Montana Code 82-11-161. Oil and gas production damage mitigation account — statutory appropriation
82-11-161. (Temporary) Oil and gas production damage mitigation account — statutory appropriation. (1) There is an oil and gas production damage mitigation account within the state special revenue fund established in 17-2-102. The oil and gas production damage mitigation account is controlled by the board.
Terms Used In Montana Code 82-11-161
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Board: means the board of oil and gas conservation provided for in 2-15-3303. See Montana Code 82-11-101
- Gas: means all natural gases and all other fluid hydrocarbons, including methane gas or any other natural gas found in any coal formation, as produced at the wellhead and not defined as oil in subsection (3). See Montana Code 82-1-111
- Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
- Oil: means crude petroleum oil and other hydrocarbons, regardless of gravity, that are produced at the wellhead in liquid form by ordinary production methods and that are not the result of condensation of gas before or after it leaves the reservoir. See Montana Code 82-1-111
- Person: means any natural person, corporation, association, partnership, receiver, trustee, executor, administrator, guardian, fiduciary, or other representative of any kind and includes any agency or instrumentality of the state or any governmental subdivision of the state. See Montana Code 82-11-101
- Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
- Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
- Responsible person: means a person who is determined by the board under 82-10-402 to have abandoned an oil or gas well, injection well, disposal well, water source well, drill site, sump, seismographic shot hole, or other area where oil and gas drilling and production operations were conducted. See Montana Code 82-11-101
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
(2)(a) At the beginning of each biennium, there must be allocated to the oil and gas production damage mitigation account $650,000 from the interest income of the resource indemnity trust fund, except that if at the beginning of a biennium the unobligated cash balance in the oil and gas production damage mitigation account:
(i)equals or exceeds $1 million, no allocation will be made; or
(ii)is less than $1 million, then an amount less than or equal to the difference between the unobligated cash balance and $1 million, but not more than $650,000, must be allocated to the oil and gas production damage mitigation account from the interest income of the resource indemnity trust fund.
(b)If $650,000 is not allocated pursuant to subsection (2)(a), the remainder must be deposited in the natural resources projects state special revenue account established in 15-38-302 for the purpose of making grants.
(3)In addition to the allocation provided in subsection (2), there must be deposited in the oil and gas production damage mitigation account all funds received by the board pursuant to 82-11-136.
(4)If a sufficient balance exists in the account, funds are statutorily appropriated, as provided in 17-7-502, from the oil and gas production damage mitigation account, upon the authorization of the board, to pay the reasonable costs of properly plugging a well and either reclaiming or restoring, or both, a drill site or other drilling or producing area damaged by oil and gas operations if the board determines that the well, sump, hole, drill site, or drilling or producing area has been abandoned and the responsible person cannot be identified or located or if the responsible person fails or refuses to properly plug, reclaim, or restore the well, sump, hole, drill site, or drilling or producing area within a reasonable time after demand by the board. The responsible person shall, however, pay costs to the extent of that person’s available resources and is subsequently liable to fully reimburse the account or is subject to a lien on property as provided in 82-11-164 for costs expended from the account to properly plug, reclaim, or restore the well, sump, hole, drill site, or drilling or producing area and to mitigate any damage for which the person is responsible.
(5)Interest from funds in the oil and gas production damage mitigation account accrues to that account.