For the purposes of this article the following words and terms
wherever and whenever used or appearing herein shall have the scope
and meanings hereinafter defined and set out in connection with each.
shall mean the city manager or his or her designee.
as that term is used herein shall mean 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 the free royalty ownership, is developed and operated as a separate
tract.
shall be contained within the current approved American Association
of Petroleum Landmen form.
shall mean the person to whom is issued a permit for the
drilling and operation of a well under this article, and his administrators,
executors, heirs, successors and assigns.
shall mean the acreage assigned to a unit by the operator
of that unit and approved by the city council, for the drilling of
a well. The declaration and approval of a production unit is deemed
to unitize, or pool, all mineral rights within the unit. All owners
who ratify or confirm such unit in accordance with this article shall
participate on a pro-rata basis. The acreage, or tracts of land, to
be assigned to a production unit shall be selected at the discretion
of the owner or lessee seeking a permit under this article: A production
unit, as defined herein, shall be forty (40) acres on contiguous tracts
of land or some other amount of contiguous acreage as approved by
the RRC in the adoption of field rules or similar action.
shall mean a person in the general conduct of its business
exercising that degree of skill, diligence, prudence and foresight
which would reasonably and ordinarily be expected from a skilled and
experienced operator engaging in the same type of business in the
same or similar circumstances and conditions in the Permian Basin
area.
shall refer to the Railroad Commission of Texas or its successor
regulatory agency.
shall refer to the process of incorporating mineral rights
for various tracts of land within one instrument (a Declaration of
Pooled Unit Agreement) for the purpose of forming the “production
unit” defined in this section.
shall include and mean any hole or holes, bore or bores,
to any sand, formation, strata or depth for the purposes of:
Producing and recovering any oil, gas, liquid hydrocarbon, or
any of them; or
Cycling, pressure maintenance, water flood, secondary and/or
tertiary operations.
All technical or oil and gas industry words or phrases used
herein and not specifically defined shall have that meaning customarily
attributable thereto by a reasonably prudent operator.
(1983 Code, sec. 14-126; Ordinance 8327, sec. 2 (19A-1), adopted 5/28/1982; Ordinance 8632, sec. 1, adopted 7/12/1984; Ordinance 2015-O0021 adopted 3/12/2015)
Any violation of laws of the state or any rules, regulations
or requirements of any state or federal regulatory body having jurisdiction
in reference to drilling, completing, equipping, operating, producing,
maintaining or abandoning an oil or gas well or related appurtenances,
equipment or facilities, or in reference to fire walls, fire protection,
blowout protection, safety protection or convenience of persons or
property, shall also be a violation of this article and shall be punishable
in accordance with the provisions hereof.
(1983 Code, sec. 14-127; Ordinance 8327, sec. 2 (19A-23), adopted 5/28/1982; Ordinance 2015-O0021 adopted 3/12/2015)
(a)
The
city manager shall enforce the provisions of this article and shall
have the authority to issue any orders, directives, warnings, or citations,
required to carry out the intent and purpose of this article and its
particular provisions. The city manager may retain the services of
an independent consultant to aid in the detection of violations and
the enforcement of this article.
(b)
The
city manager shall have the authority, in accordance with applicable
law, to enter and inspect any premises covered by the provisions of
this article to determine compliance with the provisions of this article
and all applicable laws, rules, regulations, standards, or directives
of the state. The city manager shall conduct, at minimum, yearly inspections
of any premises covered by the provisions of this article, in order
to determine that all operations are in compliance with this article.
(c)
The
city manager shall have the authority to request and receive any public
records, including records sent to the RRC, reports and the like,
relating to the status or condition of any permitted oil and gas well
necessary to establish compliance with the applicable oil and gas
well permit.
(1983 Code, sec. 14-129; Ordinance 8327, sec. 2 (19A-2), adopted 5/28/1982; Ordinance 2015-O0021 adopted 3/12/2015)
(a)
In
the event a permit is approved by the city council under the terms
of this article for drilling and operation of a well, no permit shall
be issued by the city manager until the permittee shall file with
the city manager a certificate of insurance in an amount and form
as specified below. The permittee shall carry a policy or policies
of standard comprehensive public liability insurance, including contractual
liability covering bodily injuries and property damage, naming the
permittee and the city as insureds, with an insurance company authorized
to do business in the state. Such policy or policies shall contain
a waiver of any and all of the insurer’s rights to subrogation
that any such insurer or insurers may acquire by virtue of payment
of any loss under such insurance and shall specifically cover any
and all damage or incidents that may occur in or to the city’s
right-of-way. All policies shall be written by an insurer with an
AA rating or better rating by the most current version of the A.M.
Best Key Rating Guide. Such policy or policies in the aggregate shall
provide for the following minimum coverages:
(1)
Standard commercial general liability policy: Two million dollars
($2,000,000.00);
Per occurrence: Two million dollars ($2,000,000.00);
Per incident: Two million dollars ($2,000,000.00).
(2)
Excess or umbrella liability: Twenty million dollars ($20,000,000.00).
(3)
Environmental pollution liability coverage: Two million dollars ($2,000,000.00).
(4)
Control of well: Two million dollars ($2,000,000.00).
(5)
Automobile liability insurance: One million dollars ($1,000,000.00).
(b)
Permittee
shall file with the city manager certificates of such insurance as
above stated, and shall obtain the written approval thereof by the
city manager, who shall act thereon within ten (10) days from the
date of such filing. The insurance policy or policies shall not be
cancelled without written notice to the city manager at least thirty
(30) days prior to the effective date of such cancellation. In the
event such insurance policy or policies are cancelled, the permit
granted shall terminate, and permittee’s rights to operate under
such permit shall cease until permittee files additional insurance
as provided herein. Permittee shall maintain said insurance for a
period no less than five (5) years after drilling and/or production
operations cease at any and all well sites.
(c)
Permittee
shall be responsible for any and all damage that arises as a result
of permittee’s drilling or production activities. Permittee
shall promptly restore the streets, sidewalks and other public property
of the city, which may be disturbed or damaged in the operations,
to their former condition as determined by the city. Permittee shall
promptly clear all premises of all litter, trash, waste, and other
substances used, allowed or occurring in the drilling or production
operations, and shall, after abandonment, grade, level and restore
such property to the same surface condition, as nearly as possible,
as existed when operations for the drilling of the well or wells were
first commenced. If permittee fails to restore any damage resulting
from permittee’s activities and/or clean such premises, the
city may conduct any and all repair and/or cleanup required to restore
the premises and/or surrounding property the city finds is necessary.
The city shall charge any costs of such cleanup or restoration to
permittee and permittee shall promptly pay such costs. The city may
revoke any and all of permittee’s outstanding permits and/or
pursue any remedy available to the city by law if permittee fails
to provide payment for such costs. Permittee shall indemnify and hold
the city harmless from any and all liability resulting from or attributable
to the granting of such permit.
(1983 Code, sec. 14-128; Ordinance 8327, sec. 2 (19A-10), adopted 5/28/1982; Ordinance 9170, sec. 1, adopted 2/15/1988; Ordinance 2004-O0055, sec. 1, adopted 5/25/2004; Ordinance 2015-O0021 adopted 3/12/2015)
It shall be unlawful and an offense for any person to violate
or neglect to comply with any provision hereof, irrespective of whether
or not the verbiage of each section hereof contains the specific language
that such violation or neglect is unlawful and is an offense. Any
person who shall violate any of the provisions of this article, or
any of the provisions of a drilling and operating permit issued pursuant
hereto shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, on conviction
thereof, be fined in accordance with state law designating the penalty
for a violation of an ordinance that governs fire safety or public
health and sanitation; and the violation of each separate provision
of this article, and of such permit shall be considered a separate
offense, and each day’s violation of each separate provision
thereof shall be considered a separate offense.
(1983 Code, sec. 14-130; Ordinance 8327, sec. 2 (19A-25), adopted 5/28/1982; Ordinance 2015-O0021 adopted 3/12/2015)
(a)
Cease and desist order.
If, at any time, any operator
is in violation of any of the provisions of this article, the city
manager may order compliance and set a reasonable period of time for
same. If compliance is not obtained within the time period specified,
the city manager shall order, in writing, the operator to cease and
desist operation of the well immediately. The operator shall immediately
comply with the order of the city manager to cease and desist and
shall not resume any operation at the site affected unless and until
the written approval of the city manager is obtained.
(b)
Grounds for suspension or revocation of permit.
The
city manager may, in writing, with ten (10) days’ notice, suspend
or revoke any permit issued under the provisions of this article upon
finding any of the following:
(1)
A permittee has failed, neglected or refused to perform, comply with
and abide by any of the conditions of the permit;
(2)
That permittee has failed or neglected or refused to comply with
or abide by or has in any way violated any of the provisions of this
article, or of any other ordinance of the city, or any other law,
rule, order or regulation either directly or indirectly, by reason
of or in connection with or incidental to his conduct of oil operations;
(3)
If permittee shall have made any willful misrepresentation of facts
in any application for any such permit, or in any record required
by this article to be filed or furnished by permittee;
(4)
Failure to comply with a cease and desist order issued by the city
manager.
(c)
Effect of suspension or revocation of permit.
No person
shall carry on any operations performed under the terms of any permit
during any period of permit suspension or revocation, or pending a
judgment of the court upon any application for writ taken to review
the decision or order of the city in suspending or revoking such permit;
provided, however, that nothing therein contained shall be construed
to prevent the performance of such operation as may be necessary in
connection with a diligent and bona fide effort to cure and remedy
the default, or violation for which the suspension or revocation of
the permit was ordered, or such operation as necessary for the safety
of persons or as required by the city council.
(d)
Appeals.
Any person or entity whose oil and gas permit
has been revoked may, within thirty (30) days of the decision of the
city manager, file a written appeal to the city council in accordance
with the following procedure:
(1)
The city council shall have and exercise the power to hear and determine
appeals where it is alleged there is error or abuse of discretion
regarding the revocation of any permits issued hereunder as provided
by this article.
(2)
An appeal shall be in writing and shall be filed in triplicate with
the city manager. The grounds for appeal must be set forth specifically
and the error described by the appellant.
(3)
The city manager shall transmit to the city council all papers involved
in the proceedings. In addition, the city manager shall make and transmit
to the city council such supplementary reports as may be deemed necessary
to present the facts and circumstances of the case. Copies shall be
mailed to the appellant prior to the hearing.
(4)
The city manager shall place the matter on the agenda of a regularly
scheduled city council meeting for hearing and give notice by mail
of the time, place, and purpose thereof to appellant, and any other
party who has requested in writing to be so notified. No other notice
need be given; provided, however, that the hearing shall not take
place any sooner than ten (10) days after notice has been sent to
the appellant.
(1983 Code, sec. 14-131; Ordinance 8327, sec. 2 (19A-26), adopted 5/28/1982; Ordinance 2015-O0021 adopted 3/12/2015)
Voluntary unitization is encouraged in order to allow the efficient
recovery of oil and gas by the owner or lessee of an interest in oil
and gas beneath a tract of land in the city, and to prevent the safety
problems of multiple well drilling.
(1983 Code, sec. 14-132; Ordinance 8327, sec. 2 (19A-24), adopted 5/28/1982; Ordinance 8632, secs. 4–6,
adopted 7/12/1984; Ordinance
9170, sec. 2, adopted 2/15/1988; Ordinance 2015-O0021 adopted 3/12/2015)
