Administrative Rules for
Part 615 - Michigan's Oil and Gas Regulations
Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, Act No. 451 of the Public Acts of 1994, as amended

Chapter Contents

Cover Page
1 Part 615, Supervisor of Wells MCL 324.61501
     324.61501 Definitions.
     324.61502 Construction of part.
     324.61503 Supervisor of wells; assistants; commission as appeal board; hearing; compensation and expenses; office.
     324.61503a Gas lease; duties of lessee; monthly revenue statements and payments; initiation; deferment.
     324.61503b Postproduction costs.
     324.61503c Violation of §324.61503a or §324.61503b; penalty; injunction or damages; separate offenses; recovery of postproduction costs and attorney fees; notice.
     324.61504 Waste prohibited.
     324.61505 Supervisor of wells; jurisdiction; authority; enforcement of part.
     324.61505a Drilling permit for well beneath lake bottomlands for exploration or production of oil or gas; condition.
     324.61506 Supervisor of wells; powers and duties generally.
     324.61506a Notice of violation.
     324.61506b Conditions prohibiting issuance of permit or authorization to drill oil or gas well; waiver; exception.
     324.61506c Toll-free telephone number; maintenance; use.
     324.61507 Prevention of waste; procedure; hearing; rules; orders.
     324.61508 Rules of order or procedure in hearings or other proceedings; entering in book; copy of rule or order as evidence; availability of writings to public.
     324.61509 Hearings; subpoena; witnesses and production of books; incriminating testimony.
     324.61510 Failure to comply with subpoena; refusal to testify; attachment; contempt; fees and mileage of witnesses.
     324.61511 False swearing as perjury; penalty.
     324.61512 Allocation or distribution of allowable production in well, field, or pool; basis.
     324.61513 Proration or distribution of allowable production among wells; basis; drilling unit; unnecessary wells; pooling of properties; location of well; exceptions; minimum allowable production; allowable production pursuant to rules or orders.
     324.61513a Pooling of properties not required.
     324.61514 Certificates of clearance or tenders; issuance.
     324.61515 Handling or disposition of illegal oil or gas; penalty.
     324.61516 Rule or order; public hearings required; emergency rules or orders without public hearing; requirements for public hearings held pertaining to pooling of properties.
     324.61517 Actions against department or commission; jurisdiction of Ingham county circuit court; injunction or restraining order; actions pertaining to pooling of properties.
     324.61518 Enforcement of part and rules; representation by attorney general; complaint; proceedings; powers of supervisor; exception.
     324.61519 Failure of owner or operator to obtain permit or to construct, operate, maintain, case, plug, or repair well; notice of determination; liability; claims.
     324.61520 Abandoning well without properly plugging; violation of part or rule; penalty; liability of owner; “owner” and “operator” defined.
     324.61521 Unlawful acts; penalties.
     324.61522 Violations of part, rule, or order; penalties.
     324.61523 Confiscation of illegal oil or gas, oil or gas products, conveyances, and containers; notice; seizure; sale; intervention.
     324.61524 Fee for monitoring, surveillance, enforcement, and administration of part.
     324.61525 Permit to drill well; application; bond; posting; fee; issuance; disposition of fees; availability of information pertaining to applications; information provided to city, village, or township.
     324.61525a Annual well regulatory fee; report.
     324.61525b Oil and gas regulatory fund; creation; disposition of money or other assets; lapse; expenditures; annual report.
     324.61526 Part cumulative; conflicting provisions repealed; exception.
     324.61527 Applicability of part.
Part 615, Administrative Rules
PART 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
     R 324.101 Application of rules.
     R 324.102 Definitions; A to M.
     R 324.103 Definitions; N to Z.
     R 324.104 Terms defined in act.
     R 324.199 Rescission.
PART 2. PERMITS TO DRILL AND OPERATE
     R 324.201 Application for permit to drill and operate requirements; issuance of permit.
     R 324.202 Directional redrilling.
     R 324.203 Lost holes.
     R 324.204 Permits for oil and gas storage by conversion of operation.
     R 324.205 Eligibility for permit.
     R 324.206 Modification of permits; deepening permits; change of ownership.
     R 324.207 Suspension of oil and gas operations due to failure to transfer permit.
     R 324.208 Termination of permit.
     R 324.209 Temporary abandonment status.
     R 324.210 Conformance bond or statement of financial responsibility requirements.
     R 324.211 Liability on conformance bond.
     R 324.212 Conformance bond amounts.
     R 324.213 Cancellation of conformance bonds issued by a surety.
     R 324.214 Limitation of additional liability of blanket conformance bonds.
     R 324.215 Release of conformance bonds; release of well from blanket conformance
     R 324.216 Notice of release of conformance bond or release of well from blanket conformance bond.
PART 3. SPACING AND LOCATION OF WELLS
     R 324.301 Drilling unit; well location; exceptions.
     R 324.302 Adoption of special spacing orders.
     R 324.303 Voluntary pooling.
     R 324.304 Compulsory pooling.
PART 4. DRILLING AND WELL CONSTRUCTION
     R 324.401 Preventing waste.
     R 324.402 Drilling notification.
     R 324.403 Construction of water wells used for drilling or surface facilities.
     R 324.404 Use of surface water for drilling prohibited; exception.
     R 324.405 Drilling fluids generally.
     R 324.406 Blowout prevention equipment.
     R 324.407 Drilling mud pits.
     R 324.408 Surface casing.
     R 324.409 Wells drilled with cable tools.
     R 324.410 Casing other than surface casing.
     R 324.411 Cementing.
     R 324.412 Stripping of casing.
     R 324.413 Drilling to strata beneath gas storage reservoirs.
     R 324.414 Requests for exceptions to R 324.406 through R 324.413.
     R 324.415 Elevations; well depth measurements.
     R 324.416 Well records; service company records; confidentiality.
     R 324.417 Samples of drill cuttings and cores.
     R 324.418 Filing of well records.
     R 324.419 Borehole and strata evaluation logging.
     R 324.420 Continuation of drilling; deepening operations.
     R 324.421 Survey of directionally drilled well.
     R 324.422 Sealing of cellars and rat and mouse holes.
PART 5. COMPLETION AND OPERATION
     R 324.501 Responsibility for oil and gas operations.
     R 324.502 Oil, brine, or associated oil or gas field waste; storage.
     R 324.503 Well completion operations.
     R 324.504 Well sites and surface facilities.
     R 324.505 Pump jacks in residential areas.
     R 324.506 Flare stacks and surface facilities in residential areas.
     R 324.507 Tubing.
     R 324.508 Multiple zone completions.
     R 324.509 Commingling of oil and gas.
     R 324.510 Central production facility.
     R 324.511 Change of well status.
PART 6. PRODUCTION AND PRORATION
     R 324.601 Proration of oil and gas wells and fields.
     R 324.602 Tolerance from regularly calculated production.
     R 324.603 Transfer of allowables between wells prohibited.
     R 324.604 Well hookups to tanks or separators, or both, for prorated wells.
     R 324.605 Capacity tests for prorated wells.
     R 324.606 Production tests for newly completed or change of status wells subject to proration.
     R 324.607 Special capacity tests.
     R 324.608 Responsibility for regulating production.
     R 324.609 Reservoir evaluation tests.
     R 324.610 Reports of oil and gas produced, purchased, or transported.
     R 324.611 Petition for change in field allowables.
     R 324.612 Secondary oil recovery projects; hearings; records.
     R 324.613 Production from directionally drilled wells.
PART 7. DISPOSAL OF OIL OR GAS FIELD WASTE, OR BOTH
     R 324.701 Prevention of pollution, contamination, or damage.
     R 324.702 Pit disposal prohibited; exception.
     R 324.703 Disposal of oil or gas field fluid wastes, or both.
     R 324.704 Use of annular space for disposal prohibited; temporary exception.
     R 324.705 Disposition of brine.
PART 8. INJECTION WELLS
     R 324.801 Use of tubing, packer, and fluid.
     R 324.802 Temporary authority to inject.
     R 324.803 Testing before operation of injection wells.
     R 324.804 Maximum injection pressure.
     R 324.805 Operational testing requirements.
     R 324.806 Monitoring and filing records and reports.
     R 324.807 Loss of mechanical integrity.
     R 324.808 Cessation of injection wells; request for temporary abandonment status.
PART 9. PLUGGING
     R 324.901 Notification of intention to abandon and plug well.
     R 324.902 Plugging instructions; methods and materials.
     R 324.903 Commencement of plugging operations.
     R 324.904 Pulling of surface pipe and conductor pipe.
PART 10. Well Sites and Surface Facilities; Prevention of Fires, Pollution, and Danger To, or Destruction of, Property or Life
     R 324.1001 Well sites and surface facilities; flammable and combustible material.
     R 324.1002 Secondary containment requirements and construction standards.
     R 324.1003 Restoration of well site; filling and leveling of cellars, pits, and excavations; removal of debris.
     R 324.1004 Safety measures.
     R 324.1005 Use of pits to collect waste oil and tank bottoms prohibited; conveying, storing, or disposing of waste oil and tank bottoms.
     R 324.1006 Cleanup and disposal of losses.
     R 324.1007 Notice of serious accident; reporting.
     R 324.1008 Reporting of losses, spills, and releases.
     R 324.1009 Smoking and open flame restrictions.
     R 324.1010 Gas burning, processing, or disposal.
     R 324.1011 Purging, removal, and abandonment of lines and vessels.
     R 324.1012 Identification of wells and surface facilities.
     R 324.1013 Nuisance odors.
     R 324.1014 Suspension of oil and gas operations due to threat to public health and safety.
     R 324.1015 Nuisance noise; “decibel,” “decibels on the a-weighted network,” “noise-sensitive area,” and “nuisance noise” defined.
     R 324.1016 Construction standards for noise abatement at compressors associated with surface facilities.
PART 11. HYDROGEN SULFIDE MANAGEMENT
     R 324.1101 Definitions; B to M.
     R 324.1102 Definitions; N to W.
     R 324.1103 Metallic component standards.
     R 324.1104 Permittee compliance with this part and state and federal laws and regulations.
     R 324.1105 Classification of H2S wells; applicability of rules to well classes.
     R 324.1106 Location of H2S wells and associated surface facilities.
     R 324.1107 Training.
     R 324.1108 Securing of nonproducing H2S wells.
     R 324.1109 Warning signs; specifications.
     R 324.1110 Contingency plans for drilling and production.
     R 324.1111 Compliance with rules; time.
     R 324.1112 Briefing areas.
     R 324.1113 Emergency preparedness coordinator; contact by permittee.
     R 324.1114 Wind direction indicators.
     R 324.1115 Equipment; electric or mechanical fan; hydrogen sulfide detection and warning system; emergency escape self-contained breathing apparatus; rig floor ventilation.
     R 324.1116 Mud gas separator; burning of gas generated by mud gas separator; incinerator or flare installation; hydrogen sulfide concentration determination.
     R 324.1117 Initial testing.
     R 324.1118 Gas analyses.
     R 324.1119 Wellheads; painting requirements; warning signs.
     R 324.1120 Flow lines; markers; protection.
     R 324.1121 Heated vessels; installation of certain equipment required; exhaust gas stack height.
     R 324.1122 Vessels used for storing hydrogen sulfide-bearing liquid hydrocarbons or hydrogen sulfide-bearing brine; equipment requirements.
     R 324.1123 Incinerators and flares; equipment and design requirements; additional requirements.
     R 324.1124 Emergency relief valves.
     R 324.1125 Shut-in systems.
     R 324.1126 Vehicle loading racks; vapor return lines required; vapor vent lines permitted.
     R 324.1127 Compliance with rules before production of new H2S well.
     R 324.1128 Servicing; requirements.
     R 324.1129 Burning, processing, or disposing of hydrogen sulfide gas.
     R 324.1130 Requirements for certain gathering lines, flow lines, and facility piping.
     R 324.1201 Hearing; purpose; scheduling; request or petition generally.
     R 324.1202 Petition for hearing; contents.
     R 324.1203 Hearings subject to the administrative procedures act of 1969.
     R 324.1204 Notice of hearing; service; answer.
     R 324.1205 Types of hearings.
     R 324.1206 Final decision or order.
     R 324.1207 Subpoenas; discovery.
     R 324.1208 Continuance of hearing.
     R 324.1209 Failure to give notice of hearing.
     R 324.1210 Administrative complaint; notice of hearing.
     R 324.1211 Emergency orders and hearings.
     R 324.1212 Appeals to the director of the department of environmental quality.
PART 13. ENFORCEMENT
     R 324.1301 Authority of supervisor.
      (c) Order a well plugged for a continuing violation of the act or these rules.

These administrative rules are provided as a free service of the State Bar of Michigan Environmental Law Section. The administrative rules, which were re-formatted for consistency, are not intended to replace official versions and are subject to revision and/or repeal. The Environmental Law Section presents this information, without warranties, express or implied, regarding the accuracy of the information, timeliness, or completeness. If you believe the information is inaccurate, out-of-date, or incomplete or if you have problems accessing or reading the information, please send your concerns to the Section.