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(continued) ursuant to
Section 1094.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure within 30 days of the
date of that final order. When the order of the supervisor has
become final, and the penalty has not been paid, the supervisor may
apply to the appropriate superior court for an order directing
payment of the civil penalty. The supervisor may also seek from the
court an order directing that production from the well operations
that are the subject of the civil penalty order is discontinued until
the violation has been remedied to the satisfaction of the
supervisor, and the civil penalty has been paid.
(c) Any amount collected under this section shall be deposited in
the Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Administrative Fund.



3237. (a) (1) The supervisor or district deputy may order the
plugging and abandonment of a well that has been deserted whether or
not any damage is occurring or threatened by reason of that deserted
well. The supervisor or district deputy shall determine from
credible evidence whether a well is deserted.
(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), "credible evidence" includes,
but is not limited to, the operational history of the well, the
response or lack of response of the operator to inquiries and
requests from the supervisor or district deputy, the extent of
compliance by the operator with the requirements of this chapter, and
other actions of the operator with regard to the well.
(3) A rebuttable presumption of desertion arises in any of the
following situations:
(A) If a well has not been completed to production or injection
and drilling machinery have been removed from the well site for at
least six months.
(B) If a well's production or injection equipment has been removed
from the well site for at least two years.
(C) If an operator has failed to comply with an order of the
supervisor within the time provided by the order or has failed to
challenge the order on a timely basis.
(D) If an operator fails to designate an agent as required by
Section 3200.
(E) If a person who is to acquire a well that is subject to a
purchase, transfer, assignment, conveyance, exchange, or other
disposition fails to comply with Section 3202.
(F) If an operator has failed to maintain the access road to a
well site passable to oilfield and emergency vehicles.
(4) The operator may rebut the presumptions of desertion set forth
in paragraph (3) by demonstrating with credible evidence compliance
with this division and that the well has the potential for commercial
production, including specific and detailed plans for future
operations, and by providing a reasonable timetable for putting those
plans into effect. The operator may rebut the presumption set forth
in subparagraph (F) of paragraph (3) by repairing the access road.
(b) An order to plug and abandon a deserted well may be appealed
to the director pursuant to the procedures specified in Article 6
(commencing with Section 3350).
(c) (1) The current operator, as determined by the records of the
supervisor, of a deserted well that produced oil, gas, or other
hydrocarbons or was used for injection is responsible for the proper
plugging and abandonment of the well. If the supervisor determines
that the current operator does not have the financial resources to
fully cover the cost of plugging and abandoning the well, the
immediately preceding operator shall be responsible for the cost of
plugging and abandoning the well.
(2) The supervisor may continue to look seriatim to previous
operators until an operator is found that the supervisor determines
has the financial resources to cover the cost of plugging and
abandoning the well. However, the supervisor may not hold an
operator responsible that made a valid transfer of ownership of the
well prior to January 1, 1996.
(3) For purposes of this subdivision, "operator" includes a
mineral interest owner who shall be held jointly liable for the well
if the mineral interest owner has or had leased or otherwise conveyed
the working interest in the well to another person, if in the lease
or other conveyance, the mineral interest owner retained a right to
control the well operations that exceeds the scope of an interest
customarily reserved in a lease or other conveyance in the event of a
default.
(4) No prior operator is liable for any of the costs of plugging
and abandoning a well by a subsequent operator if those costs are
necessitated by the subsequent operator's illegal operation of a
well.
(5) If the supervisor is unable to determine that an operator that
acquired ownership of a well after January 1, 1996, has the
financial resources to fully cover the costs of plugging and
abandonment, the supervisor may undertake plugging and abandonment
pursuant to Article 4.2 (commencing with Section 3250).
(d) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the
supervisor or district deputy, at his or her sole discretion, may
determine that a well that has been idle for 25 years or more and
that fails to meet either of the following conditions is conclusive
evidence of desertion, and may order the well abandoned:
(A) The operator is operating in compliance with a valid idle well
management plan that is on file with the supervisor pursuant to
paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 3206 or is covered by an
indemnity bond provided under Section 3204, subdivision (c) of
Section 3205, or subdivision (a) of Section 3205.2.
(B) The well meets the relevant testing standards required by the
district's Idle Well Planning and Testing Program and Section 1723.9
of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(2) The supervisor or district deputy shall provide the operator a
90-day notice of warning once a determination has been reached
pursuant to this subdivision that a well has been deserted. An
operator may rebut the determination, made pursuant to paragraph (1),
of the supervisor or district deputy by demonstrating compliance
with subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1).
(3) An order to plug and abandon a deserted well under this
section due to the supervisor's or district deputy's determination of
an operator's noncompliance with either subparagraph (A) or (B) of
paragraph (1) may be appealed to the director pursuant to the
procedures specified in Article 6 (commencing with Section 3350).



3238. (a) For oil and gas produced in this state from a well that
qualifies under Section 3251 or which has been inactive for a period
of at least the preceding five consecutive years, the rate of the
charges imposed pursuant to Sections 3402 and 3403 shall be reduced
to zero for a period of 10 years. The supervisor or district deputy
shall not permit an operator to undertake any work on wells
qualifying under Section 3251 unless the mineral rights owner
consents, in writing, to the work plan.
(b) An operator who undertakes any work on a well qualifying under
Section 3251 shall have up to 90 days from the date the operator
receives written consent from the supervisor to evaluate the well.
On or before the 90 day evaluation period ends, the operator shall
file with the supervisor a bond or deposit in an amount specified in
Section 3204, 3205, or 3205.1, in accordance with the requirements of
whichever of those sections is applicable to the well, if the well
operations are to continue for a period in excess of the 90-day
evaluation period. The conditions of the bond shall be the same as
the conditions stated in Section 3204.