oil and gas commission; fees

HB2748 - 572R - I Ver

REFERENCE TITLE:
oil and gas commission; fees

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

HB 2748

Introduced by

Representative
Rivero

AN
ACT

Amending sections 27-513, 27-517,
27-522, 27-653 and 27-659, Arizona Revised Statutes; RELATING
to the oil and gas conservation commission.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 27-513, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
27-513.

Permit to drill well

Before
a person
desiring to

may
drill a well in search of oil or gas
,
the person
shall notify the commissioner on a form prescribed by the
commissioner
,
and shall pay a fee
of
twenty-five dollars
for each well
as determined by
the commissioner in rule
.
Upon

On
receipt of notification and the fee, the commissioner shall
promptly issue the person a permit to drill, unless drilling the well is
contrary to law or to a rule, regulation or order of the
commissioner. Drilling the well is prohibited until a permit to
drill is obtained in accordance with
the provisions of

this section.
END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Section 27-517, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
27-517.

Hearings; reporter; fees; rules

A. Any interested person
shall
,
by written request,
have the right to have

may
request
the commissioner
to
call a hearing
for the purpose of taking

to take
action
in respect to any matter within the jurisdiction of the commissioner.� Hearings
shall be held at the time and place the commissioner directs, and any person
having an interest in the subject matter of the hearing may appear and be
heard.
Upon

On
receipt of
the request, the commissioner shall promptly call a hearing, and, not more than
thirty days thereafter shall take action with regard to the matter as
he

the commissioner
deems
appropriate. The request for
a
hearing shall
be accompanied by a fee
of fifty dollars

as
determined by the commissioner in rule
.

B. The commissioner shall prescribe rules of order
and procedure in hearings or other proceedings held under this
article. The commissioner shall appoint a competent shorthand
reporter to be present throughout all public hearings. The reporter
shall be sworn by the commissioner faithfully to perform the duties of a
reporter. The commissioner shall have the same control and authority
over the reporter as the judge of the superior court exercises over a court reporter,
and the duties of the reporter shall, insofar as applicable, be the same as
those fixed by law for a court reporter.

C. As soon as possible following the hearing
,
the commission shall bill the person requesting the hearing
for the total cost of publication for the notices of such hearing and the total
cost of the court reporter's fees less the original
fifty dollar

fee
as determined by the commissioner
. The
requesting party shall within ten days after receipt of the billing by the
commission reimburse the commission the amount of
money so

monies
billed or be subject to the penalties as
prescribed in
subsection A of
section 27-527
, subsection A
. The
money so

monies
collected by the commission
shall not be

is not
subject to section 27-523 but shall be
deposited, pursuant to sections 35-146 and 35-147, by the
commission in the fund from which the expenditure was originally made.
END_STATUTE

Sec. 3. Section 27-522, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
27-522.

Records

A. All rules and orders made by the commission shall
be in writing and entered in full in a book kept by the commission.� The book
shall be a public record open to inspection at all reasonable times during
office hours.� A copy of any rule, order or other document on file in the
office of the commission and certified by the commission shall be received in
evidence in all courts of
the

this

state with the same effect as the original.

B. Well logs, casing records, compiled data and
other information shall be properly indexed and suitably recorded in the
permanent records of the commission and shall be open to inspection by the
public at all reasonable times during office hours.� The well records of a well
drilled
in unproven territory shall

outside
of an established pool may
not be subject to inspection for a period of
one year after drilling is completed
, at the discretion of the
commission
.�
The commission shall provide sixty days' notice
to the operator before records become subject to inspection.
� At the
operator's request, the commission
shall

may
extend the confidential period
for not more than two
years from the date of the request
if the operator can provide credible
evidence that disclosure of the information is likely to cause harm to the
operator's competitive position.� The director of
the department
of
water resources may inspect any well records at any time but shall
keep confidential all information that is not subject to inspection as
otherwise provided in this section.
END_STATUTE

Sec. 4. Section 27-653, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
27-653.

Information; filing; confidentiality

The commission shall collect all information regarding all
wells drilled in
the

this
state for
geothermal resources and necessary for the purpose of supervision of such
wells. All such data shall be filed in the commission office and,
upon request of the operator, shall be kept

if
the well is drilled outside of a proven geothermal area, the commission may
keep the data
confidential for a period of
not more than

one year after drilling is completed.
On request of
an operator, the commission may extend the confidential period if the operator
provides credible evidence that disclosure of the information is likely to
cause harm to the operator's competitive position.
All such
data shall also be available to the director of
the department
of
water resources, who shall keep the information obtained confidential
when such a request has been made of the commission by the operator.
END_STATUTE

Sec. 5. Section 27-659, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
27-659.

Application to drill

The owner or operator of any property, before commencing the
drilling of a well or entering or deepening an abandoned well, shall file with
the commission an application to drill, on a form prescribed by the commission,
containing such information as may be required by the
commission. Such application shall be accompanied by a fee
of twenty-five dollars
per well
as
determined by the commissioner in rule
. All monies so
received by the commission shall be deposited, pursuant to sections 35-146
and 35-147, in the state general fund.
END_STATUTE