(1) Any person may investigate an abandoned well upon receipt of approval from the department. The person shall submit to the department:
- (a) An application requesting approval to investigate and stating the planned methods for the investigation. In all cases where there has been a complete severance of the ownership of the oil and gas from the ownership of the surface to be disturbed, the application shall include a plan to prevent erosion and sedimentation;
- (b) A twenty-five dollar ($25) fee; and
- (c) A certification by the applicant that he has the authority to enter the property upon which the well is located and to conduct the investigation.
- (2) The department shall review all applications for investigation. If the department approves the request for investigation, the applicant shall be allowed to produce the well without a permit as required by KRS 353.570, and the applicant shall submit a report of investigation to the department on forms provided by the department. In order to produce the well for more than sixty (60) days, the applicant must obtain a bond as required by KRS 353.590(7) or (12). Notwithstanding the provisions of KRS 353.590(2), no fee shall be required for any such well.
Effective: June 27, 2019
History: Repealed and reenacted as KRS 353.588, 2019 Ky. Acts ch. 21, sec. 12, effective June 27, 2019. -- Amended 2015 Ky. Acts ch. 21, sec. 18, effective June 24, 2015. -- Amended 2006 Ky. Acts ch. 160, sec. 4, effective July 12, 2006. -- Created 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 359, sec. 3, effective July 15, 1998. Formerly codified as KRS 353.730