Section 3205.8 - Bond sufficient to cover plugging, abandonment, site restoration, etc. required(a)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a person who acquires the right to operate a well or production facility, by purchase, transfer, assignment, conveyance, exchange, or other disposition, except a well that has an average daily production level that exceeds 15 barrels of oil or 60,000 cubic feet of natural gas during the 12 months preceding the date of acquisition or a natural gas storage well, shall, as soon as possible, but not later than the date when the acquisition of the well or production facility becomes final, file with the supervisor an individual indemnity bond for the well or production facility, or a blanket indemnity bond for multiple wells or production facilities, in an amount determined by the supervisor to be sufficient to cover, in full, all costs of plugging and abandonment, decommissioning of the facility, and site restoration pursuant to Section 3208 and regulations implementing this chapter.(2) A person who acquires the right to operate more than one well or production facility, by purchase, transfer, assignment, conveyance, exchange, or other disposition, or who operates more than one well or production facility may file with the supervisor one blanket indemnity bond to cover all the operations in any of its wells in the state in lieu of an individual indemnity bond for each operation. The blanket indemnity bond shall be executed by the operator, as principal, and by an authorized surety company, as surety, and shall be in substantially the same language and upon the same conditions as provided in Section 3204, except for the difference in the amount.(b) A person who intends to acquire the right to operate a well or production facility, by purchase, transfer, assignment, conveyance, exchange, or other disposition, shall submit a request to the supervisor for a determination of the amount of the bond required pursuant to subdivision (a) before completing the acquisition and shall not complete the acquisition until the determination is received and the bond has been filed with the supervisor.(c) The supervisor shall determine the amount of an individual indemnity bond required pursuant to subdivision (a) based on the supervisor's determination of the full costs of plugging and abandonment, decommissioning the facility, and site restoration using any reasonable method, including, but not limited to, consideration of the factors listed in subdivision (b) of Section 3205.3, or the cost estimation criteria described in subdivision (b) of Section 3205.7, or consultation with a contractor to obtain an estimate of the cost to plug and abandon the wells, decommission the facility, and complete site restoration. The supervisor shall determine the amount of a blanket indemnity bond required pursuant to subdivision (a) based on the sum total of combining the costs from the same determinations as individual indemnity bonds for each well or production facility covered by the blanket indemnity bond.(d) In lieu of the bond required to be provided pursuant to subdivision (a), the operator may, with the written approval of the supervisor, provide the required security through an equally effective means of financial assurance, which includes a deposit pursuant to Section 3205.5, an irrevocable letter of credit, or a fully funded trust fund, but does not include self-insurance or corporate guarantees. The required financial assurance may be obtained or funded by the transferor of the covered well.(e) The department shall post on its internet website the information on all indemnity bond determinations made by the supervisor, and shall include for each determination the bond amount and calculations used.Ca. Pub. Res. Code § 3205.8
Added by Stats 2023 ch 359 (AB 1167),s 6, eff. 1/1/2024.