Three New Energy Bills Signed into Law

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin put her name to three more energy bills on Monday, creating new laws pertaining to underground facilities damage, the state plugging fund and solid waste disposal.

The Underground Facilities Damage Prevention Act, better known as House Bill 1951 by Rep. Weldon Watson, R-Tulsa and Sen. A.J. Griffin, R-Guthrie updates the statutory citation and requires operators of underground facilities to participate in the statewide one-call notification center. It also removes language that allowed municipalities to opt out of participation.

The governor signed House Bill 2303 into law. It changes the termination date for the Corporation Commission Plugging Fund from 2016 to 2021 and changes the termination date on the excise tax on oil and gas from 201 to 2021. The bill was by Rep. Weldon Watson, R-Tulsa and Sen. Bryce Marlatt, R-Woodward.

House bill 3019 by Rep. Kevin Calvey, R-Oklahoma City and Sen. A.J. Griffin, R-Guthrie, prohibits the Department of Environmental Quality from allowing a solid waste disposal site to accept any nonhazardous industrial solid waste type unless landfill disposal sites that only receive ash generated by the burning of coal for the purpose of generating electricity by electric utilities and independent power products meet certain other requirements. The bill requires the disposal of fly ash or bottom ash to be subject to the solid waste permitting requirements. It also exempts all ash and kiln dust generated by cement producing entities from all solid waste permitting requirements.

 

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