{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-353.565","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 353.565","heading":"Kentucky Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.","body":"(1) There is hereby created in the Department for Natural Resources, the \"Kentucky Oil\nand Gas Conservation Commission\" which shall be composed of five (5) members.\nFour (4) of the members shall be appointed by the Governor and the fifth member,\nwho shall serve as chairman of the commission, shall be the director of the Division\nof Oil and Gas and who shall serve in an ex officio capacity as a nonvoting member\nexcept in the case of a tie. The four (4) members appointed by the Governor shall be\nresidents of this state and not more than one (1) of them may be directly employed\nin the exploration for or the production of oil or gas, or deriving more than fifty\npercent (50%) of that person's income from the exploration for or production of oil\nor gas, or engaged in a business directly servicing or supplying these activities. No\nmember of the commission shall participate in the deliberations of the commission\nor vote on any matter before the commission in which he, his employer, or any\nbusiness unit in which he has a financial interest is an interested party, but a\nmember of the commission is not prohibited from deliberating or voting on matters\nof general interest, such as the fixing of statewide spacing patterns, affecting him,\nhis employer, or a business unit in whi ch he has financial interest as a member of a\nclass of persons to be affected by an administrative regulation or order of the\ncommission. The commission shall not contain more than one (1) representative\nfrom any one (1) operator, including subsidiaries or  affiliates. Of the four (4)\nmembers appointed by the Governor, two (2) shall be residents of eastern Kentucky\nand two (2) shall be residents of western Kentucky. Longitude 84 deg. 30 min. shall\nbe deemed as the division line between eastern Kentucky and western Kentucky.\n(2) The members of the commission, except the chairman, shall be appointed for terms\nof four (4) years each, except that:\n(a) The original appointments shall be for terms of one (1), two (2), three (3), and\nfour (4) years respectively; and\n(b) Of the members appointed after July 15, 1998, one (1) member appointed to\nfill the term expiring June 21, 1999, shall serve until January 21, 2000; one (1)\nmember appointed to fill the term expiring June 21, 2000, shall serve until\nJanuary 21, 2001; o ne (1) member appointed to fill one (1) of the two (2)\nterms expiring June 21, 2001, shall serve until January 21, 2002; and one (1)\nmember appointed to fill the second of the two (2) terms expiring June 21,\n2001, shall serve until January 21, 2003; and su bsequent appointments shall\nbe for four (4) year terms ending on January 21. Each member appointed by\nthe Governor shall serve until his successor has been appointed and qualified.\nMembers may be reappointed by the Governor to serve successive terms. The\nmembers of the commission, before performing any duty hereunder, shall take\nan oath which shall be certified by the officer administering it. The oath in\nwriting and the certificate shall be filed in the office of the Secretary of State.\nVacancies in the me mbership appointed by the Governor shall be filled by\nappointment by him and for the unexpired term of the member whose office\nshall be vacant, and the appointment shall be made by the Governor within\nsixty (60) days of the occurrence of a vacancy. Any mem ber appointed by the\nGovernor may be removed by the Governor in case of incompetency, neglect\nof duty, gross immorality, or malfeasance of office.\n(3) The commission shall meet at times and places as shall be designated by the\nchairman. The chairman may ca ll a meeting of the commission at any time, and he\nshall call a meeting of the commission upon the written request of two (2) members.\nNotification of each meeting shall be given in writing to each member by the\nchairman at least five (5) days in advance o f the meeting. Any three (3) members,\none (1) of which may be the chairman, shall constitute a quorum for the transaction\nof any business, including the holding of hearings. A majority of the commission\npresent shall be required to determine any issue brought before it for decision.\n(4) Each member of the commission, except the chairman, shall receive one hundred\nfifty dollars ($150) per diem not to exceed one hundred (100) days per calendar year\nwhile actually engaged in the performance of his duties as a member of the\ncommission. Each member of the commission, including the chairman, shall also be\nreimbursed for all reasonable and necessary expenses actually incurred in the\nperformance of his duties as a member of the commission.\n(5) The commission shall execute and carry out, administer, and enforce the provisions\nof KRS 353.651 and 353.652. The commission may make any investigation of\nrecords and facilities as it deems proper.\n(6) If an emergency is found to exist by the commission which, in its judgment,\nrequires the making, changing, renewal, or extension of an administrative regulation\nor order without first having a hearing, an emergency regulation may be\npromulgated in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A and an emergency order may be\nissued in accordance with KRS 13B.125.\n(7) The commission shall have specific authority to:\n(a) Promulgate and enforce reasonable administrative regulations and issue orders\nreasonably necessary to prevent waste, protect correlative rights, govern the\npractice and procedure be fore the commission, and otherwise administer the\nprovisions of KRS 353.651 and 353.652; and\n(b) Issue subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses and subpoenas duces tecum\nfor the production of any books, records, maps, charts, diagrams, and other\npertinent documents, and administer oaths and affirmations to witnesses,\nwhenever, in the judgment of the commission, it is necessary to do so for the\neffective discharge of its duties under the provisions of KRS 353.651 and\n353.652.\n(8) Any interested person may h ave the commission call a hearing for the purpose of\ntaking action in respect to any matter within the jurisdiction of the commission by\nmaking a request therefor in writing. Upon the receipt of any request, the\ncommission promptly shall call a hearing thereon, and, after the hearing and with all\nconvenient speed, and in any event within thirty (30) days after the conclusion of\nthe hearing, shall take appropriate action with regard to the subject matter thereof as\nit may deem appropriate. If the hearing is adjudicatory in nature, it shall be\nconducted in accordance with KRS Chapter 13B.\n(9) Agreements made in the interest of conservation of oil or gas, or both, or for the\nprevention of waste, between and among owners or operators, or both, owning\nseparate ho ldings in the same field or pool, or in any area that appears from\ngeologic or other data to be underlaid by a common accumulation of oil or gas, or\nboth, and agreements between and among these owners or operators, or both, and\nroyalty owners therein, for the purpose of bringing about the development and\noperation of the field, pool, or area, or any part thereof, as a unit, and for\nestablishing and carrying out a plan for the cooperative development and operation\nthereof, when the agreements are approved by  the commission, are hereby\nauthorized and shall not be held or construed to violate any of the laws of this state\nrelating to trusts, monopolies, or contracts and combinations in restraint of trade.\n(10) Nothing in this section shall be construed as givin g to the commission the right or\nauthority to supersede the authority of the department in the administration of KRS\n353.060.","path":["KRS Chapter 353"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33111","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:58:39Z","sha256":"140b7f3c4b023f35e494fa1ce145f2a0fb4dd3a108d1deb2148e3d36c726d913","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-353.564","next":"us-ky/krs-353.570"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}