{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-349.105","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 349.105","heading":"Procedure for plugging well -- Rights and duties of various parties --","body":"Restoration of surface.\n(1) No person shall abandon or remove casings from any coalbed methane well, either\ndry or producing, without first plugging the well in a secure manner approved by the\ndepartment and consistent with administrative regulations. Upon the department's\nplugging of an abandoned coalbed methane well in accordance with the\nrequirements of this subsection, the department may sell all equipment removed\nfrom that well by sealed bid, or may include the equipment as part of compensation\nin the contract for the plugging of the well. Proceeds from the sale shall be\ndeposited into the coalbed methane well plugging fund, established in KRS\n349.120(3).\n(2) Not less than thirty (30) days before advertising for bids for the plugging of coalbed\nmethane wells, the department shall publish, in a newspaper of general circulation,\nand in locally published newspapers serving the areas in which the wells proposed\nfor plugging are locat ed, notices of all wells on which there is salvageable\nequipment, described as to farm name, Carter Coordinate, and state plane\ncoordinate location, for which the department intends to seek bids for plugging. If a\nperson other than the operator claims an i nterest in the equipment of a well\nproposed for plugging, the person shall provide documentation of that interest to the\ndepartment within thirty (30) days of the date of publication of the notice of the\ndepartment's intent to plug a well. Prior to the dep artment's advertising of bids for\nthe plugging of a well, the department shall release the well's equipment to the\nperson deemed to have an interest in that equipment. It shall be the duty of the\ninterest holder to remove the equipment before the well is p lugged. If\ndocumentation as to an asserted interest is not provided to the department in the\nmanner described in this subsection or if a person deemed to be an interest holder\nfails to remove the equipment before a well is plugged, the department may sell or\notherwise dispose of the equipment in accordance with this section.\n(3) If a person fails to comply with subsection (1) of this section, any person lawfully in\npossession of land adjacent to the coalbed methane well or the department may\nenter on the la nd upon which the well is located and plug the well in the manner\nprovided in subsection (1) of this section, and may maintain a civil action against\nthe owner or person abandoning the well, jointly or severally, to recover the cost of\nplugging the well. T his subsection shall not apply to persons owning the land on\nwhich the well is situated, and drilled by other persons.\n(4) In conjunction with the plugging and abandonment of any coalbed methane well or\nthe reworking of any coalbed methane well, the operat or shall restore the surface\nand any improvements thereon to a condition as near as practicable to their\ncondition prior to commencement of work. The surface owner and operator may\nwaive this requirement in writing, subject to the approval of the departmen t that the\nwaiver is in accordance with its administrative regulations.","path":["KRS Chapter 349"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=32744","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:58:34Z","sha256":"6436bfd0be012673ab2b971e86236cad7db9412915751b0a3a0d5159f46e37ef","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-349.100","next":"us-ky/krs-349.110"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}