Kentucky Statutes 349.140 – Establishment of affirmative defense for willful trespass arising from coalbed methane drilling operations
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In any case where title to subsurface minerals has been severed in such a way that title to natural gas underlying the tract and title to coal underlying the tract are in different persons, it shall be an affirmative defense to any action for willful trespass arising from the drilling, development, operation, and production of coalbed methane from any coal seam or gob area underlying the tract, that the operator of the coalbed methane well permitted, drilled, completed, and produced the coalbed methane well under color of title of any instrument, deed, or lease for oil and gas purposes from the gas owner, or any instrument, deed, or lease for coal mining purposes from the coal owner.
Effective: July 13, 2004
History: Created 2004 Ky. Acts ch. 65, sec. 28, effective July 13, 2004.
Effective: July 13, 2004
Terms Used In Kentucky Statutes 349.140
- Action: includes all proceedings in any court of this state. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
- coal seam: means a seam of coal, whether workable or unworkable. See Kentucky Statutes 349.010
- Coalbed methane: means gas produced from a reservoir found in a coalbed, a mined-out area, or gob. See Kentucky Statutes 349.010
- Coalbed methane well: means any well drilled, deepened, converted, or reopened for the purpose of capturing coalbed methane for sale or use. See Kentucky Statutes 349.010
- Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
- Gob: means the de-stressed zone associated with any full-seam extraction of coal that extends above and below the mined-out coalbed. See Kentucky Statutes 349.010
- Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
- Operator: means any owner of the right to drill, develop, operate, and produce coalbed methane from a pool and to appropriate the coalbed methane produced therefrom, either for himself or herself, or for himself, herself, and others. See Kentucky Statutes 349.010
- Owner: when applied to any animal, means any person having a property interest in such animal. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
- Well: means any borehole, shaft driven, or hole dug, drilled, deepened, converted or reopened for the purpose of capturing or producing coalbed methane for sale or use. See Kentucky Statutes 349.010
History: Created 2004 Ky. Acts ch. 65, sec. 28, effective July 13, 2004.