Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:93 – A. If the assistant secretary undertakes restoration of an orphaned oilfield site under this Part or responds to any emergency as provided in R.S. 30:6.1, the secretary shall seek to
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:93
- Assistant secretary: means the assistant secretary of the office of conservation within the Department of Energy and Natural Resources or his authorized representatives. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:82
- Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Conservation of the State of Louisiana. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:3
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Department: means the Department of Energy and Natural Resources. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:82
- Fund: means the Oilfield Site Restoration Fund. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:82
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Orphaned oilfield site: means an oilfield site which has no continued useful purpose for the exploration, production, or development of oil or gas and which has been declared to be an orphaned oilfield site by the assistant secretary under La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:82
- Owner: means the person, including operators and producers acting on behalf of the person, who has or had the right to drill into and to produce from a pool and to appropriate the production either for himself or for others. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:3
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
- Responsible party: means the operator of record according to the office of conservation records, who last operated the property on which the oilfield site is located at the time the site is about to be abandoned, ceases operation, or becomes an unusable oilfield site, and that operator's partners and working interest owners of that oilfield site. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:82
- Secretary: means the secretary of the Department of Energy and Natural Resources. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:82
- Site restoration: means any and all oilfield site restoration activities required of a responsible party of an oil or gas property by regulations adopted by the office of conservation pursuant to this Subtitle, including without limitation plugging of oil and gas wells, pit closure, site remediation, and removal of oilfield equipment. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:82
- Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. Source: OCC
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
A. If the assistant secretary undertakes restoration of an orphaned oilfield site under this Part or responds to any emergency as provided in La. Rev. Stat. 30:6.1, the secretary shall seek to recover all costs incurred by the secretary, assistant secretary, penalties, and other relief from any party who has operated or held a working interest in such site, or who is required by law, rules adopted by the department, or a valid order of the assistant secretary to control, clean up, close, or restore the oilfield sites or other facilities, structures, or pipelines under the commissioner‘s jurisdiction pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 30:1 et seq. in accordance with the following:
(1) All oilfield sites for which there is no site-specific trust fund shall be restored with monies provided by the fund. Except for the responsible party, the secretary shall not be authorized to recover restoration costs from parties which formerly operated or held a working interest in an orphaned oilfield site unless restoration costs for a particular orphaned oilfield site including support facilities exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars. Recovery of costs under this Paragraph shall be from the parties in inverse chronological order from the date on which the oilfield site was declared orphaned.
(2) For each oilfield site which becomes orphaned and for which a site-specific trust fund has been created and is fully funded under the provisions of La. Rev. Stat. 30:88(F), recovery of costs shall be against only the responsible party, and the site shall be restored in the following manner:
(a) Using funds in the site-specific trust fund established for the specific site.
(b) Using funds collected from any responsible party in such site where the site-specific trust fund is insufficient.
(c) If funds collected under Subparagraphs (a) and (b) of this Paragraph are insufficient to fully restore said orphaned oilfield site, the fund shall provide funds necessary to make up any deficiency.
(3) If the oilfield site does not meet the provisions of La. Rev. Stat. 30:88(F) and restoration costs exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars, recovery of costs shall be from the parties in inverse chronological order from the date on which the oilfield site has been declared orphaned, except that a party shall be exempt from liability for restoration of an orphaned oilfield site as provided for in this Part in which said party had an operating or working interest if, and only if, the party complies with all of the following:
(a) The party makes full and reasonable timely contribution to the Oilfield Site Restoration Fund.
(b) The party creates a site-specific trust account for the restoration of the oilfield site and is in compliance with the terms and conditions of the site-specific trust account.
(c) The party makes full disclosure in compliance with La. Rev. Stat. 30:88(G) in the transfer of an oilfield site.
(d) The party complies in full with any penalty assessment which has become final under this Part for any violation under this Part.
(e) The party is not determined to be an individual, partnership, corporation, or other entity which is an operator or working interest owner in an oilfield site determined to be orphaned.
(f) The party is not determined to be a partnership, corporation, or other entity for which a general partner, an owner of more than twenty-five percent ownership interest, or a trustee has held a position of ownership or control in another partnership, corporation, or other entity which is an operator or working interest owner in an oilfield site determined to be orphaned.
(g) The party complies with all reviews of site-specific trust accounts as set forth in this Part, including additional contributions thereto if deemed necessary.
(4) For a response to any emergency as provided in La. Rev. Stat. 30:6.1, recovery of costs shall be against the responsible party.
B. The secretary may file suit in a court of competent jurisdiction in East Baton Rouge Parish to recover these costs. The secretary may settle or resolve any suits, disputes, or claims for any penalty under the provisions of this Part. Costs recovered under this Subsection shall be deposited into the Oilfield Site Restoration Fund.
Acts 1993, No. 404, §2; Acts 1995, No. 297, §1, eff. July 1, 1995; Acts 1997, No. 994, §§1, 2; Acts 2004, No. 225, §1; Acts 2019, No. 193, §1.