(a)

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 60-1-209

  • Board: means the Tennessee board of water quality, oil and gas created by §. See Tennessee Code 60-1-101
  • Gas: means all natural gas and all other fluid hydrocarbons not defined as oil, including condensate because it originally was in a gaseous phase in the reservoir. See Tennessee Code 60-1-101
  • Oil: means crude petroleum that was originally in an oil phase in the reservoir. See Tennessee Code 60-1-101
  • Owner: means the person who has the right to drill into and to produce from any pool, and to appropriate the production for such person or others. See Tennessee Code 60-1-101
  • Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Supervisor: means the commissioner of environment and conservation or the commissioner's designee. See Tennessee Code 60-1-101
(1) No later than the filing of the application with the board for a permit to drill and prior to initiating any site preparation, the applicant shall give notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, of the applicant’s intent to drill to the property owner or owners of the surface of the land to be drilled or to be affected by the surface disturbances listed in subdivision (a)(3).
(2) The property owners to be notified under this section shall be the property owners of record in the property tax assessor’s office in the county where the property is located.
(3) The notice shall include the proposed location of the oil or gas well site, the proposed location of all new ingress and egress, the location of all diversions, drilling pits, dikes, and related structures and facilities, the location of proposed storage tanks and all other surface disturbances.
(4) The notice shall state that the property owner and applicant have fifteen (15) working days from the date of mailing to discuss the location of surface disturbances in connection with the drilling operation. It shall also state that if the property owner and applicant are unable to resolve differences regarding the location of surface disturbances, either or both may request in writing a hearing before the supervisor or the supervisor’s designee. The notice shall provide the name and address of the supervisor.
(b)

(1) The applicant and the property owners given notice under subsection (a) shall attempt to resolve any differences between them regarding surface disturbances related to the proposed drilling operation.
(2) Any property owners entitled to notice or the applicant may request, within fifteen (15) working days of the mailing of the notice required in subsection (a), that the supervisor or the supervisor’s designee conduct a hearing. A request for hearing under this section shall be in writing to the supervisor by certified mail, return receipt requested. The purpose of the hearing will be to minimize the impact of the proposed drilling operation on the surface of the land.
(3) The hearing shall be conducted as a contested case pursuant to the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, title 4, chapter 5, part 3, and shall be held before a hearing officer sitting alone. For purposes of the hearing, the supervisor or the supervisor’s designee shall be the hearing officer. The hearing shall be held within ten (10) working days of receipt of a request for hearing by the supervisor or the supervisor’s designee and shall be held in the county of the proposed oil and gas well. Notice of the hearing shall be given to all persons entitled to notice under subsection (a) and the applicant.
(4) The hearing officer shall render a decision within ten (10) calendar days of the hearing. The decision shall be considered a final order not subject to further agency review pursuant to § 4-5-315(a)(1).
(5) For purposes of this subsection (b), “working day” means all calendar days excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays as designated in § 15-1-101.
(c) Notwithstanding any other requirements for a permit to drill, such a permit may only issue:

(1) If the applicant submits to the supervisor statements of no objection signed by all property owners entitled to notice under subsection (a);
(2) If a hearing is not requested as provided in subdivision (b)(2); or
(3) Upon the issuing of a final order pursuant to subdivision (b)(4).
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