PRINTER'S NO. 1574
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.
1145
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY YAW, RESCHENTHALER, BARTOLOTTA, YUDICHAK, WHITE,
ALLOWAY, HUTCHINSON, VULAKOVICH AND WARD, MARCH 4, 2016
REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, MARCH 4, 2016
AN ACT
Amending the act of July 25, 1961 (P.L.825, No.359), entitled
"An act defining and prohibiting waste in the production of
oil and gas; defining the powers and duties of the Oil and
Gas Conservation Commission and the Oil and Gas Division of
the Department of Mines and Mineral Industries with respect
to the prevention of waste in the production of oil and gas
from certain geological horizons; the protection of
correlative rights; the spacing of well drilling operations;
the unitization of lands and horizons for the purpose of
regulating well spacing; providing for the enforcement of
this act; and the issuance of rules, regulations and orders
prescribing the rights, obligations and duties of owners and
operators of interests in lands and leasehold interests
therein with respect to the drilling of oil and gas wells
thereon; providing for hearings and the procedures to be
followed therein; imposing duties upon the courts; providing
methods for the enforcement of the provisions of this act,
limiting all the provisions hereof to certain geological
horizons; imposing penalties and making an appropriation,"
further providing for applicability, exclusions and
construction.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 3(b) of the act of July 25, 1961
(P.L.825, No.359), known as the Oil and Gas Conservation Law, is
amended to read:
Section 3. Applicability; Exclusions; Construction.--* * *
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(b) This act shall not apply to or affect--
(1) Any well or wells which do not penetrate the Onondaga
horizon, or in those areas in which the Onondaga horizon is
nearer to the surface than thirty-eight hundred feet, any well
or wells which do not exceed a depth of thirty-eight hundred
feet beneath the surface[.] or any well or wells that
unintentionally penetrate the Onondaga horizon and do not
intentionally produce oil or gas from the Onondaga horizon. For
the purposes of this act, the question whether a pool is covered
by the act shall be determined by the depth of the producing
interval in the discovery well in such pool, and if such
producing interval is covered by the act, then all wells drilled
to such pool shall be covered by this act, even though some of
the wells in the pool, if considered alone, would not be covered
by the act.
(2) Any well or wells of whatever depth commenced prior to
the effective date of this act, except such wells previously
completed in strata above the Onondaga horizon, but subsequent
to the effective date of this act drilled deeper than the
Onondaga horizon, or three thousand eight hundred feet,
whichever is deeper, provided that such wells may be considered
in spacing and pooling orders entered by the commission.
(3) Any well or wells drilled to inject gas into or withdraw
gas from gas storage reservoir.
* * *
Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
20160SB1145PN1574 - 2 -
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