The exploration, development, and production of gas in the city
are activities which necessitate reasonable regulation to ensure that
all property owners, mineral and otherwise, have the right to peaceably
enjoy their property and its benefits and revenues. It is hereby declared
to be the purpose of this division to establish reasonable and uniform
limitations, safeguards and regulations for present and future operations
related to the exploring, drilling, developing, producing, transporting
and storing of gas and other substances produced in association with
gas within the city to protect the health and general welfare of the
public, minimize the potential impact to property and mineral rights
owners, protect the quality of the environment and encourage the orderly
production of available mineral resources.
(Ordinance 12212009-1, sec. 10.5-1,
adopted 12/21/09)
All technical industry words or phrases related to the drilling
and production of gas wells not specifically defined in this division
shall have the meanings customarily attributable thereto by prudent
and reasonable gas industry operators. The following words, terms
and phrases, when used in this division, shall have the meanings ascribed
to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates
a different meaning:
means “abandonment” as defined by the state railroad
commission and includes the plugging of the well and the restoration
of any well site as required by this division.
means the all-encompassing noise level associated with a
given environment, being a composite of sounds from all sources at
the location, constituting the normal or existing level of environmental
noise at a given location.
means a mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic or other device
or combination of such devices secured to the top of a well casing,
including valves, fittings and control mechanisms connected therewith,
which can be closed around the drill pipe, or other tubular goods
which completely close the top of the casing and are designed for
preventing blowouts.
means any structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering
any use or occupancy. The term “building” shall be construed
as if followed by the words “or portions thereof.”
means an electrochemical corrosion control technique accomplished
by applying a direct current to the structure that causes the structure
potential to change from the corrosion potential to a protective potential
in the immunity region. The required cathodic protection current is
supplied by sacrificial anode materials or by an impressed current
system.
means the time when the blowout protectors (BOPs) are removed
or otherwise rendered inoperable and/or there are no further activities
to trip drill pipe, casing or insert other tools into or out of the
hole.
means the city attorney of the City of Reno.
means the code of the City of Reno.
means those pipelines within the city that under federal
and state rules and regulations are not exempt from city regulations
and ordinances regarding mapping, inventorying, locating or relocating
of pipelines, including, but not limited to, pipelines over, under,
along, or across a public street or alley, pipelines from the well
to the first point of custody transfer or in private residential areas
within the boundaries of the city.
means a system utilized while drilling so that reserve pits
are not used and instead steel bins are used to collect all drilling
waste.
means the reflection of either “spud well” or
“nipple up” the blowout protectors (BOP) by the drilling
contractors on the IADC-API daily drilling report form maintained
by the operator’s tool pusher on the pad site.
means the state railroad commission and all state rules.
means the date the work is completed for the drilling, re-drilling
or re-working and the crew is released by completing their work or
contract or by their employer.
means the period from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
means a unit for measuring the intensity of a sound/noise
and is equal to 10 times the logarithm to the base 10 of the ratio
of the measured sound pressure squared to a reference pressure, which
is 20 micropascals.
means those activities when the drilling has ceased and the
rig equipment and related pad site equipment is being dismantled for
the purpose of moving off the drill pad site.
means any portable framework, tower, mast and/or structure
which is required or used in connection with drilling or re-working
a well for the production of gas.
means digging or boring a new well for the purpose of exploring
for, developing or producing gas or other hydrocarbons, or for the
purpose of injecting gas, water or any other fluid or substance into
the earth.
means the derrick, together with all parts of and appurtenances
to such structure, [and] every piece of apparatus, machinery or equipment
used or erected or maintained for use in connection with drilling.
means drilling with drill pipe and bit, running casing, circulating
mud and fluids, tripping tools and setting production casing/tubing.
means geologic or geophysical activities, including seismic
surveys, related to the search for gas or other subsurface hydrocarbons.
means Federal Emergency Management Agency.
means the volunteer fire department of the city.
means flood insurance rate map.
means the process of flowing a completed/fractured well for
the purpose of recovering water and residual sand from the gas stream
prior to sending gas down a sales line.
means the process of fracture stimulation of a rock formation.
means water obtained from any source (natural or reuse) that
contains 3000 ppm chlorides or less or as defined by the state railroad
commission.
means a pit used for the collection and storage of fresh
water for the purpose of fracture stimulation of gas wells.
means any fluid, either combustible or noncombustible, which
is produced in a natural state from the earth and which maintains
a gaseous or rarefied state at standard temperature and pressure conditions
and/or the gaseous components or vapors occurring in or derived from
petroleum or natural gas.
means a committee consisting of applicable city departments
assembled for the purpose of reviewing wells drilled within six hundred
(600) feet of a protected use without waivers, all pipeline permit
applications for gas pipelines through a private residential area,
and permit applications involving noncommercial truck routes.
means any well drilled, to be drilled, or used for the intended
or actual production of natural gas.
means any structure for which a certificate of occupancy
is required. A habitable structure shall not include detached accessory
buildings, garages and sheds.
means any building used or designed to and intended to be
used for medical, surgical, psychiatric, nursing or custodial care
on a 24-hour basis, including convalescent facilities, social rehabilitation
centers, mental hospitals, detoxification facilities, and alcohol
and drug centers.
means the gas inspector(s) or other inspectors as needed
and as designated by the city.
means a device that raises the pressure of a compressible
fluid (gas) in order to lift gas from the well.
means a device that raises the pressure of a compressible
fluid (gas) in order for the gas to be transported through a pipeline.
means those activities when the drilling rig and related
equipment and personnel arrive at the well site and are conducting
activities to rig up or position the rig equipment at the well and
prepare for drilling. This includes all activities and services prior
to the drill bit being lowered below the rotary table and entering
the conductor pipe in an attempt to make hole (“spud in”)
for the first time at the pad site.
means that permit issued for the sole purpose of allowing
future wells to be drilled on an existing pad site and within six
hundred (600) of protected uses without obtaining waivers and/or variances.
means the period between 7:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
means, for each well, the person listed on railroad commission
Form W-1 or Form P-4 for a gas well that is, or will be, actually
in charge and in control of drilling, maintaining, operating, pumping
or controlling any well, including, without limitation, a unit operator.
If the operator, as herein defined, is not the lessee under a gas
lease of any premises affected by the provisions of this division,
then such lessee shall also be deemed to be an operator. In the event
that there is no gas lease relating to any premises affected by this
division, the owner of the fee mineral estate in the premises shall
be deemed an operator.
means the outer boundary of any property for which a preliminary
plat or concept plan has been filed with the city.
means the singular and the plural and means a natural person,
or a corporation, association, guardian, partnership, receiver, trustee,
administrator, executor, and fiduciary or representative of any kind.
means all parts of those physical facilities through which
gas, hazardous liquids, fresh water, salt water, or chemicals move
in transportation, including but limited to pipe, valves and other
appurtenances attached to pipe, whether or not laid in a public or
private easement or public or private right-of-way within the city,
including but not limited to gathering lines, production lines and
transmission lines. This definition does not include pipelines associated
with franchised utilities.
means the initiation of any excavation or other disturbance
of property for the purpose of installation, construction, maintenance,
repair, replacement, modification or removal of a pipeline.
means a pipeline or well incident that is required to be
reported to the railroad commission, the state commission on environmental
quality, or any federal, state, or local regulatory agency.
means any person owning, operating or responsible for operating
a pipeline.
means a permit for the movement of gas, oil, water or other
products.
means any area within the territorial limits of the city
zoned and used as single- or multi-family residential.
means the owner of the surface property.
means a residence, religious institution, hospital building,
school or public park.
means all buildings with occupancies of 50 or more persons
and more than 750 square feet used or designed to and intended to
be used for motion picture theaters, symphony and concert halls, television
and radio studios admitting an audience, theaters, banquet halls,
nightclubs, restaurants, taverns and bars, amusement arcades, art
galleries, bowling alleys, community halls, courtrooms, dance halls,
exhibition halls, funeral parlors, gymnasiums without spectator seating,
indoor swimming pools and tennis courts without spectator seating,
lecture halls, libraries, museums, waiting areas in transportation
terminals, pool and billiard parlors, arenas with spectator seating,
skating rinks with spectator seating, swimming pools with spectator
seating, tennis courts with spectator seating and amusement park structures,
bleachers, grandstands and stadiums used for viewing outdoor activities.
means any land area dedicated to the city for traditional
park-like recreational purposes.
means re-completion of an existing well by deepening or sidetrack
operations extending more than one hundred fifty (150) feet from the
existing well bore.
means techniques or methods that minimize the release of
natural gas and vapors to the environment when a well is being flowed
during the completion or re-completion phase of a Barnett Shale well.
means any building in which persons regularly assemble for
religious worship and activities intended primarily for purposes connected
with such worship or for propagating a particular form of religious
belief.
means a house, duplex, apartment, townhouse, condominium,
city-inspected mobile home or other building designed for dwelling
purposes, including those for which a building permit has been issued
on the date the application for a gas well permit is filed with the
gas inspector. Residence shall include assisted living facilities,
nursing homes (both intermediate care facilities and skilled nursing
facilities), residential board and care facilities, group homes, 24-hour
shelters, halfway houses, hotels, motels and jails.
means re-completion or re-entry of an existing well within
the existing bore hole or by deepening or sidetrack operations which
do not extend more than one hundred fifty (150) feet from the existing
well bore, or replacement of well liners or casings.
means public rights-of-way including streets, easements and
other property within the city and which is dedicated to the use and
benefit of the public.
means any public and private, primary and secondary educational
facilities providing education or off-site related school sports venues
up through and including the twelfth grade level and any licensed
day care centers, meaning a facility licensed by the state or by the
city that provides care, training, education, custody, treatment or
supervision for more than six children under 14 years of age, and
for less than 24 hours per day.
means the area used for drilling, development and production
and all operational activities associated with gas production.
means any grading, tree removal, construction of access roads,
delivery of fill material, staging of equipment or any other activity
that would disturb the surface of the property.
means those pipelines within the city that under state and
federal rules and regulations are exempt from city regulations and
ordinances regarding mapping, inventorying, locating and relocating
of pipelines.
means any street, highway, sidewalk, alley, avenue, recessed
parking area or other public right-of-way, including the entire right-of-way.
means a container, covered or uncovered, used in conjunction
with the drilling or production of gas or other hydrocarbons for holding
or storing fluids.
means such person(s) familiar with and educated in the gas
industry or the law as it relates to gas matters that may be retained
from time to time by the city.
means a hole or holes, bore or bores, to any horizon, formation,
or strata for the purpose of producing gas, liquid hydrocarbon, brine
water or sulphur water, or for use as an injection well for secondary
recovery, disposal or production of gas, or other hydrocarbons from
the earth.
means work performed in a well after its completion in an
effort to secure production where there has been none, restore production
that has ceased or increase production.
(Ordinance 12212009-1, sec. 10.5-2,
adopted 12/21/09)
(a)
The
city mayor shall designate a gas inspector who shall enforce the provisions
of this division. The gas inspector shall have a degree in petroleum
engineering with a background in drilling and production or demonstrate
a proven background in the drilling, production, and operation of
gas wells. The gas inspector shall have the authority to issue any
orders or directives required to carry out the intent and purpose
of this division and its particular provisions. Failure of any person
to comply with any such order or directive shall constitute a violation
of this division.
(b)
The
gas inspector shall have the authority to enter and inspect any premises
covered by the provisions of this division to determine compliance
with the provisions of this division and all applicable laws, rules,
regulations, standards or directives of the state and to issue citations
for violations of this division. Failure of any person to permit access
to the gas inspector shall constitute a violation of this division.
The gas inspector shall conduct periodic inspections at least once
a year of all permitted wells in the city to determine that the wells
are operating in accordance within proper parameters as set out in
this division and all regulations of the commission.
(c)
The
gas inspector shall have the authority to request and receive any
records, including any records sent to the commission, logs, reports
and the like, relating to the status or condition of any permitted
well necessary to establish and determine compliance with the applicable
gas well and pipeline permits or other permits as required by this
division. Failure of any person to provide any such requested material
shall be deemed a violation of this division.
(d)
The
gas inspector shall have the authority to allow alternatives to the
technical standards of this division such as new technology, if the
operator has demonstrated to the gas inspector’s satisfaction
that the alternatives provide equal or greater protection of the environment
or public.
(Ordinance 12212009-1, sec. 10.5-3,
adopted 12/21/09)
Every operator of any well shall designate an agent, who is
a resident of the state, upon whom all orders and notices provided
in this division may be served in person or by registered or certified
mail. Every operator so designating such agent shall within ten (10)
days notify the city secretary and gas well division in writing of
any change in such agent or such mailing address unless operations
within the city are discontinued.
(Ordinance 12212009-1, sec. 10.5-4,
adopted 12/21/09)
The city may from time to time employ a technical advisor or
advisors who are experienced and educated in the gas industry or the
law as it pertains to gas matters. The function of such advisor(s)
shall be to advise, counsel or represent the city on such matters
relating to gas operations within the city as the city may want or
require and the effect thereof, both present and future, on the health,
welfare, comfort of the citizens of the city. In the event such technical
advisor(s) is employed for the purpose of advising, counseling or
representing the city relative to an operator’s unique and particular
set of circumstances, case or request relating to this division, then
the cost for such services of such technical advisor(s) shall be assessed
against and paid for by such operator in addition to any fees or charges
assessed pursuant to this division. Prior to the employment of a technical
advisor, the city shall inform the operator of the intended scope
of work and the estimated costs and expenses. The employment of a
technical advisor shall be approved by the city council.
(Ordinance 12212009-1, sec. 10.5-19,
adopted 12/21/09)
(a)
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 issuance of a gas well permit or the revocation or suspension
of any gas well permit issued hereunder as provided by this division.
Any person or entity whose application is denied by the gas inspector
(other than for distance requirements set out in this division) or
whose gas well permit is suspended or revoked or whose well or equipment
is deemed by the gas inspector to be abandoned may, within thirty
(30) days of the date of the written decision of the gas inspector,
file an appeal to the city council in accordance with the following
procedure:
(1)
An appeal shall be in writing and shall be filed in triplicate with
the city secretary. The grounds for appeal must be set forth specifically,
and the error described, by the appellant.
(2)
Within forty-five (45) days of receipt of the records, the city secretary
shall transmit all papers involved in the proceeding, place the matter
on the city council agenda for hearing and give notice by mail of
the time, place and purpose thereof to the appellant and any other
party who has requested in writing to be so notified. No other notice
need be given.
(Ordinance 12212009-1, sec. 10.5-20,
adopted 12/21/09; Ordinance adopting
2020 Code)
(a)
It
shall be unlawful and an offense for any person to do the following:
(Ordinance 12212009-1, div. 10,
adopted 12/21/09; Ordinance adopting
2020 Code)
For services rendered, the schedule of fees and charges is as set forth in the fee schedule in appendix A of this code.
(Ordinance 12212009-1, sec. 21,
adopted 12/21/09; Ordinance
2018-06 adopted 2/26/18; Ordinance adopting 2020 Code)
