30-5-110 have been met.

30-5-110 have been met.

(e) The commission, after consultation with the director of the department of environmental quality, shall adopt class II rules implementing this section.  30-5-129. Oil and gas bonding; rules for operators; requirements; reports; assessments.

(a) The commission shall promulgate rules to establish bonding options in addition to those specified in W.S. 30-5- 104(d)(i)(D) for operators requiring bonds for producing oil or gas in Wyoming. The program required under this subsection shall be in accordance with all of the following:

(i) The commission shall promulgate all rules necessary to implement the program, including rules to provide for operators who produce oil or gas in Wyoming to voluntarily participate in a bonding pool established under this subsection;

(ii) Operators participating in a bonding pool established under this subsection shall be in good standing with the commission before participating and shall remain in good standing with the commission during participation, including compliance with all bonding requirements required under this act and the commission's rules. The commission may establish a process by which the commission may remove an operator from participating in a bonding pool if the operator is no longer in good standing with the commission;

(iii) Subject to paragraph (iv) of this subsection, the commission shall contract with a person to establish a bonding pool to serve as financial assurance for the plugging of dry or abandoned wells, for reclamation requirements, for the forfeiture of any applicable bond and for any other requirements associated with the operator's applicable bonds. The bonding pool shall:

(A) Be established with funds assessed under paragraph (v) of this subsection or available under paragraph (vi) of this subsection, including any unexpended and unobligated funds available in the account established under W.S. 30-5-116(b). Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, no other funds shall be used for the bonding pool without further legislative authorization;

(B) Be authorized to accept additional funds from other sources authorized by law.

(iv) If the commission determines that contracting with a person to establish a bonding pool under paragraph (iii) of this section is impossible, impractical or not feasible, the commission may establish a bonding pool to serve as a secondary level of financial assurance for the plugging of dry or abandoned wells, for reclamation requirements, for the forfeiture of any applicable bond and for any other requirements associated with the operator's applicable bonds. The bonding pool established under this paragraph shall:

(A) Be managed by the commission;

(B) Require operators to:

(I) Be in compliance with all bonding requirements required under this act and the commission's rules before authorizing operators to participate in the bonding pool;

(II) Maintain compliance with all bonding requirements required under this act and the commission's rules during the operator's participation in the bonding pool.

(C) Be funded by contributions from each operator participating in the bonding pool in accordance with paragraph (v) of this subsection and provide that the commission may use funds available in accordance with paragraph (vi) of this subsection.

(v) The commission may impose an assessment on each participating operator on the fair cash market value, as provided in W.S. 39-14-203, of all oil and gas produced, sold or transported from the operator's wells in Wyoming that are covered under this subsection in accordance with this paragraph. Beginning on July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2030, the assessment shall be zero (0) mills on the dollar. Beginning July 1, 2030, the commission may impose an assessment under this paragraph in an amount not to exceed five-tenths of one (1) mill ($0.0005) on the dollar. All funds collected under this paragraph shall be deposited in the separate account established under W.S. 30-5- 116(b). For purposes of accounting and investing, funds collected under this paragraph shall be accounted for separately. Funds collected under this paragraph shall be expended only on the bonding pool established under paragraph (iii) or (iv) of this subsection;

(vi) If funds collected under paragraph (v) of this subsection are insufficient to satisfy the obligations of the bonding pool established under paragraph (iii) or (iv) of this subsection, the commission may expend any unexpended and unobligated funds available in the account established under W.S. 30-5-116(b);  (vii) Funds expended under this subsection shall only be expended on expenses associated with the plugging of dry or abandoned wells, reclamation requirements, the forfeiture of any applicable bond and any other requirements associated with the operator's applicable bonds for operators participating in the bonding program under this subsection;

(viii) The commission may enter into agreements with the United States or any federal agency to provide for the plugging of dry or abandoned wells, for reclamation requirements and for any other requirements associated with the operator's applicable bonds for any operator participating in the bonding pool established in this subsection whose wells are located on federal land, without the forfeiture of the operator's federal bond;

(ix) The commission may provide for the transfer of an operator's financial assurance provided under this section to another operator, if the transfer is necessary to ensure that the receiving operator may participate in the bonding options established under this section. No transfer shall occur until the commission has completed a bonding review of the operator to whom the financial assurance is transferred;

(x) The commission may establish a process by which an operator in good standing with the commission and that participates in the bonding pool established under this subsection may reduce requirements associated with the furnishing of a surety bond or other guaranty in accordance with this act. Nothing under this paragraph shall be construed to relieve an operator of the requirement to pay any assessment imposed under paragraph (v) of this subsection. Before the commission reduces bonding requirements under this paragraph, the commission shall complete a risk analysis to ensure that the reduction does not:

(A) Increase the risk that an operator will be unable to satisfy all plugging and repairing requirements for the operator's wells; and

(B) Impair the financial condition of the bonding pool established under this section or impair the ability to address the plugging and repairing of dry or abandoned wells in accordance with this act or to address the forfeiture of any applicable bonds.  (xi) Not later than October 1, 2025 and each October 1 thereafter, the commission shall report to the joint minerals, business and economic development interim committee and the joint appropriations committee on the bonding program created under this subsection. The report shall include, at a minimum:

(A) The number of operators participating in the program, including any operators added to or removed from the program;

(B) The amount of funds collected under paragraph (v) of this subsection;

(C) The amount and source of funds expended for the program under this subsection;

(D) The number and type of bonds supported by the program established under this subsection and the total amount of all bonds supported by the program.

(b) The commission shall establish a financial assurance to be available in the event that an operator's surety bond or other guaranty and the bonding pool established under this section are insufficient to address any expenses for the plugging of dry or abandoned wells, for reclamation requirements, for the forfeiture of any applicable bond and for any other requirements associated with the operator's applicable bonds for operators participating under this section. In establishing the financial assurance, the commission:

(i) May expend any unexpended and unobligated funds available in the account established under W.S. 30-5-116(b) to provide the financial assurance, subject to paragraph (vi) of this subsection;

(ii) Shall ensure that the financial assurance, when combined with operator surety bonds or other guaranties and the bonding pool established under paragraph (a)(iii) or (iv) of this section, satisfies all bonding requirements for oil or gas operations;

(iii) May contract with any third party to provide for the financial assurance under this subsection. As part of any contract under this paragraph, the commission may expend any unexpended and unobligated funds available in the account established under W.S. 30-5-116(b), subject to paragraph (vi) of this subsection;  (iv) May contract with a company that is certified under the United States department of treasury, bureau of the fiscal service as an approved surety bond company to ensure that the financial assurance established under this subsection satisfies federal bonding requirements;

(v) May enter into any agreement with the United States or any federal agency to ensure that the financial assurance satisfies federal bonding requirements;

(vi) Shall not expend any funds under this subsection unless the operator's surety bond or other guaranty and funds from any bonding pool established under paragraph (a)(iii) or (iv) of this section are insufficient to address all expenses for the plugging of dry or abandoned wells, for reclamation requirements, for the forfeiture of any applicable bond and for any other requirements associated with the operator's applicable bonds;

(vii) Shall, not later than ten (10) days after expending funds available under this subsection, report to the joint minerals, business and economic development interim committee and the joint appropriations committee on the expenditure.

(c) The commission may enter into agreements with the United States or any federal agency to provide for the plugging of dry or abandoned wells, for reclamation requirements and for any other requirements associated with the operator's applicable bonds for any operator participating in the bonding options provided in this section that are located on federal land, without the forfeiture of the operator's federal bond. In executing any agreement entered into under this subsection, the commission may expend:

(i) The operator's surety bond or other guaranty;

(ii) If the operator's surety bond or other guaranty is insufficient, unexpended, unobligated funds from the bonding pool established under paragraph (a)(iii) or (iv) of this section.

(d) Unless specifically authorized in this section, nothing in this section shall be construed to abrogate an operator's responsibility to:  (i) Furnish a surety bond or other guaranty in accordance with W.S. 30-5-104(d)(i)(D) and the rules of the commission;

(ii) Complete any plugging, repairing or reclamation of wells in accordance with this act and the rules of the commission.

ARTICLE 2 - INTERSTATE COMPACT ON CONSERVATION

30-5-201. Governor authorized to join in interstate compact.

The governor of the state of Wyoming is hereby authorized for and in the name of the state of Wyoming to join with the other states in the interstate compact to conserve oil and gas, which was executed in the city of Dallas, Texas, on the 16th day of February, 1935, and has been extended to the 1st day of September, 1955, with the consent of congress, and that said compact and all extensions are now on deposit with the department of state of the United States.

30-5-202. Authority of governor to execute agreements; provision for withdrawal from compact.

The governor of the state of Wyoming is further authorized and empowered, for and in the name of the state of Wyoming to execute agreements for the further extension of the expiration date of said interstate compact to conserve oil and gas, and to determine if and when it shall be to the best interest of the state of Wyoming to withdraw from said compact upon sixty (60) days notice as provided by its terms. In the event that he shall determine that the state shall withdraw from said compact, he shall have the power and authority to give necessary notice and to take any and all steps necessary and proper to effect the withdrawal of the state of Wyoming from said compact.

30-5-203. Governor designated official representative; authority to appoint assistant; authority and oath of assistant; removal.

The governor shall be the official representative of the state of Wyoming in the compact to conserve oil and gas, and shall exercise and perform for the state all of the powers and duties as such, provided he may appoint an assistant representative who shall act in his stead as the official representative of the state of Wyoming. His official representative, if not already a state official, shall take the oath of office prescribed by the constitution and file the same with the secretary of state. The governor may remove the assistant representative as provided in W.S. 9-1-202.

30-5-204. Construction of W.S. 30-5-201 through 30-5-204.

It is not the intent or purpose of this act to require, permit, or authorize the governor, commission or supervisor to prorate or distribute the production of oil and gas among the fields of Wyoming on the basis of market demand. This act shall never be construed to require, permit or authorize the governor, commission, the supervisor or any court to make, enter or enforce any order, rule, regulation or judgment requiring restriction of any production of any pool or of any well except to prevent waste and to protect correlative rights.

ARTICLE 3 - PAYMENT FOR INTERESTS IN PRODUCTION

30-5-301. Payment for production; time for payment; payor.

(a) The proceeds derived from the sale of production from any well producing oil, gas or related hydrocarbons in the state of Wyoming shall be paid to all persons legally entitled thereto, except as hereinafter provided, commencing not later than six (6) months after the first day of the month following the date of first sale and thereafter not later than sixty (60) days after the end of the calendar month within which subsequent production is sold, unless other periods or arrangements for the first and subsequent payments are provided for in a valid contract with the person or persons entitled to such proceeds. Payment shall be made directly to the person or persons entitled thereto by the lessee or operator or by any party who assumes such payment obligation under any legal arrangement.

(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section:

(i) Payments shall be remitted to the person or persons entitled to proceeds from production annually for the aggregate of up to twelve (12) months accumulation of proceeds if the total amount owed is one hundred dollars ($100.00) or less;

(ii) Notwithstanding paragraph (i) of this subsection, upon written request of the payee, payments shall be remitted to the payee within sixty (60) days following receipt of the request if the aggregation of the proceeds is twenty-five dollars ($25.00) or greater;

(iii) In no case shall payments be made under this section later than twelve (12) months following the date of cessation of production;

(iv) Payments shall be remitted to entitled persons within twelve (12) months following the date the payor is no longer responsible for the payments.

(c) The lessee or operator is exempt from the provisions of W.S. 30-5-301 through 30-5-303, and the purchaser shall assume the operator's responsibilities for making such payments if the operator and purchaser have entered into arrangements whereby the proceeds are paid by the purchaser to those legally entitled thereto.

30-5-302. Payment for production; interest on late payments.

Any delay in determining any person legally entitled to an interest in the proceeds from production shall not affect payments to all other persons entitled to payment. In instances where payment cannot be made for any reason within the time limits specified in W.S. 30-5-301(a), the lessee or operator, purchaser or other party legally responsible for payment shall deposit all proceeds credited to the eventual interest owner to an escrow account in a federally insured bank or savings and loan institution in Wyoming, using a standard escrow document form approved by the attorney general of Wyoming, which deposit shall earn interest at the highest rate being offered by that institution for the amount and term of such deposits. The escrow agent may commingle monies received into escrow from any one lessee or operator, purchaser or other party legally responsible for payment. Payment of principal and accrued interest from such accounts shall be paid by the escrow agent to all persons legally entitled thereto within thirty (30) days from the date of receipt by the escrow agent of final legal determination of entitlement thereto. If the escrow agent is unable to deliver the payment to the legally entitled person within three (3) years from the end of the month in which the escrow agent first received notice of the person legally entitled to the payment, the payment shall be considered unclaimed for purposes of W.S.