Ohio § 1509.01

§ 1509.01.

As used in this chapter: (A) “ Well ” means any borehole, whether drilled or bored, within the state for production, extraction,

or injection of any gas or liquid mineral, excluding potable water to be used as such,

but including natural or artificial brines and oil field waters.  “ Well ” includes a stratigraphic well. (B) “ Oil ” means crude petroleum oil and all other hydrocarbons, regardless of gravity, that

are produced in liquid form by ordinary production methods, but does not include hydrocarbons

that were originally in a gaseous phase in the reservoir. (C) “ Gas ” means all natural gas and all other fluid hydrocarbons that are not oil, including

condensate. (D) “ Condensate ” means liquid hydrocarbons separated at or near the well pad or along the gas production

or gathering system prior to gas processing. (E) “ Pool ” means an underground reservoir containing a common accumulation of oil or gas, or

both, but does not include a gas storage reservoir.  Each zone of a geological structure that is completely separated from any other

zone in the same structure may contain a separate pool. (F) “ Field ” means the general area underlaid by one or more pools. (G) “ Drilling unit ” means the minimum acreage on which one well may be drilled, but does not apply to

a well for injecting gas into or removing gas from a gas storage reservoir and does

not apply to a stratigraphic well. (H) “ Waste ” includes all of the following: (1) Physical waste, as that term generally is understood in the oil and gas industry; (2) Inefficient, excessive, or improper use, or the unnecessary dissipation, of reservoir

energy; (3) Inefficient storing of oil or gas; (4) Locating, drilling, equipping, operating, or producing an oil or gas well in a manner

that reduces or tends to reduce the quantity of oil or gas ultimately recoverable

under prudent and proper operations from the pool into which it is drilled or that

causes or tends to cause unnecessary or excessive surface loss or destruction of oil

or gas; (5) Other underground or surface waste in the production or storage of oil, gas, or condensate,

however caused. (I) “ Correlative rights ” means the reasonable opportunity to every person entitled thereto to recover and

receive the oil and gas in and under the person's tract or tracts, or the equivalent

thereof, without having to drill unnecessary wells or incur other unnecessary expense. (J) “ Tract ” means a single, individual parcel of land or a portion of a single, individual parcel

of land. (K) “ Owner ,” unless referring to a mine, means the person who has the right to drill on a tract

or drilling unit, to drill into and produce from a pool, and to appropriate the oil

or gas produced therefrom either for the person or for others, except that a person

ceases to be an owner with respect to a well when the well has been plugged in accordance

with applicable rules adopted and orders issued under this chapter.  “Owner” does not include a person who obtains a lease of the mineral rights for

oil and gas on a parcel of land if the person does not attempt to produce or produce

oil or gas from a well or obtain a permit under this chapter for a well or if the

entire interest of a well is transferred to the person in accordance with division (B) of section 1509.31 of the Revised Code . (L) “ Royalty interest ” means the fee holder's share in the production from a well, except a stratigraphic

well. (M) “ Discovery well ” means the first well, except a stratigraphic well, capable of producing oil or gas

in commercial quantities from a pool. (N) “ Prepared clay ” means a clay that is plastic and is thoroughly saturated with fresh water to a weight

and consistency great enough to settle through saltwater in the well in which it is

to be used, except as otherwise approved by the chief of the division of oil and gas

resources management. (O) “ Rock sediment ” means the combined cutting and residue from drilling sedimentary rocks and formation. (P) “Excavations and workings,” “mine,” and “pillar” have the same meanings as in section 1561.01 of the Revised Code . (Q) “ Coal bearing township ” means a township designated as such by the chief of the division of mineral resources

management under section 1561.06 of the Revised Code . (R) “ Gas storage reservoir ” means a continuous area of a subterranean porous sand or rock stratum or strata

into which gas is or may be injected for the purpose of storing it therein and removing

it therefrom and includes a gas storage reservoir as defined in section 1571.01 of the Revised Code . (S) “ Safe Drinking Water Act ” means the “Safe Drinking Water Act,” 88 Stat. 1661 (1974), 42 U.S.C.A. 300(f) , as amended by the “Safe Drinking Water Amendments of 1977,” 91 Stat. 1393, 42 U.S.C.A. 300(f) , the “Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1986,” 100 Stat. 642, 42 U.S.C.A. 300(f) , and the “Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996,” 110 Stat. 1613, 42 U.S.C.A. 300(f) , and regulations adopted under those acts. (T) “ Person ” includes any political subdivision, department, agency, or instrumentality of this

state;  the United States and any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof;

 any legal entity defined as a person under section 1.59 of the Revised Code ;  and any other form of business organization or entity recognized by the laws of

this state. (U) “ Brine ” means all saline geological formation water resulting from, obtained from, or produced

in connection with exploration, drilling, well stimulation, production of oil or gas,

or plugging of a well. (V) “ Waters of the state ” means all streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, watercourses, waterways, springs, irrigation

systems, drainage systems, and other bodies of water, surface or underground, natural

or artificial, that are situated wholly or partially within this state or within its

jurisdiction, except those private waters that do not combine or effect a junction

with natural surface or underground waters. (W) “ Exempt Mississippian well ” means a well that meets all of the following criteria: (1) Was drilled and completed before January 1, 1980; (2) Is located in an unglaciated part of the state; (3) Was completed in a reservoir no deeper than the Mississippian Big Injun sandstone

in areas underlain by Pennsylvanian or Permian stratigraphy, or the Mississippian

Berea sandstone in areas directly underlain by Permian stratigraphy; (4) Is used primarily to provide oil or gas for domestic use. (X) “ Exempt domestic well ” means a well that meets all of the following criteria: (1) Is owned by the owner of the surface estate of the tract on which the well is located; (2) Is used primarily to provide gas for the owner's domestic use; (3) Is located more than two hundred feet horizontal distance from any inhabited private

dwelling house other than an inhabited private dwelling house located on the tract

on which the well is located; (4) Is located more than two hundred feet horizontal distance from any public building

that may be used as a place of resort, assembly, education, entertainment, lodging,

trade, manufacture, repair, storage, traffic, or occupancy by the public. (Y) “ Urbanized area ” means an area where a well or production facilities of a well are located within

a municipal corporation or within a township that has an unincorporated population

of more than five thousand in the most recent federal decennial census prior to the

issuance of the permit for the well or production facilities. (Z) “ Well stimulation ” or “ stimulation of a well ” means the process of enhancing well productivity, including hydraulic fracturing

operations. (AA) “ Production operation ” means all operations and activities and all related equipment, facilities, and other

structures that may be used in or associated with the exploration and production of

oil, gas, or other mineral resources that are regulated under this chapter, including

operations and activities associated with site preparation, site construction, access

road construction, well drilling, well completion, well stimulation, well site activities,

reclamation, and plugging.  “Production operation” also includes all of the following: (1) The piping, equipment, and facilities used for the production and preparation of

hydrocarbon gas or liquids for transportation or delivery; (2) The processes of extraction and recovery, lifting, stabilization, treatment, separation,

production processing, storage, waste disposal, and measurement of hydrocarbon gas

and liquids, including related equipment and facilities; (3) The processes and related equipment and facilities associated with production compression,

gas lift, gas injection, fuel gas supply, well drilling, well stimulation, and well

completion activities, including dikes, pits, and earthen and other impoundments used

for the temporary storage of fluids and waste substances associated with well drilling,

well stimulation, and well completion activities; (4) Equipment and facilities at a wellpad or other location that are used for the transportation,

handling, recycling, temporary storage, management, processing, or treatment of any

equipment, material, and by-products or other substances from an operation at a wellpad

that may be used or reused at the same or another operation at a wellpad or that will

be disposed of in accordance with applicable laws and rules adopted under them. (BB) “ Annular overpressurization ” means the accumulation of fluids within an annulus with sufficient pressure to allow

migration of annular fluids into underground sources of drinking water. (CC) “ Orphaned well ” means a well that has not been properly plugged or its land surface restored in

accordance with this chapter and the rules adopted under it to which either of the

following apply: (1) The owner of the well is unknown, deceased, or cannot be located and the well is

abandoned. (2) The owner of the well has abandoned the well and there is no money available to plug

the well in accordance with this chapter and the rules adopted under it. (DD) “ Temporarily inactive well ” means a well that has been granted temporary inactive status under section 1509.062 of the Revised Code . (EE) “ Material and substantial violation ” means any of the following: (1) Failure to obtain a permit to drill, reopen, convert, plugback, or plug a well under

this chapter; (2) Failure to obtain, maintain, update, or submit proof of insurance coverage that is

required under this chapter; (3) Failure to obtain, maintain, update, or submit proof of a surety bond that is required

under this chapter; (4) Failure to restore a disturbed land surface as required by section 1509.072 of the Revised Code ; (5) Failure to reimburse the oil and gas well fund pursuant to a final order issued under section 1509.071 of the Revised Code ; (6) Failure to comply with a final nonappealable order of the chief issued under section 1509.04 of the Revised Code ; (7) Failure to submit a report, test result, fee, or document that is required in this

chapter or rules adopted under it. (FF) “Severer” has the same meaning as in section 5749.01 of the Revised Code . (GG) “ Horizontal well ” means a well that is drilled for the production of oil or gas in which the wellbore

reaches a horizontal or near horizontal position in the Point Pleasant, Utica, or

Marcellus formation and the well is stimulated.  “Horizontal well” does not include a stratigraphic well. (HH) “ Well pad ” means the area that is cleared or prepared for the drilling of one or more horizontal

wells. (II) “ Stratigraphic well ” means a borehole that is drilled within the state on a tract solely to conduct research

or testing of the subsurface geology, including porosity and permeability.  “Stratigraphic well” does not include geotechnical or soil borings or a borehole

drilled for seismic shot or mining of industrial minerals or coal.