HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance - 2015-O0021 - Oil & Gas - 03/12/2015Reading Second Reading
iary 26, 2015 March 12, 2015
No. 7.7 Item No. 5.19
ORDINANCE NO. 2015-00021
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ARTICLE 8.07 (OIL AND GAS DRILLING) OF THE
CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF LUBBOCK, TEXAS, AMENDING
PROVISIONS TO ENCOMPASS CURRENT STATE LAW AND PRACTICES,
INCREASING THE OVERALL LIMITS FOR INSURANCE AND ESTABLISHING A
MINIMUM INSURANCE RATING REQUIREMENT, INCREASING THE PENALTY FINE
LIMIT, CREATING AN OIL AND GAS ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND PROVIDE FOR
ITS REVIEW OF OIL GAS PERMIT APPLICATIONS, AMENDING PERMIT
APPLICATION PROCEDURES AND REQUIREMENTS, AMENDING SETBACK
STANDARDS, LIMITING THE HOURS OF OPERATION, INCREASING THE PERMIT
APPLICATION FEE, REQUIRING A CLOSED LOOP SYSTEM FOR CERTAIN WELLS,
ESTABLISHING REGULATIONS FOR HYDROGEN SULFIDE PRODUCING WELLS,
ESTABLISHING REQUIREMENT FOR FRESH WATER WELL TESTING, AND
CONFORMING THE ORDINANCE TO THE STANDARDS AND CONVENTIONS OF THE
REMAINDER OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES; PROVIDING A PENALTY CLAUSE;
PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR PUBLICATION.
WHEREAS, on October 22, 1959, the City Council of the City of Lubbock, Texas,
adopted Ordinance Number 2939 creating Chapter 19A Oil and Gas Drilling, a cumulative
chapter for all other ordinances regulating oil and gas drilling within the city limits of the City of
Lubbock, Texas; and
WHEREAS, on May 28, 1982, the City Council of the City of Lubbock, Texas, made
substantial changes to the original Chapter 19A through its enactment of Ordinance Number
8327; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Lubbock, Texas, made minor amendments to
these provisions through Ordinance Number 8632 on July 12, 1984, Ordinance Number 9170 on
February 15, 1988, and Ordinance Number 2004-00055 on May 25, 2004; and
WHEREAS, the State of Texas, through its primary oil and gas regulatory agency, the
Railroad Commission, has issued numerous state permits under its statutes, regulations, and
codes for the exploration, drilling, and production of oil and gas within the city limits; likewise,
the City of Lubbock has also issued local permits under its ordinances for the exploration,
drilling, and production of oil and gas within the city limits; and
WHEREAS, the oil and gas industry has recently grown at an increased rate in the State
of Texas due to new technological developments and advancements in methods within the oil
and gas industry, including recent methods of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling; and
WHEREAS, the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas in the City of
Lubbock, Texas, is an activity which necessitates reasonable regulation to ensure that all
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property owners, mineral, and otherwise, have the right to peaceably enjoy their property and its
benefits and revenues; and
WHEREAS, recognizing the need to remain vigilant and proactive in determining and
establishing reasonable and uniform limitations, safeguards, and regulations, for present and
future operations related to the exploring, drilling, developing, producing, and transporting, and
storing of oil and gas within the City of Lubbock, Texas, the City Council of the City of
Lubbock, in order to protect the health, safety, and general welfare of the public, wishes to
minimize the potential impact to the property and mineral rights owners, to protect the quality of
the environment, and to encourage the orderly production of available mineral resources; and
WHEREAS, on May 9, 2013, the City Council of the City of Lubbock, Texas, by
resolution, created the Oil and Gas Citizen Advisory Committee to study and report back to the
City Council of the City of Lubbock, Texas, with a thorough analysis of the current methods of
exploration, development, and production of oil and gas, including methods of hydraulic
fracturing and horizontal drilling, within the City of Lubbock, Texas, and further make detailed
recommendations to the City Council of the City of Lubbock, Texas, of the necessary regulatory
amendments to the current oil and gas ordinance and the permitting process in response to the
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WHEREAS, the Oil and Gas Citizen Advisory Committee met ten times in order to meet
the charge given to them by the City Council of the City of Lubbock, Texas, and over the course
of these meetings, it heard presentations from staff, the Lubbock Board of Health, representatives
from the oil and gas industry, representatives from other municipalities, and several citizens of
the City of Lubbock; and
WHEREAS, the Oil and Gas Citizen Advisory Committee voted on September 29, 2014,
on its final recommended changes to the oil and gas ordinance; and
WHEREAS, the chair of the Oil and Gas Citizen Advisory Committee presented these
recommendations to the City Council of the City of Lubbock on December 4, 2014; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Lubbock, Texas finds and determines that it
is in the best interest of the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of the City of Lubbock to
make the following amendments to Chapter 8 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Lubbock;
NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LUBBOCK:
SECTION 1. THAT, Article 8.07 (Oil and Gas Drilling) of the Code of Ordinances,
City of Lubbock, Texas, is hereby repealed and the following provisions are enacted in its place
and stead:
ARTICLE 8.07 OIL AND GAS DRILLING
Division 1. Generally
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See. 8.07.001 Definitions
For the purposes of this article the following words and terms wherever
and whenever used or appearing herein shall have the scope and meanings
hereinafter defined and set out in connection with each.
City Manager shall mean the City Manager or his or her designee.
Lease as that term is used herein shall mean any tract of land subject to an
oil, gas and mineral lease or other oil and gas development contract, or
any unit composed of several tracts and leases, but operated as one lease,
and any tract of land in which the minerals are owned by an operator or
someone holding under it or him, but which, due to the free royalty
ownership, is developed and operated as a separate tract.
Model operating, agreement shall be contained within the current approved
American Association of Petroleum Landmen form.
Permittee shall mean the person to whom is issued a permit for the drilling
and operation of a Well under this article, and his administrators,
executors, heirs, successors and assigns.
Production unit shall mean the acreage assigned to a unit by the operator
of that unit and approved by the City Council, for the drilling of a Well.
The declaration and approval of a production unit is deemed to unitize, or
pool, all mineral rights within the unit. All owners who ratify or confirm
such unit in accordance with this article shall participate on a pro -rata
basis. The acreage, or tracts of land, to be assigned to a production unit
shall be selected at the discretion of the owner or lessee seeking a permit
under this article: A production unit, as defined herein, shall be forty (40)
acres on contiguous tracts of land or some other amount of contiguous
acreage as approved by the RRC in the adoption of field rules or similar
action.
Reasonably Prudent Operator shall mean a person in the general conduct
of its business exercising that degree of skill, diligence, prudence and
foresight which would reasonably and ordinarily be expected from a
skilled and experienced operator engaging in the same type of business in
the same or similar circumstances and conditions in the Permian Basin
area.
RRC shall refer to the Railroad Commission of Texas or its successor
regulatory agency.
Unitize, pool, and force pool shall refer to the process of incorporating
mineral rights for various tracts of land within one instrument (a
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Declaration of Pooled Unit Agreement) for the purpose of forming the
"production unit" defined in this section.
Well shall include and mean any hole or holes, bore or bores, to any sand,
formation, strata or depth for the purposes of:
(1) Producing and recovering any oil, gas, liquid hydrocarbon, or
any of them; or
(2) Cycling, pressure maintenance, water flood, secondary and/or
tertiary operations.
All technical or oil and gas industry words or phrases used herein and not
specifically defined shall have that meaning customarily attributable
thereto by a Reasonably Prudent Operator.
Sec. 8.07.002 Applicability of federal and state laws
Any violation of laws of the state or any rules, regulations or requirements
of any state or federal regulatory body having jurisdiction in reference to
drilling, completing, equipping, operating, producing, maintaining or
abandoning an oil or gas Well or related appurtenances, equipment or
facilities, or in reference to fire walls, fire protection, blowout protection,
safety protection or convenience of persons or property, shall also be a
violation of this article and shall be punishable in accordance with the
provisions hereof.
Sec. 8.07.003 Enforcement; Inspector
(a) The City Manager shall enforce the provisions of this article and shall
have the authority to issue any orders, directives, warnings, or citations,
required to carry out the intent and purpose of this article and its particular
provisions. The City Manager may retain the services of an independent
consultant to aid in the detection of violations and the enforcement of this
article.
(b) The City Manager shall have the authority, in accordance with
applicable law, to enter and inspect any premises covered by the
provisions of this article to determine compliance with the provisions of
this article and all applicable laws, rules, regulations, standards, or
directives of the state. The City Manager shall conduct, at minimum,
yearly inspections of any premises covered by the provisions of this
article, in order to determine that all operations are in compliance with this
article.
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(c) The City Manager shall have the authority to request and receive any
public records, including records sent to the RRC, reports and the like,
relating to the status or condition of any permitted oil and gas Well
necessary to establish compliance with the applicable oil and gas Well
permit.
Sec. 8.07.004 Insurance required, amounts; indemnity
(a) In the event a permit is approved by the City Council under the terms
of this article for drilling and operation of a Well, no permit shall be
issued by the City Manager until the Permittee shall file with the City
Manager a certificate of insurance in an amount and form as specified
below. The Permittee shall carry a policy or policies of standard
comprehensive public liability insurance, including contractual liability
covering bodily injuries and property damage, naming the Permittee and
the city as insureds, with an insurance company authorized to do business
in the State of Texas. Such policy or policies shall contain a waiver of any
and all of the insurer's rights to subrogation that any such insurer or
insurers may acquire by virtue of payment of any loss under such
insurance and shall specifically cover any and all damage or incidents that
may occur in or to the city's right-of-way. All policies shall be written by
an insurer with an AA rating or better rating by the most current version of
the A.M. Best Key Rating Guide. Such policy or policies in the aggregate
shall provide for the following minimum coverages:
Standard commercial general liability policy: Two million dollars
($2,000,000.00);
• Per occurrence: Two million dollars ($2,000,000.00);
• Per incident: Two million dollars ($2,000,000.00).
Excess or umbrella liability: Twenty million dollars ($20,000,000.00).
Environmental pollution liability coverage: Two million dollars
($2,000,000.00).
Control of Well: Two million dollars ($2,000,000.00).
Automobile liability insurance: One million dollars ($1,000,000.00).
(b) Permittee shall file with the City Manager certificates of such
insurance as above stated, and shall obtain the written approval thereof by
the City Manager, who shall act thereon within ten (10) days from the date
of such filing. The insurance policy or policies shall not be cancelled
without written notice to the City Manager at least thirty (30) days prior to
the effective date of such cancellation. In the event such insurance policy
or policies are cancelled, the permit granted shall terminate, and
Permittee's rights to operate under such permit shall cease until Permittee
files additional insurance as provided herein. Permittee shall maintain said
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insurance for a period no less than five (5) years after drilling and/or
production operations cease at any and all Well sites.
(c) Permittee shall be responsible for any and all damage that arises as a
result of Permittee's drilling or production activities. Permittee shall
promptly restore the streets, sidewalks and other public property of the
city, which may be disturbed or damaged in the operations, to their former
condition as determined by the city. Permittee shall promptly clear all
premises of all litter, trash, waste, and other substances used, allowed or
occurring in the drilling or production operations, and shall, after
abandonment, grade, level and restore such property to the same surface
condition, as nearly as possible, as existed when operations for the drilling
of the Well or Wells were first commenced. If Permittee fails to restore
any damage resulting from Permittee's activities and/or clean such
premises, the city may conduct any and all repair and/or cleanup required
to restore the premises and/or surrounding property the city finds is
necessary. The city shall charge any costs of such cleanup or restoration to
Permittee and Permittee shall promptly pay such costs. The city may
revoke any and all of Permittee's outstanding permits and/or pursue any
remedy available to the city by law if Permittee fails to provide payment
for such costs. Permittee shall indemnify and hold the city harmless from
any and all liability resulting from or attributable to the granting of such
permit.
Sec. 8.07.005 Penalties
It shall be unlawful and an offense for any person to violate or neglect to
comply with any provision hereof, irrespective of whether or not the
verbiage of each section hereof contains the specific language that such
violation or neglect is unlawful and is an offense. Any person who shall
violate any of the provisions of this article, or any of the provisions of a
drilling and operating permit issued pursuant hereto shall be deemed guilty
of a misdemeanor and shall, on conviction thereof, be fined in accordance
with state law designating the penalty for a violation of an ordinance that
governs fire safety or public health and sanitation; and the violation of
each separate provision of this article, and of such permit shall be
considered a separate offense, and each day's violation of each separate
provision thereof shall be considered a separate offense.
Sec. 8.07.006 Cease and desist order; revocation or suspension of
permit; appeal
(a) Cease and desist order. If, at any time, any operator is in violation of
any of the provisions of this article, the City Manager may order
compliance and set a reasonable period of time for same. If compliance is
not obtained within the time period specified, the City Manager shall
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order, in writing, the operator to cease and desist operation of the Well
immediately. The operator shall immediately comply with the order of the
City Manager to cease and desist and shall not resume any operation at the
site affected unless and until the written approval of the City Manager is
obtained.
(b) Grounds for suspension or revocation of permit. The City Manager
may, in writing, with ten (10) days' notice, suspend or revoke any permit
issued under the provisions of this article upon finding any of the
following:
(1) A Permittee has failed, neglected or refused to perform, comply
with and abide by any of the conditions of the permit;
(2) That Permittee has failed or neglected or refused to comply
with or abide by or has in any way violated any of the provisions
of this article, or of any other ordinance of the city, or any other
law, rule, order or regulation either directly or indirectly, by reason
of or in connection with or incidental to his conduct of oil
operations;
(3) If Permittee shall have made any willful misrepresentation of
facts in any application for any such permit, or in any record
required by this article to be filed or furnished by Permittee;
(4) Failure to comply with a cease and desist order issued by the
City Manager.
(c) Effect of suspension or revocation of permit. No person shall carry on
any operations performed under the terms of any permit during any period
of permit suspension or revocation, or pending a judgment of the court
upon any application for writ taken to review the decision or order of the
city in suspending or revoking such permit; provided, however, that
nothing therein contained shall be construed to prevent the performance of
such operation as may be necessary in connection with a diligent and bona
fide effort to cure and remedy the default, or violation for which the
suspension or revocation of the permit was ordered, or such operation as
necessary for the safety of persons or as required by the City Council.
(d) Appeals. Any person or entity whose oil and gas permit has been
revoked may, within thirty (30) days of the decision of the City Manager,
file a written appeal to the City Council in accordance with the following
procedure:
(1) The City Council shall have and exercise the power to hear and
determine appeals where it is alleged there is error or abuse of
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discretion regarding the revocation of any permits issued hereunder
as provided by this article.
(2) An appeal shall be in writing and shall be filed in triplicate with
the City Manager. The grounds for appeal must be set forth
specifically and the error described by the appellant.
(3) The City Manager shall transmit to the City Council all papers
involved in the proceedings. In addition, the City Manager shall
make and transmit to the City Council such supplementary reports
as may be deemed necessary to present the facts and circumstances
of the case. Copies shall be mailed to the appellant prior to the
hearing.
(4) The City Manager shall place the matter on the agenda of a
regularly scheduled City Council meeting for hearing and give
notice by mail of the time, place, and purpose thereof to appellant,
and any other party who has requested in writing to be so notified.
No other notice need be given; provided, however, that the hearing
shall not take place any sooner than ten (10) days after notice has
been sent to the appellant.
See. 8.07.007 Unitization encouraged
Voluntary unitization is encouraged in order to allow the efficient
recovery of oil and gas by the owner or lessee of an interest in oil and gas
beneath a tract of land in the City of Lubbock, Texas, and to prevent the
safety problems of multiple Well drilling.
Sec. 8.07.008 Oil and Gas Advisory Review Committee
(a) Official Designation. There is hereby created and established a city oil
and gas advisory committee to be officially designated as the "City of
Lubbock Oil and Gas Advisory Review Committee," hereinafter referred
to as the "ARC".
(b) Composition; appointment and terms of members. The ARC shall be
composed of nine (9) members, of which shall include one (1) Petroleum
Engineer, one (1) member of the Lubbock Water Advisory Commission,
one (1) Oil and Gas Industry Operator, one (1) member of the City of
Lubbock Board of Health, and five (5) members appointed from the
community at -large. Each member of the Committee shall be a resident
citizen of the City of Lubbock. The City Council shall appoint all
members to the board, and the City Council shall select and name the
chairperson of the Committee.
(c) Ex -officio members. The City Manager or designated representative
shall be an ex -officio member of the ARC, without voting privileges, and
shall act in an advisory capacity to the board.
(d) Meetings. The ARC shall meet in accordance with the provisions of
this article or at the request of the City Council in order to:
(1) Coordinate the review of an oil and gas Well permit application
to the City of Lubbock in accordance with the terms of this article;
or
(2) Conduct a thorough analysis of the current methods of
exploration, development, and production of oil and gas within the
City of Lubbock, Texas, and make detailed recommendations to
the City Council of the necessary regulatory amendments to the
current oil and gas ordinance and the permitting process in
response to the analysis.
(e) Quorum; voting. A quorum shall consist of at least fifty (50) percent
of the nonvacant committee positions. A motion may be adopted only if it
receives the votes of at least a majority of the members present at a
properly called meeting where there is a quorum present.
(f) Powers and duties. The ARC shall constitute an advisory board to the
City Council, with power to hold hearings in the city and to consider and
make recommendations to the City Council in writing, from time to time,
on any and all matters pertaining to a permit application for oil and gas
exploration, development, and production within the city limits of the City
of Lubbock under this article. The role of this committee shall be to assist
the City of Lubbock and the City Council with the review of oil and gas
Well permit applications for: (1) technical compliance with this article,
and (2) administrative completeness. The committee may also
recommend additional conditions for the permit to the City Council for
approval. The committee shall be subject to the Texas Open Meetings Act
and shall serve at the will of the City Council. The committee shall not be
classified as a department, agency, or political subdivision of the City.
(g) Conflict of interest. A board member is subject to the provisions of
Chapter 171, Texas Local Government Code, relating to the regulation of
conflicts of interest of officers of local governments.
Sees. 8.07.009-8.07.030 Reserved
Division 2. Permit
See. 8.07.031 Required; issuing authority
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(a) It shall be unlawful and an offense for any person to prepare any site,
to commence to drill, or to operate any oil and/or gas Well within the city
limits prior to the City Council consideration and without a permit issued
by the City Manager for the site preparation, drilling, and the operation of
such well-being approved by the authority of the City Council in
accordance with the terms of this article.
(b) It shall be unlawful to drill or rework a Well for disposal or injection
of salt water or other impurities brought to the surface during the operation
of an oil and/or gas Well or for secondary and/or tertiary recovery
operations within the corporate limits of the city without first obtaining a
permit in accordance with state law.
Sec. 8.07.032 Standards
(a) In all cases where the applicant for a permit under this division has
fifty (50) percent or more of the acreage in the proposed production unit
under Lease which Lease or Leases were executed on or before May 13,
1982, and the application is filed with the City Manager on or before May
14, 1984, the following standard shall apply:
No Well shall be drilled and no permit shall be issued for any Well to be
drilled at any location which is nearer than one hundred fifty (15 0) feet of
any residence or commercial building without the applicant having first
secured the written permission of the owner or owners thereof and no
crude oil storage tank or tanks shall be erected or maintained within one
hundred fifty (150) feet of any residence or commercial building without
the applicant having first secured written permission of the owner or
owners thereof.
The burden of proving that leases were executed on or before May 13,
1982, shall be upon the applicant. The applicant may discharge this burden
in the following manner:
(1) Submit a sworn affidavit with the application listing the leases
that are filed of record in the office of the county clerk making
reference to the volume and page number where said leases are on
file.
(2) A true and correct copy of a Lease showing the date of
execution and acknowledgement shall be filed with the application
for leases that have not been filed of record in the office of the
county clerk.
(b) All drill sites that do not meet the requirement in subsection (a) above
shall be subject to the following conditions and standards:
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(1) No oil or gas Well shall be located closer than six hundred
(600) feet of an existing residential structure, or an existing
commercial structure, or an existing church, public or private
school, hospital, nursing home, college or university, daycare
center, or public athletic field, or an existing domestic fresh water
well, or property zoned or proposed by the Lubbock
Comprehensive Plan as residential or commercial, without the
applicant first having secured the written permission of the
owner/owners thereof;
(2) No facility for the purpose of storing hydrocarbons shall be
located closer than one thousand (1,000) feet of an existing
residential structure, or an existing commercial structure, or an
existing church, public or private school, hospital, nursing home,
college or university, daycare center, or public athletic field; and
(3) If the written consent of all of the real property owners cannot
be secured, the City Council may approve a permit in accordance
with this article.
(c) Continuing maintenance of all landscape materials required by this
article or the City Council shall be the responsibility of the Permittee.
(d) Any written permission required herein shall be provided as part of the
permit application.
(e) An oil and gas Well permit does not create a property interest or a
vested right in the Permittee. This article of the Code of Ordinances, City
of Lubbock, Texas, creates no property interest or right of entitlement of
any kind.
Sec. 8.07.033 Application; filing fee; required information
Each application shall be presented in the format most recently approved
by the City Council. Every application for a permit to drill and operate a
Well shall be in writing, signed by the applicant or by some person duly
authorized to sign on his behalf, and it shall be filed with the City
Manager and be accompanied with a filing fee. The filing fee for the
application shall be two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500.00), until
such time as the City Council adjusts the fee in accordance with the
provisions of Section 1.03.004 of this code. A separate application must be
filed by each applicant for each Well to be drilled and operated. Each
application shall include the following information in full:
(t) The date of the application;
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(2) Name of the applicant;
(3) Address of the applicant;
(4) For the parcel of property where the Well is drilled:
(A) Proposed name of Well;
(B) Name and address of surface owner;
(C) Name and address of mineral rights owner;
(D) Name and address of mineral Lease owner; and
(E) Legal description of the site for the Well (plat
description or metes and bounds bearings).
(5) Type and height of the pump jack or pump equipment proposed
for producing the Well;
(6) Proposed depth of the Well and name of the geologic formation
as used by the RRC;
(7) A legal description of the production unit. Any property
recorded by plat should reference subdivision, block and lot
numbers;
(8) A true and correct copy of the Plat Survey filed with the RRC
as part of the drilling permit application for the subject Well;
(9) An accurate map or drawing at a scale of 1/300 or greater to
indicate the exact location of the proposed flow line(s) to storage
facilities and shall indicate the exact location of such storage
facilities on the map;
(10) The following, including exact acreage and if within a plat
approved by the Lubbock Planning and Zoning Commission,
provide the subdivision name, block and lot number, and:
(A) Ownership of surface acreage for each parcel in the
production unit;
(B) Ownership of mineral rights for each parcel in the
production unit;
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(C) Ownership of surface acreage for each parcel abutting
the production unit;
(D) Ownership of mineral rights for each parcel abutting
the production unit;
(E) Name and address of each owner of any parcel of
property within three hundred (300) feet of the proposed
wellhead; and
(F) Name and address of each owner of any parcel of
property within one thousand (1,000) feet of the proposed
storage facility.
(11) Alternate location of the Well due to adjacent land uses;
(12) Air -pollution and odor -control devices;
(13) Noise -control devices;
(14) Type of engine for the pump equipment;
(15) Height of the pump equipment during production;
(16) Fire -control measures at the drill and pump site;
(17) Fence or visual screening on the site of pump equipment and
storage facilities;
(18) Landscaping on the site of pump equipment and storage
facilities;
(19) Proof of contractual responsibilities of pump site and storage
site maintenance;
(20) Blowout prevention control;
(21) Specific description of safety procedures required at the
drill/pump site and the storage site;
(22) Special handling/storage of sludge/waste from the drill site;
(23) Special disposal of sludge/waste from the drill site;
(24) Location of storage facilities;
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(25) Ingress/egress of vehicular traffic to the drill site and
production site;
(26) Specific precautions proposed to prevent contamination of
the water aquifer at the drill site;
(27) Specific proposal for source of water to be used during
drilling operation;
(28) Specific requirements for route and location of (buried or
aboveground) flow lines between the wellhead and storage
facilities; and
(29) An emergency response plan establishing written procedures
to minimize any hazard resulting from the drilling, completion, or
producing of a Well. Said plan shall use existing guidelines
established by the RRC, the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality, the Texas Department of Transportation, the U.S.
Department of Transportation, the Environmental Protection
Agency, and/or the City of Lubbock fire code. This plan shall
include a system of alarms to detect the loss of the Well or any loss
of containment integrity, access routes, and emergency contact
information. A copy of the emergency response plan shall be kept
on file with the City Manager and on-site. Said emergency
response plan shall be updated annually.
Sec. 8.07.034 Issuance or refusal to issue
(a) Upon receipt of the completed application, the City Manager shall
make a reasonable attempt within ten (10) working days to arrange a
conference between the city staff and the applicant. The City Manager
shall instruct his representative, the city attorney, planning director, or
their representatives, along with any others he so chooses, to meet in
conference with the applicant to review the content of proposed staff
comments related to the application. Each item to which the staff directs
comment shall be presented to the applicant, and the application amended
if the applicant so chooses. Within two (2) working days after the above
meeting, the City Manager shall notify the applicant of the proposed ARC
meeting date.
(b) Upon the completion of the meeting required in subsection (a), the
planning department shall coordinate the review of the application with
the ARC.
(c) The ARC meeting shall be conducted in the following manner:
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(1) The operator (or pipeline operator, where applicable) shall
present overview of the application.
(2) Staff shall present the staff report including applicable
regulations.
(3) Following the presentations, time shall be allotted for citizen
comments.
(d) No continuance shall be allowed unless in writing. If a continuance is
requested, new revisions must be submitted within two (2) weeks of the
initial ARC hearing date. Notices to neighborhood associations and
property owners as outlined in subsection (a) above, shall be resent with
revised information.
(e) The ARC shall submit a written report to the City Council on all
permit applications under this article. The report shall include the staff
and citizen concerns and any unresolved issues. The ARC shall submit a
recommendation to the City Council on all permit applications, including
any additional permit conditions as determined necessary by the ARC.
The results and recommendations of the ARC shall be sent to the applicant
within two (2) weeks following the ARC meeting.
(f) The City Council shall hold a public hearing on all applications for
permits to drill oil or gas Wells. Written notice of all such hearings shall
be sent by the City Manager, at the applicant's expense, on forms prepared
by the city attorney's office to the applicant and all other persons deemed
by the oil and gas inspector to be affected thereby, and all owners of real
property lying within six hundred (600) feet of the proposed location of
the oil or gas Well and the storage facility. Such notice is to be given not
less than ten (10) days before the date set for hearing to all such owners
who have rendered their said property for city taxes as the ownership
appears on the last approved city tax roll. Such notice may be served by
depositing the same properly addressed and postage paid, in the city post
office. Notice shall also be given by publishing the same in a newspaper of
general circulation in the City of Lubbock at least fifteen (15) days prior to
the date set for hearing, which notice shall state the time and place of such
hearing; provided, however, all provisions contained herein with respect to
the mailing and publishing of notices of hearing shall be deemed sufficient
upon substantial compliance with this section. The City Council may
approve a permit for the drilling and operation of the Well described in the
application. The City Council may designate such additional conditions
concerning installation, operation, and maintenance of the proposed Well
site and/or storage facility, including but not limited to the following:
(1) Alternate location of the Well due to adjacent land uses;
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(2) Air -pollution control devices, air -pollution monitoring devices,
and/or odor -control devices;
(3) Noise -control devices;
(4) Type of engine for the pump equipment;
(5) Height of the pump equipment during production;
(6) Fire -control measures at the drill and pump site;
(7) Fence or visual screening on the site of pump equipment and
storage facilities;
(8) Landscaping on the site of pump equipment and storage
facilities;
(9) Proof of contractual responsibilities of pump site and storage
site maintenance;
(10) Blowout prevention control;
(11) Specific description of safety procedures required at the
drill/pump site and the storage site;
(12) Special handling/storage of sludge/waste from the drill site;
(13) Special disposal of sludge/waste from the drill site;
(14) Location of storage facilities;
(15) Ingress/egress of vehicular traffic to the drill site and
production site;
(16) Specific precautions proposed to prevent contamination of the
water aquifer at the drill site;
(17) Specific proposal for source of water to be used during
drilling operation;
(18) Specific requirements for route and location of (buried or
aboveground) flow lines between the wellhead and storage
facilities; or
(19) An emergency response plan establishing written procedures
to minimize any hazard resulting from the drilling, completion, or
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producing of a Well. Said plan shall use existing guidelines
established by the RRC, the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality, the Texas Department of Transportation, the U.S.
Department of Transportation, the Environmental Protection
Agency, and/or the City of Lubbock fire code. This plan shall
include a system of alarms to detect the loss of the Well or any loss
of containment integrity, access routes, and emergency contact
information. A copy of the emergency response plan shall be kept
on file with the City Manager and on-site. Said emergency
response plan shall be updated annually.
(g) Each permit issued under this article shall:
(1) By reference have incorporated therein all the provisions of this
article with the same force and effect as if this article were copied
verbatim in such permit;
(2) Specify the Well location with lot number, block number, name
of addition or subdivision, or other available correct legal
description;
(3) Contain and specify that the term of such permit shall be for a
period of one hundred eighty (180) days from the date of the
permit and as long thereafter as the Permittee is engaged in drilling
operations with no cessations of such operations for more than
ninety (90) days, or oil or gas is produced in commercial quantities
from the Well drilled pursuant to such permit. If at any time after
discovery of oil or gas the production thereof in commercial
quantities shall cease, the permit shall not expire if the Permittee
commences additional reworking operations within one hundred
eighty (180) days thereafter, and if they result in the production of
oil or gas, so long thereafter as oil or gas is produced in
commercial quantities from such Well;
(4) Contain and specify such conditions as are by this article
authorized and such conditions that the City Council may
designate in accordance with this section; and
(5) Specify the total measured depth and the true vertical depth to
which the Well may be drilled. The true vertical depth may not
exceeding the projected depth and may not exceed nine thousand
six hundred eighty (9,680) feet. A greater depth shall require an
additional permit and permit fee. The filing fee for the application
shall be two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500.00), until such
time as the City Council adjusts the fee in accordance with the
provisions of Section 1.03.004 of this code.
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(h) Such permit, in triplicate originals, shall be signed by the City
Manager, and prior to delivery to the Permittee shall be signed by the
Permittee (with one original to be retained by the City Manager, one filed
with the city secretary, and one retained by the Permittee); and when so
signed shall constitute the Permittee's drilling and operating license, and
contractual obligation of the Permittee to comply with the terms of such
permit and the requirements of this article. The director of planning shall
keep a map that designates the location of all permitted Wells and
production units and the number of the permit for each Well and
production unit.
See. 8.07.035 Termination
When a permit shall have been issued, the same shall terminate and
become inoperative without any action on the part of the city, unless
within one hundred eighty (180) days from the date of issuance actual
drilling of the Well shall have commenced. The cessation for a like period
of the drilling operations or the cessation of the production of oil or gas
from the Well after production shall have commenced shall operate to
terminate and cancel the permit, and the Well shall be considered as
abandoned for all purposes of this article, and it shall be unlawful
thereafter to continue the operation or drilling of such Well without the
issuance of another permit.
See. 8.07.036 Supplemental for deep drilling
(a) Once any Well has either been completed as a producer or abandoned
as a dry hole, it shall be unlawful and an offense for any person to drill
such Well to a deeper depth than that reached in the prior drilling
operations without the Permittee as to such Well obtaining a supplemental
permit after filing a current supplemental application with the City
Manager specifying:
(1) The then condition of the Well and the casing therein;
(2) The depth to which it is proposed such Well be deepened;
(3) The proposed casing program to be used in the connection with
proposed deepening operations; and
(4) Evidence of adequate current tests showing that the casing
strings in such Well currently pass the same tests as are in this
article provided for in case of the drilling of the original Well.
(b) In the event the City Council is satisfied that such Well may be
deepened with the same degree of safety as existed in the original Well, a
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supplemental permit may be issued authorizing the deepening and
operation of the Well to such specified depth as applied for upon payment
of a supplemental permit fee. The filing fee for the application shall be
two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00), until such time as the City Council
adjusts the fee in accordance with the provisions of Section 1.03.004 of
this code. In any deeper drilling or any deeper completion of any deeper
production operations, the Permittee shall comply with all other provisions
contained in this article and applicable to the drilling, completion and
operation of a Well or Wells.
Sec. 8.07.037 Drilling in parks, streets, and alleys; obstructions
No Well shall be drilled in any public park established or maintained by
the City unless authorized in accordance with state law. No Well shall be
drilled and no permit shall be issued for any Well to be drilled at any
location which is within any of the streets or alleys of the city, or in a
projected highway and street or alley, and no street or alley shall be
blocked or encumbered or closed in any drilling or production operation.
Sec. 8.07.038 Conduits on streets and alleys
No Permittee shall make any excavations or construct any lines for the
conveyance of fuel, water or minerals, on, under or through the streets and
alleys of the city, without express permission of the City Council, in
writing, and then only in strict compliance with the ordinances of the city.
Secs. 8.07.039-8.07.070 Reserved
Division 3. Standards and Practices
Sec. 8.07.071 Operations and equipment; best practices; standards
All drilling and operation at any Well performed by a Permittee under this
article shall be conducted in accordance with the best practices of the
Reasonably Prudent Operator. All casing, valves, and blowout preventers,
drilling fluid, tubing, bradenhead, Christmas tree, and wellhead
connections shall be of a type and quality consistent with the best practices
of such Reasonably Prudent Operator. Setting and cementing casing and
running drill stem tests shall be performed in a manner and at a time
consistent with the best practices of such reasonably prudent operation.
Each Permittee under this article shall observe and follow the
recommendations and/or regulations of the American Petroleum Institute
and the RRC.
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Sec. 8.07.072 Hours of Operation
No construction activities involving excavation of, alteration to, or repair
work on any access road or pad site shall occur except between the hours
of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Truck deliveries of equipment and materials
associated with drilling and/or production, Well servicing, site preparation
and other related work conducted on the Well site shall be limited to the
hours between 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. except in cases of fires, blowouts,
explosions and any other emergencies or where the delivery of equipment
is necessary to prevent the cessation of drilling or production. Fracturing
operations and flaring shall be limited to the hours between 7:00 am and
7:00 pm.
Sec. 8.07.073 Derrick and rig; watchman
All engines on any drill site or production equipment shall have adequate
mufflers and spark arrestors. No drilling rig or derrick shall remain at the
drill site for a period longer than thirty (30) days after completion,
abandonment, or reworking of the Well. The Permittee shall keep a
watchman or workman on premises at all times from commencement of
drilling until the Well is abandoned and plugged or completed as a
producer and enclosed with a fence.
Sec. 8.07.074 Pits
(a) Drilling mud, cuttings, liquid hydrocarbons and all other field waste
derived or resulting from or connected with the drilling, reworking or
deepening of any Well shall be discharged into above ground tanks
(closed loop mud system) if the Well bore is located within five hundred
(500) feet of an occupied residential or commercial structure, or an
existing church, public or private school, hospital, nursing home, college
or university, daycare center or public athletic field, or domestic water
Well.
(b) Earthen pits may be used in connection with drilling and reworking
operations located at a greater distance than five hundred (500) feet of an
occupied residential or commercial structure, or an existing church, public
or private school, hospital, nursing home, college or university, daycare
center or public athletic field or domestic water well. Any earthen pits
shall, as a minimum requirement, be lined with six (6) inches of bentonite
clay and a plastic liner of eight (8) mil thickness. Such tanks or pits and
contents shall be removed from the premises and the drilling site within
thirty (30) days after completion of the Well. Removal of the tanks or pits
and contents shall be accomplished in such a manner as will preclude any
possible contamination of underground and percolating water.
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Sec. 8.07.075 Cleanliness and sanitation
The premises of the drill site and the storage facility for production from
the Well under this application/permit shall be kept in a clean and sanitary
condition free from rubbish of every character, to the satisfaction of the
City Manager, at all times drilling operations are being conducted, and as
long thereafter as oil and/or gas is being produced therefrom. Any litter,
trash, or waste shall be cleared from the premises immediately, and any
spills shall also be cleared immediately. All production equipment,
including, but not limited to, pumping units, storage units, storage tanks,
buildings, and structures on the site, shall be painted a neutral color and
shall be maintained for appearance at all times. The Permittee shall
provide a sign no larger than eighteen (18) inches square and attached to
the fence surrounding the Well site, posting the name, address, and
telephone number of a party in Lubbock, Texas, responsible for
maintaining the site. It shall be unlawful for any Permittee, his agent or
employee to permit within the corporate limits of the city any mud, water,
waste oil, slush or other waste matter from any slush pit, storage tank, or
oil and/or gas Well located within the corporate limits of the city, or from
any premises within the city, developed or being developed for oil and/or
gas purposes, to escape into the alleys, streets, lots, land or leases within
the corporate limits of the city.
Sec. 8.07.076 Mufflers required
Motive power for all operations after completion of drilling operations
shall be electricity, or properly muffled gas, gasoline or diesel engines.
Sec. 8.07.077 Storage tanks, separators
(a) It shall be unlawful and an offense for any person to use, construct or
operate, in connection with any producing Well within the city limits, any
crude oil storage tanks or produced water tanks, except to the extent of
two (2) low -type steel tanks for oil storage, not exceeding five hundred
(500) barrels' capacity each and so constructed and maintained as to be
vaportight with appropriate safety or pressure release devices and level
control devices. A Permittee may use, construct and operate a steel
conventional separator, and such other steel tanks and appurtenances as
are necessary for treating oil with each of such facilities to be so
constructed and maintained as to be vaportight. Each oil, gas separator
shall be equipped with both a regulation pressure relief safety valve and a
bursting head. All such tanks shall be placed upon a suitable earth or
concrete pad and shall be equipped with lightning arrestor systems.
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(b) The tank or tanks shall be enclosed with a conventional type fire wall
constructed of compacted earth; sufficient water shall be used during the
fire wall construction to assure adequate compaction.
(c) The fire wall enclosing the tanks shall have a minimum capacity equal
to two (2) times the volume of the tanks enclosed. Drip pots shall be
provided at the pump out connection to contain the liquids from the
storage tanks.
(d) The top or crown of the fire wall shall have a minimum height of three
(3) feet above normal ground elevation.
(e) The tanks shall be recessed within the fire wall enclosure to such depth
that will assure them being practically "sight clear" when viewed from
without the fenced enclosure.
(f) The separators shall be installed for operation in a horizontal or vertical
position, height not to exceed ten (10) feet above tank level.
(g) Any oil or gas produced may be transported outside of the city limits
by underground pipelines.
(h) Each storage tank and/or separator shall be enclosed by a substantial
cyclone fence a minimum of eight (8) feet in height and properly built so
as to ordinarily keep persons and animals out of the enclosure, with all the
gates thereto to be kept locked when the Permittee or his employees are
not within the enclosure.
(i) Any site that produces more than one barrel of condensate per day
shall install a vapor recovery unit on the site.
Sec. 8.07.078 Fences
Any person who completes any Well as a producer shall have the
obligation to enclose such Well, together with its surface facilities, by a
substantial cyclone fence sufficiently high and properly built so as to
ordinarily keep persons and animals out of the enclosure, with all gates to
be kept locked when the Permittee or his employees are not within the
enclosure.
Sec. 8.07.079 Nuisances; best practices
All oil operations, drilling and production operations shall be conducted in
such a manner as to eliminate, as far as practicable, dust, noise, vibration
or noxious odors and shall be in accordance with the best accepted
practices incident to exploration for, drilling for and production of oil, gas
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and other hydrocarbon substances. Proven technological improvements in
exploration, drilling and production methods shall be adopted as they
become, from time to time, available, if capable of reducing factors of
nuisance and annoyance.
Sec. 8.07.080 Fire prevention; escape of gas; burning or flaring gas
(a) No Permittee engaged in the drilling or operation of an oil and/or gas
Well within the corporate limits of the city shall permit gas to escape into
the air, or flare or burn gas from a torch or any similar means within the
corporate limits of the city; provided, gas may be burned for a limited time
when necessary to complete an oil and/or gas Well upon the original
completion or upon the recompletion of workover jobs upon oil and/or gas
Wells, so long as the same does not constitute a fire hazard to the property
of others within the vicinity of such oil and/or gas Well. Such vent or
open flame shall be screened with a flare bonnet or other similar device in
such a way as to minimize detrimental effects to adjacent property owners.
Operator shall provide notice to the Fire Marshal prior to any open flaring.
No gas may be flared between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.,
except in case of an emergency.
(b) All material safety data sheets (MSDS) for all hazardous materials that
will be located, stored, transported, and/or temporarily used on the
operations site shall be kept on site. All hazardous materials shall be
safely stored according to any applicable federal, state, or local laws,
rules, and regulations. Adequate firefighting apparatus and supplies,
approved by the fire department of the city shall be maintained on the
drilling site at all times during drilling and production operations at the
operator's cost. The operator shall be responsible for the maintenance and
upkeep of such equipment. Each Well shall be equipped with an
automated valve that closes the Well in the event of an abnormal change
in operating pressure. All Well heads shall contain an emergency shut-off
valve to the Well distribution line. Emergency personnel must have
access to the site. All machinery, equipment, and installations on all
drilling sites within the city limits shall conform with such requirements as
may from time to time be issued by the fire department of the city.
(c) The fire marshal shall receive written notice from the applicant a
minimum of one (1) week prior to commencing active drilling, and
notified again upon termination of drilling activities. The applicant shall
provide a copy of such notice to the City Manager a minimum of one (1)
week prior to commencing active drilling, and upon termination of drilling
activities.
(d) If required by the RRC, equipment for the monitoring of hydrogen
sulfide ("II2S") gas shall be used during drilling.
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(e) Within sixty (60) days after completion, and annually thereafter,
operator shall submit to the City Manager results of testing to determine
the concentration of H2S produced from the Well. If the results of the H2S
testing proves to be 100 PPM H2S or greater, the operator is responsible
for determining the 100 PPM H2S radius of exposure for each Well and
production facility. Wells and facilities where the concentration of H2S is
equal to or greater than 100 PPM will be considered "Sour." Safety
systems described herein must be approved by the fire marshal.
(1) The following safety alarms and equipment are required at the
Well site of all Wells that are capable of producing at an average
rate sustained over a three-month period of at least 125 barrels of
oil per day and/or 300 MCF of gas per day and for "Sour" Wells
whose 100 PPM H2S radius of exposure is greater than fifty (50)
feet:
(A) H2S monitors located along the fencing;
(B) Automated audible alarms to provide warnings for a
substantial drop in pressure or for the presence of H2S in
concentrations greater than 100 PPM;and
(C) Automated valve to shut-in production from the Well
if a substantial drop in pressure or if the presence of H2S in
concentrations greater than 100 PPM is detected.
(2) The following safety alarms and equipment are required at
Sour tank battery facilities that are capable of producing at an
average rate sustained over a three-month period of at least 125
barrels of oil per day and/or 300 MCF of gas per day and for Sour
Wells whose 100 PPM H2S radius of exposure is greater than fifty
(50) feet:
(A) H2S monitors located along the fencing;
(B) Automated audible alarm to provide warnings for the
presence of H2S in concentrations greater 100 PPM; and
(C) An electrical device capable of shutting down power
to all "Sour" Wells producing into the battery in the event
H2S in concentrations great than 100 PPM is detected.
Sec. 8.07.081 Salt water disposal
(a) Unless otherwise permitted by law, salt water disposal Wells shall not
be allowed or permitted within the corporate limits of the city.
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(b) Permittee shall make adequate provisions for the disposal of all salt
water or other impurities which he may bring to the surface. Such
disposal shall be made in such manner as to not contaminate the fresh
water supply, present or prospective, or to injure surface vegetation. The
Permittee shall promptly restore or make restitution for any damage
caused by the Permittee, intentional or accidental, of the water supply or
surface vegetation at and adjacent to the drill site or oil/gas storage site.
Sec. 8.07.082 Water Well testing
(a) At the written request of a surface owner to the Permittee, a third party
contractor shall collect and analyze a pre -drilling, a post -drilling, and a
post -fracturing water analysis from any existing fresh water wells within
three hundred (300) feet of an oil and gas Well. The cost of such analysis
fees and charges assessed by the third party contractor shall be borne by
the Permittee.
(b) Well samples shall be collected and analyzed prior to any drilling
activity to document baseline water quality data of the well. A post -
drilling sample shall be collected and analyzed after the conclusion of
drilling of each well. A post fracturing sample shall be collected and
analyzed after the conclusion of each fracturing operation.
Sec. 8.07.083 Abandonment; plugging; precautionary measures
Whenever any Well is abandoned, it shall be the obligation of the
Permittee and the operator of the Well to set a three hundred eighty-five
(385) foot cement plug in the bottom of the surface casing with the bottom
of the plug one hundred (100) feet below the surface casing section, and
the top of the plug one hundred (100) feet above the surface casing
section; and to set a fifty -foot cement plug in the top of the surface casing.
No surface or conductor string of casing may be pulled or removed from a
Well. During initial abandonment operations it shall be the obligation of
the Permittee and the operator of the Well to flood the Well with mud -
laden fluid weighing not less than ten (10) pounds per gallon, and the Well
shall be kept filled to the top with such mud -laden fluid at all times. Mud -
laden fluid of the above specifications shall be left in the Well bore below
and between cement plugs. Any additional provisions or precautionary
measures prescribed by the State of Texas, in connection with the
abandonment and plugging of a Well, shall be complied with by the
Permittee. The Well site shall be restored to the original condition of the
land, including any displaced landscaping and topsoil.
SECTION 2. THAT, unless otherwise provided herein, a violation of any provision of
this Ordinance shall be deemed a misdemeanor punishable as provided by Section 1.01.004 of
the Code of Ordinances of the City of Lubbock.
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SECTION 3. THAT should any paragraph, section, sentence, phrase, clause or word of
this Ordinance be declared unconstitutional or invalid for any reason, the remainder of this
Ordinance shall not be affected thereby.
SECTION 4. THAT the City Secretary of the City of Lubbock is hereby authorized and
directed to cause publication of the descriptive caption of this Ordinance as an alternative
method provided by law.
SECTION 5. THAT this Ordinance shall become effective, except as may otherwise be
provided herein, from and after its publication as provided by law.
AND IT IS SO ORDERED.
Passed by the City Council on first reading this 26th day of February 2015.
Passed by the City Council on second reading this qday of I142rch 2015.
GLEI O R SON, MAYOR
ATTEST:
Reba ca Garza, City Secretaky
APPROVED AS TO CONTENT:
�z
Andrew Paxton, Director of Planning
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Q
aur Pratt, Assistant City Attorney
Ordinance - Amending Article 8.07 Oil and Gas 3.12.15