15.66.030 Permits.
A. No person shall drill, operate or maintain any well or well site for petroleum, natural gas, or related drilling, nor operate or maintain any production operation without first obtaining a permit. Applications for drilling/production permits shall be made in writing to the director of prevention services, or designee, on such forms as provided by the director. Permits are classified as follows:
1. Class 1. The well site and/or production operation is:
a. Within an area zoned for residential development; or
b. Located less than five hundred feet from a dwelling except those for use by a caretaker or night security on the same parcel, or public assembly as defined in this chapter.
2. Class 2. The well site and/or production operation is:
a. Within an area zoned for commercial, light manufacturing or open space; or
b. Located between five hundred and one thousand feet from a dwelling unit except those for use by a caretaker or night security on the same parcel, or public assembly as defined in this chapter, provided no well or related structure for production is located less than five hundred feet from said uses.
3. Class 3. The well site and/or production operation is:
a. Within an area zoned for general manufacturing, heavy manufacturing, or agricultural, or is within the primary floodplain pursuant to the restrictions in subsection B of this section, or the secondary floodplain, provided no well or related structure for production is located less than five hundred feet from a dwelling except those for use by a caretaker or night security on the same parcel, or public assembly as defined in this chapter; or
b. Located within the state approved boundaries of the following state designated oil fields as defined by the state CalGEM, regardless of the zone district or distance from dwellings or public assembly uses as defined in this chapter:
i. Kern River oil field (CalGEM Map 457);
ii. Kern Bluff oil field (CalGEM Map 439);
iii. Portion of the Fruitvale oil field encompassing Sections 14 (west of State Highway 99), 21 (south of Meany Avenue), 22 (except Tracts 6003 and 6042), 23 (west of State Highway 99), 26 (north of the Cross Valley Canal and west of State Highway 99), 27 (north of the Cross Valley Canal), and 28 (east of the Friant-Kern Canal), all within T29S, R27E (CalGEM Map 435);
c. An area zoned DI (drilling island district) zone or PE (petroleum extraction combining district) zone.
B. Well sites and/or production operations shall be prohibited in the following areas in the city: primary floodplain of the Kern River, except that area located within the state approved boundary of the Kern River oil field as delineated on Map 457 of the CalGEM.
C. Drilling by Conditional Use Permit. Class 1 permits shall not be issued until a conditional use permit is granted by the planning commission pursuant to Chapter 17.64 of this code (Modifications, Conditional Use Permits, Amendments and Appeals), except that a conditional use permit shall not be required for any well on a lot within an approved tentative or recorded subdivision map that is specifically identified as a drill site for the extraction of petroleum, gas, and/or other hydrocarbons. Any conditions required under the conditional use permit shall be in addition to those imposed by this chapter for a Class 1 permit. The planning commission may modify any condition set forth in the development standards and conditions if it determines that there will be no material detriment to the public welfare or safety of persons and property located within a reasonable distance of such a well.
1. In addition to the application requirements for a conditional use permit pursuant to Chapter 17.64 of this code (Modifications, Conditional Use Permits, Amendments and Appeals), an applicant shall also submit the following:
a. A plot plan or site development plan drawn at the scale specified by the planning director, which includes the following information:
i. Topography and proposed grading.
ii. Location of all proposed well holes and related accessory equipment, structures, and facilities to be installed and any abandoned wells if such are known to exist.
iii. Location of all existing dwellings and buildings used for other purposes, located within three hundred feet of the proposed well holes, identification of the use of each structure, and distances between well holes and existing buildings.
iv. North arrow.
b. Narrative description of the proposed development, including:
i. Acreage or square footage of the property.
ii. Nature of hydrocarbon development activity.
iii. Description of equipment to be used, including height of derrick.
iv. Distance to all existing buildings.
v. Phasing or development schedule.
c. A copy of the letter, other official documentation, or copy of website search from CalGEM containing the name and address of the operator of record, if any, as shown in CalGEM records as of thirty days prior to the date the conditional use permit application is submitted to the planning department or a written statement from CalGEM that there is no party of record with CalGEM relative to the subject site.
d. Additional information may be required, as part of an application for a conditional use permit, as provided in Chapter 17.64 of this code (Modifications, Conditional Use Permits, Amendments and Appeals).
2. Notice of the public hearing shall be expanded to include property owners within one thousand feet of the property line containing the well site subject of the hearing and the operator of record as shown in CalGEM records as of thirty days of the date of application for a conditional use permit.
3. If a producing well or service well is not commenced upon land subject to the terms of the conditional use permit, or within any extended period thereof, the conditional use permit shall expire and the premises shall be restored as nearly as practicable to its original condition. No permit shall expire while the permittee is continuously conducting drilling, redrilling, completing or abandoning operations, or related operations, in a well on the lands covered by such permit, where operations were commenced while said permit was otherwise in effect. Continuous operations are operations suspended not more than thirty consecutive days.
4. Any permit issued pursuant to the provisions of this subsection may be revoked or modified pursuant to Section 17.64.060(I).
D. The owner or operator of any well permitted by this chapter shall provide the director of prevention services, or designee, a copy of the written notice to CalGEM of the sale, assignment, transfer, conveyance, or exchange by the owner or operator of the well within thirty days after the sale, assignment, transfer, conveyance, or exchange. In addition, the owner or operator shall also acknowledge that they have notified the new owner or operator of all existing terms and conditions of the city’s permit.
E. Modification to any standards in this chapter may be approved by the planning director pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 17.64 of this code.
F. Every permit issued by the director of prevention services, or designee, under the provisions of this chapter shall expire by limitation and become null and void if the work authorized by such permit is not commenced within one year from the date of such permit. Before such work can be recommenced, a new permit shall be first obtained to do so, to determine if the permit classification as defined in subsection A of this section has changed.
G. The director of prevention services, or designee, may, in writing, suspend or revoke a permit issued under the provisions of this chapter whenever the permit is issued in error on the basis of incorrect information supplied by the applicant which results in there being a violation of any ordinance or regulation or any of the provisions of this chapter.
H. Any city official or employee, for the purpose of reviewing a permit application, transfer of operation/ownership, complaint, compliance or any other investigation pursuant to the chapter, shall have the right to enter upon the premises for inspection provided they give prior notice of such to the operator.
I. Well sites and production operations established prior to September 19, 1992, may continue to operate pursuant to permits issued for them, and shall be exempt from the new provisions of this chapter. However, significant changes or modifications that necessitate new permits as required by the director of prevention services, or designee, or the planning director, shall be required to comply with the provisions of this chapter or obtain modifications as permitted in subsection E of this section.
J. The city may impose fees to offset the costs associated with permit processing and condition monitoring pursuant to Chapter 3.70 of this code.
K. Attainment of permits pursuant to this chapter does not relieve the applicant of the responsibility in obtaining permits as required by law from other local, state or federal agencies. All required federal, state, county, and city rules and regulations shall be complied with at all times including, but not limited to, the rules and regulations of the following agencies:
1. Geological Energy Management Division;
2. City of Bakersfield fire department;
3. Kern County health department;
4. Regional Water Quality Control Board;
5. San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District. (Ord. 5086 § 2, 2022; Ord. 5020 § 14, 2020; Ord. 4674 § 1, 2012; Ord. 4558 § 1, 2009; Ord. 4058 § 2, 2002; Ord. 3849 § 1, 1998; Ord. 3477 § 1, 1992)