KRS 349.105: Procedure for plugging well -- Rights and duties of various parties --

Restoration of surface.

(1) No person shall abandon or remove casings from any coalbed methane well, either

dry or producing, without first plugging the well in a secure manner approved by the

department and consistent with administrative regulations. Upon the department's

plugging of an abandoned coalbed methane well in accordance with the

requirements of this subsection, the department may sell all equipment removed

from that well by sealed bid, or may include the equipment as part of compensation

in the contract for the plugging of the well. Proceeds from the sale shall be

deposited into the coalbed methane well plugging fund, established in KRS

349.120(3).

(2) Not less than thirty (30) days before advertising for bids for the plugging of coalbed

methane wells, the department shall publish, in a newspaper of general circulation,

and in locally published newspapers serving the areas in which the wells proposed

for plugging are locat ed, notices of all wells on which there is salvageable

equipment, described as to farm name, Carter Coordinate, and state plane

coordinate location, for which the department intends to seek bids for plugging. If a

person other than the operator claims an i nterest in the equipment of a well

proposed for plugging, the person shall provide documentation of that interest to the

department within thirty (30) days of the date of publication of the notice of the

department's intent to plug a well. Prior to the dep artment's advertising of bids for

the plugging of a well, the department shall release the well's equipment to the

person deemed to have an interest in that equipment. It shall be the duty of the

interest holder to remove the equipment before the well is p lugged. If

documentation as to an asserted interest is not provided to the department in the

manner described in this subsection or if a person deemed to be an interest holder

fails to remove the equipment before a well is plugged, the department may sell or

otherwise dispose of the equipment in accordance with this section.

(3) If a person fails to comply with subsection (1) of this section, any person lawfully in

possession of land adjacent to the coalbed methane well or the department may

enter on the la nd upon which the well is located and plug the well in the manner

provided in subsection (1) of this section, and may maintain a civil action against

the owner or person abandoning the well, jointly or severally, to recover the cost of

plugging the well. T his subsection shall not apply to persons owning the land on

which the well is situated, and drilled by other persons.

(4) In conjunction with the plugging and abandonment of any coalbed methane well or

the reworking of any coalbed methane well, the operat or shall restore the surface

and any improvements thereon to a condition as near as practicable to their

condition prior to commencement of work. The surface owner and operator may

waive this requirement in writing, subject to the approval of the departmen t that the

waiver is in accordance with its administrative regulations.