Utah Code 40-6-21. Mediation

(1)

A surface land owner and an owner or operator may request non-binding mediation by providing written notice to the other party, if:

Terms Used In Utah Code 40-6-21

Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
Division: means the Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining. See Utah Code 40-6-2
Gas: means natural gas, as defined in Subsection (10), natural gas liquids, as defined in Subsection (11), other gas, as defined in Subsection (17), or any mixture of them. See Utah Code 40-6-2
Land: includes :Utah Code 68-3-12.5
Oil: includes tar sands produced at the wellhead in liquid form through enhanced recovery operations authorized by the board in accordance with Subsection 40-6-5(3)(c). See Utah Code 40-6-2
Operator: means a person who has been designated by the owners or the board to operate a well or unit. See Utah Code 40-6-2
Owner: means a person who has the right:

(a)	to drill into and produce from a reservoir; and

(b)

to appropriate the oil and gas produced for that person or for that person and others. See Utah Code 40-6-2

Surface land: means privately owned land:

(a)	overlying privately owned oil and gas resources;

(b)	upon which oil and gas operations are conducted; and

(c)

owned by a surface land owner. See Utah Code 40-6-2

Surface land owner: means a person who owns, in fee simple absolute, all or part of the surface land as shown by the records of the county where the surface land is located. See Utah Code 40-6-2

(a)

they are unable to agree on the amount of damages for unreasonable:

(i)	crop loss on the surface land;

(ii)	loss of value to existing improvements owned by the surface land owner on the surface land; or

(iii)

permanent damage to the surface land; and

(b)	the dispute over damages described in Subsection (1)(a) relates to an application for a permit to drill submitted by the owner or operator to the division on or after July 1, 2012.

(2)	The division and the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food shall agree on, and maintain a list of, mediators qualified to mediate disputes between an owner or operator and a surface land owner.

(3)

An owner or operator and a surface land owner may mutually select a mediator from:

(a)	the list maintained under Subsection (2); or

(b)	any other source.

(4)	The surface land owner and the owner or operator shall equally share the cost of the mediator’s services.

(5)	The provisions of this section do not prevent or delay an owner or operator from conducting oil and gas operations in accordance with applicable law.

Enacted by Chapter 342, 2012 General Session

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