Official Government Website

Idaho Code title 47, chapter 3 – Proposed Statutory Changes

Title 47, Mines and Mining Chapter 3, Oil and Gas Wells - Geologic Information, and Prevention of Waste

Information on this page is specific to proposed statutory changes for Idaho Code Title 47, Chapter 3

Current Status

The Department presented the changes made to Idaho Code 47-3 to the House Resources and Conservation Committee on February 9, 2023, and received no questions. The Committee agreed to introduce the changes and the bill number is H0120. You can follow the process of this bill on this page of the Idaho Legislature website: https://legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2023/legislation/H0120/

The revisions to the Idaho Oil and Gas Act – passed this session through both the house and the senate and is reported signed by the Governor on April 4th. The bill will become law effective July 1, 2023.

At the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission regular meeting on August 4, 2021, the Commission voted to direct the Department to investigate statutory changes to recommend to the Commission. 

The first draft text of proposed statutory changes was presented at the November 16, 2021 Commission meeting. The Commission gave oral comments and also accepted oral public comment on the first draft text. The Department accepted written comments from November 16-November 30, 2021.

The Department received oral comments from the November 16, OGCC meeting and five written comments on the first draft text. The Department reviewed those comments and worked on a second draft text during the month of December.

The second draft text was presented to the Commission at the January 5, 2022 special meeting for the Commission to provide oral comments. The Department did not accept public comments at the meeting but did accept written comments on the second draft text from January 5- January 12, 2022.

The Department received oral comments from the Commission at the January 5, 2022 meeting and received three written comments on the second draft text. The Department reviewed comments and revised the draft text. 

The third draft text was presented to the Commission at the February 15, 2022 regular meeting for the Commission to provide oral comments. The Commission also accepted public comment at the meeting and accepted written comment on the third draft text from February 15- February 22, 2022.

The Department received oral comments from the Commission and from the public at the February 15, 2022 regular meeting and received three written comments on the third draft text. The Department will be reviewing those comments and is working on a fourth draft text. The Department worked on scheduling a public comment session on the fourth draft text.

A public comment session was held on Wednesday, March 16, 2022 from 5:00pm – 7:00pm (MT) at the Fruitland City Hall, 200 S Whitley Dr, Fruitland, ID 83619. This was an opportunity for the public to provide oral comment before the Department on the fourth draft text. There was no written comment period for this fourth draft and no teleconference nor Zoom option to attend the session. This was an in-person public comment session only. Approximately ten members of the public attended the meeting, most of whom presented comments. The sign-in sheet and recording of the meeting are available below in the comments section.

The Department will be presenting a fifth draft text to the Commission at the April 12, 2022 special meeting. No public comments will be accepted and there will not be a written comment period on this fifth draft text. The Commission will be taking votes on specific sections of the statute.

At the April 12, 2022 special Commission meeting, the Commission discussed final changes to the fifth draft and voted on different sections in the statute. The Department presented a sixth draft text for a vote at the May 19, 2022 regular Commission meeting. No written comment period was done but oral public comments were accepted at the Commission meeting. Sign-ups were required.

At the May 19, 2022 regular meeting, the Commission voted in favor of the sixth draft text to be presented during the 2023 legislative session. Department staff reviewed this draft for grammar and format. The Commission and Department fall under the Executive Agency Legislative System (EALS) guidelines. Following these guidelines, the Department completed and submitted the EALS Legislative Idea Form on June 23, 2022. The Department submitted the Statement of Purpose/Fiscal Impact form along with the final text Friday afternoon, August 12, 2022. An update was provided to the Commission at the August 16, 2022 regular Commission meeting.

The 2023 Legislature convened on Monday, January 9, 2023. Information on the 2023 Legislative session can be found on the Idaho Legislative website here: https://legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/. The Oil and Gas Act Modernization bill was presented to the Senate Resources & Environment Committee and the House Resources & Conservation Committee.

Overview

Legislative changes are being considered to modify Idaho Code § 47-3. If this process is completed, these changes would be presented to the 2023 Idaho Legislature.

Initial focus will be on providing additional clarity in the following areas:

  • Definitions: There are some terms defined that are not included in the body of the title. Conversely, there are some terms in the body that are not defined.
  • Composition of the Commission: Are there changes needed to help us fulfill the regulatory role?
  • Reporting requirements.
  • Providing clarity when establishing “Just and Reasonable” Factors.
  • Other items as needed.

Statement of Purpose

In 2017, the Idaho Legislature modernized 47-3 to provide additional guidance to operators, mineral interest owners, and the state. There were significant changes to statute at that time. After five years of operating under these new guidelines, the OGCC is recommending some additional changes to provide clarity to stakeholders. These changes improve and clarify reporting guidelines for the operator, allow changes to the makeup of the commission by removing the Director of the Department of Lands as well as changing the technical requirements of commissioners to better reflect the needs in Idaho. The changes also clarify just and reasonable terms for integration. Building these terms into statute allow mineral interest owners to be made aware of these terms prior to integration as required by the U.S. district court decision CAIA vs. Schultz.

CONTACTS

For oil and gas related technical questions:

IDL Boise Staff Office
208-334-0200 Phone

Updates

To subscribe to updates, please contact us at comments@idl.idaho.gov. Please specify Idaho Code 47-3 changes.

Written Comment Submission

(Written comment period closed)

Please specify in the subject line or in your comment that it is related to Idaho Code 47-3 changes. 

Submit written comments to comments@idl.idaho.gov

or via the online comment form 

or by mail to: 

Idaho Department of Lands
300 N. 6th St. Suite 103
Boise, ID 83702

Draft Text – statutory changesDate Posted
Written comment period opens Written comment period closes
Draft Text #1 11/12/2021 11/16/202111/30/2021
Draft Text #212/30/202101/05/202201/12/2022
Draft Text #302/08/202202/15/202202/22/2022
Draft Text #403/11/2022None – This draft is for the public comment session on March 16, 2022.
Draft Text #504/08/2022None
Draft Text #605/13/2022None
DocumentComment Period Date Posted
Comment Summary11/16-30/2021 12/30/2021
Comment Summary01/05-12/202202/08/2022
Comment Summary02/15-22/202203/11/2022
Comment Summary03/16/2022 – public comment session04/08/2022

Next Steps

The bill will become law effective July 1, 2023.

For more information on this process, read more about How a Bill Becomes a Law.

Related Documents

08/04/2021 Regular Meeting – OGCC Meeting Materials 

11/16/2021 Regular Meeting – OGCC Meeting Materials 

01/05/2022 Special Meeting – OGCC Meeting Materials

02/15/2022 Regular Meeting – OGCC Meeting Materials

04/12/2022 Special Meeting – OGCC Meeting Materials

05/19/2022 Regular Meeting – OGCC Meeting Materials

08/16/2022 Regular Meeting – OGCC Meeting Materials

11/15/2022 Regular Meeting – OGCC Meeting Materials

Links to current rules and statutes can be found on the Rules & Statutes page of the OGCC website. 

Information about the State of Idaho Executive Agency Legislation Process is available on the Division of Financial Management website.

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