Title XXVIII, Mines and Minerals

Exception -- Rights of coal interest holder. (1) Prior to the abandonment of a coalbed methane well drilled through a workable coalbed, the well operator shall notify, by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by registered mail, all the coal interest holders of the workabl…

methane well -- Coalbed Methane Well Review Board to hold hearings and issue orders and mine-through certificates -- Determination of compensation for all parties interested in coalbed methane wells -- Appeal of review board's decisions to Circuit Court -- Escrow of funds. (1) If…

Notification to state and federal agencies. (1) This chapter shall apply to all lands located in the Commonwealth however owned including lands owned or administered by any government or any agency or political subdivision thereof, over which the Commonwealth has jurisdiction und…

- Appeal -- Waiver -- Filing of maps and plans -- Denial of permit. (1) It is unlawful for any person to drill, commence, operate, deepen, convert, or stimulate any coalbed methane well, to conduct any horizontal drilling of a coalbed methane well or to convert any existing oil o…

(1) When two (2) or more separately owned tracts, or portions thereof, are embraced within a drilling unit, or when there are separately owned interests in all or part of any such drilling unit, the operators or owners of coalbed methane owning the interests may pool their intere…

Contents and construction of agreements to stimulate -- Request for hearing -- Liability of well operator. (1) If any coal interest holder has objected to the proposed stimulation pursuant to KRS 349.020(1), no permit shall be issued to stimulate a coalbed methane well unless the…

Department of Natural Resources within Energy and Environment Cabinet. (1) The Coalbed Methane Well Review Board is hereby established. The review board shall be composed of five (5) members and shall have the powers and duties specified under this chapter. (2) The review board s…

Promulgation of administrative regulations. (1) The review board shall rule upon: (a) Objections to proposed coalbed methane wells, their locations, the proposed stimulation, or the proposed completion pursuant to KRS 349.020; (b) Appeals of permit denials arising under KRS 349.0…

appeals of actions of the Department of Natural Resources -- Hearings. (1) The department shall notify the review board of the objection, request, or appeal as set forth in KRS 349.060(1) and schedule a time and place for a hearing. (2) Notice of the hearing shall be given not le…

to prevent waste and protect rights of owners -- Objections by holders, lessors, and lessees -- Hearings. (1) In order to prevent the waste of coalbed methane or to protect the correlative rights of the owners of coalbed methane, the review board on its own motion or upon applica…

Except as provided in KRS 349.070, or pursuant to voluntary pooling, no permit shall be issued for a coalbed methane well unless the proposed location of a vertical well shall be at least seven hundred fifty (750) feet horizontally from the nearest mineral boundary upon which the…

(1) Whenever an applicant proposes to drill, deepen, convert, or reopen a well for purposes of production of coalbed methane and the ownership of the right to produce coalbed methane is in dispute, the department shall refer the application to the review board for its considerati…

Review board to rule on request for pooling order -- Contents of pooling order -- Rights and financial shares of interested parties -- Escrow account. (1) The person requesting a pooling order shall provide to the department a list of all persons reasonably known to own an oil or…

Board -- Procedure -- Jurisdiction of Circuit Court. (1) Any person aggrieved by any order issued by the review board under this chapter shall have the right to bring a civil action for review of the order by filing a complaint in the Circuit Court of the county in which the prem…

(1) A coalbed methane well penetrating one (1) or more workable coalbeds shall be drilled in a manner that will exclude, if practicable, all coalbed methane or coalbed methane pressure from the workable coalbed, except as is found in the workable coalbed itself. Each string of ca…

If any coalbed methane well produces coalbed methane, all coal-protecting strings of casing shall remain in place during the life of the well. The top ends of all the strings shall be provided with casing heads or other suitable devices that will allow the free passage of coalbed…

Restoration of surface. (1) No person shall abandon or remove casings from any coalbed methane well, either dry or producing, without first plugging the well in a secure manner approved by the department and consistent with administrative regulations. Upon the department's pluggi…

and filling of coalbed methane wells -- Department to hold hearings and issue orders. (1) The department shall exercise supervision over the drilling, casing, plugging, and filling of all coalbed methane wells. The department shall exercise supervision over all mining operations …

regulations after notice and hearing -- Operators to submit production information annually. (1) The department is hereby authorized to adopt all rules, administrative regulations, and amendments to implement the provisions of this chapter. All rules, administrative regulations, …

Establishment of coalbed methane well plugging fund -- Operators' civil and criminal liability. (1) When any person submits to the department an application for a permit to drill a coalbed methane well, or to reopen, deepen, or temporarily abandon any coalbed methane well which i…

Survey -- Samples of cuttings -- Confidentiality of information -- Exception. (1) Any person to whom a permit is issued pursuant to this chapter shall file, within ninety (90) days after termination of operations conducted under the permit, with the department for transmittal to …

operations and reclamation proposal at time of filing of application. (1) In all cases in which there has been a complete severance of the ownership of the coalbed methane from the ownership of the surface to be disturbed, the applicant for a coalbed methane well permit shall com…

(1) Each coalbed methane well permit issued under this chapter shall expire one (1) year after the date issued, unless the drilling, deepening, or reopening of a coalbed methane well is commenced prior to the expiration of the one (1) year period. However, the permit term shall b…

coalbed methane drilling operations. In any case where title to subsurface minerals has been severed in such a way that title to natural gas underlying the tract and title to coal underlying the tract are in different persons, it shall be an affirmative defense to any action for …

to bring suit in Circuit Court to restrain violations under this chapter. (1) Whenever it appears that a person is violating or threatening to violate any provision of this chapter, or any rule, administrative regulation, or order promulgated or issued under this chapter, the dep…

protect and preserve water supply. (1) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as affecting, in any way, the right of any person to enforce or protect, under applicable law, his or her interest in water resources affected by a coalbed methane well or related operations. (2) Th…

(1) Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall be subject to a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one hundred eighty (180) days, or both. (2) Any person who continues to violate any provision of this chapt…

(1) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to preclude any coal interest holder from removing support of the surface and any structure or facilities thereon and other strata as such rights may exist in any severance deed or other contract. (2) Nothing in this chapter is inten…

As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise: (1) "Surface coal mining operations" means activities conducted on the surface of lands in connection with a surface coal mine and surface impacts incident to an underground coal mine. The activities shall include ex…

The General Assembly finds that the Commonwealth is the leading producer of coal and that the production of coal in Kentucky contributes significantly to the nation's energy needs. The General Assembly further finds that unregulated surface coal mining operations cause soil erosi…

Any provision of this chapter which is set forth as inconsistent with the provisions of Public Law 95-87 by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to Section 505(b) of that act shall be deemed superseded by federal law and shall thereafter be unenforceable by the Commonwealth of …

The Energy and Environment Cabinet shall have and exercise the following authority and powers: (1) To adopt administrative regulations after a hearing pertaining to surface coal mining operations including strip mining and the surface effects of underground mining to accomplish t…

of mine closings under authority of cabinet. The cabinet shall notify the secretary of the Transportation Cabinet every six (6) months of permits issued for mine openings and mine closings under the authority of the cabinet.

Limitations. The cabinet is hereby authorized and empowered to adopt, after public hearing, reasonable regulations in order to formulate and establish effective programs for the control of surface soil disturbance in connection with mining as defined by the Interstate Mining Comp…

Administrative regulations -- Secretary may designate deputy to sign final orders. (1) Any person who considers himself or herself aggrieved by any determination made by the cabinet under this chapter may file, in accordance with administrative regulations promulgated by the cabi…

Any party aggrieved by a final order resulting from the hearing conducted pursuant to KRS 350.0301(1) on cabinet determinations may appeal to the Franklin Circuit Court; except that judicial review of a final order resulting from a hearing on the issuance of a notice of noncompli…

performance bond -- Temporary relief pending final determination. (1) In case of refusal to obey a subpoena issued to any person, any Circuit Court of competent jurisdiction, upon application by any party, may issue to that person an order requiring him to appear before the cabin…

The Energy and Environment Cabinet under the supervision of the secretary of the Energy and Environment Cabinet shall have and exercise the following authority and powers: (1) To exercise general supervision and administration and enforcement of this chapter and all rules and reg…

Control. (1) There is established a special fund to be known as the "Illegal Mining and Conveyance Reclamation Fund" which shall be under the control of the Energy and Environment Cabinet. (2) The fund shall consist of all moneys from the sale or forfeiture of all instrumentaliti…

Notification of various local government bodies by cabinet. (1) An applicant for a permit required by KRS 350.060 shall publish public notice of his filing of an application for that permit. The publication shall be made by advertisement in a newspaper of largest bona fide circul…

(1) The secretary of the Energy and Environment Cabinet shall promulgate regulations for the permitting and performance of coal exploration operations which substantially disturb the natural land surface. The regulations shall include at a minimum provisions for giving notice of …

Administrative regulations -- Successive renewal -- Auger mining of previously mined area -- Exempt operations. (1) (a) No person shall engage in surface coal mining and reclamation operations without having first obtained from the cabinet a permit designating the area of land af…

Subsoil augmentation -- Cabinet to compile hydrologic data -- Abandoned land projects classified as government financed construction. (1) Applicants for permits may submit such hydrologic information on the general area prior to mining as may be made available by the cabinet purs…

disturb access roads. Prior to the issuance of a permit, if the operation will disturb any roads used as access to an oil or gas well or other oil and gas facility, the permit applicant shall certify that he has met and conferred with, or offered to meet and confer with, the well…

(1) After a surface coal mining and reclamation permit application has been approved but before the permit is issued, the applicant shall file with the regulatory authority, on a form prescribed and furnished by the regulatory authority, a reclamation bond for performance payable…

All bonds required to be filed in accordance with KRS 350.060 and 350.064 shall not be required to be filed until the applicant for the permit has been notified in writing by the cabinet that the application for the permit has been approved, with the exception of the bond.