349.010 Definitions for chapter.
As used in this chapter:
(1) "Abandoned" when used in connection with a well or hole means a well or hole
which has never been used, or which, in the opinion of the department, will no
longer be used for the production of coalbed methane or the injection or disposal of
fluid therein;
(2) "Coal interest holder" means every record coal owner, record coal lessee, mine
licensee as defined in KRS 352.010(1)(s) and mine permittee as defined in KRS
350.010(21) whose coalbed is penetrated, or proposed to be penetrated, by a
coalbed methane well;
(3) "Coalbed" or "coal seam" means a seam of coal, whether workable or unworkable;
(4) "Coalbed methane" means gas produced from a reservoir found in a coalbed, a
mined-out area, or gob;
(5) "Coalbed methane well" means any well drilled, deepened, converted, or reopened
for the purpose of capturing coalbed methane for sale or use. Any well initially used
for a coal mining-related purpose, such as a vent well, but which is subsequently
used for the purpose of recovering coalbed methane for sale or use, shall then be
deemed to be a coalbed methane well and shall comply with the provisions of this
chapter at the time that the well is converted or used for the purpose of recovering
coalbed methane for sale or use;
(6) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of the Department for Natural Resources;
(7) "Correlative rights" means the reasonable opportunity of each person entitled to
recover, without waste, the coalbed methane in and under his or her tract or tracts,
or the equivalent thereof;
(8) "Department" means the Department for Natural Resources;
(9) "Director" means the director of the Division of Oil and Gas as established in KRS
353.530;
(10) "Drilling unit" means the maximum area in a pool which may be drained efficiently
by one (1) well so as to produce the reasonable maximum recoverable coalbed
methane in the area. Where the department has provided rules for the establishment
of a drilling unit and an operator, proceeding within the framework of the rules so
prescribed, has taken the action necessary to have a specified area established for
production from a well, the area shall be a drilling unit;
(11) "Division" means the Division of Mine Permits in the Department for Natural
Resources;
(12) "Field rules" means rules established by orders of the review board relating to the
drilling, completion, production of, and specifications for coalbed methane wells in
a particular geographic area as defined by an order;
(13) "Gob" means the de-stressed zone associated with any full-seam extraction of coal
that extends above and below the mined-out coalbed;
(14) "Gob well" means a well drilled or a vent hole converted to a well pursuant to this
chapter which produces or is capable of producing coalbed methane for sale or use,
(15)
(16)
(17)
(18)
(19)
(20)
(21)
(22)
(23)
(24)
(25)
(26)
from a de-stressed zone associated with any full seam extraction of coal that
extends above or below a mined-out coalbed;
"Horizontally drill" or "horizontal drilling" means the intentional act of drilling a
borehole, shaft, or hole, which deviates from vertical for the purpose of penetrating
a coal seam to produce coalbed methane;
"Mine licensee" means the mine licensee as defined in KRS 352.010(1)(s);
"Mine permittee" means the permittee as defined in KRS 350.010(21);
"Nonparticipating working interest owner" means a coalbed methane owner or
lessee of a tract included in a drilling unit who elects to share in the operation of the
coalbed methane well on a carried basis by agreeing to have his or her proportionate
share of the costs allocable to his or her interest charged against his or her share of
production from the coalbed methane well;
"Nonparticipating operator" means a nonparticipating working interest owner who
is also the operator of the coalbed methane well;
"Operator" means any owner of the right to drill, develop, operate, and produce
coalbed methane from a pool and to appropriate the coalbed methane produced
therefrom, either for himself or herself, or for himself, herself, and others; in the
event there is no coalbed methane lease in existence with respect to the tract in
question, the owner of the coalbed methane rights therein shall be considered as an
"operator" to the extent of seven-eighths (7/8) of the coalbed methane in that
portion of the pool underlying the tract owned by that owner, and as a "royalty
owner" as to one-eighth (1/8) interest in that coalbed methane;
"Other interested coalbed methane parties" means all working interest owners other
than the operator, all royalty and overriding royalty interest owners or holders, and
any other party who owns or holds a right or interest in a drilling unit, coalbed
methane well site for which a drilling permit has been issued or is pending, and all
associated equipment, facilities, infrastructure, and improvements;
"Participating working interest owner" means a coalbed methane owner or lessee
who elects to bear a share of the risks and costs of drilling, completing, equipping,
operating, plugging, and abandoning a coalbed methane well equal to the proportion
which the acreage in the drilling unit he or she owns or holds under lease bears to
the total acreage of the drilling unit;
"Participating operator" means a participating working interest owner who is also
the operator of the coalbed methane well;
"Person" means any person, corporation, association, partnership, limited liability
company, receiver, governmental agency subject to this chapter, trustee, so-called
common law or statutory trust, guardian, executor, administrator, or fiduciary of any
kind, federal agency, state agency, city, commission, political subdivision of the
Commonwealth, or any interstate body;
"Plat" means a map, drawing, or print showing the location of a well;
"Review board" means the Coalbed Methane Well Review Board;
(27) "Royalty owner" means any owner of coalbed methane in place, or coalbed methane
rights, to the extent that the owner is not an operator as defined in subsection (20) of
this section;
(28) "Stimulate" means any action taken to increase the flow of coalbed methane, or the
inherent productivity of a coalbed methane well, including but not limited to
fracturing, shooting, acidizing, or waterflooding, but excluding cleaning out,
bailing, or workover operations;
(29) "Surface owner" means the person in whose name the surface of the land is assessed
for purposes of taxes imposed according to the property valuation administrator;
(30) "Unit" means any tract or tracts which the department has determined are underlaid
by a pool or pools of coalbed methane and are not drilling units as defined in
subsection (10) of this section;
(31) "Unitization" means the act of combining separately owned tracts or separate
interests therein into a unit constituting all or some portion of a coalbed that
produces or is capable of producing coalbed methane and the joint operation of that
unit;
(32) "Unit operator" means the party designated in a pooling order to develop a unit by
the drilling of one (1) or more coalbed methane wells;
(33) "Vent hole" means a borehole, shaft driven, or hole dug, drilled, deepened,
converted or reopened, which is used for the purpose of releasing or venting
coalbed methane to the atmosphere and not for the purpose of capturing or
producing coalbed methane for sale or use;
(34) "Venting" means the act of releasing coalbed methane to the atmosphere;
(35) "Well" means any borehole, shaft driven, or hole dug, drilled, deepened, converted
or reopened for the purpose of capturing or producing coalbed methane for sale or
use; and
(36) "Workable coalbed" means:
(a) Any coalbed twenty-four (24) inches or more in thickness;
(b) Any coalbed actually being operated commercially;
(c) Any coalbed that the department decides can be operated commercially, and
the operation of which can reasonably be expected to commence within not
more than ten (10) years; or
(d) Any coalbed that, from outcrop indication or other definite evidence, proves to
the satisfaction of the department to be workable and, when operated, will
require protection if wells are drilled through or into it.
Effective: July 15, 2010
History: Amended 2010 Ky. Acts ch. 24, sec. 1871, effective July 15, 2010. -Amended 2006 Ky. Acts ch. 241, sec. 7, effective July 12, 2006. -- Amended 2005
Ky. Acts ch. 123, sec. 44, effective June 20, 2005. -- Created 2004 Ky. Acts ch. 65,
sec. 2, effective July 13, 2004.
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