Washington · statute · Wash. Rev. Code ch. 78.52 · 56 active provisions
It is hereby declared to be in the public interest to foster, encourage, and promote the exploration, development, production, and utilization of oil and gas in the state in such manner as will prevent waste; to authorize and to provide for the operation and development of oil and gas properties in such manner as to as…
For the purposes of this chapter, unless the text otherwise requires, the following terms shall have the following meanings:(1) "Certificate of clearance" means a permit prescribed by the department for the transportation or the delivery of oil, gas, or product.(2) "Department" means the department of natural resources…
The department shall hold hearings or meetings at such times and places as may be found by the department to be necessary to carry out its duties. The department may establish its own rules for the conduct of public hearings or meetings consistent with other applicable law.
The department shall employ all personnel necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter.
The department may subpoena witnesses, administer oaths, and require the production of records, books, and documents for examination at any hearing or investigation conducted by it. No person shall be excused from attending and testifying, or from producing books, papers, and records before the department or a court, o…
In addition to the powers and authority, either express or implied, granted to the department by virtue of the laws of this state, the department may, in prescribing its rules of order or procedure in connection with hearings or other proceedings before the department, provide for the appointment of one or more examine…
In case of failure or refusal on the part of any person to comply with a subpoena issued by the department or in case of the refusal of any witness to testify as to any matter regarding which the witness may be interrogated, any superior court in the state, upon the application of the department, may compel the person…
The attorney general shall be the attorney for the department, but in cases of emergency, the department may call upon the prosecuting attorney of the county where the action is to be brought, or defended, to represent the department until such time as the attorney general may take charge of the litigation.
The department shall designate a state oil and gas supervisor who shall be charged with duties as may be delegated by the department. The department may designate one or more deputy supervisors and employ all personnel necessary including the appointment of examiners as provided in RCW 78.52.032 to carry out this chapt…
The department shall administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter by the adoption of policies, and all rules, regulations, and orders promulgated hereunder, and the department has jurisdiction, power, and authority, over all persons and property, public and private, necessary to enforce effectively such duty.
The department may make such reasonable rules, regulations, and orders as may be necessary from time to time for the proper administration and enforcement of this chapter. Unless otherwise required by law or by this chapter or by rules of procedure made under this chapter, the department may make such rules, regulation…
Any interested person shall have the right to have the department call a hearing for the purpose of taking action with respect to any matter within the jurisdiction of the department by filing a verified written petition therefor, which shall state in substance the matter and reasons for and nature of the action reques…
All rules, regulations, policies, and orders of the department, all petitions, copies of all notices and actions with affidavits of posting, mailing, or publications pertaining thereto, all findings of fact, and transcripts of all hearings shall be in writing and shall be entered in full by the department in the perman…
Any person desiring or proposing to drill any well in search of oil or gas, before commencing the drilling of any such well, shall apply to the department upon such form as the department may prescribe, and shall pay to the state treasurer a fee of the following amounts for each application:(1) For each well the estima…
Any person desiring or proposing to drill any well in search of oil or gas, when such drilling would be conducted through or under any surface waters of the state, shall prepare and submit an environmental impact statement upon such form as the department of ecology shall prescribe at least one hundred and twenty days…
Waste of oil and gas, as defined in this chapter, is prohibited.
The use of gas from a well producing gas only, or from a well which is primarily a gas well, for the manufacture of carbon black or similar products predominantly carbon, is declared to constitute waste prima facie, and such gas well shall not be used for any such purpose unless it is clearly shown, at a public hearing…
The department shall make such investigations as it may deem proper to determine whether waste exists or is imminent or whether other facts exist which justify action by the department.
(1) The department shall make investigations as necessary to carry out this chapter.(2) The department shall require:(a) Identification of ownership of oil or gas wells, producing leases, tanks, plants, structures, and facilities for the transportation or refining of oil or gas;(b) The making and filing of well logs, c…
When necessary to prevent waste, to avoid the drilling of unnecessary wells, or to protect correlative rights including those of royalty owners, the department, upon its own motion or upon application of interested persons, shall establish development units covering any known pool. Development units shall be of uniform…
Within sixty days after the discovery of oil or gas in a pool not then covered by an order of the department, a hearing shall be held and the department shall issue an order prescribing development units for the pool. If sufficient geological or other scientific data from drilling operations or other evidence is not av…
(1) The size and the shape of any development units shall be such as will result in the efficient and economical development of the pool as a whole, and the size shall not be smaller than the maximum area that can be efficiently and economically drained by one well as determined by competent geological, geophysical, en…
An order establishing development units for a pool shall specify the size and shape of each area and the location of the permitted well thereon in accordance with a reasonable uniform spacing plan. Upon application and after notice and a hearing, if the department finds that a well drilled at the prescribed location wo…
An order establishing development 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 areas determined to be underlaid by such pool. When the department determines that it is necessary for the preventio…
When two or more separately-owned tracts are embraced within a development unit, or when there are separately owned interests in all or a part of the development unit, then the owners and lessees thereof may pool their interests for the development and operation of the development unit. In the absence of this voluntary…