Departmental powers and duties; oil and gas
Wis. Stat. § 295.35
in effect(1) The department shall establish a licensing procedure for oil and gas exploration and production in this state. The procedure shall require the applicant to do all of the following:
(a) Submit any information that the department considers necessary to determine whether the applicant is competent to conduct oil and gas exploration, production and site reclamation and to determine whether the requirements of sub. (5) are satisfied.
(b) Submit any information necessary for the department to determine whether the proposed exploration, production and site reclamation will comply with this subchapter and rules promulgated under this subchapter.
(c) Pay fees to cover the costs of plan review and licensing.
(d) File with the department a bond conditioned on the faithful performance of all of the requirements of this subchapter and rules promulgated under this subchapter.
(2) The department shall promulgate rules to protect the waters of the state, air, soil, plants, fish and wildlife from the adverse effects of oil and gas exploration and production, including rules relating to all of the following:
(a) Location, construction, operation and maintenance of wells and ancillary facilities to provide the greatest practicable protection to the environment.
(b) Disposal of waste liquids encountered or produced in oil and gas exploration and production.
(c) Plugging of wells and abandonment and reclamation of well sites and mud pits and all other ancillary facilities to provide long-term environmental protection.
(d) Reclamation of affected land when exploration and production are completed.
(e) Competence of an applicant to conduct oil and gas exploration, production and site reclamation.
(3) The department shall promulgate rules to prevent waste in the exploration for or the production of oil and gas, including rules related to all of the following:
(a) Prevention of the escape of oil or gas from one stratum to another, and water or brine into oil and gas strata.
(b) Prevention of the premature or irregular encroachment of water that reduces the total recovery of oil and gas.
(c) Prevention of fires, explosions, blowouts, seepage or caving.
(d) Secondary recovery methods of oil or gas.
(e) Spacing of wells.
(f) Regulation of well production, including the allocation of allowable production in any field or pool.
(g) Operation of wells with efficient ratios of gas to oil.
(5) The department may not issue a license for oil or gas exploration or production if it finds any of the following:
(a) That the applicant has violated and continues to fail to comply with this subchapter or any rule promulgated under this subchapter.
(b) That the applicant, a principal shareholder of the applicant or a related person has, within 10 years before the application is submitted, forfeited a reclamation bond for oil or gas exploration or production that was posted in accordance with a permit, license or other approval for an oil or gas exploration or production site in the United States, unless the forfeiture was by agreement with the entity for whose benefit the bond was posted and the amount of the bond was sufficient to cover all costs of reclamation.
(c) That the applicant, a related person or an officer or director of the applicant has, within 10 years before the application is submitted, 2 or more felony convictions for violations of laws for the protection of the natural environment arising out of the operation of an oil or gas exploration or production site in the United States, unless one of the following applies:
1. The court ordered the person convicted, as part of the sentence or as a condition of probation, to engage in activities to remedy the violation and the person has complied with that order.
2. The person convicted is a related person or an officer or director of the applicant with whom the applicant terminates its relationship.
3. The applicant included in its license application under sub. (1) a plan to prevent the occurrence in this state of events similar to the events that directly resulted in the convictions.
(cm) That the applicant, a related person or an officer or director of the applicant or a related person has, within 10 years before the application is submitted, been required to forfeit more than $10,000 for a violation of a law for the protection of the natural environment arising out of the operation of an oil and gas exploration or production site in the United States, unless one of the following applies:
1. The court ordered the person who was required to forfeit more than $10,000 to engage in activities to remedy the violation and the person has complied with that order.
2. The person who was required to forfeit more than $10,000 is a related person with whom the applicant has terminated its relationship.
3. The applicant included in the license application a plan to prevent the occurrence in this state of events similar to the events that directly resulted in the forfeiture.
(d) That the applicant or a related person has, within 10 years before the application is submitted, declared bankruptcy or undergone dissolution that resulted in the failure to reclaim an oil or gas exploration or production site in the United States in violation of a state or federal law and that failure has not been remedied and is not being remedied.
(e) That, within 10 years before the application is submitted, a license or other approval for oil or gas exploration or production issued to the applicant or a related person was permanently revoked because of a failure to reclaim an oil or gas exploration or production site in the United States in violation of state or federal law and that failure has not been and is not being remedied.
(6) The department may not deny a license for oil or gas exploration or production under sub. (5) if the person subject to the convictions, forfeiture, permanent revocation, bankruptcy or dissolution is a related person but the applicant shows that the person was not the parent corporation of the applicant, a person that holds more than a 30 percent ownership in the applicant, or a subsidiary or affiliate of the applicant in which the applicant holds more than a 30 percent interest at the time of the convictions, forfeiture, permanent revocation, bankruptcy or dissolution.
Source: WI Statutes (Official Site)URL: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/295.35Fetched: 10/7/2026