A. No council permit shall be issued where all or any part of the proposed drill site is located within the city without the following additional conditions being required and made a part and condition of such permit:
1. All buildings, structures, equipment, systems, and operations located on a controlled drill site, and all pipelines in connection therewith, shall comply with all laws, including, without limitation, the provisions of this code, the statutes of the state, the ordinances of the city of Los Angeles where any portion of the well or pipeline will be within the city of Los Angeles, and all applicable governmental administrative regulations.
2. All drilling operations on a controlled drill site shall be conducted within closed buildings or structures in compliance with the standards of title 9, "Building And Property Health And Safety Regulations", of this code. To the extent permitted by law, temporary drilling derricks and temporary foundations may be installed and used. Not more than one drilling derrick shall be in use at any one time.
3. All buildings, structures, equipment, systems, and operations located on a controlled drill site shall comply with title 5, chapter 1, "Noise Regulations", of this code. The method and equipment to be used for moving the drilling derrick from one conductor to another shall be described in writing by the applicant and shall not be implemented by the applicant until approved in writing by the council.
4. Buildings, structures, drill site enclosures, derrick enclosures, derricks, drill collars, dampers, landscaping, and the surrounding wall on a controlled drill site shall be completed in accordance with plans reviewed by the architectural commission and approved by the council.
5. No pump for the production of oil may be installed above the surface of the earth.
6. All tanks located on a controlled drill site shall have been approved by the American Petroleum Institute.
7. Any drilling derrick shall be completely covered inside and out with a fire retardant, soundproofing material in a manner and with materials approved by the fire chief. Drilling shall not be commenced until the covering of the drilling derrick, as installed, has been approved by the building official and shall be discontinued at any time the building official determines that the derrick is not covered in accordance with such standards.
8. Soundproofing shall be installed around the drilling floor and work platform of any drilling derrick in a manner approved by the building official.
9. Any drilling derrick shall be mounted on vibration isolators or springs to minimize the transmission of drilling vibrations to the ground and to surrounding areas. No drilling shall be commenced until the building official has approved the vibration isolators or springs. Drilling shall be discontinued at any time the building official determines that the vibration isolators or springs are not effectively isolating the vibrations from transmission to the ground.
10. The exterior surface of the drilling derrick shall be constructed of a solid material to prevent noise levels emitted from the interior of the derrick structure from feeding the noise levels specified in subsection A19 of this section.
11. All access doors to any drilling derrick shall be constructed to "seal" close. At all times when drilling is underway, the access doors shall be closed. Any vee door to a drilling derrick shall be constructed to "seal" close. Any vee door shall be closed at all times between six o'clock (6:00) P.M. of one day and eight o'clock (8:00) A.M. of the next day.
12. a. Within thirty (30) days after commercial production has been established, there shall be commenced and prosecuted diligently to completion on each controlled drill site adequate landscaping and screening, either with shrubbery, masonry, or concrete walls or their equal, so that the same shall not be unsightly nor hazardous. All tanks shall be depressed so that the top of any tank and other equipment and appurtenances shall not extend more than five feet (5') above the surface of any controlled drill site, unless otherwise permitted by the council.
b. Within six (6) months after the completion of the drilling and the removal of the drilling derrick, any controlled drill site shall be landscaped with suitable shrubbery and trees in accordance with a plan approved by the architectural commission.
13. After the removal of any temporary derrick housing, the servicing and repair necessitating the use of a portable derrick shall not be undertaken by any permittee except in the manner and at the times approved in writing by the council.
14. At all times after any drilling is started on a controlled drill site, parking facilities shall be provided for use by vehicles employed in the drilling and maintaining of wells on the controlled drill site. Parking for automobiles of employees or workers engaged in a drilling activity shall be provided by the permittee at parking lots or in parking facilities, other than public streets, at locations other than the controlled drill site. If the parking lot or parking facilities are not located within a reasonable walking distance of the controlled drill site, the permittee shall provide transportation to and from the parking site for employees and workers.
15. At all times vehicular access to a controlled drill site shall be provided in accordance with the plans for vehicular access reviewed by the department of community development and approved by the council.
16. All entrances to a controlled drill site shall be equipped with sliding gates which shall be kept closed at all times except when authorized vehicles are entering or leaving the drill site.
17. When traffic lanes on any public street are closed or impaired by the permittee's operations, flagmen, and safety officers as required by the police chief shall be provided by the permittee at all such times to aid traffic and maintain traffic flow.
18. Trucking for the delivery of equipment and supplies and for the removal of materials from a controlled drill site shall be limited to the hours between eight o'clock (8:00) A.M. and six o'clock (6:00) P.M., Monday through Friday; provided, however, the council may further restrict the hours and days as a condition of issuing a permit if such trucking may interfere with traffic or be detrimental to the surrounding area.
19. No permittee shall produce from any well or combination of wells in any manner so as to create any noise which would cause the noise level at any point on the exterior boundary of any controlled drill site to exceed the ambient noise level by more than five (5) decibels based upon a reference sound pressure of 0.0002 microbars, as measured in any octave band center frequency, in cycles per second as follows: 63, 125, 250, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 4,000, and 8,000, and for the combined frequency bands (all pass). The permittee shall shut down and discontinue production from as many wells as is necessary to reduce the noise to such limits at any time the building division notifies the permittee that its operation exceeds such noise limits.
20. In addition to the other provisions of this section regulating noise, the following specific measures shall be taken to reduce noise being transmitted from any controlled drill site:
a. All equipment, such as cathead motors, mud pump motors, and shakers, and all equipment used for the production of oil and gas or the operation of the production units, such as hydraulic pumps, shipping pumps, and compressors, shall be housed in substantial buildings which have been acoustically treated so as to be substantially soundproof in order not to permit any sound to be emitted which would exceed the noise levels set forth in subsection A19 of this section. Should valve noise occur in gas lines to the degree that it becomes a significant annoyance, pipes should be lagged by the permittee with commercially available materials.
b. All equipment located on any controlled drill site which emits noise when operating shall be equipped with manufacturer supplied noise control devices or modifications of such devices that more effectively suppress noise levels, and all such noise attenuating features, including (without limiting the general provision) mufflers on construction equipment, shall be checked daily to ensure that they are in good repair.
21. No well may be maintained as a producing well unless it is equipped with safe and proper producing units which shall be placed in pits or cellars below the surface of the ground so that no visible pumping unit shall be above the ground adjacent to the surface location of the well, and such wells shall be serviced with only portable well servicing equipment. The equipment operating the production units shall be housed in substantial buildings which have been acoustically treated so as to be substantially soundproofed.
22. All workover operations where permitted shall be restricted to normal daylight working hours of eight o'clock (8:00) A.M. to six o'clock (6:00) P.M. "Workover operations" shall mean work performed in a well after its completion in an effort to secure production where there has been none, restore production that has ceased, or increase production.
a. Workover rigs shall be equipped so that any noise emitted from any such operations shall not exceed the noise levels provided in subsection A19 of this section.
b. Workover rigs for redrilling and deepening wells shall be enclosed in the same manner as drilling derricks as required by subsection A7 of this section.
23. All oil and gas or oil or gas produced from any well on a controlled drill site shall be shipped and transported from a controlled drill site solely through pipelines.
a. All pipelines outside of such drill site shall be laid to a depth of at least three feet (3') below the surface of the ground.
b. As soon as commercial production has been established in any new well, the acquisition of a right of way or the construction of a pipeline shall be started within ten (10) days and work thereon diligently prosecuted until such pipeline is completed.
c. Any and all water or brine produced shall be disposed of in reinjection wells or by other means approved in writing by the council.
d. The permittee shall not install any pipeline in the city without the prior written approval of the council.
24. Pipeline construction in the city shall be confined to normal daylight hours. The permittee, in the construction of any pipeline in the city, shall adhere to all excavation locations specified by the city. Excavations shall be covered with plating to permit traffic use during construction. The permittee shall comply with the regulations of the city concerning the stacking or removal of fill generated during excavating. All pipe, other material, or construction equipment used in the pipeline construction in the city shall be stored at a controlled drill site and not on any street during nonconstruction hours.
25. All draw-works and pumps shall be electric powered.
26. All drill cuttings, rotary mud, and wastewater generated during drilling operations on a controlled drill site shall be disposed of by vacuum trucks. Any wastewater reinjection shall be accomplished by approved American Petroleum Institute methods. No sump hole shall be permitted. All drill cuttings, rotary mud, and waste materials shall be removed from the controlled drill site upon the completion of drilling operations.
27. Private roads for ingress and egress to and from the drill site shall be surfaced with gravel, oiled and maintained in good condition at all times during drilling and production operations. No sign shall be erected on the drill site, except those required by law or permitted by this code.
28. The permittee shall require proven competence and knowledge of emergency procedures from drilling and workover personnel and shall also require or provide full training and testing of production personnel in normal emergency operations.
29. The permittee shall ensure that at all times speeds within a controlled drill site are restricted to a maximum of ten (10) miles per hour.
30. The permittee shall not use volatile hydrocarbons for cleanup on a controlled drill site, except to the extent approved by the fire chief.
31. The permittee shall ensure that all petroleum storage containers on a controlled drill site have positive seals.
32. The permittee shall monitor drilling mud during drilling on any controlled drill site for odorous substances and take such measures to eliminate any odor which would be perceptible outside the drill site.
33. The permittee shall implement all procedures or directions required by the air pollution control board of the state, the South Coast air quality management district, and the city.
34. In addition to conventional design features incorporated in construction plans and guidelines, the permittee shall provide automatic vapor detection sensors for hydrocarbons coupled to automatic shutdown mechanisms on any controlled drill site.
35. All tools, pipes and other equipment in connection with the drilling and production activities at a controlled drill site shall be stored and kept on the drill site. The manner of stacking and storage shall be approved by the fire chief.
36. The permittee shall undertake no refining process or any process for the extraction of products from natural gas at a controlled drill site, except for such minor processes as necessary to make natural gas acceptable to city gas mains for domestic use.
37. The permittee shall protect the public water supply system on any controlled drill site against backflow in a manner approved in writing by the building official in conformity with the requirements of the Uniform Plumbing Code.
38. All utility services for any controlled drill site shall be provided underground.
39. All drilling operations shall be carried on diligently from the commencement of the drilling until the completion of the well or until such well is abandoned.
40. Within ninety (90) days after the completion of drilling operations or the abandonment of further drilling, the derrick and all drilling equipment, including temporary tanks, shall be removed from any controlled drill site.
41. Well abandonment shall be in accordance with the requirements of the division of oil and gas of the state. Upon such well abandonment, the permittee shall restore the property as nearly as possible to its original condition and shall remove all concrete foundations, oil soaked soil, and debris, and all holes or depressions shall be filled to the natural surface.
42. Unless otherwise permitted by the council, no permanent derrick shall be installed or maintained on any controlled drill site or used for the drilling or production of any oil or gas well.
43. Oil produced from such wells may be stored in steel tanks on a controlled drill site. Unless otherwise permitted by the council, the total amount of storage for production, recycling, and all storage and operational purposes shall not exceed two thousand (2,000) barrels, and no tank shall exceed one thousand (1,000) barrels capacity.
44. When required by the council, the applicant or permittee shall designate a competent representative who shall be responsible for the supervision of drilling operations and the carrying out of the conditions of any permit. Such representative shall be available at all times during drilling operations and shall be the responsible contact agent of the applicant or the permittee whom the council may require to carry out the provisions of the permit.
45. All of the operations at a controlled drill site shall be conducted in a careful and orderly manner, and the premises shall at all times be maintained in a neat, clean, and orderly manner.
46. All firefighting equipment as required and approved by the fire chief shall be installed and maintained on any controlled drill site at all times during the drilling and production operations.
47. The council may restrict the use of certain streets, alleys, or roadways in connection with the permittee's operations. In the event any street, alley, or roadway is damaged by the permittee's operations, such damages shall be paid for by the permittee upon demand by the city, and the failure to pay such damages, being the reasonable cost of the repair of any such damaged portions, shall be grounds for the revocation of the permit and the collection of such damages at law by the city.
48. The permittee shall not use or cause to be used hydraulic fracturing, acidizing, or any other well stimulation treatment. (Ord. 79-O-1720, eff. 2-15-1979; amd. Ord. 14-O-2660, eff. 6-6-2014; Ord. 14-O-2662, eff. 6-20-2014)