Sec. 9-4.2815. Oil and gas permits: Conditions.
   It is hereby declared to be in the interests of the public health, safety, and welfare and the purpose and intent of this chapter that the following conditions shall be, and they are hereby automatically imposed and made, a part of any permit for oil and gas drilling and extraction hereafter issued and as to any permit issued prior to November 30, 1961, shall apply to any drilling or other activity commenced after November 30, 1961:
   (a)   Whenever the drilling or redrilling of any oil or gas well commenced after November 30, 1961, is situated within five hundred (500') feet of any dwelling not owned by the permittee, or if applicable, the lessor of the permittee, the derrick, portable drilling rig, and machinery or equipment used to operate in connection with drilling shall be enclosed with fire-resistant and soundproofing material.
   (b)   The exercise of any right granted by the permit shall conform in all respects to the regulations and requirements of the Regional Water Pollution Control Board No. 4 of the State, and all water, mud, oil, or any other substances removed as waste material from the land for which the permit is issued shall be deposited in a disposal site approved by the Commission and the Regional Water Pollution Control Board of the State.
   (c)   No earthen sump shall be constructed or maintained within five hundred (500') feet, and no drilling shall be permitted within one hundred (100') feet, of any natural channel in which there is or may be flowing water.
   (d)   Within ninety (90) days after a well is producing, the derrick, all boilers, and all other drilling equipment shall be removed from the premises unless permission to store them on the premises is obtained from the Commission.
   (e)   All sumps, debris basins, or depressions, ravines, gullies, barrancas, or the like which are used for the impounding or depositing of water, mud, oil, or any other fluid, semifluid, or any combination thereof, shall be fenced. When any such place is located more than one-half (1/2) mile away from any school, playground, or dwelling, such place shall be enclosed by a cattle fence with wood or steel posts not less than four (4') feet above the ground with not less than three (3) strands of barbed wire secured horizontally to posts. When any such place is located within one-half (1/2) mile of any school, playground, or dwelling, such place shall be enclosed by a wire fence of a wire mesh type with a maximum of two (2") inches by four (4") inches opening, and such fence shall be secured to steel posts not less than five (5') feet in height above the ground, and such posts shall have forty-five (45) degree arms attached to the top of the posts with three (3) strands of barbed wire attached thereto.
   (f)   No permanent buildings or structures shall be erected within one hundred (100') feet of the boundaries or the right-of-way of any public street or highway.
   (g)   The permittee shall at all times comply with the provisions of the Public Resources Code of the State relating to the protection of underground water supply and in connection with oil and gas extraction.
   (h)   Upon the abandonment of any well or the cessation of drilling operations, all earthen sumps or other depressions containing drilling mud, oil, or other waste products from the drilling operation shall be cleaned up by removing such waste products or by consolidating all mud, oil, or other waste products into the land by disking, harrowing, and leveling to restore the land to the condition existing prior to the issuance of the permit as nearly as practicable so to do.
   (i)   Unless otherwise provided in the terms of a permit, the permit shall expire no later than when the permittee’s ownership, lease, or other right to develop the property in the manner described in the application is terminated. A permit may be transferred to another person only with the approval of the Commission. A transfer shall be null and void unless and until:
   (1)   The Commission has approved the transfer;
   (2)   The Commission has been furnished satisfactory evidence of the transfer;
   (3)   The transferee files with the Commission a writing wherein he obligates himself to comply with every term and condition of the permit; and
   (4)   The transferee has filed an approved bond.
   (j)   No drilling or other uses for which the permit is granted shall be commenced or continued unless and until the permittee has filed, and the Commission has accepted, a bond in the penal amount of Two Thousand Five Hundred and no/100ths ($2,500.00) Dollars for each well which is drilled or to be drilled. Any operator may, in lieu of filing such bond for each well drilled, redrilled, produced, or maintained, file a bond in the penal amount of Ten Thousand and no/100ths ($10,000.00) Dollars to cover all operations conducted in the City, conditioned upon the permittee well and truly obeying, fulfilling, and performing each and every term and provision in the permit. In the event of any failure by the permittee to perform or comply with any term or provision thereof, the Commission may, by resolution, declare the bond forfeited, and the sureties and principal shall be jointly and severally obligated to pay forthwith the full amount of the bond to the City. The forfeiture of any bond shall not insulate the permittee from liability in excess of the sum of the bond for damages for injuries, expenses, or liability suffered by the City from any breach by the permittee of any term or condition of such permit or of any applicable law or of the bond. The transfer of the permit, as provided in subsection (i) of this section, shall not be effective unless and until the transferee has also complied with such condition for posting an approved bond.
   (k)   All drilling and production operations shall be conducted in such a manner as to eliminate, as far as practicable, dust, noise, vibration, or noxious odors, and shall be in accordance with the best accepted practices incident to drilling for, and the production of, oil, gas, and other hydrocarbon substances. Where economically feasible, generally accepted and used technological improvement for reducing factors of nuisance and annoyance shall be employed by the permittee.
(§ 8163.15, T.O.O.C., as amended by § 1, Ord. 233, as renumbered by § XIV, Ord. 173-NS, eff. November 5, 1970 and § 32, Ord. 1178-NS, eff. April 27, 1993)