Signed by Governor Butch Otter

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that gives control over oil and gas exploration and production to the state government rather than to local governments.

Highlights:

• Specifies that only a state agency will have the authority to actually or operationally prohibit the extraction of oil and gas or the use of facilities needed for the post-extraction processing of oil and gas, provided that the extraction complies with local laws (Sec. 2).

• Authorizes the commission to regulate the exploration for and production of oil and gas and gives it jurisdiction over all persons and property necessary for that purpose (Sec. 3).

• Authorizes the director of the Department of Water Resources to “initiate a contested case” against a well operator if the department has significant reason to believe that an oil or gas well will cause a negative impact on pressure, temperature, or quality of water resources (Sec. 4).

• Specifies that if a contested case is initiated, it is the burden of the operator of the oil and gas well to prove that the well will not negatively affect water quality (Sec. 4).

• Specifies that if the director of Water Resources finds that an oil or gas well will negatively affect water quality, he or she may order the operator to take corrective measures (Sec. 4).

• Amends the definition of “injection” to exclude from the original definition of “the subsurface emplacement of fluids through an injection well” (Sec. 5):
• the underground injection of natural gas for purposes of storage; and
• the underground injection of fluids or “propping agents, other than diesel fuels” for the purposes of hydraulic fracturing operations related to oil, gas, or geothermal production. 

Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that gives control over oil and gas exploration and production to the state government rather than to local governments.

Highlights:

• Specifies that only a state agency will have the authority to actually or operationally prohibit the extraction of oil and gas or the use of facilities needed for the post-extraction processing of oil and gas, provided that the extraction complies with local laws (Sec. 2).

• Authorizes the commission to regulate the exploration for and production of oil and gas and gives it jurisdiction over all persons and property necessary for that purpose (Sec. 3).

• Authorizes the director of the Department of Water Resources to “initiate a contested case” against a well operator if the department has significant reason to believe that an oil or gas well will cause a negative impact on pressure, temperature, or quality of water resources (Sec. 4).

• Specifies that if a contested case is initiated, it is the burden of the operator of the oil and gas well to prove that the well will not negatively affect water quality (Sec. 4).

• Specifies that if the director of Water Resources finds that an oil or gas well will negatively affect water quality, he or she may order the operator to take corrective measures (Sec. 4).

• Amends the definition of “injection” to exclude from the original definition of “the subsurface emplacement of fluids through an injection well” (Sec. 5):
• the underground injection of natural gas for purposes of storage; and
• the underground injection of fluids or “propping agents, other than diesel fuels” for the purposes of hydraulic fracturing operations related to oil, gas, or geothermal production.

Full Bill Text