Brief (1)
SB 321 extends the sunset date in KSA 55-193, the statute that provides certain funding for the Abandoned Oil and Gas Well Fund, from July 1, 2002, to July 1, 2009.
The bill also requires the State Corporation Commission (KCC) to adopt rules and regulations establishing standards for the plugging of salt brine wells and water wells drilled into salt-bearing formations, and to establish a program to plug abandoned salt brine wells and water wells drilled into salt-bearing formations in Reno County.
Background
KSA 55-193 was enacted in 1996 to provide funding for the Abandoned Oil and Gas Well Fund, used by the KCC to address abandoned oil and gas wells and contamination sites that pose a threat to public safety or the environment. Besides the funding provided by this statute, the Abandoned Oil and Gas Well Fund also receives half of the state's share of the moneys received from the federal government under the Mineral Leasing Act. The KCC also expends some funds from its Conservation Fee Fund for this purpose.
This bill, as it was introduced by the Senate Ways and Means Committee upon the recommendation of the Subcommittee on the KCC budget, extended the sunset date for funding for the Abandoned Oil and Gas Well Fund.
At the hearing the bill was supported by representatives of the KCC, the Kansas Petroleum Council, the Kansas Independent Oil and Gas Association, and the Eastern Kansas Oil and Gas Association. There were no opponents.
The bill also contains an editorial amendment to remove a reference to a subsection which had been removed prior to the statute's enactment in 1996.
The provisions relating to the plugging of wells drilled into salt-bearing formations were added by the House Committee of the Whole.
1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/fulltext.cgi