Virginia Code 45.2-1642: Orphaned Well Fund; orphaned wells
A. There is hereby created in the state treasury a special nonreverting fund to be known as the Orphaned Well Fund, referred to in this section as “the Fund.” All moneys appropriated to it and any surcharges collected pursuant to subsection D shall be paid into the state treasury and credited to the Fund. Interest earned on moneys in the Fund shall remain in the Fund and be credited to it. The Fund shall be established on the books of the Comptroller. Any moneys remaining in the Fund, including interest thereon, at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund but shall remain in the Fund. Moneys from the Fund shall be used solely for purposes of restoration and plugging of orphaned wells. Expenditures and disbursements from the Fund shall be made by the State Treasurer on warrants issued by the Comptroller upon written request signed by the Director or his designee.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 45.2-1642
- City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Oil: means natural crude oil or petroleum and other hydrocarbons, regardless of gravity, that are produced at the well in liquid form by ordinary production methods and are not the result of condensation of gas after it leaves the underground reservoir. See Virginia Code 45.2-1600
- Orphaned well: means any well abandoned prior to July 1, 1950, or for which no records exist concerning its drilling, plugging, or abandonment. See Virginia Code 45.2-1600
- Restoration: means all activity required to return a permitted site to other use after gas, oil, or geophysical operations have ended, as approved in the operations plan for the permitted site. See Virginia Code 45.2-1600
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- Surface owner: means any person who is the owner of record of the surface of the land. See Virginia Code 45.2-1600
- Well: means any shaft or hole sunk, drilled, bored, or dug into the earth or into underground strata for the extraction, injection, or placement of any gaseous or liquid substance or any shaft or hole sunk or used in conjunction with such extraction, injection, or placement. See Virginia Code 45.2-1600
B. The Director shall conduct a survey to determine the condition and location of orphaned wells in the Commonwealth. He shall establish priorities for the plugging and restoration of the identified orphaned wells. The plugging and restoration of orphaned well sites that pose an imminent danger to public safety shall have the highest priority.
C. In performing his duties under this section, the Director shall make every reasonable effort to identify and obtain the permission of a surface owner prior to entering onto the surface owner’s land. In all cases, the Director shall as soon as practicable cause to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county or city wherein an orphaned well is located a notice of the proposed plugging and restoration work to be conducted on the property.
D. Each operator who applies for a new permit for any activity other than geophysical operations shall pay a $200 surcharge per permit into the Fund. Such surcharge shall continue until the Director determines that all orphaned wells in the Commonwealth are properly plugged and their sites are properly stabilized.
E. In the event of a discontinuance of the Fund, any amounts remaining in the Fund shall be placed in the Gas and Oil Plugging Restoration Fund created pursuant to § 45.2-1634.
1990, c. 92, § 45.1-361.40; 2017, c. 18; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 387.