Vernon Municipal Code Ch. 11.04 General Provisions

For the purposes of this title, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:

"Exploratory well"

means a hole drilled for the purpose of obtaining information with no intent to produce or test produce oil, gas, petroleum or other hydrocarbon substances.

"Oil and gas well"

means any well or hole already drilled, being drilled or to be drilled into the surface of the earth which is used or intended to be used in connection with coring or the drilling for or the producing of petroleum, natural gas or other hydrocarbon substances or is used or intended to be used for the subsurface injection into the earth of oil field waste, gases, water or liquid substances, including any existing hole, well or casing which has not been abandoned, in accordance with Chapter 11.08, except that oil and gas wells shall not include an exploratory well as defined herein.

"Oil well drilling district"

means a district created by an ordinance of the City Council after receiving an appropriate application for the formation of an oil well drilling district, such request being in accordance with the procedures set forth herein. The purpose of creating an oil well drilling district shall be for the promotion of a safe, orderly and equitable extraction of oil, gas, petroleum or other hydrocarbon substances.

(Prior code § 17A.1)

Before any oil and gas well may be drilled in any portion of the City, a permit shall be required of the applicant, to be issued by the City Engineer.

(Prior code § 17A.2)

Before such permit may be issued, it must appear:

A. That an oil drilling district as defined in Section 11.04.010 has been created by an appropriate ordinance of the City Council.

B. That all laws of the City pertaining to zoning, subdivision, setback lines, fire, building, and other laws, rules and regulations applicable to the property for which the permit is sought have been complied with and that the granting of such permit will not result in any contravention of any law, rule, or regulation of the City.

C. That a site plan has been submitted to the City Engineer with the application for permit, detailing the well location, rig location, pit locations and pipe storage locations and ingress and egress.

D. That prior to the issuance of a permit, the applicant will post a bond in the amount of $2,000.00, such bond indemnifying the City, and insuring that upon abandonment of the well, the requirements of the City restoring the well site to its original condition will be complied with.

E. Prior to the issuance of the permit, the prospective applicant will be required to furnish a certificate of public liability insurance, naming the City as a co-insured.

F. Both the bond and public liability insurance set forth in subsections D and E will be issued by a company qualified to do business in the State. Such bond and such public liability insurance policy must have the prior approval of the City Attorney, including, but not limited to, the amount of the public liability insurance policy and the nature and form of the contracts issued by the insurer.

(Prior code § 17A.3)

After the petitioner's request for the creation of an oil drilling district, by ordinance, has been acted upon favorably by the City Council, the petitioner may then request a permit to drill one or more oil and gas wells. After the petitioner's request for a permit has been received by the City Engineer, the City Engineer shall determine that all the rules, laws and regulations of the City, including, but not limited to, requirements of other departments, have been complied with. Further, the City Engineer shall determine that the applicant has complied with the engineering regulations for oil and gas wells, and that all applications have been accompanied by the filing fee of $200.00 for each well. If the City Engineer is satisfied that the proposed drilling described in the application for permit conforms to such requirements, laws and regulations, he or she shall issue a permit to the applicant, conditioned upon the applicant's continual complying with such appropriate laws, rules and regulations.

(Prior code § 17A.4)

A. A petition to the City Council for the creation by ordinance of an oil drilling district shall contain a statement that the petitioner has the proprietary or contractual authority to drill for and produce oil, gas, or other hydrocarbon substances under the surface of at least 75% of the mineral interest to be included in such district and that adequate protection has been afforded the payment of royalties to parties not so granting the remaining mineral interest in such district.

B. The City Engineer may request the petitioner in writing to submit for inspection copies of leases and contracts held by the petitioner in support of such asserted proprietary or contractual authority. Further, the City Engineer may request the petitioner, at the petitioner's own expense, to supply to the City Engineer a preliminary title report from a recognized title insurance company, indicating the name or names of the parties holding a proprietary or contractual interest sufficient to grant to the petitioner at least 75% of the mineral interest to be included in such district. All such leases, contracts, and title reports shall be subject to the approval of the City Attorney.

C. The district described in such petition shall normally be 40 acres or more in area, including all streets, ways and alleys within the boundary thereof, and shall be substantially compact in area; and the boundaries thereof shall follow public streets, ways, or alleys so far as practicable.

(Prior code § 17A.5)

The filing of any petition for an oil and gas drilling district shall be accompanied by the payment of the sum of $2,000.00 for each oil and gas drilling district, which sum will be deemed to defray the costs of investigations and inspections by the City. The payment of such application fee shall be payable to the City Clerk.

(Prior code § 17A.6)

No petition for the establishment of an oil drilling district shall be filed with the City Council unless it has first been submitted to and reported on by the City Engineer and the City Attorney. Such report shall consider the propriety of the proposed boundaries of the district, and the desirability of the drill site location. Such report shall be made by the City Engineer and the City Attorney within 30 days after the receipt of such petition, and upon a favorable report by the City Engineer and the City Attorney such petition shall then be placed upon the next convenient City Council agenda. A copy of such report shall accompany the petition.

(Prior code § 17A.7)

If the City Council shall determine that a petition for the creation of an oil drilling district by ordinance shall comprise of an area of less than 40 acres, including all streets, ways and alleys within the boundaries thereof, the City Council may, in its discretion, nevertheless allow the creation of such an oil drilling district where it appears that sufficient geological, economic or geographical reasons would allow the creation of a smaller oil drilling district and would not prove a detriment to public health, safety, and general welfare in the City. A request for such an oil drilling district must contain sufficient geological, economic, and geographical information to advise the City Council of the necessity of the creation of a smaller district.

(Prior code § 17A.8)

The City Engineer is hereby designated as the appropriate administrative authority for the promulgation of regulations for oil and gas wells. Such regulations may be adopted by the City Engineer from time to time after appropriate hearings. Hearings shall be held after posted notice as set forth below, and at the time of such hearing interested parties may appear and testify or otherwise present evidence, opposing, introducing, or supporting proposed engineering regulations for oil and gas wells. Such hearing shall be held and regulations may be adopted or repealed upon the following conditions:

A. The City Engineer shall cause a notice of hearing to be posted at least seven days prior to the hearing upon the adoption or repealing of proposed engineering regulations, such notice to be posted on the bulletin board, in the lobby of the City Hall of the City located at 4305 Santa Fe Avenue, Vernon, California.

B. Such notice shall specify the time and place of such hearings, and shall be held in suitable quarters to allow a sufficient number of the public as may be interested to attend such hearings.

C. Such hearings may be adjourned from time to time by an open oral announcement at the time and place of hearing.

D. After the taking of testimony and the introduction of appropriate evidence, the City Engineer may then determine whether a regulation shall be adopted, amended, modified or repealed.

E. Any interested party aggrieved by the decision of the City Engineer as set forth in subsection D may petition to the City Council requesting appropriate changes, eliminations or additions of regulations. The City Clerk, upon receipt of such petition, shall set the matter upon the agenda of the next convenient City Council meeting, at which time the aggrieved party may appear before the Council to be heard upon his or her petition. The City Council shall then determine finally whether such regulation or regulations shall be adopted, amended or repealed and may, as they so desire, adopt or repeal a new and different regulation which may promote the public health, safety and general welfare of the City.

(Prior code § 17A.9)

The regulations for oil and gas wells, and other appropriate City rules, regulations and ordinances shall be complied with by the applicant at all times after the receipt of the permit. If at any time during the drilling of oil and gas wells it shall be determined in good faith by the City Engineer or other appropriate department heads that the laws, rules and regulations of the City are not complied with, the City Engineer or other appropriate department head may issue a cease and desist order to the applicant by posting the same in a conspicuous place upon the property, and thereafter no further oil and gas wells shall be drilled.

(Prior code § 17A.10)

A. Any ordinance establishing an oil drilling district as defined in this chapter and any permit granted pursuant to this chapter shall become null and void one year after the effective date thereof unless oil drilling operations are commenced and diligently prosecuted within such one-year period; provided, however, that prior to the expiration thereof the City Engineer may extend the termination date for an additional period not to exceed one year, if written application is filed with the City Engineer setting forth the reasons for such extension and the City Engineer determines that a good and reasonable cause exists therefor. Similarly, the City Engineer may extend the termination date for two consecutive additional periods, not to exceed one year each, for those districts which are part of a group undergoing development from one or more common controlled drilling sites, provided that drilling operations have been diligently prosecuted from the common drilling sites during the previous extension period.

B. Further, the ordinance creating the oil drilling district and the permit granted pursuant to this chapter shall be null and void one year after all wells in the district have been abandoned as required by law.

(Prior code § 17A.11)

Every violation of this chapter is hereby declared to be a public nuisance.

(Prior code § 17A.12)