Bill Text: IL HB5567 | 2013-2014 | 98th General Assembly | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Amends the Illinois Oil and Gas Act. Establishes procedural requirements that the Department of Natural Resources must follow upon receiving certain applications or permits under the Act. Provides that all such applications or petitions for a permit submitted to the Department shall be accepted and filed or not accepted and filed by the Department within 5 business days after the date of receipt by the Department. Further provides that if the application or petition is accepted and filed, a public hearing on the application or petition shall be scheduled not less than 30 days but not more than 60 days after the acceptance and filing by the Department, and if not accepted and filed, requires the Department to provide specific requirements for additional information or documentation. Further provides that the application or petition shall not be accepted and filed if it is determined by the Department that legal or regulatory impediments would prevent such acceptance and filing. Provides that if the Department does not timely respond to any application or petition or the submission of additional information or documentation after initial submission, the application or petition shall be deemed to be sufficient for acceptance and filing and that the Department shall proceed with the scheduling of a public hearing. Provides that, after a public hearing, the Department shall either grant or deny the application or petition within 20 working days after the conclusion of the hearing.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 7-3)

Status: (Passed) 2014-08-15 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 98-0926 [HB5567 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2013-HB5567-Engrossed.html

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AN ACT concerning regulation.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Illinois Oil and Gas Act is amended by
changing Sections 6.1 and 21.1 as follows:
(225 ILCS 725/6.1) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 5410)
Sec. 6.1. When the applicant has complied with all
applicable provisions of this Act and the rules of the
Department, the Department shall issue the permit. All
applications for a permit submitted to the Department shall
either be granted or denied in writing within 10 business days
after the date of receipt by the Department. If granted, the
written permit shall be issued. If denied, the Department shall
provide specific requirements for additional information or
documentation needed for the application to be considered and
the permit issued. Upon submission of the required information
and documentation, the same process and timeframe as provided
in this Section shall continue until either the permit is
issued or it is determined that the permit cannot be issued
because of legal or regulatory impediments. If the Department
does not timely respond to any application or submission of
additional information and documentation after initial
submission, then the application shall be deemed granted and

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the permit shall be issued by the Department within 3 working
days after the expiration of the time to respond.
(Source: P.A. 85-1334.)
(225 ILCS 725/21.1) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 5433)
Sec. 21.1. (a) The Department is authorized to issue
permits for the drilling of wells and to regulate the spacing
of wells for oil and gas purposes. For the prevention of waste,
to protect and enforce the correlative rights of owners in the
pool, and to prevent the drilling of unnecessary wells, the
Department shall, upon application of any interested person and
after notice and hearing, establish a drilling unit or units
for the production of oil and gas or either of them for each
pool, provided that no spacing regulation shall be adopted nor
drilling unit established which requires the allocation of more
than 40 acres of surface area nor less than 10 acres of surface
area to an individual well for production of oil from a pool
the top of which lies less than 4,000 feet beneath the surface
(as determined by the original or discovery well in the pool),
provided, however, that the Department may permit the
allocation of greater acreage to an individual well than that
above specified, and provided further that the spacing of wells
in any pool the top of which lies less than 4,000 feet beneath
the surface (as determined by the original or discovery well in
the pool) shall not include the fixing of a pattern except with
respect to the 2 nearest external boundary lines of each

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drilling unit, and provided further that no acreage allocation
shall be required for input or injection wells nor for
producing wells lying within a secondary recovery unit as now
or hereafter established.
(b) Drilling units shall be of approximately uniform size
and shape for each entire pool, except that where circumstances
reasonably require, the Department may grant exceptions to the
size or shape of any drilling unit or units. Each order
establishing drilling units shall specify the size and shape of
the unit, which shall be such as will result in the efficient
and economical development of the pool as a whole, and subject
to the provisions of subsection (a) hereof the size of no
drilling unit shall be smaller than the maximum area that can
be efficiently and economically drained by one well. Each order
establishing drilling units for a pool shall cover all lands
determined or believed to be underlaid by such pool, and may be
modified by the Department from time to time to include
additional lands determined to be underlaid by such pool. Each
order establishing drilling units may be modified by the
Department to change the size thereof, or to permit the
drilling of additional wells.
(b-2) Any petition requesting a drilling unit exception
shall be accompanied by a non-refundable application fee in the
amount of $1,500 for a Modified Drilling Unit or Special
Drilling Unit or a non-refundable application fee in the amount
of $2,500 for a Pool-Wide Drilling Unit.

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(c) Each order establishing drilling units shall prohibit
the drilling of more than one well on any drilling unit for the
production of oil or gas from the particular pool with respect
to which the drilling unit is established and subject to the
provisions of subsection (a) hereof shall specify the location
for the drilling of such well thereon, in accordance with a
reasonably uniform spacing pattern, with necessary exceptions
for wells drilled or drilling at the time of the application.
If the Department finds, after notice and hearing, that surface
conditions would substantially add to the burden or hazard of
drilling such well at the specified location, or for some other
reason it would be inequitable or unreasonable to require a
well to be drilled at the specified location, the Department
may issue an order permitting the well to be drilled at a
location other than that specified in the order establishing
drilling units.
(d) After the date of the notice for a hearing called to
establish drilling units, no additional well shall be commenced
for production from the pool until the order establishing
drilling units has been issued, unless the commencement of the
well is authorized by order of the Department.
(e) After an order establishing a drilling unit or units
has been issued by the Department, the commencement of drilling
of any well or wells into the pool with regard to which such
unit was established for the purpose of producing oil or gas
therefrom, at a location other than that authorized by the

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order, or by order granting exception to the original spacing
order, is hereby prohibited. The operation of any well drilled
in violation of an order establishing drilling units is hereby
prohibited.
(f) Any application or petition by any interested person
for a drilling unit as provided in this Section shall be
accepted and filed or not accepted and filed by the Department
within 10 business days after receipt by the Department. If the
petition is accepted and filed, a public hearing on the
petition shall be scheduled not less than 30 days, but not more
than 60 days, after the acceptance and filing by the
Department. If not accepted, and filed, the Department shall
provide specific requirements for additional information or
documentation needed for the petition to be considered,
accepted, and filed. Upon submission of the required
information and documentation, the same process and timeframe
as provided in this subsection (f) shall continue until the
petition has been accepted and filed at which time a hearing
shall be scheduled as previously stated in this subsection (f).
The petition shall not be accepted and filed if it is
determined by the Department that, under any circumstance,
legal or regulatory impediments would prevent such acceptance
and filing. If the Department does not timely respond to any
petition or the submission of additional information or
documentation after initial submission, then the petition
shall be deemed to be in sufficient form for acceptance and

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filing and the Department shall proceed with the scheduling of
a public hearing. The Department, after public hearing, shall
either grant or deny the petition within 20 working days after
the conclusion of the hearing.
(g) Any petition by an interested person to establish
drilling units for a pool as provided in this Section shall be
accepted and filed or not accepted and filed by the Department
within 10 business days after receipt by the Department. If the
petition is accepted and filed, a public hearing on the
petition shall be scheduled not less than 30 days, but not more
than 60 days, after the acceptance and filing by the
Department. If not accepted and filed, the Department shall
provide specific requirements for additional information or
documentation needed for the petition to be considered,
accepted, and filed. Upon submission of the required
information and documentation, the same process and timeframe
as provided in this subsection (g) shall continue until the
petition has been accepted and filed at which time a hearing
shall be scheduled as previously stated in this subsection (g).
The petition shall not be accepted and filed if it is
determined by the Department that, under any circumstance,
legal or regulatory impediments would prevent such acceptance
and filing. If the Department does not timely respond to any
petition or the submission of additional information or
documentation after initial submission, then the petition
shall be deemed to be in sufficient form for acceptance and

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filing and the Department shall proceed with the scheduling of
a public hearing. The Department, after public hearing, shall
either grant or deny the petition within 20 working days after
the conclusion of the hearing.
(Source: P.A. 97-1136, eff. 1-1-13.)