North Carolina Administrative Code

section .0300 - variances 15A NCAC 05H .0301 VARIANCE PROCEDURES (a) The Commission may grant a variance, grant a variance with conditions, or deny a variance in writing to any Commission rule for which a variance is requested pursuant to this Subchapter. In order for the Commiss…

section .0400 – declaratory ruling 15A NCAC 05H .0401 PROCEDURE FOR SUBMISSION OF PETITION (a) All requests for declaratory rulings shall be filed in writing and electronically as follows: (1) with the Director by filing one paper copy for each Commissioner plus five additional c…

15A NCAC 05H .0402 DISPOSITION OF PETITION (a) The Chair of the Commission shall make a determination on the completeness of the request for declaratory ruling based on Rule .0401 of this Section. (b) The Chair of the Commission shall make a recommendation to the Commission on wh…

section .0500 – petition for rulemaking 15A NCAC 05H .0501 FORM AND CONTENTS OF PETITION (a) Any person wishing to request the adoption, amendment, or repeal of a rule of the Commission shall petition the Director by submitting the information required in Paragraph (b) of this Ru…

15A NCAC 05H .0502 REVIEW BY A COMMITTEE OF THE COMMISSION (a) The Chair of the Commission shall refer complete petitions to the appropriate subject area committee of the Commission for review and recommended action. The Chair of the Commission shall distribute copies of petition…

15A NCAc 05H .0503 PRESENTATION TO THE COMMISSION (a) Petitions for rulemaking, following committee review pursuant to Rule .0502 of this Section, shall be presented to the Commission for its consideration and determination at a regularly scheduled meeting of the Commission withi…

15a ncac 05H .0504 RECOURSE FOR DENIAL OF PETITION If the Commission denies the Petition for Rulemaking, or fails to grant or deny the Petition for Rulemaking within 120 days of receiving the petition, the petitioner(s) may seek judicial review of the denial under G.S. 150B, Arti…

section .0600 – rulemaking hearings 15A NCAC 05H .0601 PURPOSE AND SCOPE These Rules: (1) authorize the designation of certain employees of the Department to act as hearing officers; (2) set out the types of hearings that the designated employees are authorized to conduct; and (3…

15A NCAC 05H .0602 PROCEDURES FOR PUBLIC COMMENT FOR RULEMAKING HEARINGS (a) Any person desiring to comment on the proposed rulemaking action may do so either in writing during the comment period or by oral presentation at the hearing held to take public comments. Any person may …

15A NCAC 05H .0603 REQUIREMENTS OF RULEMAKING HEARING OFFICER OR PANEL The Chair of the Commission shall designate one or more Commission members to serve as hearing officers for rulemaking hearings. The Chair of the Mining Committee shall appoint the hearing officer(s) related t…

section .0700 – hearings for drilLing units, variances, and confidential information 15A NCAC 05H .0701 OPPORTUNITY FOR HEARING (a) The Commission shall conduct hearings when establishing or modifying drilling units and considering an application for a variance. Such hearings sha…

15A NCAC 05H .0702 PARTIES (a) Any person authorized by statute or rule to request a hearing before the Commission shall be a party to any hearing granted. The Department also shall be a party to any hearing granted. The Chair of the Commission shall rule on motions by any other …

15A NCAC 05H .0703 PROCEDURE FOR SUBMISSION (a) An application to establish a drilling unit shall be submitted in accordance with Rule .1202 of this Subchapter. All other requests for a hearing shall be submitted in accordance with this Rule. (b) All requests for a hearing shall …

15A NCAC 05H .0704 COMPLETENESS AND REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (a) The Chair of the Commission shall make a determination on the completeness of the request for hearing based on the requirements of this Section. The Chair shall return incomplete requests to the requesting…

15A NCAC 05H .0705 ORDER AND RECORD OF PROCEEDING The Commission shall keep a record of each hearing, which shall include the following items: (1) the request for a hearing; (2) any written submission(s) by a party; (3) the facts on which the Commission's decision was based; (4) …

15A NCAC 05H .0706 ADMINISTRATIVE AND JUDICIAL REVIEW OF COMMISSION DECISION The Commission shall notify the requesting party in writing of the Commission's decision, including information about the requesting party's right to a contested case under G.S. 150B. History Note: Autho…

15A NCAC 05H .0707 FORM AND CONTENTS OF REQUEST TO MAINTAIN CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION (a) Any person wishing to protect information submitted to the Commission or the Department as confidential information shall make a showing to the Commission in accordance with the requirements …

15A NCAC 05H .0708 DISPOSITION OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION REQUEST (a) The Chair of the Commission shall make a determination on the completeness of the request for confidential information status based on Rule .0707 of this Section. If the request is not complete, the Chair shal…

15A NCAC 05H .0709 NOTICE TO THE COMMISSION OF CHANGES TO CONFIDENTIAL STATUS Any person receiving confidential information status shall provide updated information to the Commission no more than 30 calendar days of the date any of the information described in this Section become…

section .0800 – pREEMPTION HEARING PROCEDURE 15A NCAC 05H .0801 PURPOSE AND SCOPE The rules of this Section establish procedures the Commission shall use in reviewing petitions for limited preemption of a local ordinance pursuant to the authority set forth in G.S. 113-415.1. Hist…

15A NCAC 05H .0802 COMMENCEMENT OF PROCEEDINGS (a) An operator shall commence a proceeding by filing a petition with the Commission by submitting one paper copy for each Commissioner, plus five additional copies to the following address: Oil & Gas Program, Division of Energy, Min…

15A NCAC 05H .0803 NOTICE OF PROCEEDING (a) Within five days after a petition is found complete by the Chair of the Commission, the Chair of the Commission shall serve a notice of proceeding on the petitioner and the governing board of each city and county in which the activities…

15A NCAC 05H .0804 NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING (a) The Commission shall publish notice of public hearing in accordance with G.S. 113-415.1(d). (b) The Commission shall serve the parties to the proceeding with a notice of public hearing no less than 30 calendar days before the hearin…

15A NCAC 05H .0805 CONDUCT OF THE HEARING (a) In accordance with information provided in the notice of hearing, any non-party may appear before the Commission at the hearing to offer testimony or submit written evidence for its consideration. (b) The Commission shall set the orde…

15A NCAC 05H .0806 WITNESSES Any party may be a witness and may present witnesses on the party's behalf at the hearing. Fourteen days in advance of the public hearing, parties shall serve on the Commission a witness list, a synopsis of testimony, and an estimate of the time requi…

15A NCAC 05H .0807 COMMISSION'S DECISION (a) The Commission shall determine whether or to what extent to preempt the ordinance to allow for the construction or operation of oil or gas exploration, development, or production activities in accordance with G.S. 113-415.1. In the eve…

section .0900 - enforcement 15A NCAC 05H .0901 ENFORCEMENT (a) A violation of any provision of the Oil and Gas Conservation Act, G.S. 113 Subchapter V, Article 27 or any rule in this Subchapter may result in a notice of violation, an assessment of a civil penalty pursuant to G.S.…

section .1000 – civil penalties 15A NCAC 05H .1001 PURPOSE AND SCOPE The rules of this Section govern the Commission, the Division, and their delegates in assessment of civil penalties. They also govern permittee remission and appeal of those penalties. History Note: Authority G.…

15A NCAC 05H .1002 NOTICE OF ASSESSMENT For all violations for which a penalty is assessed, a notice of such action shall be sent to the violator by the Department by U.S. mail, certified mail, or other means calculated to provide actual notice. The notice shall describe the viol…

15A NCAC 05H .1003 PAYMENT OF ASSESSMENT An assessed penalty shall be paid within 60 days of service of notice, unless the violator files a contested case pursuant to G.S. 150B, Article 3 or requests remission pursuant to G.S. 113-410(d) and Rule .1004 of this Section. History No…

15A NCAC 05H .1004 ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES A person who has received a civil penalty assessment may request remission of the civil penalty. (1) A request for a civil penalty remission shall be submitted in writing to the Director at the following address: 1612 Mail Service Center…

15A NCAC 05H .1005 REPORT TO THE COMMISSION The Department shall report any action taken under this Section to the Commission at the Commission's next regularly scheduled meeting. The reports shall include the following information: (1) the person(s) issued letter(s) of proposed …

section .1100 – exploration and geophysical surveys 15A NCAC 05H .1101 EXPLORATION AND GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS (a) Any person conducting predrilling exploration activities or geophysical surveys related to oil or gas exploration and development shall act in accordance with 15A NCAC 0…

section .1200 – drilling units and well spacing 15A NCAC 05H .1201 PURPOSE AND SCOPE The rules of this Section establish the requirements for petitioning the Commission for permission to create or modify a drilling unit. These Rules also set forth oil or gas well spacing requirem…

15A NCAC 05H .1202 DRILLING UNIT APPLICATION AND REVIEW (a) An application shall be submitted to the Commission for permission to: (1) create a drilling unit; or (2) modify an existing drilling unit. (b) Applications submitted to the Commission no fewer than 60 calendar days befo…

15A NCAC 05H .1203 DRILLING UNIT PUBLIC NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS (a) The applicant or permittee shall circulate public notice of each drilling unit at least 30 calendar days prior to the meeting date set by the Commission in accordance with Rule .1202(b) of this Section. The not…

15A NCAC 05H .1204 DENIAL OR MODIFICATION OF DRILLING UNIT APPLICATION (a) The Commission shall deny a request for the creation of a drilling unit or a request to modify an existing drilling unit on finding that the proposed or existing drilling unit is in violation of any of the…

15A NCAC 05H .1205 WELL SPACING REQUIREMENTS FOR RESOURCES IN UNCONVENTIONAL RESERVOIRS (a) The drilling of a new oil or gas well in an unconventional reservoir, the reopening of an oil or gas well temporarily abandoned pursuant to Rule .1621 of this Subchapter, the deepening, pl…

15A NCAC 05H .1206 WELL SPACING REQUIREMENTS FOR RESOURCES IN CONVENTIONAL RESERVOIRS (a) The drilling of a new oil or gas well in a conventional reservoir, the reopening of an oil or gas well temporarily abandoned pursuant to Rule .1621 of this Subchapter, the deepening, pluggin…

section .1300 - permitting 15A NCAC 05H .1301 PURPOSE AND SCOPE The rules of this Section set forth the registration and permitting requirements for new oil or gas wells. These Rules also establish procedures for review, modification, transfer, expiration, suspension or revocatio…

15A NCAC 05H .1302 OIL OR GAS OPERATIONS FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OWNERSHIP (a) The applicant or permittee, and all service companies who are conducting oil or gas exploration or development activities, shall either be incorporated under the laws of North Carolina or, if a foreig…

15A NCAC 05H .1303 OIL OR GAS WELL PERMIT APPLICATION (a) The applicant or permittee shall submit Form 2 – Oil or Gas Well Permit Application to the Department in accordance with Rule .0201(c) of this Subchapter prior to commencement of the following operations: (1) drilling; (2)…

15A NCAC 05H .1304 CONTENTS OF OIL OR GAS WELL PERMIT APPLICATION (a) All applications to drill, recomplete, restimulate, deepen, reenter, sidetrack, plug and abandon, plug back, or revise a location shall be submitted using a Form 2 – Oil or Gas Well Permit Application. The Form…

15A NCAC 05H .1305 EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANNING In order for State and local governments to effectively plan for emergency incidents, the applicant or permittee shall provide the following information to the local emergency management coordinator: (1) the property street address, …

15A NCAC 05H .1306 FEES (a) The applicant or permittee shall remit the fees in the amounts prescribed under G.S. 113-395, 113A-54.2, and 143-215.3D(e). (b) Payment of fees shall be made payable to the "North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality." The payment shall refer t…

15A NCAC 05H .1307 APPLICATION REVIEW PROCESS (a) The Department shall review applications. The Department shall send written notice to an applicant or permittee if an application is incomplete, stating each deficiency. The applicant or permittee shall have 60 calendar days from …

15A NCAC 05H .1308 PERMIT CONDITIONS A Form 2 – Oil or Gas Well Permit Application may be approved with conditions based on the individual well site. These conditions may require the permittee to: (1) create or construct additional erosion control measures to be installed during …

15A NCAC 05H .1309 DENIAL OF APPLICATION (a) The Department shall have the authority to deny a permit application to any person on finding that the well site for which a permit is requested is in violation of any of the rules contained in this Subchapter, the issuance of the perm…

15A NCAC 05H .1310 PERMIT MODIFICATIONS (a) Any permittee may apply at any time for a modification of the permit. The application shall be in writing on Form 2 – Oil or Gas Well Permit Application in accordance with Rule .1304 of this Section. The Department may review, approve, …

15A NCAC 05H .1311 PERMIT TRANSFERS (a) A permit transfer may result from a sale, assignment by a court, a change in operating agreement, or other transaction. (b) The new owner shall send written notice to the Department of the transfer within 30 calendar days of the transfer. T…