CHAPTER 38-19
GEOTHERMAL RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT REGULATION
38-19-01. Declaration of policy. It is hereby declared to be in the public interest to
encourage, and promote the proper use of geothermal resources in a manner which will prevent<br>waste; to authorize and provide for the operation of geothermal resource extraction facilities in<br>such manner as will achieve the optimum utilization of the geothermal resource and protect the<br>correlative rights of all owners; to prevent contamination and pollution of surface and ground<br>water sources; and to avoid creation of secondary hazards of a geologic nature.
38-19-02. Definitions. As used in this chapter:
1.
"Commission" means the industrial commission of North Dakota.
2.
"Geothermal energy" means the internal energy of the earth, available to man as<br>heat from rocks or liquids.
3.
"Geothermal energy extraction facility" means and includes any drilled, bored, or<br>excavated device or installation to provide for the extraction of geothermal energy.
4.
"Geothermal resource" means the recoverable stored heat of the earth.
5.
"Producer" means the owner of a geothermal energy extraction facility or facilities,<br>and the owner's agents or employees.
6.
"Product" means anything produced, whether usable or unusable, by means of a<br>geothermal energy extraction facility.
7.
"Waste" means and includes the locating, spacing, drilling, excavating, or operating<br>of any geothermal energy extraction facility in a manner which causes or tends to<br>cause reduction in the quantity or quality of geothermal energy ultimately<br>recoverable from a geothermal resource, or which causes or tends to cause<br>unnecessary or excessive use, or degradation, of land surface.
38-19-03.
Jurisdiction of the commission.
The commission has jurisdiction and
authority and is charged with the responsibility to enforce the provisions of this chapter. This<br>chapter does not apply to any activity regulated under chapters 38-08, 38-12, 38-12.1, 38-14.1,<br>and 61-28. The jurisdiction granted to the commission by this chapter is not exclusive and does<br>not affect the jurisdiction of other governmental entities. The commission acting through the<br>director of mineral resources has the authority:
1.
To require:
a.
Identification of ownership of all facilities, installations, and equipment used in<br>the extraction of geothermal energy.
b.
The making and filing of all logs and reports on facility location, drilling, boring,<br>excavating, and construction and the filing, free of charge, of samples, core<br>chips, and complete cores, when requested, in the office of the state geologist.
c.
The drilling, boring, casing, excavating, plugging, and construction of facilities in<br>a manner to prevent contamination and pollution of surface and ground water<br>sources and unnecessary environmental degradation.
d.
The furnishing of a reasonable bond with good and sufficient surety,<br>conditioned upon the full compliance with this chapter and the rules and orders<br>of the commission relating to the extraction of geothermal energy. The person<br>required to furnish the bond may elect to deposit a collateral bond, self-bond,
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cash, or any alternative form of security approved by the commission, or<br>combination thereof, by which a permittee assures faithful performance of all<br>requirements of this chapter and the rules and orders of the industrial<br>commission.
e.
Metering or measuring all products extracted from or by means of a facility<br>regulated by this chapter.
f.
That every person who operates a geothermal energy extraction facility in this<br>state shall keep and maintain complete and accurate records of the quantities<br>and nature of products extracted from or by means of any facility, and the<br>ultimate disposition of such products, which records must be available to the<br>commission or its agents at all times, and that every such person file with the<br>commission such reports as it may prescribe.
g.
That upon termination of the operation of any facility or activity regulated by this<br>chapter, the operator of the facility shall restore the surface as nearly as<br>possible to its original condition and productivity.
2.
To regulate:
a.
The drilling, boring, excavating, and construction of all geothermal energy<br>extraction facilities.
b.
Operations to assure the optimum performance of all facilities regulated under<br>this chapter.
3.
To limit and prescribe the nature, quantity, and source of geothermal energy to be<br>extracted from any facility regulated by this chapter.
4.
To adopt rules and issue orders to effectuate the purposes of this chapter.
38-19-04. Permit and report required. It is unlawful to commence any operations for
the drilling, boring, excavating, or construction of a geothermal energy extraction facility without<br>first securing a permit from the director of mineral resources, under such rules as may be<br>adopted by the commission and after paying to the commission a fee for each such facility in an<br>amount to be prescribed by the commission by rule. The fee set must be related to the cost of<br>regulation and inspection under this chapter.
A report is required upon completion of any geothermal energy extraction facility. The
report must be prepared by the geothermal energy extraction facility installer on a form provided<br>by the state geologist and must be furnished to the state geologist within thirty days after the<br>completion of the facility.
The report must contain relevant information the state geologist
requires relating to the environmental safety of the facility, including the facility owner and<br>location, a log of formations penetrated or total depth, system specifications and design, and<br>fluids used in the facility.
All construction of geothermal energy extraction facilities must comply with rules adopted
under this chapter.
38-19-05. Commission may employ examiners. The commission may use hearing
examiners under such rules as the commission may adopt.
38-19-06. Action to restrain violation or threatened violation. Whenever it appears
that any person is violating or threatening to violate any provision of this chapter, or any rule or<br>order of the commission, the commission may bring action against that person, in the district<br>court of the county where the violation occurs or is threatened, to restrain that person from<br>continuing the violation or from carrying out the threat of violation. In any such action, the court<br>has jurisdiction to issue, without the filing of a bond or other undertaking by the commission, such
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prohibitory and mandatory injunctions as are necessary, including temporary restraining orders,<br>preliminary injunctions, temporary, preliminary, or final orders restraining the person from<br>continuing the violation or from carrying out the threat of violation.
38-19-07. Penalties.
1.
Any person who violates any provision of this chapter, or any rule or order of the<br>commission adopted or issued under this chapter, is subject to a civil penalty of not<br>more than twelve thousand five hundred dollars for each act of violation and for each<br>day the violation continues.
2.
It is a class C felony for any person, for the purpose of evading this chapter, or any<br>rule or order of the commission, to make or cause to be made any false entry or<br>statement in a report required by this chapter or by any rule or order adopted or<br>issued or promulgated by the commission, or to make or cause to be made any<br>false entry in any record, account, or memorandum required by this chapter, or by<br>any rule or order of the commission, or to omit, or cause to be omitted, from any<br>such record, account, or memorandum, full, true, and correct entries as required by<br>this chapter or by any rule or order of the commission, or to remove from this state<br>or destroy, mutilate, alter, or falsify any record, account, or memorandum.
3.
The civil penalties provided in subsection 1 are recoverable by suit filed by the<br>attorney general in the name and on behalf of the commission, in the district court of<br>the county in which the defendant resides, or in which any defendant resides, if there<br>is more than one defendant, or in the district court of any county in which the<br>violation occurred. The payment of the penalty does not operate to relieve a person<br>on whom the penalty is imposed from liability to any other person for damages<br>arising out of such violation.
38-19-08. Administrative procedure and judicial review. Any proceedings under this
chapter for the adoption or modification of rules or orders, including emergency orders relating to<br>extraction of geothermal energy and determining compliance with rules of the commission, must<br>be conducted in accordance with sections 38-08-11, 38-08-12, 38-08-13, and 38-08-14; and<br>chapter 28-32 governs administrative practice when consistent with the provisions of this chapter<br>and the above-referenced sections.
38-19-09. Disposition of unusable products. Products for which there is no beneficial
use and which the commission determines to be hazardous must be disposed of in accordance<br>with the provisions of chapter 23-20.2 and other state laws and regulations regarding the<br>management of hazardous waste.
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Document Outline
chapter 38-19 geothermal resource development regulation
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