vicinity thereof.
The deepening of an existing oil well or otherwise drilling
beyond the extremities (to the side) of the existing well casing.
The provisions of this article relating to drilling shall be equally
applicable to redrilling.
That which is built or constructed for the purpose of human
habitation and occupancy.
The approved temporary suspension of drilling or redrilling
operations pending a resumption of operations or abandonment.
A container, covered or uncovered, used in conjunction with
the drilling or production of an oil well, for holding or storing
liquids at or near atmospheric pressure.
A drill site shall be considered urbanized where an occupied
commercial, residential or industrial structure exists within one
thousand (1,000) feet of the proposed well hole.
A well head is composed of the casinghead, Christmas tree
and all well connections.
(1958 Code, sec. 24-1; Ordinance
76-38, sec. 1, adopted 3/23/76; 1978 Code, sec. 19-1; Ordinance
07-049, sec. 1, adopted 4/17/07; Ordinance 08-027, sec. 1, adopted 4/29/08; Ordinance 08-045, sec. 1, adopted 5/27/08)
Prior to the issuance of drilling or redrilling permit hereunder,
the applicant shall furnish the building official with a bond in the
principal sum of seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000.00) per drill
site. Such bond shall be executed by an insurance company authorized
to do business in the state, as surety, and with the applicant as
principal, naming the city for the benefit of the city conditioned
that the permittee will comply with the terms and conditions of this
article. In addition, the bond will be conditioned that the applicant
will promptly pay fines, penalties and other assessments imposed upon
the applicant by reason of the breach of any of the terms, provisions
and conditions of this article; and that the applicant will promptly
restore to their former condition streets, sidewalks, and other public
property which may be damaged in drilling operations; and that the
applicant will comply with all fencing, screening and site restoration
requirements of this article. If at any time the building official
should find the applicant’s bond to be insufficient for any
reason, he may require the applicant to file a new bond.
(1958 Code, sec. 24-6; Ordinance
76-38, sec. 1, adopted 3/23/76; 1978 Code, sec. 19-6; Ordinance
07-049, sec. 6, adopted 4/17/07; Ordinance 08-027, sec. 4, adopted 4/29/08)
Upon written request from a permittee who has complied with
all provisions of this article, the building official may permit a
reduction of the permittee’s bond to a sum of not less than
ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00) per drill site for the remainder
of the time such well produces.
(1958 Code, sec. 24-7; Ordinance
76-38, sec. 1, adopted 3/23/76; 1978 Code, sec. 19-7; Ordinance
07-049, sec. 7, adopted 4/17/07)
Prior to issuance of a drilling or redrilling permit hereunder,
the applicant shall furnish the building official with a certificate
of insurance showing a valid policy or policies of public liability
insurance, covering bodily injuries and property damage. Said insurance
shall be written by a company authorized to do business in this state.
Such policies shall provide for the following minimum coverage:
(1)
Bodily
injuries and general liability one occurrence: $5,000,000.00 in an
urbanized area.
(2)
Property
damage: $2,500,000.00 in an urbanized area.
(3)
Bodily
injuries and general liability one occurrence: $2,500,000.00 in a
nonurbanized area.
(4)
Property
damage: $1,000,000.00 in a nonurbanized area.
(1958 Code, sec. 24-8; Ordinance
76-38, sec. 1, adopted 3/23/76; 1978 Code, sec. 19-8; Ordinance
07-049, sec. 8, adopted 4/17/07; Ordinance 08-027, sec. 5, adopted 4/29/08)
The building official may waive the requirements for surety
bond and policies of insurance as required herein as to any drilling
or redrilling permittee who is financially responsible and capable
of meeting obligations for amounts in excess of ten million dollars
($10,000,000.00) upon the permittee filing with the building official
in lieu of any such surety bond or insurance policies a letter of
acceptance and indemnity approved by the city attorney, binding and
obligating such permittee to abide by the conditions for which surety
bond and insurance policies are required as prescribed herein, and
agreeing to indemnify and hold the city harmless from any and all
liability growing out of or attributable to the granting of any and
all permits to such permittee, including acts or omissions of the
city, its officers, agents, and employees in connection with said
drilling permit.
(1958 Code, sec. 24-9; Ordinance
76-38, sec. 1, adopted 3/23/76; 1978 Code, sec. 19-9; Ordinance
07-049, sec. 9, adopted 4/17/07; Ordinance 08-027, sec. 6, adopted 4/29/08)
The permittee shall indemnify and save harmless the city, its
officers, agents and employees from any and all claims, causes of
action and damages of every kind, for injury to or death to any person
and damages to property arising out of the operation under any drilling
permit and including acts or omissions of the city, its officers,
agents, and employees in connection with said drilling permit.
(1958 Code, sec. 24-19; Ordinance 76-38, sec. 1, adopted 3/23/76; 1978 Code, sec. 19-20)
A copy of the “Potential” or “Plug and Abandon”
report of any well furnished to the state railroad commission shall
be concurrently filed by the permittee with the building official.
(1958 Code, sec. 24-21; Ordinance 76-38, sec. 1, adopted 3/23/76; 1978 Code, sec. 19-21; Ordinance 07-049, sec. 17, adopted 4/17/07)
