Section 601.601 - Well plugging funds(a) All fines, civil penalties, permit and registration fees collected under this act are hereby appropriated to the Department of Environmental Resources to carry out the purposes of this act.(b) To aid in the indemnification of the Commonwealth for the cost of plugging abandoned wells, there shall be added to the permit fee established by the department under section 201 for new wells a $50 surcharge. All moneys collected as a result of this surcharge shall be paid into the State Treasury into a restricted revenue account to be known as the Abandoned Well Plugging Fund, hereby established, and shall be expended by the department to plug abandoned wells which threaten the health and safety of persons or property or pollution of the waters of the Commonwealth.(c)(1) There is hereby created a restricted revenue account to be known as the Orphan Well Plugging Fund. There shall be added to the permit fee established by the department under section 201 for new wells a $100 surcharge for wells to be drilled for oil production and a $200 surcharge for wells to be drilled for gas production, which surcharges shall be placed in the Orphan Well Plugging Fund and shall be expended by the department to plug orphan wells. If an operator rehabilitates a well abandoned by another operator or an orphan well, the permit fee and the surcharge for such well shall be waived.(2) The department shall conduct a study of its experience in implementing this section and shall report its findings to the Governor and the General Assembly within five years of the effective date of this amendatory act. The report shall contain information relating to the balance of the fund, the number of wells plugged, the number of identified wells eligible for plugging and any recommendations on alternative funding mechanisms.(3) Expenditures by the department for the plugging of orphan wells shall be limited to fees collected under this act and in no event shall moneys from the General Fund be expended for this purpose.1984 Dec. 19, P.L. 1140, No. 223, § 601, effective in 120 days. Amended 1992, July 2, P.L. 365, No. 78, § 7, effective in 30 days.