1. A. The plan of unitization for each such brine production unit or produced water unit shall be one suited to the needs and requirements of the particular unit dependent upon the facts and conditions found to exist with respect thereto. In addition to such other terms, provisions, conditions and requirements found by the Corporation Commission to be reasonably necessary or proper to effectuate or accomplish the purpose of this act, and subject to the further requirements hereof, each such plan of unitization shall contain fair, reasonable and equitable provisions for:

   1. 1. The efficient unitized management or control of further development and operation of the brine production unit or produced water unit area. Under the plan the actual operations of the unit shall be carried on by one of the owners of the right to drill for and produce brine within the unit area as unit operator or in the case of produced water associated with oil and gas production, by the operator of the produced water unit approved by the Commission. The designation of unit operator shall be by majority vote of the owners of the right to drill for and produce brine in the unit in accordance with their acreage ownership in the unit or as designated by the Commission in the case of produced water associated with oil and gas production;
   2. 2. The method and circumstances under which brine or effluent from the unit, or from any other source, may be injected into the brine common source of supply under the unit area or into other formations;
   3. 3. The fair, just and reasonable compensation to be awarded to any owner within the brine production unit or produced water unit who does not wish to participate in development of the unit by paying such owner’s share of unit costs;
   4. 4. The fair, just and reasonable manner of participation for any owner desiring to participate in the development of the brine production unit or produced water unit by paying such owners share of unit costs;
   5. 5. The fair, just and reasonable allocation and distribution to each owner and the value of such owner’s share of the brine, including the usable resources extracted from the brine, and solution gas, if any, produced from the unit;
   6. 6. The procedure and basis upon which wells, equipment and other properties of the owners within the brine production unit or produced water unit area are to be taken over and used for unit operations, including the method of arriving at the compensation therefor, or for otherwise proportionately equalizing the investment of the several owners in the unit;
   7. 7. The method of apportioning costs of development and operation between owners of brine and owners of solution gas, if solution gas has also been unitized;
   8. 8. The time when the plan of unitization shall become effective; and
   9. 9. The time when and conditions under which the unit shall or may be dissolved and all affairs concluded.
2. B. No order of the Commission creating a brine production unit and prescribing the plan of unitization applicable to the brine production unit shall become effective unless and until the plan of unitization has been signed, or in writing ratified or approved by record owners of the right to drill of not less than fifty-five percent (55%) of the brine production unit area affected thereby and by owners of record of not less than fifty-five percent (55%) (exclusive of royalty interest owned by lessees or subsidiaries of any lessee) of the royalty interest in and to the brine production unit area and the Commission has made a finding either in the order creating the unit or in a supplemental order that the plan of unitization has been so signed, ratified or approved by brine owners of record owning the required percentage interest in and to the brine production unit area. Provided, however, in any instance where a brine owner has, through lease or other agreement, previously authorized pooling or unitization of a size equal to or larger than the size specified in the Commission order, said lease or other agreement shall be deemed to be the brine owner’s authorization to unitize, and no additional signature, ratification or approval shall be necessary from such owner, unless the lease provides for a different production sharing formula than set out in the plan of unitization. Further provided, however, in any instance where the brine owners of record have, through lease or other agreement, previously consented to have the unit boundaries and the allocation formula established by the Commission, said lease or other agreement shall be deemed to be the brine owner’s authorization to unitize, and no additional signature, ratification or approval shall be necessary from such owner. Where the plan of unitization has not been so signed, ratified or approved by brine owners of record owning the required percentage interest in and to the brine production unit area at the time the order creating the unit is made, the Commission shall hold such additional and supplemental hearings as may be requested or required to determine if and when the plan of unitization has been so signed, ratified or approved by brine owners of record owning the required percentage interest in and to the brine production unit area and shall, in respect to such hearings, make and enter a finding of its determination in such regard. In the event brine owners of record, owning the required percentage interest in and to the brine production unit area have not so signed, ratified or approved the plan of unitization within a period of six (6) months from and after the date on which the order creating the brine production unit is made, the order creating the unit shall be deemed vacated and of no force and effect. The provisions of this subsection are hereby expressly made inapplicable to the formation of a produced water unit.
3. C. A participating brine owner shall have a one-time election to sell, and any brine owner in the unit with brine refining equipment shall have the obligation to buy, the brine produced from the unit at the value determined by the Commission; provided however, nothing herein shall require the purchasing brine owner to purchase brine when it is not producing brine from the unit for its own account.

4. D. A party that meets the requirements of subparagraphs a and b of paragraph 10 of Section 502 of this title may take possession of, and process, produced water for the extraction of consistent elements that is otherwise destined for disposal, prior to obtaining an order from the Commission creating the produced water unit, but in that event, the applicant shall file an application for the establishment of a produced water unit within sixty (60) days from the initial acceptance of the produced water. Upon the filing of an application for the establishment of a produced water unit and prior to the adjudication of the Commission of such application, the applicant may, or shall in the instance where the applicant has accepted produced water prior to the approval of a produced water unit, seek emergency relief from the Commission for the immediate production, commercial extraction and sale of constituent elements or reclaimed water from produced water derived from the associated oil or gas well, and the Commission shall grant such relief upon a showing that such emergency relief is reasonable and necessary under the established facts and circumstances to prevent waste.

   The applicant shall have the right to collect all proceeds from the sale of brine or its constituent elements and reclaimed water prior to the entry of a final order establishing the produced water unit, provided that, unless otherwise provided by a written lease or contract with the brine owner, a set royalty share of the gross sales proceeds of the constituent elements and reclaimed water extracted, saved and sold, shall be held in suspense by the applicant for the benefit of any unleased brine owners within the proposed produced water unit until the Commission enters a final order establishing the produced water unit. Such royalty share and the royalty options set forth in the order of the Commission approving the produced water unit shall be set by the Commission at prevailing fair market value rate and may be adjusted based upon all reasonable evidence introduced including, but not limited to, evidence of the highest royalty paid for any arm’s length negotiated brine leases within the produced water unit and any adjoining produced water unit.

Laws 1990, SB 263, c. 255, § 9, eff. September 1, 1990; Amended by Laws 2026, HB 4338, c. 341, § 8, emerg. eff. May 12, 2026 (superseded document available).