§ 47-101. [Amended and Redesignated.]

§ 47-102. [Amended and Redesignated.]

§ 47-102A. Definition of the term “mine.” [Repealed.]

§ 47-103. Duties in general. [Repealed.]

§ 47-104. [Amended and Redesignated.]

§ 47-105. [Amended and Redesignated.]

§ 47-106. [Amended and Redesignated.]

§ 47-107. [Amended and Redesignated.]

§ 47-108. Deputies

Appointment and compensation. [Repealed.]

§ 47-109. [Amended and Redesignated.]

§ 47-110. Duties of deputies. [Repealed.]

§ 47-111. [Amended and Redesignated.]

§ 47-112. Mineral exhibit

Duties of inspector. [Repealed.]

§ 47-113. Federal aid. [Repealed.]

§ 47-114. [Amended and Redesignated.]

§ 47-115. [Amended and Redesignated.]

§ 47-201. Geological survey created — Purpose — Advisory board.

There is hereby created the Idaho geological survey, to be administered as a special program at the university of Idaho under the authority of the board of regents of the university of Idaho. The survey shall be the lead state agency for the collection, interpretation, and dissemination of geologic and mineral data for Idaho. Such information is to be acquired through field and laboratory investigations by the staff of the survey and through cooperative programs with other governmental and private agencies. There is hereby established an advisory board for the survey, consisting of the following members: The director of the survey and board chairperson (nonvoting); the chair of the department of geosciences at Boise state university; the chair of the department of geosciences at Idaho state university; the chair of the department of geological sciences at the university of Idaho; a representative from the mining and mineral processing industry selected by the director; the governor of the state of Idaho or his designated representative; a member of the board of land commissioners or their designated representative; the president or his designee of the Idaho association of professional geologists; and two (2) members at large selected by the director from other state or federal organizations, or from the private sector with a direct interest in the survey’s programs, both serving two (2) year staggered terms; all of whom shall serve as members of the said board and shall be compensated as provided by section 59-509(b), Idaho Code.

§ 47-202. Meetings — Office — State geologist.

The advisory board shall hold an annual meeting at the university of Idaho, Boise state university or Idaho state university and such other meetings as it may determine. The chief office of said survey shall be maintained at the university of Idaho. The director of the survey shall report to the president of the university of Idaho through the vice president for research at the university of Idaho. The director, or a professional geologist in the survey if so appointed by the director, is designated state geologist.

§ 47-203. Duties — Publications — Cooperation with other agencies — Satellite offices.

It shall be the duty of the said state survey to conduct statewide studies in the field; laboratory studies; prepare and publish reports on the geology, hydrogeology, geologic hazards and mineral resources of the state; fix a price upon printed reports not used in exchange with other state bureaus or surveys, universities or public libraries, and deposit receipts from sales in a printing fund to be used for the preparation and publication of reports of the survey, and for no other purpose. The survey shall be allowed to seek and accept funded projects from and cooperative programs with other agencies for support of the survey’s research and service activities as authorized by the board of regents. All funds received from these projects shall be used for said projects and services. The survey shall be allowed to have satellite offices at the geology departments of Boise state university and Idaho state university.

§ 47-204. Reports.

The state geological survey shall annually, on or before the first day of January, make to the governor of the state and to the president of the university of Idaho a report detailing major events during the previous year concerning the geology and mineral resources of the state, a report of its expenditures and of the work of said survey during the preceding year, and budget requests for the following year; and it shall make a similar report of its doings and its expenditures to the state legislature through the legislative council.

§ 47-301 — 47-305. Geological information — Log drilling operations — Certified copy of log — Filing — Sample of minerals and formations penetrated — Information and reports confidential — Application for forms and containers. [Repealed.]

§ 47-306. Preservation and use of samples and records — Reports of determinations and identifications.

The Idaho geological survey shall preserve any samples or records deposited with it pertaining to mineral, oil or gas resources, exploration or production on lands within the state. The Idaho geological survey may use such samples or records to assist with mineral and petroleum assessments and characterization of geologic resources as part of its mission and directive to determine the geology, hydrogeology, geologic hazards, and mineral, oil and gas resources of the state. On request, the Idaho geological survey shall supply to the owner or owners of the samples or records a report of any such determinations and identifications specific to the samples or records provided by the owner or owners of the samples or records.

§ 47-307. Use of information.

The Idaho geological survey is hereby authorized to utilize in its study of regional geology, mineral deposits, industrial minerals and aggregates, oil and gas resources, and groundwater resources, in its dissemination of geological and mineral data, and in its publication of reports and maps on the geology and mineral resources of the state, any information derived from samples and records deposited with it. The Idaho geological survey shall not disclose any record, or any information contained therein, if the record or information is exempt from disclosure under the Idaho public records act, chapter 1, title 74, Idaho Code, or is subject to a confidentiality agreement between the Idaho geological survey and the owner or owners of the records or information. Should a confidentiality or data-sharing agreement exist, the terms of that agreement shall control any disclosure by the Idaho geological survey. For information that becomes publicly available or that is not exempt from disclosure under the Idaho public records act, the existence of a confidentiality or data-sharing agreement will not extend the period of confidentiality beyond that available under the Idaho public records act. Subject to any confidentiality or data-sharing agreement, the Idaho geological survey is authorized to share such records or information obtained under section 47-306, Idaho Code, or information derived therefrom, with the Idaho oil and gas conservation commission and the Idaho department of lands, in furtherance of the respective authorized functions of the commission and the Idaho department of lands. The sharing of information between the Idaho geological survey, the oil and gas conservation commission and the Idaho department of lands shall not render the shared information subject to disclosure to other persons under the Idaho public records act.

§ 47-308. Conditions for publication of information. [Repealed.]

Repealed by S.L. 1963, ch. 148, § 1.

§ 47-309. Title.

This act may be cited as the Oil and Gas Conservation Act.

§ 47-310. Definitions.

Unless the context otherwise requires, the terms defined in this section shall have the following meaning when used in this act. The use of the plural includes the singular, and the use of the singular includes the plural.

1. “Commission” means the oil and gas conservation commission.
2. “Confidential well status” refers to a well for which the operator has applied and received confidential status from the commission pursuant to section 47-327, Idaho Code. Information about a confidential well is exempt from disclosure as to the public, but not with regard to the commission or other state authority.
3. “Condensate” means the liquid produced by the condensation of a vapor or gas either after it leaves the reservoir or while still in the reservoir.
4. “Correlative rights” means the opportunity of each owner in a pool to produce his just and equitable share of oil and gas in a pool without waste.
5. “Department” means the Idaho department of lands.
6. “End purchaser” means a third-party, arms-length purchaser of oil, gas or condensate that is ready for refining or other use, or a third-party, arms-length purchaser of other fluid or gaseous hydrocarbons that have been separated in a processing facility.
7. “Exploration” means activities related to the various geological and geophysical methods used to detect and determine the existence and extent of hydrocarbon deposits. The activities related to the search for oil and gas include without limitation aerial, geological and geophysical surveys and studies, seismic work, core drilling and the drilling of test wells.
8. “Field” means the general area underlaid by one (1) or more pools.
9. “Gas” means natural gas, which is a mixture of hydrocarbons and varying quantities of non-hydrocarbons that exist either in the gaseous phase or in solution with crude oil in natural underground reservoirs.
10. “Gathering facility” means a facility that receives gathering lines from wells, commingles the produced materials, and then sends those materials to a processing facility.
11. “Market value” means the price at the time of sale, in cash or on terms reasonably equivalent to cash, for which the oil and gas should bring in a competitive and open market under all conditions requisite to a fair sale, the buyer and seller each acting prudently and knowledgeably, and assuming the price is not affected by undue stimulus from either party. The costs of marketing, transporting and processing oil and gas produced shall be borne entirely by the producer, and such cost shall not reduce the severance tax directly or indirectly.
12. “MCF” means one thousand cubic feet of gas.
13. “Mineral interest” means the right to explore, drill or produce oil and gas lying beneath the surface of property.
14. “Natural gas liquids” means hydrocarbons that are gaseous in the reservoir, but will separate out in liquid form at the pressures and temperatures at which separators normally operate. The liquids consist of varying proportions of butane, propane, pentane and heavier fractions, with little or no methane or ethane.
15. “Natural gas plant liquids” means hydrocarbon compounds in raw gas that are separated as liquids at gas processing plants, fractionating plants, and cycling plants. Natural gas plant liquids obtained include ethane, liquefied petroleum gases (propane and the butanes), and pentanes plus any heavier hydrocarbon compounds. Component products may be fractionated or mixed. (16) “Occupied structure” means a building with walls and a roof within which individuals live or customarily work.
16. “Occupied structure” means a building with walls and a roof within which individuals live or customarily work.
17. “Oil” means and includes crude petroleum oil and other hydrocarbons, regardless of gravity, that are produced at the wellhead in liquid form and the liquid hydrocarbons known as distillate or condensate recovered or extracted from gas.
18. “Oil and gas” means oil or gas or both. “Oil and gas” refers not only to oil and gas in combination with each other but also generally to oil, gas, casinghead gas, casinghead gasoline, gas-distillate or other hydrocarbons, or any combination or combinations thereof, which may be found in or produced from a common source or supply of oil, oil and gas, or gas-distillate.
19. “Oil and gas administrator” means the division administrator for oil and gas conservation within the department of lands, as established under section 58-104A, Idaho Code.
20. “Oil and gas facility” means equipment or improvements used or installed at an oil and gas location for the exploration, production, withdrawal, gathering, treatment or processing of oil or natural gas.
21. “Oil and gas operations” means operations to explore for, develop or produce oil and gas.
22. “Operator” means any duly authorized person who is in charge of the development of a lease, pool, or spacing or unitized area, or the operation of a producing well.
23. “Owner” means the person who has the right to drill into and produce from a pool and to appropriate the oil and gas that he produces therefrom, either for himself or for himself and others.
24. “Person” means any natural person, corporation, association, partnership, receiver, trustee, executor, administrator, guardian, fiduciary or other representatives of any kind, and includes any government or any political subdivision of any agency thereof. The masculine gender, in referring to a person, includes the feminine and the neuter genders.
25. “Pool” means an underground reservoir containing a common accumulation of oil and gas. Each zone of a structure that is completely separated from any other zone in the same structure is a pool.
26. “Processing facility” means a facility that refines gas and liquid hydrocarbons.
27. “Producer” means the owner of a well or wells capable of producing oil and gas.
28. “Reservoir” means a subsurface volume of porous and permeable rock in which oil and gas may have accumulated.
29. “Royalty owner” means any owner of an interest in an oil and gas lease that entitles him to share in the production of the oil and gas under the lease.
30. “Tract” means an expanse of land representing the surface expression of the underlying mineral estate that includes oil and gas rights. A tract:
    1. May be identified by its public land survey system of rectangular surveys that subdivides and describes land in the United States in the public domain and is regulated by the United States department of the interior, bureau of land management;
    2. Is of no particular size;
    3. May be irregular in form;
    4. Is contiguous;
    5. May lie in more than one (1) township or one (1) section;
    6. May have a boundary defined entirely or in part by natural monuments such as streams, divides or straight lines connecting prominent features of topography; and (g) May be combined with other tracts to form a lease.
31. “Uncommitted owner” means one who is not leased or otherwise contractually obligated to the operator.
32. “Waste” as applied to gas shall include the escape, blowing or releasing, directly or indirectly, into the open air of gas from wells productive of gas only, or gas in an excessive or unreasonable amount from wells producing oil or both oil and gas; and the production of gas in quantities or in such manner as will unreasonably reduce reservoir pressure or unreasonably diminish the quantity of oil and gas that might ultimately be produced; excepting gas that is reasonably necessary in the drilling, completing and testing of wells and in furnishing power for the production of wells.
33. “Waste” as applied to oil means and includes underground waste; inefficient, excessive or improper use or dissipation of reservoir energy, including gas energy and water drive; surface waste, open-pit storage and waste incident to the production of oil in excess of the producer’s above-ground storage facilities and lease and contractual requirements, but excluding storage (other than open-pit storage) reasonably necessary for building up and maintaining crude stocks and products thereof for consumption, use and sale; the locating, drilling, equipping, operating or producing of any well in a manner that causes, or tends to cause, reduction of the quantity of oil and gas ultimately recoverable from a pool under prudent and proper operations.
34. “Workover” means an operation in which a well is reentered for the purpose of maintaining or repairing it.

§ 47-311. Public interest.

It is declared to be in the public interest to foster, encourage and promote the development, production and utilization of natural resources of oil and gas in the state of Idaho in such a manner as will prevent waste; to provide for uniformity and consistency in the regulation of the production of oil and gas throughout the state of Idaho; to authorize and to provide for the operations and development of oil and gas properties in such a manner that a greater ultimate recovery of oil and gas may be obtained and that the correlative rights of all owners be fully protected; to encourage, authorize and provide for voluntary agreements for cycling, recycling, pressure maintenance and secondary recovery operations in order that the greatest possible economic recovery of oil and gas may be obtained within the state to the end that the land owners, the royalty owners, the producers and the general public may realize and enjoy the greatest possible good from these vital natural resources.

§ 47-312. Act not construed to restrict production — Waste prohibited.

It is not the intent or purpose of this law to require the proration or distribution or the production of oil and gas among the fields of Idaho on the basis of market demand. This act shall never be construed to require, permit, or authorize the commission or any court to make, enter, or enforce any order, rule, regulation or judgment requiring restriction of production due to market demand of any pool or of any well (except as provided in section 47-315, Idaho Code, hereof) to an amount less than the well or pool can produce without waste in accordance with sound engineering practices. The waste of oil and gas or either of them as defined in this chapter is hereby prohibited.

§ 47-313. Lands subject to this act.

This act shall apply to all lands located in the state, however owned, including any lands owned or administered by any government or any agency or political subdivision thereof, including lands of the United States, or lands subject to the jurisdiction of the United States over which the state of Idaho has police power, except to the degree that it is inharmonious with the uses, activities or regulations of the United States, and furthermore, the same shall apply to any lands committed to a unit agreement approved by the secretary of the interior or his duly authorized representative, except that the commission may, with respect to such unit agreement, suspend the application of this act or any part of this act so long as the conservation of oil and gas and the prevention of waste as in this act provided is accomplished under such unit agreements, but such suspension shall not relieve any operator from making such reports as may be required by the commission with respect to operations under any such unit agreement.

§ 47-314. Oil and gas conservation commission created — Powers — Limit on local restrictions — Attorney general.

1. There is hereby created an oil and gas conservation commission of the state of Idaho within the department of lands. The commission shall consist of the director of the department of lands, a county commissioner as described in this section, and three (3) members appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate.
   1. The county commissioner shall be from a county where oil and gas are being produced or have been produced within the last ten (10) years and shall be elected by a majority of the county commissioners from such producing counties. The county commissioner shall serve a four (4) year term. A vacancy shall be filled by election for the unexpired term in the same manner provided for election to a full term.
   2. The members appointed by the governor shall serve at the pleasure of the governor and shall have a college degree in geosciences or engineering and at least ten (10) years of experience in the oil and gas industry. The governor shall appoint the three (3) technical expert members: one (1) member for a term of four (4) years, one (1) member for a term of three (3) years, and one (1) member for a term of two (2) years. Thereafter, the term of office of each appointed member of the commission shall be four (4) years. A vacancy shall be filled by appointment for the unexpired term in the same manner provided for an appointment to the full term.
2. On July 1, 2017, the terms of the existing members of the commission appointed under this section shall terminate, with the sole exception that such commission shall decide any administrative actions filed prior to July 1, 2017. Actions filed on and after July 1, 2017, shall be decided by the new commission established under this section.
3. The commission shall annually elect a chairman and a vice chairman from their membership. Such officers shall hold their respective offices until their successors are elected. If a vacancy occurs in either office, the commission shall elect a member to fill such office for the remainder of the term.
4. The commission shall meet at least annually and thereafter on dates set by the commission. A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum.
5. The members of the commission appointed by the governor or selected by the county commissioners shall be compensated as provided in section 59-509(n), Idaho Code.
6. The oil and gas administrator of the department of lands shall be the secretary for the commission.
7. The department of lands shall have the power to exercise, under the general control and supervision of the commission, all of the rights, powers and duties vested by law in the commission, except those provided in sections 47-328 and 47-329(3), Idaho Code.
8. The commission shall have and is hereby given jurisdiction and authority over all persons and property, public and private, necessary to enforce the provisions of this act, and shall have power and authority to make and enforce rules, regulations and orders, and do whatever may reasonably be necessary to carry out the provisions of this act. Any delegation of authority to any other state officer, board or commission to administer any and all other laws of this state relating to the conservation of oil and gas is hereby rescinded and withdrawn and such authority is hereby unqualifiedly conferred upon the commission, as herein provided. The commission shall follow procedures on applications as provided in section 47-328, Idaho Code, except as provided in sections 47-316(1)(a) and 47-329(3), Idaho Code. (9) It is the intent of the legislature to occupy the field of the regulation of oil and gas exploration and production with the limited exception of the exercise of planning and zoning authority granted cities and counties pursuant to chapter 65, title 67, Idaho Code.
9. It is the intent of the legislature to occupy the field of the regulation of oil and gas exploration and production with the limited exception of the exercise of planning and zoning authority granted cities and counties pursuant to chapter 65, title 67, Idaho Code.
10. To implement the purpose of the oil and gas conservation act, and to advance the public interest in the orderly development of the state’s oil and gas resources, while at the same time recognizing the responsibility of local governments to protect the public health, safety and welfare, it is herein provided that:
    1. The commission will notify the respective city or county with jurisdiction upon receipt of an application and will remit, electronically, a copy of all application materials.
    2. No ordinance, resolution, requirement or standard of a city, county or political subdivision, except a state agency with authority, shall actually or operationally prohibit the extraction of oil and gas; provided however, that extraction may be subject to reasonable local ordinance provisions, not repugnant to law, which protect public health, public safety, public order or which prevent harm to public infrastructure or degradation of the value, use and enjoyment of private property. Any ordinance regulating extraction enacted pursuant to chapter 65, title 67, Idaho Code, shall provide for administrative permitting under conditions established by ordinance, not to exceed twenty-one (21) days, unless extended by agreement of the parties or upon good cause shown.
    3. No ordinance, resolution, requirement or standard of a city, county or political subdivision, except a state agency with authority, shall actually or operationally prohibit construction or operation of facilities and infrastructure needed for the post-extraction processing and transport of gas and oil. However, such facilities and infrastructure shall be subject to local ordinances, regulations and permitting requirements, not repugnant to law, as provided in chapter 65, title 67, Idaho Code.
11. The commission may sue and be sued in its administration of this act in any state or federal district court in the state of Idaho having jurisdiction of the parties or of the subject matter.
12. The attorney general shall act as the legal advisor of the commission and represent the commission in all court proceedings and in all proceedings before it, and in any proceeding to which the commission may be a party before any department of the federal government. The commission may retain additional counsel to assist the attorney general and, for such purpose, may employ any funds available under this act.

§ 47-315. Authority of commission.

1. The commission is authorized and it is its duty to regulate the exploration for and production of oil and gas, prevent waste of oil and gas and to protect correlative rights, and otherwise to administer and enforce this act. It has jurisdiction over all persons and property necessary for such purposes. In the event of a conflict, the duty to prevent waste is paramount.
2. The commission and the department shall protect correlative rights by administering the provisions of this chapter in such a manner as to avoid the drilling of unnecessary wells or incurring unnecessary expense, and in a manner that allows all operators and royalty owners a fair and just opportunity for production and the right to recover, receive and enjoy the benefits of oil and gas or equivalent resources, while also protecting the rights of surface owners.
3. The commission is authorized to make such investigations as it deems proper to determine whether action by the commission in discharging its duties is necessary.
4. The commission is authorized to appoint, as necessary, committees for the purpose of advising the commission on matters relating to oil and gas.
5. Without limiting its general authority, the commission shall have the specific authority to require:
   1. Identification of ownership of oil and gas wells, producing leases, tanks, plants, structures, and facilities for the transportation or refining of oil and gas;
   2. The taking and preservation of samples and findings, if taken or analyzed;
   3. The drilling, casing, operation and plugging of wells in such manner as to prevent: (i) the escape of oil and gas out of one (1) pool into another; (ii) the detrimental intrusion of water into an oil and gas pool that is avoidable by efficient operations; (iii) the pollution of fresh water supplies by oil, gas, or saltwater; (iv) blow-outs, cavings, seepages, and fires; and (v) waste as defined in section 47-310, Idaho Code;
   4. The taking of tests of oil and gas wells;
   5. The furnishing of a reasonable performance bond with good and sufficient surety, conditioned upon the performance of the duty to comply with the requirements of this law and the regulations of the commission with respect to the drilling, maintaining, operating and plugging of each well drilled for oil and gas;
   6. That the production from wells be separated into gaseous and liquid hydrocarbons, and that each be measured by means and upon standards that may be prescribed by the commission;
   7. That wells not be operated with inefficient gas-oil or water-oil ratios, and to fix these ratios, and to limit production from wells with inefficient gas-oil or water-oil ratios;
   8. Metering or other measuring of oil, gas, or product;
   9. That every person who produces oil and gas in the state keep and maintain for a period of five (5) years complete and accurate records of the quantities thereof, which records, or certified copies thereof, shall be available for examination by the commission or its agents at all reasonable times within said period, and that every such person file with the commission such reasonable reports as it may prescribe with respect to such oil and gas production; and
   10. The filing of reports or plats with the commission that it may prescribe. (6) Without limiting its general authority, and without limiting the authority of other state agencies or local government as provided by law, the commission shall have the specific authority to regulate:

(a) The drilling and plugging of wells and the compression or dehydration of produced oil and gas, and all other operations for the production of oil and gas;

(b) The shooting and treatment of wells;

(c) The spacing or locating of wells;

(d) Operations to increase ultimate recovery, such as cycling of gas, the maintenance of pressure, and the introduction of gas, water, or other substances into a producing formation; and

(e) The disposal of produced water and oil field wastes.

(7) The commission is authorized to classify and reclassify pools as oil, gas, or condensate pools, or wells as oil, gas, or condensate wells.

(8) The commission is authorized to make and enforce rules, regulations, and orders reasonably necessary to prevent waste, protect correlative rights, to govern the practice and procedure before the commission, and otherwise to administer this act.

(9) The commission shall require the department to perform the following activities on an annual basis:

(a) Inspect and report on all active well sites and equipment;

(b) Visit and file a report on production and processing facilities; and

(c) Submit an opinion as to any areas of concern, as identified on inspection reports.

§ 47-317. Drilling locations.

1. To prevent or assist in preventing the waste of oil and gas, to avoid drilling unnecessary wells or to protect correlative rights, the department may, on its own motion or on the application of an interested person, and after notice and opportunity for hearing, issue an order establishing drilling units on a statewide basis, or for defined areas within the state, or for oil and gas wells drilled to varying depths.
2. An order establishing drilling units shall comply with section 47-318(2), Idaho Code.
3. In the absence of an order by the department establishing drilling or spacing units, or authorizing different well density patterns for particular pools or parts thereof, the following requirements shall apply:
   1. Oil wells. Every well drilled for oil shall be located in the center of a drilling unit consisting of a forty (40) acre governmental quarter-quarter section or lot or tract, or combination of lots and tracts substantially equivalent thereto, with a tolerance of two hundred (200) feet in any direction from the center location.
      1. No oil well shall be drilled less than nine hundred ninety (990) feet from any other well drilling to and capable of producing oil from the same pool; and
      2. No oil well shall be completed in a known pool unless it is located more than nine hundred ninety (990) feet from any other well completed in and capable of producing oil from the same pool.
   2. Vertical gas wells. Every vertical well drilled for gas shall be located in a drilling unit consisting of either a one hundred sixty (160) acre governmental quarter section or lot or tract, or combination of lots and tracts substantially equivalent thereto, or a six hundred forty (640) acre governmental section or lot or tract, or combination of lots or tracts substantially equivalent thereto. A vertical gas well located on a one hundred sixty (160) acre drilling unit shall have a minimum setback of three hundred thirty (330) feet to the exterior boundaries of the quarter section. A vertical gas well located on a six hundred forty (640) acre drilling unit shall have a minimum setback of six hundred sixty (660) feet to the exterior boundaries of the governmental section.
      1. No gas well shall be drilled less than nine hundred ninety (990) feet from any other well drilling to and capable of producing gas from the same pool; and
      2. No gas well shall be completed in a known pool unless it is located more than nine hundred ninety (990) feet from any other well completed in and capable of producing gas from the same pool.
   3. Horizontal wells. Every horizontal well drilled shall be located in a drilling unit consisting of a six hundred forty (640) acre governmental section or lot or tract, or combination of lots or tracts substantially equivalent thereto. No portion of the completed interval of a horizontal lateral shall be closer than six hundred sixty (660) feet to a section boundary or uncommitted tract within a unit. Except for wells in federal exploratory units or in secondary units, the completed interval shall be no closer than one thousand three hundred twenty (1,320) feet to any horizontal well or vertical well completed in the same formation.
   4. Notice. After drilling, testing and completing a well that meets the location requirements in paragraphs (a), (b) or (c) of this subsection, but prior to producing that well, an operator shall provide notice and opportunity for hearing for the proposed drilling unit. In addition to any other notice required by statute or rule, the operator shall provide notice of the proposed drilling unit by certified mail to all uncommitted owners within the proposed drilling unit. The department may authorize drilling units upon application, notice and an opportunity for hearing as provided in section 47-328, Idaho Code. However, prior to establishing a drilling unit for a well that meets the location requirements in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of this subsection, the department may grant a permit to drill that provides only the notice required in section 47-316, Idaho Code. (4) An operator may request a change in the size, shape or location of a drilling unit under this section, as provided in section 47-318(6), Idaho Code. Request may be made for drilling units that are:
4. An operator may request a change in the size, shape or location of a drilling unit under this section, as provided in section 47-318(6), Idaho Code. Request may be made for drilling units that are:
   1. Larger or smaller than forty (40) acres for oil;
   2. Larger or smaller than one hundred sixty (160) acres for gas; or
   3. Not located within the boundaries of a governmental section, quarter section or quarter-quarter section.
5. Changes to drilling units may be authorized upon application, notice and an opportunity for hearing as provided in section 47-328, Idaho Code. To authorize a change, the department shall find that such change would assist in preventing the waste of oil and gas, avoid drilling of unnecessary wells, or protect correlative rights. In addition to any other notice required by statute or rule, an operator shall provide proper notice and a copy of the application to all uncommitted owners within the proposed unit and to all other parties an operator reasonably believes may be affected. In establishing drilling units under this section, the department shall review the drilling unit’s size, shape and location based on the application, any supporting exhibits, and evidence introduced at a hearing.

§ 47-318. Well spacing.

1. The department shall promptly establish spacing units for each pool except in those pools that have been developed to such an extent that it would be impracticable or unreasonable to establish spacing units at the existing stage of development.
2. An order establishing spacing units shall specify the size, shape and location of the units, which shall be such as will, in the opinion of the department, result in the efficient and economical development of the pool as a whole. Any unit established by the department shall be geographic. The geographic boundaries of the unit shall be described in accordance with the public land survey system. Except where circumstances, geologic or otherwise, affecting the orderly development of a pool reasonably require, or as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, the size of the spacing units shall not be smaller than the maximum area that can be efficiently and economically drained by one (1) well; provided:
   1. If, at the time of a hearing to establish spacing units, there is not sufficient evidence from which to determine the area that can be efficiently and economically drained by one (1) well, the department shall make an order establishing temporary spacing units for the orderly development of the pool, pending the obtaining of the information required to determine what the permanent spacing should be.
   2. Where the federal agency administering federal minerals that would otherwise be included in a spacing unit has not leased or has failed to offer such federal minerals for lease auction for at least six (6) months, such federal minerals may be excluded from the unit upon application or upon the department’s own determination.
3. Except where circumstances, geologic or otherwise, affecting the orderly development of a pool reasonably require, spacing units shall be of approximately uniform size and shape for the entire pool. The department may establish spacing units of different sizes or shapes for different parts of a pool or may grant exceptions to the size, shape or location of any spacing unit or units or may change the sizes or shape of one (1) or more existing spacing units.
4. An order establishing spacing units shall direct that no more than one (1) well shall be drilled to and produced from the common source of supply on any unit, and shall specify the location for the drilling of a well thereon, in accordance with a reasonably uniform spacing pattern, with necessary exceptions for wells drilled or drilling at the time of the filing of the application. If the department finds that a well drilled at the prescribed location would not be likely to produce in paying quantities, or that surface conditions would substantially add to the burden or hazard of drilling such well, or for other good cause shown, the department is authorized to make an order permitting the well to be drilled at a location other than that prescribed by such spacing order. Application for an exception shall be filed with the department and may be granted where it is shown that good cause for such exception exists and that consent to such exception has been given by the operators of all drilling units directly or diagonally offsetting the drilling unit for which an exception is requested, and, as to the lands upon which drilling units have not been established, by the majority of mineral interest owners of those lands which would be included in directly or diagonally offsetting drilling units under said order, if said order were extended to include such additional lands.
5. An order establishing spacing units for a pool shall cover all lands determined or believed to be underlaid by such pool, and may be modified by the department from time to time to include additional lands determined to be underlaid by such pool or to exclude lands determined not to be underlaid by such pool. A pool may be divided into zones and a spacing unit for each zone may be established if necessary to prevent or assist in preventing waste of oil and gas, to avoid drilling unnecessary wells, to protect correlative rights or to facilitate production through the use of innovative drilling and completion methods. The spacing units within the zone may differ in size and shape from spacing units in any other zone but may not be smaller than the maximum area that can be efficiently and economically drained by one (1) well. (6) An order establishing spacing units may be modified by the department to change the size, shape or location of one (1) or more spacing units, or to permit the drilling of additional wells on a reasonably uniform pattern. An operator may apply for changes to the size, shape or location of spacing units. The department will review applications to change the size, shape or location of spacing units.
6. An order establishing spacing units may be modified by the department to change the size, shape or location of one (1) or more spacing units, or to permit the drilling of additional wells on a reasonably uniform pattern. An operator may apply for changes to the size, shape or location of spacing units. The department will review applications to change the size, shape or location of spacing units.
7. Upon the filing of an application to establish spacing units, no additional well shall be commenced for production from the pool until the order establishing spacing units has been made, unless the commencement of the well is authorized by order of the department.

§ 47-319. Setbacks.

1. Except as provided in this section, oil and gas wells, tank batteries and gas processing facilities shall not be constructed within three hundred (300) feet of an existing occupied structure, domestic water well, canal, ditch or the natural or ordinary high-water mark of surface waters or within fifty (50) feet of a highway.
2. Oil and gas wells, tank batteries and gas processing facilities may be constructed less than three hundred (300) feet but more than one hundred (100) feet from an existing occupied structure, domestic water well, canal or ditch if the operator has obtained the express written permission from the owner of the occupied structure, domestic water well, canal or ditch.

§ 47-320. Integration of tracts — Orders of department.

1. When two (2) or more separately owned tracts are embraced within a spacing unit, or when there are separately owned interests in all or a part of a spacing unit, the interested persons may integrate their tracts or interests for the development and operation of the spacing unit. In the absence of voluntary integration, the department, upon the application of any owner in that proposed spacing unit, shall order integration of all tracts or interests in the spacing unit for drilling of a well or wells, development and operation thereof and for the sharing of production therefrom. The department, as a part of the order establishing a spacing unit or units, may prescribe the terms and conditions upon which the royalty interests in the unit or units shall, in the absence of voluntary agreement, be deemed to be integrated without the necessity of a subsequent separate order integrating the royalty interests. Each such integration order shall be upon terms and conditions that are just and reasonable.
2. All operations, including, but not limited to, the commencement, drilling, or operation of a well upon any portion of a spacing unit for which an integration order has been entered, shall be deemed for all purposes the conduct of such operations upon each separately owned tract in the spacing unit by the several owners thereof. That portion of the production allocated to a separately owned tract included in a spacing unit shall, when produced, be deemed, for all purposes, to have been actually produced from such tract by a well drilled thereon.
3. Each such integration order shall authorize the drilling, equipping and operation, or operation, of a well on the spacing unit; shall designate an operator for the integrated unit; shall prescribe the time and manner in which all the owners in the spacing unit may elect to participate therein; and shall make provision for the payment by all those who elect to participate therein of the reasonable actual cost thereof, plus a reasonable charge for supervision and interest. Each such integration order shall provide for the four (4) following options:
   1. Working interest owner. An owner who elects to participate as a working interest owner shall pay the proportionate share of the actual costs of drilling and operating a well allocated to the owner’s interest in the spacing unit. Working interest owners who share in the costs of drilling and operating the well are entitled to their respective shares of the production of the well. The operator of the integrated spacing unit and working interest owners shall enter into a joint operating agreement approved by the department in the integration order.
   2. Nonconsenting working interest owner. An owner who refuses to share in the risk and actual costs of drilling and operating the well, but desires to participate as a working interest owner, is a nonconsenting working interest owner. The operator of the integrated spacing unit shall be entitled to recover a risk penalty of up to three hundred percent (300%) of the nonconsenting working interest owner’s share of the cost of drilling and operating the well under the terms set forth in the integration order. After all the costs have been recovered by the consenting owners in the spacing unit, the nonconsenting owner is entitled to his respective shares of the production of the well, and shall be liable for his pro rata share of costs as if the nonconsenting owner had originally agreed to pay the costs of drilling and operating the well. The operator of the integrated spacing unit and nonconsenting working interest owners shall enter into a joint operating agreement approved by the department in the integration order.
   3. Leased. An owner may enter into a lease with the operator of the integrated spacing unit under the terms and conditions in the integration order. The owner shall receive no less than one-eighth (1/8) royalty. The operator of an integrated spacing unit shall pay a leasing owner the highest bonus payment per acre that the operator paid to another owner in the spacing unit prior to the filing of the integration application.
   4. Deemed leased. If an owner fails to make an election within the election period set forth in the integration order, such owner’s interest will be deemed leased under the terms and conditions in the integration order. The owner shall receive one-eighth (1/8) royalty. The operator of an integrated spacing unit shall pay a leasing owner the highest bonus payment per acre that the operator paid to another owner in the spacing unit prior to the filing of the integration application.
4. An application for an order integrating the tracts or interests in a spacing unit shall substantially contain and be limited to only the following:
   1. The applicant’s name and address;
   2. A description of the spacing unit to be integrated;
   3. A geologic statement concerning the likely presence of hydrocarbons;
   4. A statement that the proposed drill site is leased;
   5. A statement of the proposed operations for the spacing unit, including the name and address of the proposed operator;
   6. A proposed joint operating agreement and a proposed lease form;
   7. A list of all uncommitted owners in the spacing unit to be integrated under the application, including names and addresses;
   8. An affidavit indicating that at least sixty-seven percent (67%) of the mineral interest acres in the spacing unit support the integration application by leasing or participating as a working interest owner;
   9. An affidavit stating the highest bonus payment paid to a leased owner in the spacing unit being integrated prior to filing the integration application; and
   10. A resume of efforts documenting the applicant’s good faith efforts on at least two (2) separate occasions within a period of time no less than sixty (60) days to inform uncommitted owners of the applicant’s intention to develop the mineral resources in the proposed spacing unit and desire to reach an agreement with uncommitted owners in the proposed spacing unit. Provided however, if any owner requests no further contact from the applicant, the applicant will be relieved of further obligation to attempt contact to reach agreement with that owner. At least one (1) contact must be by certified U.S. mail sent to an owner’s last known address. If an owner is unknown or cannot be found, the applicant must publish a legal notice of its intention to develop and request that the owner contact the applicant in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the proposed spacing unit is located. The resume of efforts should indicate the applicant has made reasonable efforts to reach an agreement with all uncommitted owners in the proposed spacing unit. Reasonable efforts are met by complying with this subsection.
5. At the time the integration application is filed with the department, the applicant shall certify that, for uncommitted owners who are unknown or cannot be found, a notice of the application was published in a newspaper in the county where the proposed spacing unit is located. Each published notice shall include notice to the affected uncommitted owner of the opportunity to respond to the application, and the deadline by which a response must be filed with the department. (6) An operator who has not been able to obtain consent from sixty-seven percent (67%) of the mineral interest acres in the spacing unit may nevertheless apply for an integration order under this section if all of the conditions set forth in this subsection have been met. The department shall issue an integration order, which shall affect only the unit area described in the application, if it finds that the operator has met all of the following conditions:
6. An operator who has not been able to obtain consent from sixty-seven percent (67%) of the mineral interest acres in the spacing unit may nevertheless apply for an integration order under this section if all of the conditions set forth in this subsection have been met. The department shall issue an integration order, which shall affect only the unit area described in the application, if it finds that the operator has met all of the following conditions:
   1. The operator has obtained consent from at least fifty-five percent (55%) of mineral interest acres;
   2. The operator has negotiated diligently and in good faith for a period of at least one hundred twenty (120) days prior to his application for an integration order; and
   3. The uncommitted owners in the affected unit shall receive from the operator mineral lease terms and conditions that are no less favorable to the lessee than those set forth in section 47-331(2), Idaho Code.
7. An application for integration shall be subject to the procedures set forth in section 47-328, Idaho Code.

§ 47-321. Unit operations.

1. An agreement for the unit or cooperative development or operation of a field, pool, or part thereof, may be submitted to the department for approval as being in the public interest or reasonably necessary to prevent waste or protect correlative rights. Such approval shall constitute a complete defense to any suit charging violation of any statute of the state relating to trusts and monopolies on account thereof or on account of operations conducted pursuant thereto. The failure to submit such an agreement to the department for approval shall not for that reason imply or constitute evidence that the agreement or operations conducted pursuant thereto are in violation of laws relating to trusts and monopolies.
2. The department, upon its own determination or upon application of an owner, shall conduct a hearing to consider the need for unit operation of an entire pool or portion thereof, to increase ultimate recovery of oil and gas from that pool or portion thereof. The department shall issue an order requiring unit operation if it finds that:
   1. Unit operation of the pool or portion thereof is reasonably necessary to prevent waste or to protect correlative rights;
   2. Unit operation of the pool or portion thereof is reasonably necessary for maintaining or restoring reservoir pressure, or to implement cycling, water flooding, enhanced recovery, horizontal drilling, de-watering or a combination of these operations or other operations or objectives to be cooperatively pursued with the goal of increasing the ultimate recovery of oil and gas; and
   3. The estimated cost to conduct the unit operation will not exceed the value of the estimated recovery of additional oil and gas resulting from unit operation.
3. An application for requesting an order providing for the operation as a unit of one (1) or more pools or parts thereof in a field shall contain:
   1. A plat map showing the proposed unit, the existing spacing units, and well(s) within the units;
   2. The names and addresses of all persons owning mineral interests and working interests in the proposed unit;
   3. An affidavit that the applicant, by certified mail, notified all persons owning unleased mineral interests and working interests in the proposed unit at least sixty (60) days prior to filing the application with the department of the applicant’s intention to make the application;
   4. A proposed plan of unit operations for the proposed unit that contains the information in subsection (5) of this section; and
   5. A proposed operating agreement that is consistent with the proposed plan of unit operations.
4. An application for unit operations shall be subject to the procedures set forth in section 47-328, Idaho Code.
5. An order for a unit operation must be upon just and reasonable terms and conditions and shall prescribe a plan for unit operations that include [includes] all of the following:
   1. A description of the vertical and horizontal limits of the unit area;
   2. A statement of the nature of the operation contemplated;
   3. A provision for the supervision and conduct of the unit operation that designates an operator of the unit and provides a means to remove the operator and designate a successor operator;
   4. A provision to protect correlative rights, allocating to each separately owned tract in the unit area a just and equitable share of the production that is produced and saved from the unit area, other than production used or unavoidably lost in the conduct of the unit operation;
   5. A provision for credits and charges to adjust among working interest owners in the unit area for their interest in wells, tanks, pumps, machinery, materials and equipment that contribute to the unit operation;
   6. A provision establishing how the costs of unit operation, including capital investments and costs of terminating the unit operation, shall be determined and charged to each working interest owner or the interest of each owner, including a provision establishing how, when and by whom the share of unit production allocated to an owner who does not pay the share of those costs charged to that owner or to the interest of that owner may be sold and the proceeds applied to the payment of that owner’s share of those costs, and how accounts will be settled upon termination of the unit;
   7. A provision, if necessary, for carrying or otherwise financing an owner who elects to be carried or otherwise financed, which allows owners who carry or otherwise finance to recover up to three hundred percent (300%) of the unit costs attributed to an owner who elects to be carried or otherwise financed payable out of that owner’s share of the production;
   8. A time when the unit operation is to commence and the manner in which, and the circumstances under which, the unit operation is to terminate and the unit is to be dissolved; and
   9. Additional provisions found to be appropriate to carry on the unit operation, to prevent waste and to protect correlative rights.
6. An order for a unit operation may provide for a unit operation of less than the whole of a pool as long as the unit area is of size and shape reasonably required for that purpose and the conduct thereof will have no significant adverse effect upon other portions of the pool.
7. The department, upon its own determination or upon the application of an owner, may for good cause terminate a unit operation and dissolve the unit on just and equitable terms. If not terminated earlier, the unit operation shall terminate upon final cessation of production from the pool or unitized portion thereof, the plugging and abandonment of unit wells and facilities, and reclamation of the surface.
8. An order requiring a unit operation shall not become effective until the plan for unit operations approved by the department has been signed and approved in writing by the owners who, under the department’s order, will be required to pay at least sixty-seven percent (67%) of the costs of the unit operation, and also signed and approved in writing by the working interest owners of at least sixty-seven percent (67%) of the production of the unit operations, and the department has made a finding in the order that the plan for unit operations has been so approved.
9. An order providing for unit operation may be amended by an order of the department in the same manner and subject to the same conditions as an original order providing for the unit operation.
10. The department may issue an order for the unit operation of a pool or pools or parts thereof that includes a unit created by a prior order of the department or by voluntary agreement. This subsequent order, in providing for the allocation of the unit’s production, must treat first the unit area previously created as a single tract and then allocate, in the same proportions as those specified in the prior order, the portion of the new unit’s production allocated to the previous unit among the separately owned tracts included in the previously created unit area. (11) The department may approve additions to the unit of portions of a pool not previously included within the unit and may extend the unit area as reasonably necessary to prevent waste or to protect correlative rights. The department may approve exclusions from the unit area as reasonably necessary to prevent waste or to protect correlative rights. An order adding to or excluding from a unit area must be upon just and reasonable terms.
11. The department may approve additions to the unit of portions of a pool not previously included within the unit and may extend the unit area as reasonably necessary to prevent waste or to protect correlative rights. The department may approve exclusions from the unit area as reasonably necessary to prevent waste or to protect correlative rights. An order adding to or excluding from a unit area must be upon just and reasonable terms.
    1. An order that amends a plan of unit operations and adds an area to a previously established unit shall not become effective until the amended plan of unit operations has been signed and approved in writing by the owners who will be required to pay at least sixty-seven percent (67%) of the costs of the unit operation in the area to be added, and also signed and approved in writing by the working interest owners of at least sixty-seven percent (67%) of the production of the unit operations, and the department has made a finding in the order that the plan for unit operations has been so approved.
    2. An order providing for an exclusion from a unit area may not become effective until an amended plan of unit operations excluding an area from the unit has been approved in writing by the owners in the original unit area that are required to pay at least sixty-seven percent (67%) of the costs of unit operations, and also approved in writing by the working interest owners in the original unit area required to pay at least sixty-seven percent (67%) of the production of the unit operations, and the department has made a finding in the order that the plan for unit operations has been so approved.
12. Operations, including the commencement, drilling or operation of a well upon a portion of a unit area, are deemed conducted on each separately owned tract in the unit area by the owner or owners thereof. That portion of a unit’s production allocated to a separately owned tract in a unit area, when produced, is deemed produced from a well drilled on that tract. Operations conducted under an order of the department providing for a unit operation shall constitute fulfillment of expressed or implied obligations of a lease or contract covering lands within the unit area to the extent that compliance with those obligations is not possible without a further order of the department.
13. That portion of unit production allocated to a tract and the proceeds of sale for that portion are deemed the property and income of the several persons to whom or to whose credit that portion is allocated or payable under the order providing for unit operation.
14. A division order or other contract relating to a sale or purchase of production from a separately owned tract or combination of tracts remains in force and applies to oil and gas allocated to the tract until terminated in accordance with provisions of the order providing for unit operation, or in accordance with the terms of such division order or other contract.
15. Except to the extent that all affected parties agree, an order providing for unit operation does not result in a transfer of all or part of a person’s title to the oil and gas rights in a tract in the unit area.
16. Except to the extent that all affected parties agree, all property, whether real or personal, that may be acquired in the conduct of a unit operation hereunder is deemed acquired for the account of the owners within the unit area and is deemed the property of the owners in the proportion that the expenses of the unit operation are charged.

§ 47-322. Oil and gas metering systems.

1. Each meter shall be properly constructed, maintained, repaired and operated to continually and accurately register the quantity of oil and gas produced from the well.
2. The meter shall be installed, used and operated according to industry standards and guidelines promulgated by the American petroleum institute, American gas association, and the gas processors association that are in effect at the time of installation of the meter. If standards conflict, the most current American petroleum institute standard shall apply.
3. All custody transfer meters and all allocation meters used in the allocation of custody transfer volumes shall be calibrated by a third party at least quarterly in each calendar year. The records of calibrations shall be maintained by the operator of the meter for at least five (5) years and copies shall be submitted to the department.

§ 47-323. Commingling of production.

A producer shall not, prior to metering, commingle production from two (2) or more oil and gas wells without prior approval from the department after notice and opportunity for hearing.

§ 47-324. Reporting requirements.

1. All reporting parties shall file the applicable reports described in this section to the department within the time frames provided. Each report shall be completed on forms prescribed by the department.
   1. Monthly production report. Operators shall file monthly production reports to properly account for all oil, gas and water production and disposition from each well, including the amounts of oil and gas sold from each well. Production reports shall be filed on the required form before the fifteenth day of the second calendar month following the month of production.
   2. Gathering facility report. Operators of a gathering facility shall file monthly reports concerning the operation of the plant on the required form before the fifteenth day of the second calendar month following the month of operation.
   3. Gas processing plant report. The operator of each plant manufacturing or extracting liquid hydrocarbons, including gasoline, butane, propane, condensate, kerosene or other derivatives from natural gas, or refinery or storage vapors, shall file a report concerning the operation of the plant on the required form before the fifteenth day of the second calendar month following the month of operation.
   4. Monthly transportation and storage report. Each gatherer, transporter, storer or handler of crude oil or hydrocarbon products, or both, shall file monthly reports showing the required information concerning the transportation operations of the gatherer, transporter, storer or handler before the fifteenth day of the second calendar month following the month of operation. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to the operator of any refinery, processing plant, blending plant or treating plant if the operator of the well has filed the required form.
   5. Monthly purchaser report. Any person who purchases or is entitled to purchase any product that is subject to the state of Idaho severance tax from the producer or operator of a lease located in this state shall file monthly reports to account for the purchase of all hydrocarbons, including volume and price paid. Purchaser reports shall be filed on the required form before the fifteenth day of the second calendar month following the month in which the hydrocarbons were purchased.
2. All well test reports. An operator shall file all well test reports within thirty (30) days of completing or recompleting the well. The reports shall include all oil, gas and water produced during all tests.
3. Well production potential test reports. Unless otherwise provided for in this section, each operator of producing gas or oil wells shall test each producing well for a twenty-four (24) hour period every six (6) months and shall record all oil, gas and water volumes, including choke size, pressures and any interim bottom hole pressure surveys every six (6) months, resulting from the test on the form.
4. Logs. An operator shall file all logs, including but not limited to those listed in this subsection, not later than thirty (30) days after the date the log was run, if run:
   1. An open hole electrical, radioactivity or other similar log, or combination of open hole logs of the operator’s choice;
   2. A gamma ray log from total depth to ground level elevations. The operator may require a shorter-logged interval if it determines that the log is unnecessary or impractical or if hole conditions risk jeopardizing the open hole; and (c) A cement bond log across the casing, verifying the formation seal integrity and isolation.
5. Additional reports. An operator shall file a drilling, completion, workover or plugging report within thirty (30) days of completing or plugging the well.
6. The department shall report quarterly to the commission on the produced volumes of oil and gas, sales volumes of oil and gas, and the meeting of industry standards.
7. Should an operator fail to comply with this section, the commission may assess a penalty in accordance with section 47-329(3), Idaho Code, or may order the well or oil and gas facilities to be shut-in, after notice, opportunity to cure, and opportunity for a hearing.

§ 47-325. Falsification of records — Limitation of actions.

1. Any person who, for the purpose of evading this act or any rule, regulation or order of the commission shall make or cause to be made any false entry in any report, record, account, or memorandum required by this act, or by any such rule, regulation or order, or shall omit, or cause to be omitted, from any such report, record, account, or memorandum, full, true and correct entries as required by this act, or by any such rule, regulation or order, or shall remove from this state or destroy, mutilate, alter or falsify any such record, account, or memorandum, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be subject to a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) or imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve (12) months, or to both such fine and imprisonment.
2. No suit, action or other proceeding based upon a violation of this act or any rule, regulation or order of the commission hereunder shall be commenced or maintained unless same shall have been commenced within one (1) year from date of the alleged violation. Provided however, the provisions of this subsection shall not apply to actions governed by the provisions of chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code.

§ 47-326. Public data.

1. Subject only to any applicable provisions of section 47-327, Idaho Code, the following data is public information that shall not be considered trade secret information under chapter 8, title 48, Idaho Code, nor be exempt from public records disclosure under chapter 1, title 74, Idaho Code. Except as provided in section 47-327, Idaho Code, the department shall, upon receipt of the information, make publicly available all data under this section on its website without requiring any person to submit a public records request:
   1. All reports required under section 47-324(1) through (5), Idaho Code;
   2. All well plats; and
   3. All state-required permits, except seismic data.
2. The department shall provide complete internet access to all documents in subsection (1) of this section, not granted confidential status, on its website by no later than December 31, 2017.
3. A claim to exempt data from disclosure shall be supported and accompanied by a specific citation to the law authorizing an exemption from disclosure and an explanation of how the data meets the standards for being withheld from disclosure. When a portion of a record or a portion of a page in that record is subject to disclosure and the other portion is subject to a claim that it is exempt from disclosure under this chapter or chapter 1, title 74, Idaho Code, the person making the claim must clearly identify the portion claimed as exempt and the portion not claimed as exempt from disclosure at the time of submittal.

§ 47-327. Confidentiality of well and trade information.

1. Information that shall be held confidential from the public includes logs of a well granted confidential well status pursuant to subsection (2) of this section, electrical or radioactivity logs, electromagnetic or magnetic surveys, core descriptions and analyses, maps, and other geological, geophysical and engineering information. Seismic data shall remain confidential from all parties at the discretion of the operator due to the nature of purchasing and licensing such data.
2. An operator may request confidential well status at the time of filing an application for a permit to drill. The information in the application form itself will not be confidential.
   1. Confidential status shall be granted and shall include all pertinent data and information relating to drilling completion and testing the well. Such information shall be kept confidential from the public for a period of one hundred eighty (180) days after completion of the well.
   2. Well test results shall be kept confidential from the public for a period of one hundred eighty (180) days after completion of the test.
   3. No extensions shall be allowed beyond the one hundred eighty (180) day confidentiality period.
3. An operator may request that well logs for a well with confidential well status be held confidential.
   1. To obtain confidential treatment of a well log, the operator of the well shall place the log in an envelope, noting log readings and marked “confidential.”
   2. An operator may request, and the department may grant, an additional six (6) months of confidentiality for well logs.
   3. Confidential status for a well log shall terminate six (6) months after the run date on the log or, in the case of an extension, twelve (12) months after the run date on the log. Confidential status for a well log shall not continue for a period in excess of twelve (12) months from the date the log was run on the well.
4. The state tax commission, the oil and gas conservation commission, the Idaho geologic [geological] survey and other state agencies shall share oil and gas records when necessary for those agencies to carry out their duties assigned by law, regardless of whether the records are held confidential from the public under this section. This sharing of records shall not render the shared records subject to disclosure to the public under the public records act.
5. All state agencies, state employees, contract personnel, temporary personnel and their agents or affiliates shall be governed by the confidentiality provisions of this section and shall be subject to sections 74-117 and 74-118, Idaho Code, should any information or records protected under statute be disclosed.

§ 47-328. Rules for commission — Administrative procedures.

1. The commission shall have authority to hear rulemaking proceedings, complaints filed with it pursuant to this chapter and appeals from the oil and gas administrator’s decision on an application filed pursuant to this chapter, and any other matter the commission decides should be heard by the commission. The commission may act on its own motion. The commission may prescribe rules governing the procedure before it, subject to the provisions of the administrative procedure act, chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code. Provided however, that no rulemaking except for that done under section 67-5226, Idaho Code, may be conducted for twelve (12) months beginning on July 1, 2017.
2. In all cases where a complaint is made by the commission or any person that any provision of this act or any rule or order of the commission is being violated, the commission shall serve notice of any hearing to be held on such application or complaint to the interested persons by certified mail, return receipt requested, or in the same manner as is provided in the rules of civil procedure for the service of summons in civil actions. Where the interested person is unknown or cannot be located, the commission shall serve notice by publishing at least one (1) notice of the hearing to such person in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the affected tract is located. Such notice must be sent, delivered or published, as appropriate, at least five (5) business days before the date of the hearing.
3. Except as provided in section 47-316(1)(a), Idaho Code, and subsection (2) of this section, any request for an order related to oil and gas activities within the commission’s jurisdiction, other than a civil penalty proceeding pursuant to section 47-329, Idaho Code, or other enforcement action by the department of lands or the commission, shall be made by application to the department of lands and processed as provided in this section.
   1. The department shall notify the applicant within five (5) business days of receipt of an application if additional information is required for the department to evaluate the application.
   2. For applications involving an order regarding unit operations or integration of a drilling unit, the applicant shall send a copy of the application and supporting documents to all known and located uncommitted owners, to all working interest owners within the unit, and to the respective city or county where the proposed unit is located. The mailing shall be sent by certified mail within seven (7) calendar days of filing the application and include notice of the hearing date on which the oil and gas administrator will consider the application. For any uncommitted owners and working interest owners who cannot be located, an applicant shall publish notice of any application for an order, notice of hearing and response deadline once in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the affected property is located and request the department publish notice on its website within seven (7) calendar days of filing of the application. Only an uncommitted owner in the affected unit may file an objection or other response to the application, and the uncommitted owner shall file at least fourteen (14) calendar days before the hearing date provided in the notice.
   3. For applications not involving paragraph (b) of this subsection, the department and any uncommitted owner within the area defined in the application may file objections or other responses to the application and shall file at least fourteen (14) calendar days before the hearing date provided in the notice.
   4. The oil and gas administrator shall hear the application and make a decision on the application’s merits. The oil and gas administrator shall set regular hearing dates. Applications shall be filed at least forty-five (45) calendar days before a desired hearing date. Untimely applications shall be continued until the next hearing. The oil and gas administrator may for good cause continue any hearing. The oil and gas administrator may appoint a hearing officer, who shall have the power and authority to conduct hearings. Discovery is not permitted. The department may appear and testify at the hearing. When applications are uncontested, the applicant may request, and the oil and gas administrator may allow, approval without a hearing based on review of the merits of a verified application and the supporting exhibits.
   5. The oil and gas administrator shall issue a written decision on any such application within thirty (30) calendar days of the hearing. The oil and gas administrator’s decision shall not be subject to any motion for reconsideration or further review, except for appeal to the commission provided in subsection (4) of this section.
4. The oil and gas administrator’s decision on an application or a request for an order may be appealed to the commission by the applicant or any owner who filed an objection or other response to the application within the time required. An appeal must be filed with the oil and gas administrator within fourteen (14) calendar days of the date of issuance of the oil and gas administrator’s written decision. The date of issuance shall be three (3) calendar days after the oil and gas administrator deposits the decision in the U.S. mail, or the date on which he remits a decision electronically. Such appeal shall include the reasons and authority for the appeal and shall identify any facts in the record supporting the appeal. Any person appealing shall serve a copy of the appeal materials on any other person who participated in the proceedings, by certified mail, or by personal service. Any person who participated in the proceeding may file a response to the appeal within five (5) business days of service of a copy of the appeal materials. The appellant shall provide the oil and gas administrator with proof of service of the appeal materials on other persons as required in this section. The commission shall make a decision based on the record as set forth in the written submittals of only the appellant and any other participating qualified person, the oil and gas administrator’s decision, and any oral argument taken by the commission at an appeal hearing.
5. Appeals to the commission shall be heard at the next regularly scheduled commission hearing, or at a special meeting of the commission if determined by the commission. In no case will a hearing be later than thirty (30) calendar days after the filing of an appeal. The commission may take argument from, but not new testimony of, the appellant and other qualified participating persons at the hearing. The commission shall make a decision on the appeal at the hearing and issue a written order within five (5) business days of the hearing. The prevailing party shall draft a proposed written order and submit it within two (2) business days. The final order of the commission shall not be subject to any motion for reconsideration.
6. If no appeal is filed with the commission within the required time, the decision of the oil and gas administrator shall become the final order.
7. Judicial review of actions taken by the commission shall be governed by the provisions of chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code.
8. For an application or request for an order submitted under subsection (3) of this section, only a person qualified under subsection (4) of this section who has completed the appeal procedures set forth in this section shall be considered to have exhausted administrative remedies as required in section 67-5271, Idaho Code. (9) Each order shall include a reasoned statement in support of the decision, including a concise statement of facts supporting any findings, a statement of available procedures and time limits for appeals. Findings must be based exclusively on materials in the record. The applicant and any participating qualified person shall be served with a copy of the order. The order shall include or be accompanied by a certificate of service.
9. Each order shall include a reasoned statement in support of the decision, including a concise statement of facts supporting any findings, a statement of available procedures and time limits for appeals. Findings must be based exclusively on materials in the record. The applicant and any participating qualified person shall be served with a copy of the order. The order shall include or be accompanied by a certificate of service.
10. Every application shall be signed by the applicant or his representative, and his address shall be stated thereon. The signature of the applicant or his representative constitutes a certificate by him that he has read the application and that to the best of his knowledge, information and belief there is good ground to support the same. Each application shall be of such form and content and accompanied by the number of copies required by rule of the commission. Each application shall be accompanied by a fee as established in statute or rule.

§ 47-329. Powers of commission — Witnesses — Penalty.

1. The commission shall have the power to summon witnesses, to administer oaths, and to require the production of records, books, and documents for examination at any hearing or investigation conducted by the commission.
2. In case of failure or refusal on the part of any person to comply with a subpoena issued by the commission, or in case of refusal of any witness to testify as to any matter regarding which he may be interrogated, any district court in the state, upon the application of the commission, may issue an attachment for such person and compel him to comply with such subpoena, and to attend before the commission and produce such records, books, and documents for examination, and to give his testimony. Such court shall have the power to punish for contempt as in the case of disobedience to a like subpoena issued by the court, or for refusal to testify therein.
3. Any person who violates or fails to comply with any of the provisions of this chapter or any rules or orders made or promulgated hereunder may be assessed a civil penalty by the commission or its duly authorized agent of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each violation and shall be liable for reasonable attorney’s fees. Each day the violation continues shall constitute a separate and additional violation, punishable by separate and additional civil penalties in like amount or other like civil penalties as determined by the commission; provided that the civil penalties do not begin to accrue until the date notice of violation and opportunity to be heard are given.
   1. Assessment of a civil penalty may be made in conjunction with any other commission administrative action.
   2. No civil penalty may be assessed unless the person charged was given notice and opportunity for a hearing pursuant to chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code, which civil penalty begins to accrue no earlier than the date notice of violation and opportunity for a hearing are given.
   3. If the commission is unable to collect such penalty or if any person fails to pay all or a set portion of the civil penalty as determined by the commission, it may recover such amount by action in the appropriate district court.
   4. Any person against whom the commission has assessed a civil penalty under the provisions of this section may, within twenty-eight (28) days of the final action by the agency making the assessment, appeal the assessment to the district court of the county in which the violation is alleged by the commission to have occurred pursuant to chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code.
   5. All civil penalties collected pursuant to this section shall be remitted to the oil and gas conservation fund.
4. Whenever it shall appear that any person is violating or threatening to violate any provision of this act or any rule, regulation, or order made hereunder, the commission may bring a civil action in the name of the state against such person in the district court in the county of the residence of the defendant, or in the county of the residence of any defendant, if there be more than one (1) defendant, or in the county where the violation is alleged to have occurred, to restrain such person from continuing such violation or from carrying out the threat of violation. In such suit, the court may grant injunctions, prohibitory and mandatory, including temporary restraining orders and temporary injunctions. In such suit, the commission may seek damages to recover costs caused by such violation including, but not limited to, costs of well control, spill response and cleanup, restoration of fresh waters, well plugging and abandonment, and reclamation of surface disturbance. (5) Nothing in this act, and no suit by or against the commission, and no violation charged or asserted against any person under any provisions of this act, or any rule, regulation or order issued hereunder, shall impair or abridge or delay any cause of action for damages which any person may have or assert against any person violating any provision of this act, or any rule, regulation, or order issued thereunder. Any person so damaged by the violation may sue for and recover such damages as he otherwise may be entitled to receive. In the event the commission shall fail to bring suit to enjoin any actual or threatened violation of this act, or of any rule, regulation or order made hereunder, then any person or party in interest adversely affected and who has, ten (10) days or more prior thereto, notified the commission in writing of such violation or threat thereof and has requested the commission to sue, may, to prevent any or further violation, bring suit for that purpose in the district court of any county in which the commission could have brought suit.
5. Nothing in this act, and no suit by or against the commission, and no violation charged or asserted against any person under any provisions of this act, or any rule, regulation or order issued hereunder, shall impair or abridge or delay any cause of action for damages which any person may have or assert against any person violating any provision of this act, or any rule, regulation, or order issued thereunder. Any person so damaged by the violation may sue for and recover such damages as he otherwise may be entitled to receive. In the event the commission shall fail to bring suit to enjoin any actual or threatened violation of this act, or of any rule, regulation or order made hereunder, then any person or party in interest adversely affected and who has, ten (10) days or more prior thereto, notified the commission in writing of such violation or threat thereof and has requested the commission to sue, may, to prevent any or further violation, bring suit for that purpose in the district court of any county in which the commission could have brought suit.
6. Any person who knowingly violates any provision of this chapter, or any of the rules promulgated hereunder for carrying out the provisions of this chapter, or who knowingly fails or refuses to comply with any requirements herein specified, or who knowingly interferes with the commission, its agents, designees or employees in the execution or on account of the execution of its or their duties under this chapter or rules promulgated hereunder, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) or be imprisoned in a county jail for not more than twelve (12) months, or be subject to both such fine and imprisonment.
7. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as requiring the commission to report minor violations for prosecution when it believes that the public interest will be best served by suitable warnings or other administrative action.

§ 47-330. Oil and gas conservation fund created — Tax.

1. For the purposes of paying the expenses of administration of this act and for the privilege of extracting oil and gas in this state, there is hereby levied and imposed on all oil and gas produced, saved and sold or transported from the premises in Idaho where produced a tax of two and one-half percent (2.5%) of the gross income received by the producer of the oil and gas produced. “Gross income” shall mean the amount realized by the producer for sale of the oil and gas, whether the sale occurs at the wellhead or after transportation of the product, without deduction for marketing, transportation, manufacturing, and processing costs borne by the producer. Where the parties to the sale are related parties and the sales price is lower than the price for which that oil and gas could otherwise have been sold to a ready, willing, and able buyer and where the taxpayer was legally able to sell the oil and gas to such a buyer, gross income shall be determined by reference to comparable arms-length sales of like kind, quality, and quantity in the same field or area. For purposes of this subsection, “related parties” shall be as defined in section 267 of the Internal Revenue Code, as defined, in section 63-3004, Idaho Code. This tax is in addition to all other taxes provided by law. It shall be the duty of the state tax commission to enforce collection of this tax and to make such rules as may be necessary, pursuant to the provisions of chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code. All money so collected shall be remitted to the state treasurer for deposit in the oil and gas conservation fund, which fund is hereby created in the office of the state treasurer of the state of Idaho.
2. The persons owning an interest, working interest, royalty interest, payments out of production, or any other interest in the oil and gas, or in the proceeds thereof, shall be liable for such tax in proportion to their ownership at the time of production. The tax so assessed and fixed shall be payable monthly, and the sum so due shall be remitted to the state tax commission, on or before the twentieth of the month following the month in which the tax accrued, by the producer on behalf of himself and all other interested persons. The person remitting the tax, as herein provided, is hereby empowered and required to deduct from any amounts due the persons owning an interest in the oil and gas, or in the proceeds thereof, at the time of production a proportionate amount of such tax before making payment to such persons.
3. The tax imposed by this section shall apply to all lands in the state of Idaho, anything in this act to the contrary notwithstanding; provided however, there shall be exempted from the tax hereinabove levied and assessed the following, to wit:
   1. The interest of the United States of America and the interest of the state of Idaho and the political subdivisions thereof in any oil and gas or in the proceeds thereof.
   2. The interest of any Indian or Indian tribe in any oil and gas or the proceeds thereof, produced from lands subject to the supervision of the United States. (c) Oil and gas used in producing operations or for repressuring or recycling purposes.
4. To the extent that such sections are not in conflict with the provisions of this act, the deficiency in tax and notice of deficiency as well as the collection and enforcement procedures provided by the Idaho income tax act, sections 63-3038, 63-3039, 63-3040, 63-3042 through 63-3065A, 63-3068, 63-3071 and 63-3075 through 63-3078, Idaho Code, shall apply and be available to the state tax commission for enforcement of the provisions of this act and the assessment and collection of any amounts due. Said sections shall for this purpose be considered a part of this act and wherever liens or any other proceedings are defined as income tax liens or proceedings they shall, when applied in enforcement or collection pursuant to this act, be described as an oil and gas tax lien or proceeding.
5. All moneys collected under this chapter shall be distributed by the state tax commission as follows:
   1. An amount of money shall be distributed to the state refund account sufficient to pay current refund claims. All refunds authorized under this chapter by the state tax commission shall be paid through the state refund account, and those moneys are continuously appropriated.
   2. For the balance of the proceeds, forty percent (40%) shall be distributed by the end of the month following each monthly due date by the state tax commission into any oil and gas revenue share account as follows:
      1. Forty-four percent (44%) is hereby appropriated and shall be paid to the current expense fund of the county from which the oil and gas was produced, to be used to mitigate the impacts associated with oil and gas production, development and transportation in that county;
      2. Twenty-eight percent (28%) is hereby appropriated and shall be paid to the cities within the county from which the oil and gas was produced. Such funds shall be distributed to each city based upon the proportion that the city’s population bears to the total population of all of the cities within the county; and
      3. Twenty-eight percent (28%) is hereby appropriated and shall be paid to the public school income fund.
   3. The remainder of the moneys deposited into the oil and gas conservation fund, sixty percent (60%) of the proceeds after refunds, may be expended pursuant to legislative appropriation and shall be used for defraying the expenses of the oil and gas conservation commission in carrying out the provisions of this act. At the beginning of each fiscal year, those moneys in the oil and gas conservation fund, after applicable refunds and distribution as noted in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection, that exceed two hundred percent (200%) of the current year’s appropriations for the oil and gas conservation commission shall be transferred to the general fund. The oil and gas conservation commission shall audit all bills for salaries and expenses incurred in the enforcement of this act that may be payable from the oil and gas conservation fund that shall be audited, allowed and paid as to the claims against the state.

The state tax commission may be made a party defendant in an action at law or in equity by any person aggrieved by the unlawful seizure or sale of his property, or in any suit for refund or to recover an overpayment, but only the state of Idaho shall be responsible for any final judgment secured against the state tax commission, and said judgment or any other amount erroneously or illegally collected shall be paid or satisfied out of the state refund account created by section 63-3067, Idaho Code.

§ 47-331. Obligation to pay royalties as essence of contract — Interest.

1. The obligation arising under an oil and gas lease to pay oil and gas royalties to the royalty owner or the owner’s assignee, to deliver oil and gas to a purchaser to the credit of the royalty owner or the owner’s assignee, or to pay a portion of the proceeds of the sale of the oil and gas to the royalty owner or the owner’s assignee is of the essence in the lease contract.
2. Unless otherwise agreed by the parties:
   1. A royalty of no less than twelve and one-half percent (12.5%) of the oil and gas or natural gas plant liquids produced and saved shall be paid. The lessee shall make payments in legal tender unless written instructions for payment in kind have been provided.
   2. Royalty shall be due on all production sold from the leased premises except on that consumed for the direct operation of the producing wells and that lost through no fault of the lessee.
3. If the operator under an oil and gas lease fails to pay oil and gas royalties to the royalty owner or the owner’s assignee within one hundred twenty (120) days after the first production of oil and gas under the lease is marketed, or within sixty (60) days for all oil and ninety (90) days for all gas produced and marketed thereafter, the unpaid royalties shall bear interest at the maximum rate of interest authorized under section 28-22-104(1), Idaho Code, from the date due until paid. Provided, however, that whenever the aggregate amount of royalties due to a royalty owner for a twelve (12) month period is less than one hundred dollars ($100), the operator may remit the royalties on an annual basis without any interest due.
4. A royalty owner seeking a remedy for failure to make payments under the lease or seeking payments under this section may file a complaint with the commission or may bring an action in the district court pursuant to section 47-333, Idaho Code. The prevailing party in any proceeding brought under this section is entitled to recover court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.
5. This section does not apply if a royalty owner or the owner’s assignee has elected to take the owner’s or assignee’s proportionate share of production in kind or if there is a dispute as to the title of the minerals or entitlement to royalties, the outcome of which would affect distribution of royalty payments.

§ 47-332. Reports to royalty owners.

1. Each royalty payment shall be accompanied by an oil and gas royalty check stub that includes the following information:
   1. Lease or well identification;
   2. Month and year of sales included in the payment;
   3. Total volumes of oil, condensate, natural gas liquids or other liquids sold in barrels or gallons, and gas in MCF;
   4. Price per barrel, gallon, or MCF, including British thermal unit adjustment of gas sold;
   5. Severance taxes attributable to said interest;
   6. Net value of total sales attributed to such payment after deduction of severance taxes;
   7. Owner’s interest in the well, expressed as a decimal to eight (8) places;
   8. Royalty owner’s share of the total value of sales attributed to the payment before any deductions;
   9. Royalty owner’s share of the sales value attributed to the payment, less the owner’s share of the severance taxes;
   10. An itemized list of any other deductions; and
   11. An address at which additional information pertaining to the royalty owner’s interest in production may be obtained and questions may be answered. If information is requested by certified mail, an answer must be mailed by certified mail within thirty (30) days of receipt of the request.
2. All revenue decimals shall be calculated to at least eight (8) decimal places.
3. All oil and gas volumes shall be measured by certified and proved meters.
4. The lessee must maintain, for a period of five (5) years, and make available to the lessor upon request, copies of all documents, records or reports confirming the gross production, disposition and market value including gas meter readings, pipeline receipts, gas line receipts and other checks or memoranda of the amount produced and put into pipelines, tanks, or pools and gas lines or gas storage, and any other reports or records that the lessor may require to verify the gross production, disposition and market value.

§ 47-333. Action for accounting for royalty.

1. Whenever an owner of a royalty interest makes a written demand for an accounting of the oil and gas produced, but no more frequently than once every twenty-four (24) months, and makes written demand for delivery or payment of his royalty as may then be due upon the person or persons obligated for the delivery or payment of the royalty, and the obligated persons then fail to make the accounting demanded and the payment or delivery of the royalty due within a period of ninety (90) days following the date upon which the demand is made, then the royalty owner may file an action in the district court of the county wherein the lands are located to compel the accounting demanded and to recover the payment or delivery of the royalty due against the person or persons obligated.
2. In such an action, the prevailing party or parties shall be entitled to reasonable attorney’s fees to be allowed by the court, together with the costs allowed to a prevailing party, pursuant to section 12-120, Idaho Code.
3. The remedies under this section are not exclusive and do not abrogate any right or remedy under other laws of this state.

§ 47-334. Use of surface land by owner or operator.

1. For the purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:
   1. “Surface land” means land upon which oil and gas operations are conducted.
   2. “Crops” means any growing vegetative matter used for an agricultural purpose, including forage for grazing and domesticated animals.
   3. “Surface landowner” means a person who owns all or part of the surface land as shown by the records of the county in which the surface land is located. Surface landowner does not include the surface landowner’s lessee, renter, tenant or other contractually related person.
   4. “Surface landowner’s property” means a surface landowner’s surface land, crops on the surface land and existing improvements on the surface land.
   5. “Surface use agreement” means an agreement between an owner or operator and a surface landowner addressing the use and reclamation of surface land owned by the surface landowner and compensation for damage to the surface land caused by oil and gas operations that result in loss of the surface landowner’s crops on the surface land, loss of value of existing improvements owned by the surface landowner on the surface land and permanent damage to the surface land.
2. An owner or operator may:
   1. Enter onto surface land under which the owner or operator holds rights to conduct oil and gas operations; and
   2. Use the surface land:
      1. To the extent reasonably necessary to conduct oil and gas operations; and
      2. Consistent with allowing the surface landowner the greatest possible use of the surface landowner’s property, to the extent that the surface landowner’s use does not interfere with the owner’s or operator’s oil and gas operations.
3. Except as is reasonably necessary to conduct oil and gas operations, an owner or operator shall:
   1. Mitigate the effects of accessing the surface landowner’s surface land;
   2. Minimize the interference with the surface landowner’s use of the surface landowner’s property; and
   3. Compensate a surface landowner for unreasonable:
      1. Loss of a surface landowner’s crops on the surface land;
      2. Loss of value to existing improvements owned by a surface landowner on the surface land; and
      3. Permanent damage to the surface land.
4. For the purposes of this section, an owner or operator is not required to:
   1. Obtain location or spacing exceptions from the department or commission; or
   2. Utilize directional or horizontal drilling techniques that are not:
      1. Technologically feasible;
      2. Economically practicable; or
      3. Reasonably available.
5. The provisions of subsection (2) of this section do not apply to the extent that they conflict with or impair a contractual provision relevant to an owner’s or operator’s use of surface land for oil and gas operations.
6. 1. The provisions of this section do not prevent: (6)(a) The provisions of this section do not prevent:
      1. A person from seeking a remedy allowed by law; or
      2. An owner or operator and a surface landowner from addressing the use of surface land for oil and gas operations through a lease, a surface use agreement or another written contract.
   2. An agreement described in paragraph (a)(ii) of this subsection shall control:
      1. The use of surface land for oil and gas operations; and
      2. Compensation for damage to the surface land caused by oil and gas operations.
7. A nonbinding mediation may be requested by a surface landowner and an owner or operator by providing written notice to the other party if they are unable to agree on the amount of damages for unreasonable crop loss on the surface land, unreasonable loss of value to existing improvements owned by the surface landowner on the surface land, or unreasonable permanent damage to the surface land. A mediator may be mutually selected by a surface landowner and an owner or operator. The surface landowner and the owner or operator shall equally share the cost of the mediator’s services. The mediation provisions of this section do not prevent or delay an owner or operator from conducting oil and gas operations in accordance with applicable law.
8. A surface use bond shall be furnished to the department by the owner or operator in accordance with the following provisions:
   1. A surface use bond does not apply to surface land where the surface landowner is a party or a successor of a party to:
      1. A lease of the underlying privately owned oil and gas;
      2. A surface use agreement applicable to the surface landowner’s surface land; or
      3. A contract, waiver or release addressing an owner’s or operator’s use of the surface landowner’s surface land.
   2. The surface use bond shall be in the amount of six thousand dollars ($6,000) per well site and shall be conditioned upon the performance by the owner or operator of the duty to protect a surface landowner against unreasonable loss of crops on surface land, unreasonable loss of value of existing improvements, and unreasonable permanent damage to surface land.
   3. The surface use bond shall be furnished to the department on a form designed by the department after good faith negotiation and prior to the approval of the application for a permit to drill. The mediation process identified in this section may commence and is encouraged to be completed. The department may accept a surface use bond in the form of a cash account or a certificate of deposit. Interest will remain within the account. The department may allow the owner or operator, or a subsequent owner or operator, to replace an existing surface use bond with another bond that provides sufficient coverage. The surface use bond shall remain in effect by the operator until released by the department.
   4. The surface use bond shall be payable to the department for the use and benefit of the surface landowner, subject to this section. The surface use bond shall be released to the owner or operator after the department receives sufficient information that:
      1. A surface use agreement or other contractual arrangement has been reached;
      2. Final resolution of the judicial appeal process for an action for unreasonable damages has occurred and damages have been paid; or
      3. Plugging and abandonment of the well is completed.
   5. The department shall make a reasonable effort to contact the surface landowner prior to the department’s release of the surface use bond.

§ 47-335. Producers — Monthly statements — Idaho state tax commission.

1. Every producer engaged in the production of oil or gas from any well or wells in the state shall each month file with the Idaho state tax commission, on forms prescribed by the Idaho state tax commission, a statement containing the information required by subsection (2) of this section relating to the oil or gas produced, saved and sold or transported from the premises in Idaho where produced.
2. The statement required in subsection (1) of this section shall include:
   1. The name, description and location of:
      1. Every well or wells; and
      2. Every field in which the well or wells are located; and
   2. Any other reasonable and necessary information required by the Idaho state tax commission.
3. The statements required to be filed with the Idaho state tax commission shall be signed and sworn to by the producer or a designee.
4. The Idaho state tax commission is authorized to conduct audits, relating to producer compliance with the provisions of this section, at least every three (3) years.

§ 47-336. Interstate compact for conservation of oil and gas ratified.

1. The state of Idaho does hereby ratify, approve, adopt and confirm the interstate compact to conserve oil and gas heretofore executed in the city of Dallas, Texas, on February 16, 1935, and is now deposited with the department of state of the United States and which has been extended with the consent of congress to September 1, 1947, which said compact is substantially as follows:

ARTICLE II

The purpose of this compact is to conserve oil and gas by the prevention of physical waste thereof from any cause.

ARTICLE III

Each state bound hereby agrees that within a reasonable time it will enact laws, or if the laws have been enacted, then it agrees to continue the same in force, to accomplish within reasonable limits the prevention of:

1. The operation of any oil well with an inefficient gas-oil ratio.
2. The drowning with water of any stratum capable of producing oil or gas, or both oil and gas, in paying quantities.
3. The avoidable escape into the open air or the wasteful burning of gas from a natural gas well.
4. The creation of unnecessary fire hazards.
5. The drilling, equipping, locating, spacing or operating of a well or wells so as to bring about physical waste of oil or gas or loss in the ultimate recovery thereof.
6. The inefficient, excessive or improper use of the reservoir energy in producing any well.

The enumeration of the foregoing subjects shall not limit the scope of the authority of any state.

ARTICLE IV

ARTICLE VI

Each state joining herein shall appoint one representative to a commission hereby constituted and designated as “The Interstate Oil Compact Commission,” the duty of which said commission shall be to make inquiry and ascertain from time to time such methods, practices, circumstances, and conditions as may be disclosed for bringing about conservation and the prevention of physical waste of oil and gas, and at such intervals as said commission deems beneficial it shall report its findings and recommendations to the several states for adoption or rejection.

The commission shall have the power to recommend the coordination of the exercise of the police powers of the several states within their several jurisdictions to promote the maximum ultimate recovery from the petroleum reserves of said states, and to recommend measures for the maximum ultimate recovery of oil and gas. Said commission shall organize and adopt suitable rules and regulations for the conduct of its business.

No action shall be taken by the commission except: (1) by the affirmative votes of the majority of the whole number of the compacting states represented at any meeting, and (2) by a concurring vote of a majority in interest of the compacting states at said meeting, such interest to be determined as follows: such vote of each state shall be in the decimal proportion fixed by the ratio of its daily average production during the preceding calendar half-year to the daily average production of the compacting states during said period.

ARTICLE VII

No state joining herein shall become financially obligated to any other state, nor shall the breach of the terms hereof by any state subject such state to financial responsibility to the other states joining herein.

ARTICLE VIII

This compact shall continue in effect until congress withdraws its consent. But any state joining herein may, upon sixty (60) days notice, withdraw herefrom.

The representatives of the signatory states have signed this agreement in a single original which shall be deposited in the archives of the department of state of the United States, and a duly certified copy shall be forwarded to the governor of each of the signatory states.

This compact shall become effective when ratified and approved as provided in article I of this compact. Any oil-producing state may become a party hereto by affixing its signature to a counterpart to be similarly deposited, certified, and ratified.

(2) Notice of approval of said compact shall be given by the governor of Idaho to the interstate oil and gas compact commission (IOGCC) and to the department of state of the United States. (3) That the governor of the state of Idaho be and hereby is authorized and empowered, for and on behalf of the state of Idaho, to determine when and if it shall be for the best interests of the state of Idaho to withdraw from said compact, upon sixty (60) days’ notice, as provided by terms thereof, and in the event he shall determine that the state should withdraw from said compact, he shall have full power and authority to give necessary notice and take any and all other steps necessary to effect the withdrawal of the state of Idaho from said compact.

(4) The governor of the state of Idaho shall appoint one (1) representative of the state of Idaho to the IOGCC, whose duty and authority on behalf of the state of Idaho shall be as provided in said compact.

§ 47-401 — 47-431. General safety regulations for mines. [Repealed.]

§ 47-501 — 47-504. Dust prevention — Procedures — Penalty for violation. [Repealed.]

§ 47-601. Mining claim locations authorized.

Persons are authorized to locate mining claims upon that public domain in the state of Idaho which is open to location under the mining laws of the United States. The location of a mining claim shall be made by posting notice of location and by marking the boundaries as provided in section 47-602[, Idaho Code] of this chapter.

§ 47-602. Method of locating mining claim.

The locator of a mining claim must at the time of making his location designate his claim by posting at one (1) corner of the claim his notice of location in writing in which there shall be stated:

1. The name of the locator or locators.
2. The name of the claim and whether located as a lode mining claim or as a placer mining claim.
3. The date of the location and the mining district, if any, and the county in which the claim is located.
4. The directions and distances which describe the claim.
5. The direction and distance from the corner where notice is posted to such natural object or permanent monument, if any such there be, as will fix and describe in the notice itself the site of the claim.

Before recording his notice of location, the locator must mark the boundaries of his mining claim by placing at each corner or angle of the claim a substantial monument or a post at least four (4) feet in height and four (4) inches square or in diameter. Each post and monument shall be marked with the name of the claim, the position or number of the corner or angle and the direction of the boundary lines. The locator shall mark the boundary lines so that they can be readily traced. Where it is impracticable to place a monument or post in its true position, a witness monument shall be erected and marked to indicate the true position of the corner or angle.

§ 47-603, 47-603A. Shaft must be sunk — Relocation — Open cuts and drill holes in lieu of shaft. [Repealed.]

§ 47-604. Notice must be recorded.

Within ninety (90) days after the location of the claim the locator or his assigns must file for record in the office of the county recorder of the county in which the claim is situated, a copy of his notice of location. Failure to file notice of location for record within ninety (90) days after location of the claim shall constitute an abandonment of the claim.

§ 47-605. Record of additional certificate.

If at any time the locator of any mining claim heretofore or hereafter located, or his assigns, shall apprehend that his original certificate was defective, erroneous, or that the requirements of the law had not been complied with before filing, or shall be desirous of changing the surface boundaries, or of taking any part of an overlapping claim which has been abandoned, or in case the original certificate was made prior to the passage of this law, and he shall be desirous of securing the benefits of this chapter, such locator or his assigns may file an additional certificate subject to the conditions of this chapter, and to contain all that this chapter requires an original certificate to contain: provided, that such amended location does not interfere with the existing rights of others at the time when such amendment is made.

§ 47-606. Affidavit of performance of labor — Notice of acceptance of waiver, suspension or extension — Fees — Effect as evidence.

Within sixty (60) days after any time set or period allowed for the performance of labor, or making improvements upon any lode or placer claim, the person in whose behalf such work or improvement is performed or some person for him, must make and record an affidavit in substance as follows:

State of Idaho, county of . . . ., ss.

Before me, the subscriber, personally appeared . . . ., who being first duly sworn says, that at least . . . . dollars worth of work or improvements were performed or made upon . . . . claim, situate in . . . . mining district, County of . . . ., State of Idaho:

That such expenditure was made by, for, or at the expense of . . . ., owner of said claim, for the purpose of holding said claim; all stakes, monuments or trees marking boundaries of said claim are in proper place and position.

Subscribed and sworn to before me this . . . . day of . . . ., .....

The fee for administering the oath and recording the foregoing affidavit, when taken before any county recorder, shall be as provided by section 31-3205, Idaho Code.

Such affidavit, or a certified copy thereof in case the original is lost, shall be prima facie evidence of the performance of such labor. The failure to file such affidavit shall be considered prima facie evidence that such labor has not been done.

When the performance of annual labor upon any lode or placer claim is suspended, extended or waived by act of congress of the United States, and provision is therein made for filing or recording a notice, affidavit or statement by the claimant or other person for him, accepting the provisions of said act, then the same shall be filed as herein provided for affidavit of performance of annual labor, and the same fees shall be charged therefor and the same effect shall be given thereto, and the same presumptions shall arise therefrom as provided herein for said affidavit of performance of annual labor.

§ 47-607. Location of abandoned claim.

The location of abandoned claims shall be done in the same manner as if the location were of a new claim including the erection of new posts or monuments.

§ 47-608. Notice must claim only one location.

No location notice shall claim more than one location, whether the location is made by one or several locators, and if it purport to claim more than one location it is absolutely void.

§ 47-609. Security to surface owners — Injunction.

When the right to mine is in any case separate from the ownership or right of occupancy of the surface ground, the owners or rightful occupants of the surface ground may demand satisfactory security from the miners, and if it be refused or not given, may enjoin such miners from working such ground until such security is given. The court granting the writ of injunction shall fix the amount and nature of the security.

§ 47-610. Deputy recorders — Appointment

Term of service. [Repealed.]

§ 47-611. Affidavit of locators.

At or before the time of presenting a location notice for record, whether it be for a quartz lode or placer claim, one (1) of the locators named in the same must make and subscribe an affidavit, in writing on or attached to the notice, substantially in the following form, to wit:

State of Idaho, county of ...., ss.

I, ...., do solemnly swear that I am a citizen of the United States of America (or have declared my intentions to become such), and that I am acquainted with the mining ground described in this notice of location, and herewith called the .... lode or placer claim; that the ground and claim therein described or any part thereof has not, to the best of my knowledge and belief, been previously located according to the laws of the United States and this state, or if so located, that the same has been abandoned or forfeited by reason of the failure of such former locators to comply in respect thereto with the requirements of said laws.

...............................

Signature

Subscribed and sworn to before me this .... day of .... .....

...............................

Signature

§ 47-612. Manner of recording notices.

The location notice herein required to be recorded must be recorded in the office of the county recorder of the county in which the claim is located (when the legal fee therefor is tendered), in a book kept for that purpose. Said book must be indexed, with the names of all the locators arranged in alphabetical order, according to the family or surname of each.

§ 47-613. Certain surveys may qualify as annual labor.

Annual assessment work or labor upon a mining claim as required by the United States mining laws shall be defined to include, without being limited to, geological, geochemical and geophysical surveys conducted by qualified experts and verified by a detailed report filed for record in the office of the county recorder of the county in which the claim is located which sets forth fully (1) the location of the work performed in relation to the boundaries of the claim, (2) the nature, extent, and costs thereof, (3) the basic findings therefrom, and (4) the name, address, and professional background of the person or persons conducting the work. Surveys of this kind, however, may not be applied as labor for more than two (2) consecutive years or for more than a total of five (5) years on any one (1) mining claim, and each of these surveys shall be nonrepetitive of any previous survey on the same claim.

§ 47-614. Definitions.

As used in section 47-613[, Idaho Code]:

1. the term “geological surveys” means surveys on the ground for mineral deposits by the proper application of the principles and techniques of the science of geology as they relate to the search for and discovery of mineral deposits;
2. the term “geochemical surveys” means surveys on the ground for mineral deposits by the proper application of the principles and techniques of the science of chemistry as they relate to the search for and discovery of mineral deposits;
3. the term “geophysical surveys” means surveys on the ground for mineral deposits through the employment of generally recognized equipment and methods measuring physical differences between rock types or discontinuities in geological formations;
4. the term “qualified expert” means an individual qualified by education or experience to conduct geological, geochemical, or geophysical surveys.

§ 47-615 — 47-617. Seal of deputies — Limitation on powers — Placer claims — Location. [Repealed.]

§ 47-618. Lode and placer claims — Official patent survey as labor on improvement.

It is hereby declared that an official patent survey of a lode or placer mining claim or claims by a United States mineral surveyor constitutes and is labor performed upon an improvement made upon or for the benefit of an unpatented lode or placer mining claim or claims.

§ 47-619. Lode and placer claims — Official patent survey as credit on annual assessment work.

An official patent survey of a lode or placer mining claim or claims by a United States mineral surveyor may be credited to annual assessment work or labor, but in no case shall the credit for such survey and its attendant expense exceed the required assessment for one (1) year on the claim or claims surveyed. When credit is sought for such work or improvement, the claimant must file in the recorder’s office in the county in which such claim is situated the affidavit of such United States mineral surveyor, showing the cost of such survey, and when so filed the actual cost of such survey shall be deemed and considered as labor and improvements done and performed upon said claim or claims.

§ 47-701. Reservation of mineral deposits to state — Terms defined.

1. The terms “mineral lands,” “mineral,” “mineral deposits,” “deposit,” and “mineral right,” as used in this chapter, and amendments thereto shall be construed to mean and include all coal, oil, oil shale, gas, phosphate, sodium, asbestos, gold, silver, lead, zinc, copper, antimony, geothermal resources, salable minerals, and all other mineral lands, minerals or deposits of minerals of whatsoever kind or character.
2. Such deposits in lands belonging to the state are hereby reserved to the state and are reserved from sale except upon a rental and royalty basis and except when the surface estate is identified by the state board of land commissioners as having the potential highest and best use for development purposes, such as residential, commercial or industrial purposes. Except for the aforementioned purposes, the purchaser of all other state land shall acquire no right, title or interest in or to such deposits, and the right of such purchaser shall be subject to the reservation of all mineral deposits and to the conditions and limitations prescribed by law providing for the state and persons authorized by it to prospect for, mine, and remove such deposits and to occupy and use so much of the surface of said land as may be required for all purposes reasonably incident to the mining and removal of such deposits therefrom.
3. An exchange of state land consummated by the board under authority of section 58-138, Idaho Code, shall not be considered a sale of state lands. The transfers of mineral deposits heretofore made in such exchanges are hereby approved.

§ 47-702. Right of exploration and withdrawal.

1. All lands belonging to the state of Idaho in which the mineral deposits, excepting oil and gas and geothermal resources, are owned by the state, and which have not been located, leased, or withdrawn in accordance with the terms of this chapter, are hereby declared to be free and open to casual exploration.
2. The board of land commissioners is authorized in its discretion to withdraw from entry and exploration specifically described tracts of state lands under its control and jurisdiction, or state lands under the control and jurisdiction of other state agencies. Within thirty (30) days of the decision for such withdrawal the board of land commissioners shall publish a notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the county or counties in which such lands are situated providing the legal description of the lands withdrawn. Concerned citizens shall have thirty (30) days from the date of publication to request an appeal of such withdrawal to the board of land commissioners.

§ 47-703. Exploration locations on state lands.

1. Location for exploration purposes may be made upon lands belonging to the state of Idaho in which the mineral rights are reserved or belong to the state, including the beds of all navigable rivers in the state of Idaho and all portions of said navigable rivers between the natural or ordinary high water marks, providing that no exploration location may be made on any lands for which a mineral lease application has been made and is pending as provided in section 47-704, Idaho Code; providing further, that no exploration location may be made for salable minerals as that term is used in section 47-701, Idaho Code.
2. Such locations when made upon surveyed land shall conform to legal subdivisions. When made upon the beds of navigable rivers, they shall not exceed one-half (½) river mile. When made on surveyed land, they shall not exceed twenty (20) acres except that when made upon surveyed land designated as a lot, they may equal one-half (½) of said lot. Descriptions of locations made on the beds of navigable rivers, the boundaries of which shall have been meandered, shall be described as near as may be with the lotting of the fractional subdivisions bordering upon the navigable rivers, and the description of the location shall be so accurately drawn and tied to the government corners that the ground may be accurately located and so described that the location may be accurately platted upon the books of the state board of land commissioners.
3. The discoverer of a mineral deposit or a person desiring to prospect for mineral shall immediately post conspicuously on each twenty (20) acre tract or fraction thereof, or each one-half (½) river mile that he desires to locate, an exploration certificate of location declaring that he has made such discovery or declaring that he desires to prospect for mineral, together with the date of such discovery or declaration. Said certificate shall be in such form as the board may prescribe. The locator shall be allowed twenty (20) days from such date to file an exact copy of exploration certificate of location with the state board of land commissioners and pay the appropriate fees. Said certificate shall designate the legal subdivisions located and shall be recorded in the office of said board as of the date of filing, and an entry of such location shall be made upon the plat and tract books.
4. The locator shall be entitled to hold said location for a period of two (2) years from the first of the month following the date of recording and by performing one hundred dollars ($100) worth of work during each year for each location.
5. Work within the meaning of this chapter shall consist of tunnels, shafts, or other mining excavations or development, including drilling by conventional methods and pits or shafts sunk to determine the value of the gravels. Work shall include roads, trails, buildings, machinery, or other surface improvement. All such work may be done at one (1) place on the location or at as many places as the locator may desire, and in case two (2) or more locations are under the same ownership, then said work may be performed on any one (1) or more locations. Work so performed as annual assessment, where performed for the benefit of a group contiguous and under common ownership, shall be such that it shall be of material benefit to each and every location forming the contiguous group.

§ 47-703A. Exploration on state lands — Bond.

1. With the exception of casual exploration as defined in subsection (6)(a) of this section, prior to motorized exploration on state lands, an operator shall first submit to the director of the department of lands, an exploration and reclamation plan and a bond in such form as prescribed by the board. The bond shall be in an amount determined by the board to be the estimated reasonable costs to perform the reclamation activities described in the exploration and reclamation plan in the event of the failure of the operator to complete those activities, plus ten percent (10%) of such costs, and conditioned on the payment of all damages to the land and resources thereon caused by the motorized exploration. An operator shall also comply with the dredge and placer mining act [Idaho dredge and placer mining protection act], chapter 13, title 47, Idaho Code, and the surface mining act [Idaho mined land reclamation act], chapter 15, title 47, Idaho Code, where applicable. Written approval by the board is required prior to entry for motorized exploration.
2. Except as provided in this subsection, no bond for exploration reclamation submitted pursuant to this chapter shall exceed two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) for any given acre of affected land. The board may require a bond in excess of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) for any given acre of affected land only when the following conditions have been met:
   1. The board has determined that such bond is necessary to meet the requirements of this chapter;
   2. The board has delivered to the operator, in writing, a notice setting forth the reasons it believes such bond is necessary; and
   3. The board has conducted a hearing where the operator is allowed to give testimony to the board concerning the amount of the proposed bond. The hearing shall be held under such rules as promulgated by the board. This requirement for hearing may be waived, in writing, by the operator. Any hearing that is held shall, at the discretion of the director, extend the time up to thirty (30) days in which the board must act on a submitted plan.
3. Weather permitting, the board shall deliver to the operator within sixty (60) days after the receipt of any exploration and reclamation plan a notice of rejection or notice of approval of said plan, as the case may be; provided, however, that if the board fails to deliver a notice of approval or notice of rejection within said time period, the plan submitted shall be deemed approved under subsection (1) of this section, and the operator may, upon furnishing a bond to the board that meets the requirements of subsection (1) of this section, commence and conduct his motorized exploration on the lands covered by such plan as if a notice of approval of said plan had been received from the board; provided, however, that if weather conditions prevent the board from inspecting the lands to obtain information needed to approve or reject a submitted plan, it may, in writing to the operator, extend the time not to exceed thirty (30) days after weather conditions permit such inspection. Any notice of rejection issued by the director of the department of lands or his properly authorized designated officer may be appealed by the operator to the board.
4. The operator shall reclaim the surface damaged by the motorized exploration to the approximate previous contour and condition insofar as is reasonably possible.
5. When all reclamation activities described in the exploration and reclamation plan have been completed, the operator shall notify the board. Within thirty (30) days after the receipt of such notice, weather permitting, the board shall notify the operator as to whether or not the reclamation activities have been satisfactorily completed. Upon the determination by the board that the reclamation activities in question have been satisfactorily completed, the board shall release the bond. If weather conditions prevent the board from obtaining information needed to determine if the reclamation activities have been satisfactorily completed, it may, in writing to the operator, extend the time not to exceed thirty (30) days after weather conditions permit such inspection. Any notice issued by the director of the department of lands or his properly authorized designated officer to not release the bond may be appealed by the operator to the board.
6. The following definitions shall apply to this chapter:
   1. “Casual exploration” means entry and/or exploration which does not appreciably disturb or damage the land or resources thereon. Casual exploration includes, but is not limited to, geochemical and/or geophysical exploration techniques, sampling with hand tools, and entry using wheeled vehicles for transportation to conduct such exploration. Exploration using suction dredges having an intake diameter of two (2) inches or less shall be considered casual exploration when operated on endowment lands in a perennial stream. Exploration using suction dredges having an intake diameter of five (5) inches or less shall be considered casual exploration when operated in a navigable river. All suction dredging on state lands must follow the requirements of the stream protection act, chapter 38, title 42, Idaho Code.
   2. “Motorized exploration” means exploration which may appreciably disturb or damage the land or resources thereon. Motorized exploration includes, but is not limited to, drilling, trenching, dredging, or other techniques which employ the use of earth moving or other motorized equipment, seismic operations using explosives, and sampling with suction dredges having an intake diameter greater than two (2) inches when operated on endowment land in a perennial stream, and sampling with suction dredges having an intake diameter greater than five (5) inches when operated in a navigable river. When operated in an intermittent stream, suction dredges shall be considered motorized exploration regardless of the intake size.
   3. “Exploration and reclamation plan” means, for this section only, a written plan and maps with sufficient detail to accurately describe all of the activities associated with motorized exploration on state lands and the activities associated with reclamation. Reclamation activities may include, but are not limited to, regrading to resemble the original contour, plugging drill holes and revegetation. An estimate of third party reclamation costs, acceptable to the board, shall be included in the plan and will be used to determine the bond amount.

§ 47-704. Leases of mineral rights in state lands.

1. The state board of land commissioners may lease in tracts of sizes as the board may deem fair for prospecting, exploration, and mining of mineral deposits, except for leases for oil, gas and other hydrocarbons that may be contained in any portion of the unsold lands of the state or that may be contained in state lands sold with a reservation of mineral deposits or that belong to the state of Idaho by reason of being situate between the high water marks of navigable rivers of the state, for such annual rental, not less than one dollar ($1.00) per acre per annum, and for such royalty upon the product as the board may deem fair and in the interest of the state, except in the case of state oil and gas leases wherein the royalty to the state shall be not less than twelve and one-half percent (12 ½%), and provided that the minimum royalty shall not be less than two and one-half percent (2 ½%) and not more than market conditions.
2. All mineral leases, except leases for oil, gas, and other hydrocarbons, and geothermal resources of state school lands and for lands belonging to the state of Idaho, shall be for a term of up to twenty (20) years and shall be continued if any of the following provisions are met:
   1. Precious metals, minerals, mineral concentrates, mineral products, or ores are produced in paying quantities;
   2. The lessee has negotiated and remitted a prepaid royalty no less than five dollars ($5.00) per acre per year;
   3. The lessee in good faith conducts exploration, prospecting, work, or mining operations thereon;
   4. The mineral lease is undergoing a regulatory approval process for exploration, prospecting, or mining; or
   5. The lessee conducts work on land adjacent or near the leased premises as a single mining operation, including construction of infrastructure associated with mining.
3. Provided, that the leaseholder of any mineral lease except leases for oil, gas, and other hydrocarbons, and geothermal resources heretofore or hereafter issued, upon the expiration of the initial lease and all renewals thereof, shall be given the preferential right to renew such lease or renewal leases under such readjustment of the terms and conditions as the board may determine to be necessary in the interest of the state.
4. All applications received, whether by mail or by personal delivery over the counter, shall be immediately stamped with the date and hour of filing. Simultaneous filings result when two (2) or more applications are received for the same lands during the same hour of the same day. Simultaneous filings shall be resolved by competitive bidding. This provision does not apply to applications received from an applicant having a preferential right under this section. In the absence of a simultaneous filing, and except for lands and resources which may be designated for competitive bidding, right of priority to a mineral lease shall be determined by the first qualified applicant who shall file a completed, signed application on the form of the department of lands or exact copy thereof between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. during any business day, together with the application fee set by the board. (5) Applications for mineral leases shall be made under oath in such form as the board may prescribe, and the applicant shall describe the land, specify the particular mineral or minerals, and give such additional information as may be required by the rules and regulations of the board. If the applicant for a lease has previously filed a certificate of location, as provided in section 47-703, Idaho Code, upon any part of the land desired to be leased, such application shall be given a preferential right to the land covered by his location; that no lands upon which a mineral location has been duly made and recorded as provided in section 47-703, Idaho Code, shall be leased for mining purposes during the two (2) year periods to any applicant except the person having made such location; provided, however, that no locations may be made for oil and gas deposits or lands, or geothermal resources.
5. Applications for mineral leases shall be made under oath in such form as the board may prescribe, and the applicant shall describe the land, specify the particular mineral or minerals, and give such additional information as may be required by the rules and regulations of the board. If the applicant for a lease has previously filed a certificate of location, as provided in section 47-703, Idaho Code, upon any part of the land desired to be leased, such application shall be given a preferential right to the land covered by his location; that no lands upon which a mineral location has been duly made and recorded as provided in section 47-703, Idaho Code, shall be leased for mining purposes during the two (2) year periods to any applicant except the person having made such location; provided, however, that no locations may be made for oil and gas deposits or lands, or geothermal resources.
6. Any motorized exploration as defined in section 47-703, Idaho Code, on the lands between the ordinary high water marks of any navigable river of the state shall be prohibited except upon written approval by the board and submission of a bond to the department in the form and amount set by the board; and, if applicable, an operator shall also comply with the [Idaho] dredge and placer mining [protection] act, chapter 13, title 47, Idaho Code; provided, that in all instances an operator shall comply with the stream protection act and all other applicable laws and rules of the state.
7. Upon receipt by the state board of land commissioners of an application to lease any lands which may belong to the state of Idaho by reason of being situate between the high water marks of navigable rivers of the state, the board shall cause, at the expense of the applicant, a notice of such application to be published once a week for two (2) issues in a newspaper of general circulation in the county or counties in which said lands described in said application are situated. The board or its authorized representative shall hold a public hearing on the application, if requested in writing, no later than thirty (30) days after the last published notice by ten (10) persons whose lawful rights to use the waters applied for may be injured thereby, or by an association presenting a petition with signatures of not less than ten (10) such aggrieved parties; provided that the board may order a public hearing in the first instance. The board shall consider fully all written and oral submissions respecting the application.
8. Provided, however, that the state board of land commissioners shall send notice of any such application for leasing the bed of navigable rivers to the director of the department of water resources, who, if the director thinks advisable, shall at the expense of the applicant make an investigation. If said investigation shows that the rights of interested parties may be jeopardized by the issuance of the proposed lease, the director shall give notice of such applications to parties affected thereby. If it shall appear to the state board of land commissioners that the leasing of any lands between the high water marks of any navigable river will be injurious to the rights of any person or persons having the right to the use of the waters thereof, for irrigation, power, or any other lawful purpose, the state board of land commissioners shall deny such application.
9. Mineral leases granted according to this section, including but not limited to leases that have been awarded but not executed, shall comply with the following terms and conditions:
   1. After granting of a lease, no fees or payments shall be charged to lessees except for royalty payments, including prepaid and production, and rent per acre per annum.
   2. Rent per acre per annum may be indexed for inflation, but no more than three percent (3%) per annum. The rental paid shall be deducted from the royalties as they accrue for the life of the lease.
   3. No more than one (1) lease may be issued for the same mineral on the same land.
   4. Only one (1) lessee may hold multiple mineral leases on the same land.
   5. In the event of an exchange or sale involving leased lands, the purchaser shall accept and be assigned to perform the exact terms and conditions set forth in the lease as the lessor.
   6. The leaseholder demonstrates a mineral resource is present on the public lands using industry standard to estimate or project a mineral resource that is likely viable for future mineral development. The board shall recognize its role as a partner on behalf of state lands and provide confidentiality to the leaseholders regarding resource estimates that may be reported. If the leaseholder determines in the future to drop any mineral lease, the board may use this information for public consumption to encourage and support mineral development on those leases.
   7. No less than one hundred eighty (180) days prior to the expiration date of the mineral lease, lease terms and conditions shall be fairly modified and readjusted if needed. If an agreement cannot be reached, the lessor and lessee shall engage in good faith mediation. The lease shall remain in full force and effect during the mediation.

§ 47-705. Appraisal of improvements — Term construed.

Should any one apply to lease for prospecting and mining purposes the mineral deposits belonging to the state upon which improvements have been made, before the lease shall issue, to other than the owner of the improvements thereon, the applicant shall pay to the owner thereof the value of said improvements and shall file in the office of the state board of land commissioners a receipt showing that the price of said improvements, as agreed upon by the parties or fixed by appraisement under authority of the said board, has been paid to the owner thereof in full, or shall make satisfactory proof that he has tendered to such owner the price of said improvements so agreed upon or fixed by appraisement. The word “improvements” within the meaning of this section and of section 47-706[, Idaho Code,] shall be construed to mean work performed in the development of the property, the estimated value of all known or probable mineral contained in the land that has been discovered or developed through mining excavations made by lessee, and all buildings, dwellings, mill machinery, mine machinery, trails, roads, and all equipment used, constructed and necessary for the operation of the mine, mill or plant.

§ 47-706. Forfeiture of improvements.

If any mineral lease has been cancelled for a period of one (1) year and a new lease has not issued the improvements upon the property shall revert to and become the property of the state.

§ 47-707. Forfeiture of leases.

All leases of mineral deposits shall be conditional upon payment of the rental in advance annually, and upon the payment of the royalty provided for in the lease and upon the violation of any of the conditions of the lease, the board may at its option, after thirty (30) days’ notice by registered mail, cancel the lease. Upon failure or refusal of the lessee to accept the readjustment of terms and conditions determined by the board at the end of any lease period, such failure or refusal shall work a forfeiture of the preferential right of the lessee. A forfeiture of such lease, and all rights of the lessee thereunder, may be declared by the state board of land commissioners for a violation of any of the terms or conditions of said lease or of any rule or regulation of said board with respect thereto or of any of the provisions of this chapter.

§ 47-708. Rights and liabilities of lessees.

A lessee of valuable mineral deposits shall have the right at all times to enter upon the lands described in his lease for prospecting and mining, provided he shall not injure, damage, or destroy the improvements of the surface owner; and the lessee shall be liable to and shall compensate such owner for all damages to the surface of said land and improvements thereon.

Any such lessee may occupy so much of the surface of said land as may be required for all purposes reasonably incident to the mining and removal of the mineral deposits: first, upon securing the written consent or waiver of the surface owner; or, second, upon payment of the damages to the surface of said land and improvements thereon to the owner thereof where agreement may be had as to the amount thereof; or, third, in lieu of either of the foregoing provisions, upon the execution of a good and sufficient bond, or undertaking, to the state of Idaho, for the use and benefit of the owner of the land to secure the payment of such damages, as may be determined and fixed in an action brought upon the bond or undertaking in a court of competent jurisdiction against the principal and sureties thereon, such bond or undertaking to be in the form prescribed by and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the board and to be filed with and approved by the board.

Lessees of mineral lands shall fully protect the rights of all agricultural and grazing leases which have been heretofore, or may be hereafter granted, by erecting and keeping closed gates in all fences which may be opened, and inclosing or keeping covered all shafts, holes or open cuts.

§ 47-709. Mines operated under lease — Inspection by board.

The state board of land commissioners shall cause inspection to be made by a competent person or persons of all mines or works operated under leases for the production of minerals as often as the board shall deem necessary in the interest of the state, and the board shall have the right at all times to inspect said mines or works.

§ 47-710. Forms, rentals, royalties, and fees.

The board shall by rules and regulations prescribe the form of application, the form of lease, the amount of filing and recording fees, the annual rental, the amount of royalty, the basis upon which the royalty shall be computed, and such other details as it may deem necessary in the interest of the state, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.

§ 47-711. Sale of state lands containing mineral deposits.

1. Lands in which minerals are contained and the surface of which has a value for other purposes may be sold as a single estate under the provisions of chapter 3, title 58, Idaho Code, relating to the sale of state lands, when the state land is identified as having the potential highest and best use for development purposes, such as residential, commercial or industrial purposes.
2. For lands in which the surface estate previously has been sold with a reservation of the mineral estate, for which there is no lease of such mineral estate to any person other than the owner of the surface estate, and for which the potential highest and best use is for development purposes such as residential, commercial or industrial purposes, the mineral estate may be sold for its appraised value under the provisions of chapter 3, title 58, Idaho Code. The purchaser of a mineral estate who is not the owner of the surface estate shall have the same rights and liabilities with regard to the surface estate as identified in section 47-708, Idaho Code.
3. In the sale of the surface estate of all other state land, there shall be reserved to the state all mineral deposits and the right of the purchaser shall be subject to the conditions and limitations prescribed by law providing for the state or persons authorized by it to prospect for, mine and remove such deposits and to occupy and use so much of the surface of such land as may be required for all purposes reasonably incident to the mining and removal of such deposits therefrom.

§ 47-712. Applications to purchase — Certificates of purchase.

All applications to purchase those state lands that have not been identified as having the potential highest and best use for development purposes, such as residential, commercial or industrial purposes approved subsequent to the passage of this chapter shall be subject to a reservation to the state of all mineral deposits in said land. The state or persons authorized by it to prospect for, mine and remove the same as provided by law; and certificates of purchase issued by the state shall contain such reservation.

§ 47-713. Effect of partial invalidity of chapter.

If any clause, sentence, paragraph, or part of this chapter shall, for any reason, be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered.

§ 47-714. Leases of navigable river beds authorized.

The board of land commissioners of the state of Idaho is hereby specifically authorized to lease for mining purposes the beds of navigable rivers of the state of Idaho between the high water marks thereof, said leases to be given under the terms and provisions of this chapter and the rules and regulations heretofore or hereafter adopted by said board.

§ 47-715. Collection of royalties by board of land commissioners.

The board of land commissioners of the state of Idaho is hereby authorized to collect royalties and other payments to the state of Idaho under mineral leases provided for by this chapter.

§ 47-716. Applicable only to deposits in natural state.

The provisions of this chapter authorizing the leasing of the beds of the navigable rivers in the state of Idaho shall apply only to deposits in their natural state and shall not apply to dumps and tailings.

§ 47-717. Removal of commercial quantities without lease unlawful.

It shall be unlawful for any person, association, firm or corporation to remove in commercial quantities any ores, minerals, or deposits from state lands before securing a lease for said lands from the state board of land commissioners. Any person, association, firm or corporation who so removes ores, minerals or deposits shall be liable to the state for treble damages in a civil action.

§ 47-718. Violations — Remedies — Penalties.

1. In addition to any other penalties and remedies of this chapter and at law, any person, firm, or corporation who violates any provisions of this chapter or rules adopted pursuant thereto, or who fails to perform the duties imposed thereby, or who violates any determination or order thereunder or any violation of a lease granted under this chapter, the director of the department of lands may:
   1. Proceed by legal action in the name of the state of Idaho to enjoin the violation, by temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction and/or permanent injunction.
      1. The court, or a judge thereof at chambers, if satisfied from a verified complaint or by affidavit that the alleged violation has been or is being committed, may issue a temporary restraining order, without notice or bond, enjoining the defendant, his agents, employees, contractors and assigns from further violation, or from conducting exploration or mining on the state lands affected by the violation.
      2. The verified complaint or affidavit that the alleged violation has been or is being committed shall constitute prima facie evidence of great or irreparable injury and/or great waste sufficient to support the temporary restraining order.
      3. The action shall thereafter proceed as in other cases for injunctions. If at the trial the violation is established, the court shall enter a decree perpetually enjoining said defendant, his agents, employees, contractors and assigns from thereafter committing said or similar violations.
   2. Proceed by legal action in the name of the state of Idaho to obtain an order requiring the operator to promptly repair the damage and reclaim the state lands in accordance with the requirements of section 47-703A, Idaho Code, and rules adopted pursuant thereto. If thereafter the court finds that the operator is not promptly complying with such order, the court shall order the operator to immediately pay an amount determined by the department to be the anticipated cost of reasonable repair and reclamation in accordance with section 47-703A(4), Idaho Code, and rules adopted pursuant thereto.
   3. Proceed to forfeit the operator’s bond required by section 47-703A(1), 47-704(6) or 47-708, Idaho Code. The board may cause to have issued and served upon the operator alleged to be committing such violation, a formal complaint which includes a statement of the manner in and the extent to which said operator is alleged to be violating the provisions of this act. Such complaint may be served by certified mail, and return receipt signed by the lessee, an officer of a corporate lessee, or the designated agent of the lessee shall constitute service. The lessee shall answer the complaint and request a hearing before a designated hearing officer within thirty (30) days from receipt of the complaint if matters asserted in the complaint are disputed. If the lessee fails to answer the complaint and request a hearing, the matters asserted in the complaint shall be deemed admitted by the lessee, and the board may proceed to forfeit the bond in the amount necessary to reclaim affected lands and pay for any outstanding royalties and related administrative costs. The director of the department of lands is empowered to issue subpoenas. The hearing shall be conducted in accordance with chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code. The hearing officer shall enter an order in accordance with chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code. Appeal to a district court shall be in accordance with chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code.
   4. Cancel the lease in accordance with section 47-707, Idaho Code.
2. In addition to the injunctive remedies of subsection (1)(a) of this section:
   1. Proceed in the first instance by legal action in the name of the state of Idaho to recover from an operator who without bond has conducted or is conducting exploration with heavy equipment on state lands, including lands between the ordinary high watermarks of navigable rivers, the cost of repairing damage to and reclaiming the affected state lands in accordance with section 47-703A(4), Idaho Code, and rules adopted pursuant thereto; or if the bond on file with the department of lands is not sufficient to adequately reclaim the affected state lands, to recover the cost in excess of the bond to reclaim the affected state lands in accordance with section 47-703A(4), Idaho Code, and rules adopted pursuant thereto.
   2. Proceed by legal action in the name of the state of Idaho to recover from an operator who has removed minerals in commercial quantities from state lands, including lands between the ordinary high watermarks of navigable rivers, in violation of the provisions of section 47-717, Idaho Code, damages in the amount of the prevailing royalty rate set by the board of land commissioners for the particular mineral removed plus interest from the date of removal at the legal rate of interest due on money judgments set by the Idaho state treasurer pursuant to section 28-22-104, Idaho Code, from the date of removal to judgment.
3. In addition to any other penalties or injunctive remedies of this chapter, any person, firm, or corporation who violates any of the provisions of this chapter or rules adopted pursuant thereto, or who fails to perform the duties imposed by these provisions, or who violates any determination or order promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, shall be liable to a civil penalty of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each day during which any provision of this chapter, rule or order has been or is being violated. All sums recovered shall be credited to the general fund.
4. An appeal from a final judgment of the district court shall be taken in the manner provided by law for appeals in civil cases.

§ 47-801. Lease of state or school lands for oil and gas development — Surface rights.

The state board of land commissioners is hereby authorized and empowered to lease for a term of up to ten (10) years, and as long thereafter as oil, gas, casinghead gas, casinghead gasoline or other hydrocarbons, or any of them, is produced in paying quantities, or as much longer thereafter as the lessee in good faith shall conduct drilling operations thereon, any state or school lands that may contain oil, gas, casinghead gas, casinghead gasoline, or other hydrocarbons, together with the right to use and occupy so much of the surface of said land as may be required for all purposes reasonably incident to the prospecting for, exploration for, drilling for, production, refining and marketing of said oil, gas, casinghead gas, casinghead gasoline or other hydrocarbons produced from said lands, including the right to construct and maintain thereon all works, buildings, plants, waterways, roads, communication lines, pipe lines, reservoirs, tanks, pumping stations, or other structures necessary to the full enjoyment thereof for the purposes of the lease.

§ 47-802. Rules and regulations governing leases and mining operations.

State board of land commissioners is hereby authorized and empowered to make and establish rules and regulations governing the issuance of oil and gas leases under the provisions of this act and covering the conduct of development and mining operations to be carried on thereunder.

§ 47-803. Conditions for drilling operations

Extension of time. [Repealed.]

§ 47-804. Limitation on area covered by lease — Right to hold more than one lease.

No single oil and gas lease given and granted under the provisions of this act shall be for an area exceeding one (1) section, provided that one (1) person, firm or corporation may hold more than one lease.

§ 47-805. Annual rental — Amount — Minimum royalty.

Oil and gas leases shall be issued at an annual rental of not less than twenty-five cents (25¢) per acre, payable in advance, and royalty on oil and gas lands shall not be less than twelve and one-half per cent (12 ½%) of oil and/or gas produced and saved from said lands under said lease. Royalties shall be paid in addition to rental payments, at the discretion of the board of land commissioners.

§ 47-806. Lease of lands for grazing or agricultural purposes — Rights of lessee under oil or gas lease.

The state board of land commissioners shall have the right to lease state or school lands for grazing or agriculture purposes, as otherwise provided, and to issue oil and gas leases covering lands leased for grazing or agricultural purposes, provided, however, that the lessee under any oil and gas lease issued under the provisions of this act shall have paramount right to the use of so much of the surface of the land as shall be necessary for the purposes of his lease and shall have the right of ingress and egress at all times during the term of said lease.

§ 47-807. Assignment or transfer of leases restricted.

No oil and gas lease made under the provisions of this act shall be assignable or transferable except upon the written consent of the board.

§ 47-808. Bond.

1. The board shall require the execution of a good and sufficient bond in an amount the board determines reasonable which shall not be less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) in favor of the state of Idaho conditioned on the payment of all damages to the surface and improvements thereon, whether or not the lands have been sold or leased for any other purposes.
2. Upon commencement of operations for the drilling of any well, lessee shall be required by the board to furnish such a bond the board determines reasonable which shall not be less than six thousand dollars ($6,000) which bond shall be in lieu of the bond required in subsection (1) of this section and shall cover all subsequent operations on said lease.

§ 47-809. Cancellation of oil and gas leases for noncompliance with conditions — Procedure — Termination of lease by lessee.

1. The state board of land commissioners shall reserve and may exercise the authority to cancel any oil and gas lease upon failure by the lessee to exercise due diligence and care in the prosecution of his operations in accordance with the terms and conditions stated in said lease and with all laws of the state of Idaho, and shall insert in every such lease appropriate provisions for its cancellation by the board in the event of noncompliance upon the part of the lessee; provided, however, that except in the instance of nonpayment of rentals or royalties, no such lease shall be cancelled by the board other than for a substantial violation of the terms thereof and unless it shall notify the lessee in writing of the existence and exact nature of the cause of cancellation and unless the lessee thereafter, and within ninety (90) days from the mailing of such notice by registered mail, shall fail to remedy such cause for cancellation; and provided further that no default by the lessee in the performance of any of the conditions or provisions of such lease as to any well or wells on any legal subdivision of the land covered by such lease shall affect the right of the lessee to continue the lessee’s possession or operation of any other well or wells, situated upon any other legal subdivision of said land. The term “legal subdivision” as herein used shall mean a subdivision as established by the United States Land Survey which most nearly approximates in size the area allocated to one well under any approved well spacing program; provided that if no special program has been approved, said term “legal subdivision” shall mean the parcel upon which such well shall be located, but in any event not less than forty (40) acres surrounding such well.
2. The lessee of any such oil and gas lease may surrender and terminate the lease as to all or any part of the lands covered by the same upon payment of the rentals then accrued and upon giving notice in writing, not less than thirty (30) days prior to such surrender or termination, to the state board of land commissioners and thereupon lessee shall be relieved from liability for rental and all other obligations as to the acreage so surrendered; provided, however, that such surrender shall not thereby relieve the lessee of any liabilities which may have accrued in connection with the lease prior to the surrender of such acreage. In the event of a partial surrender of the lands covered by such lease, the annual rental thereafter payable shall be reduced proportionately.

§ 47-810. Grants executed in accordance with constitution.

All grants and permissions under this act shall be executed as required by the Constitution of the State of Idaho, Article IV, Section 16.

§ 47-811. Cooperative development of oil and gas lands.

The state board of land commissioners is authorized to join on behalf of the state of Idaho in cooperative or unit plans of development or operation on oil and gas pools with the United States government and its lessees or permittees and with others in such form as may be acceptable to it to modify or amend the same from time to time as in its judgment it may deem advisable, to consent to and approve the designated participating area and any extension or contraction thereof and to do all acts and things which it considers necessary or advisable to make operative such unit plan or plans; and for such purposes the board is hereby authorized with the consent of its lessees to modify and change any and all terms of leases issued by it to facilitate the efficient and economical production of oil or gas from the lands under its jurisdiction; provided, however, that said board shall not use or contract to use funds under its control for the purpose of drilling or otherwise paying the cost of development of oil and gas.

§ 47-812. Application of section 47-707 limited.

Section 47-707[, Idaho Code,] shall not be construed to apply to oil and gas leases issued under the authority of section 47-801[, Idaho Code].

§ 47-901. Right of way for mining purposes.

The owner, locator or occupant of a mining claim, whether patented under the laws of the United States or held by location or possession, may have and acquire a right of way for ingress and egress, when necessary in working such mining claim, over and across the lands or mining claims of others, whether patented or otherwise.

§ 47-902. Right of way for mining purposes — Railroads, ditches, and tunnels.

When any mine or mining claim is so situated, that for the more convenient enjoyment of the same a road, railroad or tramway therefrom, or ditch or canal to convey water thereto, or a ditch, flume, cut or tunnel to drain or convey the waters or tailings therefrom, or a tunnel or shaft, may be necessary for the better working thereof, which road, railroad, tramway, ditch, canal, flume, cut, shaft or tunnel, may require the use or occupancy of lands or mining grounds, owned, occupied or possessed by others than the person or persons or body corporate, requiring an easement for any of the purposes described, the owner, claimant or occupant of the mine or mining claim first above mentioned, is entitled to a right of way, entry and possession for all the uses and privileges for such road, railroad, tramway, ditch, canal, flume, cut, shaft or tunnel, in, upon, through and across such other lands or mining claims, upon compliance with the provisions of this chapter.

§ 47-903. Action to condemn right of way.

When the owner, claimant or occupant of any mine or mining claim desires to work the same, and it is necessary, to enable him to do so successfully and conveniently, that he have a right of way for any of the purposes mentioned in the foregoing sections, if such right of way cannot be acquired by agreement with the claimant or owner of the lands or claims over, under, through, across or upon which he seeks to acquire such right of way, he may commence an action in the district court in and for the county in which such right of way, or some part thereof, is situated, by filing a verified complaint containing a particular description of the character and extent of the right sought, a description of the mine or claim of the plaintiff, and of the mine or claim and lands to be affected by such right of way or privilege, with the name of the occupant or owner thereof. He may also set forth any tender of compensation that he may have made, and demand the relief sought.

§ 47-904. Issuance and service of summons.

Upon the filing of such complaint the clerk must issue a summons as provided in other civil actions, and the same must be served in the manner prescribed by law for service in ordinary actions.

§ 47-905. Appointment of commissioners — Trial by court if commissioners not appointed.

At any time after the service of the summons the plaintiff may upon ten days’ notice to the defendant, apply to the district court or the judge thereof for the appointment of commissioners to assess the damages resulting from the grant of such right of way. If upon the hearing of such motion, and the affidavits and proofs offered by the respective parties, the judge shall be of the opinion that the plaintiff has made a prima facie case entitling him to the relief demanded in the complaint, or any part thereof, he shall appoint three commissioners, who must be disinterested persons, residents of the county, to assess the damages resulting to the claims, mines or lands of the defendant. But if such commissioners are not applied for and appointed, or their award is not approved by the judge or court, or if an appeal is taken from their award as hereinafter provided, the action shall be tried and determined by the court, and the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure applicable thereto shall govern the proceedings therein as in other civil actions. Either party shall be entitled to a jury trial and may move for a new trial and appeal as in other cases.

§ 47-906. Oath, view, and report of commissioners.

The commissioners so appointed must be sworn to faithfully and impartially discharge their duties, and must proceed without unreasonable delay to examine the premises and assess the damages resulting from such right or privilege prayed for, and report the amount of the same to the judge appointing them; and if such right of way affects the property of more than one person or company, such report must contain an assessment of damages to each company or person.

§ 47-907. Setting aside report.

For good cause shown, the judge may set aside the report of such commissioners and appoint three (3) other commissioners whose duty shall be the same as above mentioned.

§ 47-908. Rights upon payment of damages.

Upon the payment of the sum assessed as damages as aforesaid, to the persons to whom it is awarded, or a tender thereof to them, then the person petitioning as aforesaid, is entitled to the right of way prayed for in his petition, and may immediately proceed to occupy the same and erect thereon such works and structures, and make therein such excavations, as may be necessary to the use and enjoyment of the right of way so awarded.

§ 47-909. Appeal from commissioners’ award — Bond.

Appeals from the assessment of damages made by the commissioners may be made and prosecuted in the proper district court by any party interested, at any time within ten (10) days after the filing of the report of the commissioners. A written notice of such appeal must be served upon the appellee in the same manner as summons is served in civil actions. The appellant must file with the clerk of the court to which the appeal is taken, a bond with sureties to be approved by the clerk in the amount of the assessment appealed from in favor of the appellee, conditioned that the appellant will pay any costs that may be awarded to the appellee, and abide any judgment that may be rendered in the cause.

§ 47-910. Trial on appeal.

An appeal brings before the district court the necessity of the right of way or easement for the successful and convenient working of the mining claim and the amount of damages; and upon such appeal the case must be tried anew, and either party is entitled to a jury.

§ 47-911. Effect of appeal — Bond and deposit of damages.

The prosecution of an appeal from the award of the commissioners or from the judgment of the district court does not hinder, delay or prevent the plaintiff from exercising all the rights and privileges granted by the award or judgment, if he deposit with the clerk of the district court the full amount of the damages awarded or adjudged the defendant, and execute and deliver to the clerk a bond with sufficient sureties to be approved by the clerk, in an amount to be fixed by the judge of the district court, conditioned to pay to the defendant any additional amount, over and above the amount so deposited that the defendant may recover, and all costs to which he may be entitled under the provisions of this chapter. At any time after such deposit and before the final determination of the action the defendant may, upon demand, receive from the clerk the amount so deposited, but his acceptance of the same or any part thereof, shall bar any further prosecution of the appeal, and shall be deemed an acquiescence and consent to the award and judgment, and the defendant shall not be entitled to any costs subsequent to the judgment.

§ 47-912. Costs of appeal.

If the defendant recover judgment against the necessity of the easement, or for fifty dollars ($50.00) more damages than the plaintiff has tendered him as provided in the next section, or for fifty dollars ($50.00) more damages than the commissioners or judgment of the district court awarded him, he shall recover the costs of the appeal, otherwise he must pay all such costs.

§ 47-913. Costs of proceedings.

The costs and expenses of proceedings under the provisions of this chapter, except as herein otherwise provided, must be paid by the party making the application: provided, that if the applicant before the commencement of such proceedings has tendered to the parties owning or occupying the lands or mining claims, a sum equal to or more than the amount of damages recovered, all of the costs and expenses must be paid by the party or parties owning the land or claims affected by such right of way, and who appeared and resisted the claim of the applicants thereto.

§ 47-1001. Right to cross located claim.

Any person or company who has or who may hereafter have a tunnel or crosscut, the mouth of which is located upon his own ground or upon ground in his lawful occupation, shall have the right to drive and continue the same through and across any located or patented claim in front of the mouth of the tunnel, but not to follow or drive upon any vein belonging to the owner of such claim.

§ 47-1002. Owner of intersected claim may inspect tunnel.

Each tunnel or crosscut may be driven and worked for the purpose of drainage and for the purpose of reaching and working mining ground of the tunnel owner beyond the intersected claim. The owner or owners of any vein or any claim or claims so intersected, or his duly authorized agent, shall have the right to enter such tunnel upon application to the owner or owners or person in charge of said tunnel, without resorting to any process of law, for the purpose of making a survey and inspecting such vein or veins as may be crossed within the boundary lines of such intersected claim, and if the owner or owners of such tunnel shall, by bulkheading, damming back, or in any manner prevent the inspection or survey herein provided for, or if such owner or owners shall in any manner prevent the natural drainage of water from such intersected claim or claims without the consent of the owner or owners thereof, it shall work a forfeiture of all rights granted under the preceding section.

§ 47-1003. Title to ore taken from intersected claim.

If any ore, the property of the owner of the claim intersected or crossed, be extracted in driving such tunnel, it shall be the property of the owner of the vein from which it was taken and the owner of the tunnel shall be liable for all actual damages or injury done to the owner of the claim crossed by his tunnel.

§ 47-1004. Burden of proof as to discovered vein.

In all actions between the tunnel owner and others involving the right to any vein discovered in such tunnel, the burden of proving that the vein so discovered is not the property of the adverse claimant in such action shall be on the tunnel owner.

§ 47-1101. Order for performance of assessment work.

Whenever a judgment, attachment or mortgage creditor has a lien upon unpatented mining claims in this state and the annual assessment work required by the provisions of section 2324 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, as amended by act of congress of August 24, 1921, has not been performed upon such mining claims by the first day of June in any year, the judgment, attachment or mortgage creditor may apply to the court having jurisdiction for an order allowing such judgment, attachment or mortgage creditor to perform such annual assessment work upon such unpatented mining claims in order to prevent a forfeiture of such mining claims and to preserve the lien of the judgment, attachment or mortgage until the final issuance of sheriff’s deed.

§ 47-1201. License tax to be measured by one percent of the net value of ores mined — Definition of royalty.

1. Tax on mining or on receiving royalties. For the privilege of mining in this state, both placer and rock in place, every person, copartnership, company, joint stock company, trust, corporation or association, however and for whatever purpose organized, engaged in mining, upon or receiving royalties from any quartz vein or lode, or placer or rock in place mining claim, in this state containing gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, coal, phosphate, limestone, or other precious and valuable metals or minerals, or metal or mineral deposits, shall pay to the state of Idaho, in addition to all other taxes provided by law, a license tax equal in amount to one percent (1%) of the net value of the royalties received or the ores mined or extracted as determined under section 47-1202, Idaho Code, said tax to accrue during the taxable year that the product is sold or used and shall on the last day of such taxable year become a lien on property in this state of such person, copartnership, company, joint stock company, trust, corporation, or association, said tax to be due and payable on or before the fifteenth day of the fourth month following the close of the taxable year.
2. Definition of royalties. For the purpose of paragraph (a) of this section and chapter, the word “royalties” shall be construed to mean the amount in money or value of property received based upon the quantity or value of minerals extracted by any person, copartnership, company, joint stock company, trust, corporation, or association, having any right, title or interest in or to any tract of land, or any economic interest in minerals as defined by section 613 of the Internal Revenue Code, in this state for which permission has been given to another to explore, mine, take out and remove ore therefrom.
3. Definition of taxable year. The term “taxable year” with respect to any taxpayer means the taxable year elected for income tax purposes under the provisions of section 63-3010, Idaho Code.

§ 47-1202. Net value of ore to be used as measure of tax — How determined.

For the purpose of measuring and determining the amount of tax to be paid under the provisions of section 47-1201, Idaho Code, the royalties as defined in subsection (b) of section 47-1201, Idaho Code, or the net value of ore mined shall be computed under one (1) of the following methods at the election of the taxpayer. Such election, once made, shall be binding for all succeeding years unless the taxpayer secures permission from the state tax commission to change to another method:

1. Ores mined within the state shall be valued by deducting from the gross value of the ore, all costs of mining and processing such ore, using the formula prescribed in section 613 of the Internal Revenue Code and Treasury Regulation 1.613-5 for computation of the net income from mining for depletion purposes, less the deduction of depletion as computed under section 613 of the Internal Revenue Code and Treasury Regulation 1.613-5; or
2. Ores mined within the state shall be valued using the gross value determined by the U.S. Department of the Interior for computation of the value of minerals on public lands for federal royalty purposes, less the following deductions:
   1. all costs of mining and transporting such ore to the point at which the value for federal royalty purposes is determined by measurement of the quantity of ore mined; these costs to include only those directly incurred in and attributable to the actual mining and transportation operation in the state of Idaho, and
   2. the applicable portion of the federal deduction for depletion, allocated on the ratio of the gross value of the ore used for this computation, to the gross value of the ore used in the federal depletion computation.

§ 47-1203. Statement of net proceeds from mining or extracting ores — Or from royalty.

1. Every person, copartnership, company, joint stock company, trust, corporation, or association mining or receiving royalties from any quartz vein or lode, or placer or rock in place mining claim, containing gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, coal, phosphate, limestone, or other precious or valuable minerals or metals, or mineral or metal deposits, must, on or before the fifteenth day of the fourth month following the close of the taxable year make a tax return to the state tax commission, stating specifically the items of income and the deductions allowed by this act. For the purpose of enforcing this act, the income tax returns filed in accordance with the provisions of the Idaho Income Tax Act shall be open to inspection by the officer designated to enforce this act.
2. In the event the taxpayer is entitled to an automatic extension of time to file the income tax return under section 63-3033, Idaho Code, an automatic six (6) month extension is granted to file the return required under this act. In all cases of an extension of time in which to file any return, interest shall be paid on any tax due from due date to date of payment at the rate provided in section 63-3045, Idaho Code.

§ 47-1204. Statement as to entire group.

Where the same person or persons are operating or leasing to another two (2) or more mines or mining claims under one (1) general system of mining or development, a duplicate copy of the statement herein provided, and the tax herein levied, shall be made as to such entire group and need not be made as to each particular mining claim constituting said group, as provided by section 63-2804[, Idaho Code].

§ 47-1205. Definition of valuable mineral.

The term “valuable mineral” for purposes of this act, shall be deemed to include not only gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, coal, phosphate and limestone, but also any other substance not gaseous or liquid in its natural state, which makes real property more valuable by reason of its presence thereon or thereunder and upon which depletion is allowable pursuant to section 613 of the Internal Revenue Code, provided, however, that sand and gravel are not included in this definition.

§ 47-1206. Payment of mine license tax.

1. Except as provided in subsection (2), the license tax imposed by this chapter shall be paid to the state tax commission on or before the due date of the return and the commission shall remit the sums to the state treasurer, who shall place sixty-six percent (66%) to the credit of the general fund of the state and thirty-four percent (34%) to the credit of the abandoned mine reclamation fund created by the provisions of section 47-1703, Idaho Code.
2. The license tax imposed by this chapter only on mining operations that include a cyanidation facility, as defined by section 47-1503, Idaho Code, shall be paid to the state tax commission on or before the due date of the return and the commission shall remit the sums to the state treasurer who shall place thirty-three percent (33%) to the credit of the general fund of the state, thirty-three percent (33%) to the credit of the cyanidation facility closure fund created by the provisions of section 47-1513, Idaho Code, and thirty-four percent (34%) to the credit of the abandoned mine reclamation fund created by the provisions of section 47-1703, Idaho Code.

§ 47-1207. Failure to file copy of net proceeds — Failure to pay license tax — Triple liability

Injunction. [Repealed.]

§ 47-1208. Tax deficiency collection and enforcement procedures.

The deficiency in tax and notice of deficiency as well as the collection and enforcement procedures provided by the Idaho income tax act, sections 63-3030A, 63-3033, 63-3038, 63-3039, 63-3040, 63-3042 through 63-3065A, 63-3068, 63-3069, 63-3071, 63-3072, 63-3073 and 63-3075 through 63-3078, Idaho Code, shall apply and be available to the state tax commission for enforcement of the provisions of this act and the assessment and collection of any amounts due. Said sections shall for this purpose be considered a part of this act and wherever liens or any other proceedings are defined as income tax liens or proceedings they shall, when applied in enforcement or collection under this act, be described as a license tax for the privilege of mining lien or proceeding.

The state tax commission may be made a party defendant in an action at law or in equity by any person aggrieved by the unlawful seizure or sale of his property, or in any suit for refund or to recover an overpayment, but only the state of Idaho shall be responsible for any final judgment secured against the state tax commission, and said judgment shall be paid or satisfied out of the state refund account created by section 63-3067, Idaho Code.

§ 47-1301 — 47-1311. Dredge mining procedure. [Repealed.]

§ 47-1312. Policy.

It is hereby declared to be the policy of the state of Idaho to protect the lands, streams and watercourses within the state, from destruction by dredge mining and by placer mining, and to preserve the same for the enjoyment, use and benefit of all of the people, and that clean water in the streams of Idaho is in the public interest.

§ 47-1313. Definitions.

As used in this chapter:

1. “Board” means the state board of land commissioners or such representative as may be designated by the board.
2. “Director” means the director of the department of lands or such representative as may be designated by the director.
3. “Disturbed land” means land, natural watercourses, or existing stockpiles and waste piles affected by placer or dredge mining, remining, exploration, stockpiling of ore or wastes from placer or dredge mining, or construction of roads, tailings ponds, structures, or facilities appurtenant to placer or dredge mining operations.
4. “Mineral” means any ore, rock, or substance extracted from a placer deposit or from an existing placer stockpile or waste pile, but does not include coal, clay, stone, sand, gravel, phosphate, uranium, oil, or gas.
5. “Motorized earth-moving equipment” means backhoes, bulldozers, front loaders, trenchers, core drills, suction dredges with an intake diameter exceeding eight (8) inches, and other similar equipment.
6. “Natural watercourse” means any stream in the state of Idaho having definite bed and banks, and which confines and conducts continuously flowing water.
7. “Permit area” means that area designated under section 47-1317, Idaho Code, as the site of a proposed placer or dredge mining operation, including all lands to be disturbed by the operation.
8. “Person” means any person, corporation, partnership, association, or public or governmental agency engaged in placer or dredge mining, whether individually, jointly, or through subsidiaries, agents, employees, or contractors.
9. “Placer deposit” means naturally occurring unconsolidated surficial detritus containing valuable minerals, whether located inside or outside the confines of a natural watercourse.
10. “Placer or dredge exploration operation” means activities including, but not limited to, the construction of roads, trenches, and test holes, performed on a placer deposit for the purpose of locating and determining the economic feasibility of extracting minerals by placer or dredge mining.
11. “Placer or dredge mining” or “dredge or other placer mining” means the extraction of minerals from a placer deposit, including remining for sale, processing, or other disposition of earth material excavated from previous placer or dredge mining. The term “dredge or other placer mining,” wherever used in this chapter, is subject to this definition and all provisions regarding it.
12. “Placer or dredge mining operation” means placer or dredge mining which disturbs in excess of one-half (½) acre of land.

§ 47-1314. Disturbed lands to be restored — Notice and restoration of placer or dredge exploration operations.

1. Any person conducting a placer or dredge mining operation shall, within one (1) year of permanent cessation of operations as to the whole or any part of the permit area, commence restoration of disturbed lands in the permit area or in any portion thereof as to which operations are permanently ceased. In accordance with a permit approved for the operation under section 47-1317, Idaho Code, surfaces shall be returned to a contour reasonably comparable to that contour existing prior to disturbance, topsoil shall be replaced where deemed appropriate by the board, and vegetation shall be planted reasonably comparable to that vegetation existing prior to disturbance. Any disturbed natural watercourse shall be restored to a configuration and pool structure conducive to good fish and wildlife habitat and recreational use.
2. Any person desiring to conduct placer or dredge exploration operations using motorized earth-moving equipment shall, prior to or within seven (7) days of commencing exploration, notify the director in writing of the name and address of the person, and the location, anticipated size, and method of exploration. Such notice shall be subject to disclosure according to chapter 1, title 74, Idaho Code. Any placer or dredge exploration operation which causes a cumulative surface disturbance in excess of one-half (½) acre of land, including roads, shall be considered a placer or dredge mining operation. Lands disturbed by any placer or dredge exploration operation which causes a cumulative surface disturbance of less than one-half (½) acre of land, including roads, shall be restored to conditions reasonably comparable to conditions existing prior to the placer or dredge exploration operation.

§ 47-1315. Water clarification.

Where any person conducts a placer or dredge mining operation where the water used in such mining process flows in, or into a natural watercourse, such person shall construct and use settling ponds of sufficient capacity and character and/or install and use filtration processes fully adequate to clarify the water used in the mining process to conform to the standards and rules of the state department of environmental quality regarding water quality as authorized under chapter 1, title 39, Idaho Code, before such water is discharged into the natural watercourse.

§ 47-1316. Administrative agency.

The Idaho state board of land commissioners is hereby designated the administrative agency of this act and shall have the power and duty to adopt rules and regulations for its administration in accordance with the intent and purposes thereof, and to employ personnel necessary to effectually carry out this law. Such board may make such inquiries and investigations and conduct such hearings as the board shall deem advisable or necessary.

§ 47-1317. Application, permit and bond required.

1. Before any person may conduct a placer or dredge mining operation on lands or natural watercourses in the state of Idaho, such person shall file with the director an application for a permit upon a form provided by the director, and shall pay an application fee of fifty dollars ($50.00), for each ten (10) acres or fraction thereof above involved in such application, provided that no application fee shall exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000). Application fees shall be deposited in the dredge and placer mining account.
2. The permit to issue in any such case shall be in a form provided and approved by the board. No such permit shall be issued to any applicant until the applicant files with the director an initial bond in an amount necessary to pay the estimated reasonable costs of reclamation required under the permit for each acre of land to be disturbed during the first season of operation plus ten percent (10%). The amount of the bond shall not exceed one thousand eight hundred dollars ($1,800) per acre of disturbed land. At the beginning of each calendar year or before operations begin, the operator shall notify the director of any increase or decrease in the acreage of disturbed lands which will result from planned placer mining activity within the next operating season. A correlated increase or decrease in the bond shall be required by the director for a change in disturbed acreage. In the event of failure by the permittee to reclaim disturbed lands in the permit area, the cost charged to the permittee shall be reasonable costs of reclamation plus ten percent (10%); provided that in no event shall any bond submitted pursuant to this section exceed one thousand eight hundred dollars ($1,800) for any given acre of disturbed land. The determination by the board of reclamation costs shall constitute a final decision subject to judicial review as set forth in subsection (d)[(c)] of section 47-1320, Idaho Code. The bond may be submitted in the form of a surety, cash, certificate of deposit, or other bond acceptable to the director, provided that any bond shall be in the applicable amount set forth above.
3. It shall be unlawful for any person to conduct placer or dredge mining operations in this state without first having obtained a permit and bond as herein provided. The board shall determine whether a permit application and bond submitted by an applicant satisfies the requirements of this act and regulations promulgated thereto. Upon such determination, the board shall notify the applicant in writing of approval or denial of the permit application and bond. Any notice of rejection shall state the reasons for such rejection. An applicant may submit an amended permit application and bond.
4. It shall be the duty of the board in its administration of this act to cause periodic inspections to be made of the operations under such permits to determine compliance with this law and to make rules and regulations with respect thereto and the cost and expense of making such inspections shall be borne by the permittee, which such costs and expenses shall constitute a lien upon equipment, personal property, or real property of the permittee and upon minerals produced from the permit area, and the failure to pay the amount thereof on demand by the board shall be cause for termination of the permit. All inspection fees shall be deposited in the dredge and placer mining account.
5. The board may release an applicant from the requirement that the applicant submit a bond if the director determines that the applicant has insured faithful performance of the requirements of this act and regulations promulgated thereto pertinent to land and watercourse restoration by submitting and having on file a current and valid bond with the United States government, which bond equals or exceeds the amount set forth above, provided that such release by the director shall not release an applicant from bonding under this act, should the permittee fail to continuously maintain a valid bond with the United States government or from compliance with any other requirement of this act or regulations promulgated thereto. (f) Upon determination by the director that restoration has been satisfactorily completed on a portion of a permit area in accordance with the applicable approved permit and with subsection (a) of section 47-1314, Idaho Code, the board may reduce the bond amount to reflect the completed restoration.
   1. No permit shall issue hereunder to dredge nor otherwise placer mine any lands owned by the state of Idaho, including the beds of navigable streams, and including the mineral reservations in lands sold by the state, unless a mineral lease shall be made of such terms and at such royalty to the state as its board of state land commissioners shall prescribe and determine.

(g) That if any applicant for such dredge or other placer mining operations as contemplated by this act be not the owner of the lands described in the application or any part thereof, the owner of such lands shall indorse his approval of the application, and no permit shall be issued in the absence of such approval by the owner of lands described in the application not owned by the applicant.

(h) No permit shall be issued proposing to alter or occupy the bed of a navigable stream or to dredge any stream or watercourse without notification to the department of water resources of the pending application. The department of water resources shall respond to said notification within twenty (20) days, and the response shall be included in any permit granted hereunder by a showing whether the permit constitutes a permit from the department of water resources or whether an additional permit from the department of water resources shall be required.

(j) The Idaho state board of land commissioners shall have the power to deny any application for a permit on state land, stream or river beds, or on any unpatented mining claims, upon its determination that a dredge mining operation on the land proposed would not be in the public interest, giving consideration to economic factors, recreational use for such lands, fish and wildlife habitat and other factors which in the judgment of the state land board may be pertinent, and may deny an application upon notification by the department of water resources that the grant of such permit would result in permanent damage to a stream channel.

(k) Upon default, in the event that the amount of the bond is insufficient to reclaim the land in compliance with the act and the approved plan, the attorney general is empowered to commence legal action against the operator in the name of the board to recover the amount in excess of the bond necessary to reclaim the land in compliance with the act and the approved plan.

§ 47-1318. Termination of permits — Hearing.

Without in any manner affecting the penal and injunctive provisions of this act the Idaho state board of land commissioners is empowered to commence proceedings to terminate any permit to conduct dredge or other placer mining operations issued hereunder for any violation of the terms of this act, after having issued and served upon the permittee alleged to be committing such violation, a formal complaint which shall specify the provisions of this act which the permittee allegedly is violating, and a statement of the manner in and the extent to which said permittee is alleged to be violating the provisions of this act. Such notice may be served by certified mail, and return receipt signed by the permittee or his agent shall constitute service and time thereof of such notice. The permittee shall answer the complaint and request a hearing before a designated hearing officer within thirty (30) days from receipt of the complaint if matters asserted in the complaint are disputed. If the permittee fails to answer the complaint and to request a hearing, the matters asserted in the complaint shall be deemed admitted by the permittee, and the board may proceed to terminate the permit and forfeit the bond in an amount necessary to pay all costs and expense of restoring the lands and beds of streams damaged by dredge or other placer mining of the defaulting permittee. Upon request for a hearing by a permittee, the board shall schedule a hearing not less than thirty (30) days after the date the permittee requests a hearing. The provisions of chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code, shall govern proceedings instituted pursuant to this section. The board may designate one (1) of its members, or a hearing officer or officers to conduct any hearings and enter recommended or preliminary orders, as determined by the board, on issues involving the administration of this act.

Upon entry of a final order terminating a permit or forfeiting a bond, the board shall assess the costs of the hearing against the defaulting permittee.

§ 47-1319. Bond forfeiture on default.

1. The surety bond required by this act to be given by a permittee for dredge or other placer mining purposes under permit shall be exonerated and discharged upon the completion or termination of such mining operation as specified in the permit granted therefor and upon full compliance with the requirements of this act and the rules and regulations of said board of land commissioners made for the administration thereof.
2. That in event the holder of any permit issued under this act fails to comply with the requirements of this act and the rules and regulations of the Idaho board of land commissioners for the administration hereof, then the applicable bond of such permittee shall be forfeited to the state of Idaho in such amount and to such extent as the state board of land commissioners shall estimate and determine will be necessary to pay all cost and expense of restoring the lands and beds of streams damaged by dredge or other placer mining of said defaulting permittee and covered by such bond and remaining unrestored, and such forfeited funds are to be deposited in the dredge and placer mining account, which is hereby created in the dedicated fund of the state treasury. All moneys deposited in the dredge and placer mining account pursuant to this section or other provisions of this chapter shall be utilized by the state board of land commissioners for the restoration of lands and watercourses damaged by placer or dredge mining operations.
3. No forfeiture of bond of a permittee shall be made until after procedures have been followed as provided in sections 47-1318 and 47-1320, Idaho Code, and the complaint is issued and findings of facts and rulings of law in support of the order of forfeiture, if any, have been made and the time for appeal has expired.

§ 47-1320. Hearing procedures and appeals.

1. Process and procedure under this act shall be as summary and simple as reasonably may be and as far as possible in accordance with the rules of equity. Such proceedings shall be governed by the provisions of chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code. The board, or any member thereof, or the hearing officer designated by such board, shall have power to subpoena witnesses and administer oaths. The district court shall have power to enforce by proper proceedings the attendance and testimony of witnesses, and the production for examination of books, papers and records. Witnesses subpoenaed by the board or a member thereof or the hearing officer shall be allowed such fees and traveling expenses as are allowed in civil actions in the district court, to be paid by the party in whose interest such witnesses are subpoenaed. The board, or any member thereof, or the hearing officer, shall make such inquiries and investigations as shall be deemed relevant. Each hearing shall be held at the county seat in any county where the dredge or other placer mining is being conducted or where any of the lands involved in the hearing are situate, or in the county of Ada, as the board may designate.
2. If the hearing involves a permit or application for a permit, the final order of the board, together with the agency record, as provided in chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code, shall be filed in the office of the director of the department of lands. A copy of the order shall be sent to the applicant or holder of the permit involved in such hearing by United States mail.
3. Any applicant or permit holder aggrieved by any final decision or order of the board shall be entitled to judicial review in accordance with the provisions and standards set forth in chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code.

§ 47-1321. Penalties and administrative remedies. [Repealed.]

§ 47-1322. Title.

This act may be cited as the “Idaho Dredge and Placer Mining Protection Act.”

§ 47-1323. Dredge mining of water bodies making up the national wild and scenic rivers system prohibited.

Dredge mining in any form shall be prohibited on:

1. The middle fork of the Clearwater river, from the town of Kooskia upstream to the town of Lowell; the Lochsa river from its junction with the Selway at Lowell forming the middle fork, upstream to the Powell ranger station; and the Selway river from Lowell upstream to its origin;
2. The middle fork of the Salmon river, from its origin to its confluence with the main Salmon river;
3. The St. Joe river, including tributaries, from its origin to its confluence with Coeur d’Alene lake, except for the St. Maries river and its tributaries.

§ 47-1324. Enforcement and penalties for violation.

1. The board may maintain an action in the name of the state of Idaho to enjoin any person from operating or maintaining a placer or dredge mining operation without holding a valid permit or bond as provided in this act or regulations promulgated thereto. The court, or a judge thereof at chambers, if satisfied from a complaint or by affidavits that the alleged acts have been or are being committed, may issue a temporary restraining order, without notice or bond, enjoining the defendant, his agents and employees, from operating or maintaining such placer or dredge mining operation without obtaining a permit and bond as provided in this act or regulations promulgated thereto. No showing of injury shall be required other than that this act is being violated by the operation or maintenance of a placer or dredge mining operation without the approved permit and bond. Upon a showing of good cause therefor, the court may require the defendant to undertake mitigation or restoration of the disturbed area in conformity with section 47-1314, Idaho Code, pending final disposition of the action. The action shall proceed as in other cases for injunctions. If at the trial the operation and maintenance of a placer or dredge mining operation without a permit or bond be established, and the court further finds that it is probable that the defendant will continue therein or in similar violations, the court shall enter a decree perpetually enjoining said defendant, his agents and employees from thereafter committing said or similar actions in violation of this act.
2. The board may maintain an action in the name of the state of Idaho to enjoin any person from operating or maintaining a placer or dredge mining operation when, under an existing approved permit and bond, a permittee violates or exceeds the terms of the permit or violates a provision of this act, and the bond, if forfeited, would not be sufficient to adequately restore the land.
3. In addition to the injunctive provisions above, the board may maintain a civil action against any person who violates any provision of this act to collect civil damages in an amount sufficient to pay for all the damages to the state caused by such violation, including but not limited to, costs of restoration in accordance with section 47-1314, Idaho Code, where a person is conducting placer or dredge mining without an approved permit or bond.
4. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this act, any person who violates any of the provisions of this act or regulations promulgated thereto, or who violates any determination or order promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this act, shall be liable for a civil penalty of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) for each day during which such violation continues. Such penalty shall be recoverable in an action brought in the name of the state of Idaho by the attorney general. All sums recovered shall be placed in the state treasury and credited to the dredge and placer mining account, to be administered by the board for the restoration of lands and watercourses damaged by placer or dredge mining operations.
5. No administrative action or decision by the director or board shall be required prior to enforcement of any of the above remedies, provided that no permit shall be terminated and no bond shall be forfeited without administrative action as provided under sections 47-1318 and 47-1319, Idaho Code. No administrative action or decision by the Idaho board of health and welfare shall be required prior to enforcement of any of the above remedies by the state of Idaho against any person violating section 47-1315, Idaho Code.
6. Any person who wilfully or knowingly falsifies any records, plans, specifications, or other information required by the board or wilfully fails, neglects, or refuses to comply with any provisions of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) and not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) or imprisonment not to exceed one (1) year, or both.
7. All civil actions provided for in this section shall be filed in the district court of this state for the county wherein the violation, or some part thereof, occurs, or in the district court for the county wherein the defendant resides or has a principal place of business, or in the district court for the county of Ada if the defendant resides out-of-state, or in the appropriate court of the United States where the rules and statutes governing such courts permit.

§ 47-1401. Lease for exploration and development authorized.

The governing body of any county, city, town, village, school district or other municipal corporation or political subdivision of the state of Idaho authorized to acquire and hold real property may, upon determining that such action will be in the best interest of such county, city, town, village, school district or other municipal corporation or political subdivision of the state of Idaho, lease, or enter into a community lease with respect to, any mineral interest owned by such county, city, town, village, school district or other municipal corporation or political subdivision of the state of Idaho, for the exploration for and development and production of oil, gas or other hydrocarbons, and otherwise contract for such exploration, development and production, upon such terms as such governing body may determine and as are not inconsistent with the provisions of this act.

§ 47-1402. Cooperative or unit development.

Any such governing body may, by such lease or contract, or by other agreement, include, or provide for the inclusion of, any such interest with other interests in any plan or agreement for cooperative or unit development or operation for oil, gas or other hydrocarbons, and modify and change any and all terms of any such lease or contract heretofore entered into or hereafter entered into under the provisions of this act, including the extension of the terms of any such lease or contract for the full period of time such cooperative or unit plan or agreement may remain in effect, as required to conform the terms of any such lease or contract to such cooperative or unit plan or agreement.

§ 47-1403. Rules for issuing lease — Term — Royalty.

Any such governing body may, in its discretion, make and establish such rules and regulations governing the issuance of such leases and contracts as are not inconsistent with provisions of this act. Any such lease or contract (1) shall be entered into pursuant to resolution duly adopted by the governing body, (2) may be for a term not exceeding ten (10) years and as long thereafter as oil, gas or other hydrocarbons shall be, or can be, produced in commercial quantities, except as such term may be extended pursuant to the provisions of section 47-1402[, Idaho Code], and (3) shall reserve to the governing body a royalty of not less than one-eighth (1/8) of all oil, gas or other hydrocarbons produced from said lands.

§ 47-1501. Purpose of chapter.

It is the purpose of this chapter to provide for the protection of the public health, safety and welfare through measures to reclaim the surface of all the lands within the state disturbed by exploration and surface and underground mining operations and measures to assure the proper closure of cyanidation facilities and thereby conserve natural resources, aid in the protection of wildlife, domestic animals, and aquatic resources, and reduce soil erosion.

§ 47-1502. Short title.

This act shall be known and may be cited as the “Idaho mined land reclamation act.” The reclamation provisions of this act shall not apply to mining operations regulated by the Idaho dredge and placer mining protection act, nor shall such provisions apply to any workings at an underground mine below the surface.

§ 47-1503. Definitions.

Wherever used or referred to in this chapter, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:

1. “Board” means the state board of land commissioners or such department, commission, or agency as may lawfully succeed to the powers and duties of such board.
2. “Cyanidation” means the method of extracting target precious metals from ores by treatment with cyanide solution, which is the primary leaching agent for the extraction.
3. “Cyanidation facility” means that portion of a new ore processing facility, or a material modification or a material expansion of that portion of an existing ore processing facility, that utilizes cyanidation and is intended to contain, treat, or dispose of cyanide-containing materials including spent ore, tailings, and process water.
4. “Director” means the head of the department of lands or such officer as may lawfully succeed to the powers and duties of said director.
5. “Affected land” means the land area included in overburden disposal areas, mined areas, mineral stockpiles, roads, tailings ponds and other areas disturbed on the surface of mining operations.
6. “Mineral” means coal, clay, stone, sand, gravel, metalliferous and nonmetalliferous type of ores, and any other similar solid material or substance of commercial value to be excavated from natural deposits on or in the earth.
7. “Mining operations” means the activities performed on the surface of a surface or underground mine in the extraction of minerals from the ground, including the excavating of pits, removal of minerals, disposal of overburden, and the construction of haulage roads, exclusive of exploration operations, except that any exploration operations which, exclusive of exploration roads, (a) result during a period of twelve (12) consecutive months in more than five (5) contiguous acres of newly affected land, or (b) which, exclusive of exploration roads, result during a period of twelve (12) consecutive months in newly affected land consisting of more than ten (10) noncontiguous acres, if such affected land constitutes more than fifteen percent (15%) of the total area of any circular tract that includes such affected land, shall be deemed to be a surface mining operation for the purposes of this chapter.
8. “Exploration operations” means activities performed on the surface of lands to locate mineral bodies and to determine the mineability and merchantability thereof.
9. “Surface mine” means an area where minerals are extracted by removing the overburden lying above and adjacent to natural deposits thereof and mining directly from the natural deposits thereby exposed.
10. “Underground mine” means an area where minerals are extracted from beneath the surface of the ground by means of an adit, shaft, tunnel, decline, portal, bore hole, drill hole for solution mining, or such other means of access beneath the surface of the ground, other than a pit.
11. “Mined area” means surface of land from which overburden, waste rock, or minerals have been removed other than by drilling of exploration drill holes.
12. “Overburden” or “waste rock” means material extracted by an operator that is not a part of the material ultimately removed from a surface mine or underground mine and marketed by an operator, exclusive of mineral stockpiles.
13. “Overburden disposal area” means land surface upon which overburden or waste rock is placed or planned to be placed.
14. “Exploration drill holes” means holes drilled from the surface to locate mineral bodies and to determine the mineability and merchantability thereof.
15. “Exploration roads” means roads constructed to locate mineral bodies and to determine the mineability and merchantability thereof.
16. “Exploration trenches” means trenches constructed to locate mineral bodies and to determine the mineability and merchantability thereof.
17. “Peak” means a projecting point of overburden.
18. “Significant change” means, for an underground mine, a fifty percent (50%) increase in the areal extent of the disturbed affected land.
19. “Mine panel” means that portion of a mine designated by an operator as a panel of a surface mine or the surface effects of an underground mine on the map submitted pursuant to section 47-1506, Idaho Code.
20. “Mineral stockpile” means minerals extracted during surface mining operations and retained at the surface mine for future rather than immediate use.
21. “Permanent closure plan” means a description of the procedures, methods, and schedule that will be implemented to meet the intent and purposes of this chapter in treating and disposing of cyanide-containing materials including spent ore, tailings, and process water and in controlling and monitoring discharges and potential discharges for a reasonable period of time based on site-specific conditions.
22. “Pit” means an excavation created by the extraction of minerals or overburden at a surface mine.
23. “Ridge” means a lengthened elevation of overburden.
24. “Road” means a way constructed on a surface mine for the passage of vehicles, including the bed, slopes and shoulders thereof.
25. “Operator” means any person or persons, any partnership, limited partnership, corporation, or limited liability company, or any association of persons, either natural or artificial, including, but not limited to, every public or governmental agency engaged in mining operations or exploration operations or in operating a cyanidation facility, whether individually, jointly, or through subsidiaries, agents, employees, or contractors, and shall mean every governmental agency owning or controlling the use of any surface mine when the mineral extracted is to be used by or for the benefit of such agency. It shall not include any such governmental agency with respect to those mining or exploration operations as to which it grants mineral leases or prospecting permits or similar contracts, but nothing herein shall relieve the operator acting pursuant to a mineral lease, prospecting permit or similar contract from the terms of this chapter.
26. “Hearing officer” means that person selected by the board to hear proceedings under section 47-1513, Idaho Code.
27. “Final order of the board” means a written notice of rejection, the order of a hearing officer at the conclusion of a hearing, or any other order of the board where additional administrative remedies are not available.
28. “Tailings pond” means an area on the surface of a mining operation enclosed by a man-made or natural dam onto which has been discharged the waste material resulting from the primary concentration of minerals in ore excavated from a surface or underground mine.
29. “Financial assurance” means monetary assurances in such form and amount as are necessary for the board or a third party to perform the reclamation activities required in this chapter. (30) “Post-closure” means a description of the procedures, methods, and schedule for monitoring, care and maintenance, and water management that will be implemented on a mine panel after cessation of mining operations for a period not to exceed thirty (30) years unless the board determines a longer period is necessary.

§ 47-1505. Duties and powers of board.

In addition to the other duties and powers of the board prescribed by law, the board is granted and shall be entitled to exercise the following authority and powers and perform the following duties:

1. To administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter and the rules and orders promulgated thereunder as provided in this chapter.
2. To conduct and promote the coordination and acceleration of research, studies, surveys, experiments, demonstrations and training in carrying out the provisions of this chapter. In carrying out the activities authorized by this section, the board may enter into contracts with and make grants to institutions, agencies, organizations and individuals and shall collect and make available any information obtained therefrom.
3. To adopt and promulgate reasonable rules respecting the administration of this chapter and such rules as may be necessary to carry out the intent and purposes of this chapter, provided that no rules shall be adopted that require reclamation activities in addition to those set forth in this chapter. All such rules shall be adopted in accordance with and subject to the provisions of chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code.
4. To enter upon affected lands at all reasonable times, for the purpose of inspection, to determine whether the provisions of this chapter have been complied with. Such inspections shall be conducted in the presence of the operator or his duly authorized employees or representatives, and the operator shall make such persons available for the purpose of inspections.
5. To reclaim affected land with respect to which financial assurance has been forfeited and, in the board’s discretion, with the permission of the landowner, to reclaim such other land that becomes affected land.
6. To complete closure activities with respect to a cyanidation facility for which a permanent closure financial assurance has been forfeited.
7. 1. Upon receipt of a reclamation plan or permanent closure plan or amended or supplemental plan required by this chapter, the director shall notify the cities and counties in which the mining operation or cyanidation facility is proposed. The notice shall include the name and address of the operator and shall describe the procedure and the schedule by which the plan may be approved or denied. This notification requirement shall not apply to exploration operations. (7)(a) Upon receipt of a reclamation plan or permanent closure plan or amended or supplemental plan required by this chapter, the director shall notify the cities and counties in which the mining operation or cyanidation facility is proposed. The notice shall include the name and address of the operator and shall describe the procedure and the schedule by which the plan may be approved or denied. This notification requirement shall not apply to exploration operations.
   2. Cities and counties may review the nonconfidential portions of the plan at the department’s office and may provide comments to the director concerning the plan. Nothing in this section shall extend the time limit for the board to deliver to the operator a notice of rejection or approval of the plan or affect the confidentiality provisions of section 47-1515, Idaho Code.
   3. No city or county shall enact or adopt any ordinance, rule or resolution to regulate exploration or mining operations or a permanent closure plan in this state that conflicts with any provision of this chapter or the rules promulgated thereunder. This subpart shall not affect the planning and zoning authorities available to cities and counties pursuant to chapter 65, title 67, Idaho Code.

§ 47-1506. Operator — Duties prior to operation — Submission of maps and plans.

1. Any operator desiring to conduct mining operations within the state of Idaho for the purpose of immediate or ultimate sale of the minerals in either the natural or processed state shall submit to the board prior to commencing such mining operations a reclamation plan that contains the following:
   1. A map of the mine panel on which said operator desires to conduct mining operations, which sets forth with respect to said panel the following:
      1. The location of existing roads and anticipated access and main haulage roads planned to be constructed in conducting the mining operations.
      2. The approximate boundaries of the lands to be utilized in the process of mining operations.
      3. The approximate location and, if known, the names of all streams, creeks, or bodies of water within the area where mining operations shall take place.
      4. The name and address of the person to whom notices, orders, and other information required to be given to the operator pursuant to this chapter may be sent.
      5. The drainage adjacent to the area where the surface is being utilized by mining operations.
      6. The approximate boundaries of the lands that will become affected lands as a result of mining operations during the year immediately following the date that a reclamation plan is approved as to said panel, together with the number of acres included within said boundaries.
      7. A description of foreseeable water quality impacts from mining operations and proposed water management activities to comply with water quality requirements.
      8. A description of post-closure activities.
   2. Diagrams showing the planned location of pits, mineral stockpiles, overburden piles and tailings ponds on said panel.
   3. A description of the action which said operator intends to take to comply with the provisions of this chapter as to the mining operations conducted on such mine panel.
2. 1. Any operator who is not required to submit an operating plan for a mining operation to an entity of the federal government shall submit to the board, as part of the reclamation plan, an operating plan with regards to that mining operation. The operating plan shall include: (b)(1) Any operator who is not required to submit an operating plan for a mining operation to an entity of the federal government shall submit to the board, as part of the reclamation plan, an operating plan with regards to that mining operation. The operating plan shall include:
      1. Maps showing the location of existing roads and anticipated access and main haulage roads planned to be constructed for mining operations.
      2. The boundaries and acreage of the lands to be utilized in the process of mining operations.
      3. Maps showing the planned location of pits, mineral stockpiles, overburden piles and tailings ponds for the mining operations.
      4. The location and, if known, the names of all streams, creeks, or bodies of water within the area where mining operations shall take place.
      5. The drainage adjacent to the area where the surface is being utilized by mining operations. (vi) The approximate boundaries and acreage of the lands that will become affected during the first year of construction of mining operations.
   2. The board shall promulgate rules or guidelines to allow the content of a nonfederal operating plan to be determined based upon the type and size of the mining operation.
3. No operator who is required to submit an operating plan for a mining operation to an entity of the federal government shall be required to submit an operating plan to the board. This provision shall apply to all lands, regardless of surface or mineral ownership, covered by the operating plan submitted to the entity of the federal government.
4. No operator shall commence mining operations on any mine panel without first having a reclamation plan approved by the state board of land commissioners.
5. Any operator desiring to conduct exploration operations within the state of Idaho using motorized earth-moving equipment in order to locate minerals for immediate or ultimate sale in either the natural or the processed state shall notify the board in writing prior to or as soon after beginning exploration operations as possible and in any event within seven (7) days after beginning exploration operations. The notice shall include the following:
   1. The name and address of the operator;
   2. The location of the operation and the starting date and estimated completion date;
   3. The anticipated size of the operation, and the general method of operation.
6. Any operator desiring to operate a cyanidation facility within the state of Idaho shall submit to the board prior to the operation of such a facility a permanent closure plan that contains the following:
   1. The name and address of the operator;
   2. The location of the operation;
   3. The objectives, methods and procedures the operator will use to attain permanent closure;
   4. An estimate of the cost of attaining permanent closure as well as an estimate of the costs to achieve critical phases of the closure plan;
   5. Any other information specified in the rules adopted to carry out the intent and purposes of this chapter; and
   6. An operator may incorporate a description of post-closure activities in a permanent closure plan in lieu of inclusion in a reclamation plan.
7. The board may require a reasonable fee for reviewing and approving a permanent closure plan or reclamation plan. The fee may include the reasonable cost to employ a qualified independent party, acceptable to the operator and the board, to verify the accuracy of the cost estimate required in subsection (f)(4) of this section and section 47-1512(c), Idaho Code.
8. The board shall coordinate its review of activities in a reclamation plan, operating plan, and permanent closure plan under statutory responsibility of the department of environmental quality with that department, but that coordination shall not extend the time limit in which the board must act on a plan submitted.
9. No operator shall commence operation of a cyanidation facility without first having a permanent closure plan approved by the board.

The notice shall be subject to disclosure according to chapter 1, title 74, Idaho Code.

§ 47-1509. Procedures in reclamation.

1. Except as otherwise provided in this act, every operator who conducts exploration or mining operations that disturb two (2) or more acres within the state of Idaho shall perform the following reclamation activities:
   1. Ridges of overburden shall be leveled in such manner as to have a minimum width of ten (10) feet at the top.
   2. Peaks of overburden shall be leveled in such a manner as to have a minimum width of fifteen (15) feet at the top.
   3. Overburden piles shall be reasonably prepared to control erosion.
   4. Manage water as necessary to meet the requirements authorized under chapter 1, title 39, Idaho Code.
   5. Roads that are abandoned shall be cross-ditched insofar as necessary to avoid erosion gullies.
   6. Exploration drill holes shall be plugged or otherwise left so as to eliminate hazards to humans or animals.
   7. Abandoned affected lands shall be topped to the extent that such overburden is reasonably available from the pit, with that type of overburden conducive to the control of erosion or the growth of the vegetation that the operator elects to plant thereon.
   8. The operator shall conduct revegetation activities on the mined areas, overburden piles, and abandoned roads in accordance with the provisions of this act.
   9. Tailings ponds shall be reasonably prepared in such a condition that they will not constitute a hazard to human or animal life.
   10. Complete all other reclamation required in the approved reclamation plan.
2. The board may request, in writing, that a given road or portion thereof not be cross-ditched or revegetated and, upon such request, the operator shall be excused from performing such activities as to such road or portion thereof.
3. Every operator who conducts exploration or mining operations that disturb less than two (2) acres within the state of Idaho shall, wherever possible, contour the lands so disturbed to approximate the previous contour of the lands.
4. The operator and board may agree, in writing, to do any act with respect to reclamation above and beyond the requirements herein set forth.

§ 47-1510. Vegetation planting.

1. Except as otherwise provided in this act, an operator shall plant, on affected lands, vegetation species that can be expected to result in vegetation comparable to the vegetation that was growing on the area occupied by the affected lands prior to the exploration and mining operations.
2. No planting shall be required on any affected lands, or portions thereof, where planting would not be practicable or reasonable because the soil is composed of sand, gravel, shale, stone or other material to such an extent as to prohibit plant growth.
3. No planting shall be required to be made with respect to any of the following:
   1. On any mined area or overburden pile proposed to be used in the mining operations for haulage roads, as long as such roads are not abandoned.
   2. On any mined area or overburden pile where lakes are formed by rainfall or drainage runoff from the adjoining lands.
   3. On any mineral stockpile.
   4. On any exploration trench that will become a part of any pit or overburden disposal area.
   5. On any road that the operator intends to use in his mining operations, as long as said road has not been abandoned.

§ 47-1511. Reclamation activities — Time limitations.

1. All reclamation activities required to be conducted under this act shall be performed in a good and workmanlike manner, with all reasonable diligence, and as to a given exploration drill hole, road or trench, within one (1) year after abandonment thereof.
2. The reclamation activity as to a given mine panel shall be commenced within one (1) year after mining operations have permanently ceased as to such mine panel, provided, however, that in the event that during the course of mining operations on a given mine panel, the operator permanently ceases disposing of overburden on a given overburden pile, or permanently ceases removing minerals from a given pit, or permanently ceases using a given road or other affected land, then the reclamation activities to be conducted hereunder as to such pit, road, overburden pile, or other affected land shall be commenced within one (1) year after such termination, despite the fact that all operations as to the mine panel, which includes such pit, road, overburden pile, or other affected land, have not permanently ceased. It shall be presumed that the operator has permanently ceased mining operations as to a given affected land if no substantial amount of overburden has been placed on the overburden pile in question or if no minerals have been removed from the pit in question, as the case may be, for a period of three (3) years.

This presumption may be rebutted by evidencing, in writing, to the board what mining operations the operator has planned on the pit, road, overburden pile, or other affected land not used within a three (3) year period. Should the board determine that the operator, in good faith, intends to continue the mining operation within a reasonable period of time, it shall, in writing, so notify the operator. Should the board determine that the operation will not be continued within a reasonable period of time, the board shall proceed as though the mining operation has been abandoned.

§ 47-1512. Financial assurance — Requisites.

1. Prior to conducting any mining operations on a mine panel covered by an approved reclamation plan or operating a cyanidation facility covered by an approved permanent closure plan, an operator shall submit to the board financial assurance meeting the requirements of this section.
   1. The initial reclamation financial assurance filed prior to conducting any mining operations on a mine panel shall be in an amount determined by the board to be the estimated reasonable costs of reclamation required in this chapter, in the event of failure to reclaim by an operator, of affected lands proposed to be mined during the next calendar year designated by the operator pursuant to section 47-1506(a)(1)(vi), Idaho Code, and subsection (b) of this section.
   2. The initial permanent closure financial assurance filed prior to operating a cyanidation facility shall be in an amount determined by the board to be the estimated reasonable costs to complete the activities specified in the permanent closure plan required in this chapter, in the event of the failure of an operator to complete those activities. In setting such amount, the board shall avoid duplication with financial assurance deposited with other governmental agencies.
   3. The determination of the financial assurance amount shall constitute a final order subject to judicial review as set forth in subsection (a) of section 47-1514, Idaho Code. In lieu of any financial assurance required hereunder, the operator may deposit cash and governmental securities with the board, in an amount equal to that of the required financial assurance, on the conditions as prescribed in this section.
2. Prior to the time that lands designated to become affected lands on a mine panel, in addition to those designated pursuant to section 47-1506(a)(1)(vi), Idaho Code, become affected land, the operator shall submit to the board financial assurance meeting the requirements of section 47-1512(c), Idaho Code, which shall be in the amount necessary to ensure the performance of the duties of the operator under this chapter as to such affected lands actually proposed to be mined within the next calendar year. If additional acreage is subsequently proposed to be mined by an operator, financial assurance shall be in an amount determined by the board to be the estimated reasonable costs of reclamation required by this chapter, in the event of failure to reclaim by an operator, of affected lands proposed to be mined during the next calendar year.
3. For mining operations with affected land greater than five (5) acres, the financial assurance amount shall be based on the estimated reasonable costs of completing reclamation required in this chapter using standard estimating techniques, including indirect costs, developed by the board. For all other mining operations, the financial assurance for reclamation submitted pursuant to this chapter shall not exceed fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) for any given acre of such affected land. The board may require financial assurance in excess of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) for any given acre of affected land only when the following conditions have been met:
   1. The board has determined that such financial assurance is necessary to meet the requirements of sections 47-1506, 47-1509, 47-1510 and 47-1511, Idaho Code.
   2. The board has delivered to the operator, in writing, a notice setting forth the reasons it believes such financial assurance is necessary. (3) The board has conducted a hearing where the operator is allowed to give testimony to the board concerning the amount of the proposed financial assurance. The hearing shall be held under such rules as promulgated by the board. This requirement for a hearing may be waived, in writing, by the operator. Any hearing held shall, at the discretion of the director, extend the time, up to thirty (30) days, in which the board must act on a plan submitted.
4. For a cyanidation facility with affected land greater than five (5) acres, the financial assurance amount shall be based on the estimated reasonable costs to complete reclamation required under this chapter using standard estimating techniques, including indirect costs, developed by the board. For all other cyanidation facilities, the financial assurance submitted for permanent closure of a cyanidation facility pursuant to this chapter shall not exceed five million dollars ($5,000,000). The board may require financial assurance in excess of five million dollars ($5,000,000) for a cyanidation facility only when the following conditions have been met:
   1. The board has determined that such financial assurance is necessary to meet the requirements of this chapter.
   2. The board has delivered to the operator, in writing, a notice setting forth the reasons it believes such financial assurance is necessary.
   3. The board has conducted a hearing where the operator is allowed to give testimony to the board concerning the amount of the proposed financial assurance. The hearing shall be held under such rules as promulgated by the board. This requirement for a hearing may be waived, in writing, by the operator. Any hearing held shall, at the discretion of the director, extend the time, up to sixty (60) days, in which the board must act on the permanent closure plan submitted.
5. Any financial assurance required under this chapter to be filed and maintained with the board shall be in such form as the board prescribes, payable to the state of Idaho, conditioned that the operator shall faithfully perform all requirements of this chapter and comply with all rules of the board in effect as of the date of approval of the plan in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. Further, any financial assurance provided to another governmental agency that also meets the requirements in this section shall be deemed to be sufficient for the purposes of this chapter.
6. Financial assurance filed as prescribed in this section shall not be canceled, except after not less than ninety (90) days’ notice to the board. Upon failure of the operator to make substitution of financial assurance prior to the effective date of cancellation of the financial assurance or within thirty (30) days following notice of cancellation by the board, whichever is later, the board shall have the right to issue a cease and desist order and seek injunctive relief to stop the operator from conducting operations covered by such financial assurance until such substitution has been made.
7. If the license to do business in this state of any surety, upon a bond filed with the board pursuant to this chapter, shall be suspended or revoked, the operator, within thirty (30) days after receiving notice thereof from the board, shall substitute for such surety alternative financial assurance in accordance with this section. Upon failure of the operator to make substitution of financial assurance, the board shall have the right to issue a cease and desist order and seek injunctive relief to stop the operator from conducting operations covered by such financial assurance until such substitution has been made.
8. When an operator shall have completed all or a portion of reclamation requirements, or all or a portion of any post-closure activity, under the provisions of this chapter as to any portion of affected land or any post-closure activity, he may notify the board. Within thirty (30) days after the receipt of such notice, the board shall notify the operator as to whether or not the reclamation or post-closure activity performed meets the requirements of the reclamation plan pertaining to the land in question. (1) Upon the determination by the board that the requirements of the reclamation plan in question have been substantially met as to said lands or such activity, the amount of financial assurance in effect as to such lands or such activity shall be reduced by an amount designated by the board to reflect the reclamation done.
9. When an operator shall have completed an activity specified in an approved permanent closure plan, he may notify the board. Within thirty (30) days after the receipt of such notice, the board shall notify the operator as to whether or not the activity performed meets the requirements of the permanent closure plan. In determining whether or not an activity under the statutory responsibility of the department of environmental quality meets the requirements of the permanent closure plan, the board shall consult with that department.
   1. Upon the determination by the board that the activity meets the requirements of the permanent closure plan, the financial assurance for permanent closure shall be reduced by an amount designated by the board to reflect the activity completed.
   2. Upon a determination by the board that the requirements of the permanent closure plan in question have not been met as to said lands, it shall deliver to the operator, in writing, a notice of rejection of the request for financial assurance release and shall set forth in said notice the reasons for such rejection, the factual findings upon which such rejection is based, the manner in which the activity fails to fulfill the requirements of the permanent closure plan, and the changes necessary to comply with the requirements of the permanent closure plan.
10. An operator may withdraw any land previously designated as affected land within a mine panel, provided that it is not already affected land, and in such event, he shall notify the board, and the amount of the bond in effect as to the lands in that mine panel shall be reduced by an amount designated by the board as the amount which would have been necessary to reclaim such lands.
11. Proof of financial assurance may be demonstrated by surety bond, corporate guarantee, letter of credit, certificate of deposit, trust fund, and any combination thereof or any other proof of financial assurance approved by the board.
12. An operator may provide proof of financial assurance by use of a trust fund, provided the following conditions are met:
    1. The trust fund is managed by a third-party trustee;
    2. The trust fund names the state of Idaho as beneficiary; and
    3. The trust is initially funded in an amount at least equal to:
       1. The financial assurance amount as estimated by this section;
       2. A specified schedule of payments into the fund; or
       3. A pro-rata amount if used with another financial assurance mechanism.
    4. The trustee shall invest the principal and income of the fund in accordance with general investment practices. Investments can include equities, bonds, and government securities.
    5. The operator enters into a memorandum of agreement with the board that identifies the trustee, a range of investments, initial funding, schedule of payments, and expected rate of return.
    6. The trust fund balance shall be reviewed by the board at a period not to exceed once every five (5) years and adjustments to the trust fund made to meet the conditions of the agreement and this chapter.
13. Following the permanent cessation of a mining operation, the board may determine that a post-closure period of greater than thirty (30) years is necessary only when the following conditions have been met:
    1. The board has determined that such longer post-closure period is necessary to meet the requirements of sections 47-1506, 47-1509, 47-1510, and 47-1511, Idaho Code;
    2. The board has delivered to the operator, in writing, a notice setting forth the reasons it believes a longer post-closure period is necessary;
    3. The board has conducted a hearing where the operator is allowed to give testimony concerning the length of the post-closure period. The hearing shall be held under such rules as promulgated by the board. The requirement for a hearing may be waived by the operator; and
    4. Any decision by the board under this subsection shall be considered a final order pursuant to section 47-1514, Idaho Code.
14. Any mining operation that is addressing water management, and any releases to the environment through a comprehensive environmental response, compensation and liability act (CERCLA) order, including any required financial assurance, shall not be required to submit financial assurance to the board for any activities covered by a CERCLA order.

(2) Upon a determination by the board that the requirements of the reclamation plan in question have not been substantially met as to said lands or such activity, it shall deliver to the operator, in writing, a notice of rejection of the request for financial assurance release and shall set forth in said notice the reasons for such rejection, the factual findings upon which such rejection is based, the manner in which the reclamation fails to fulfill the requirements of the reclamation plan, and the changes necessary to comply with the requirements of the reclamation plan.

§ 47-1513. Operator’s failure to comply — Forfeiture of financial assurance — Penalties — Reclamation fund — Cyanidation closure fund.

1. Whenever the board determines that an operator has not complied with the provisions of this chapter, the board may notify the operator of such noncompliance and may, by private conference, conciliation, and persuasion, endeavor to remedy such violation. In the event of a violation referred to in subsections (d) and (e) of this section, the board may proceed without an administrative action, hearing or decision to exercise the remedies set forth in said subsections. Additionally, no administrative action, hearing or decision shall be required from the Idaho board of environmental quality prior to the board proceeding under subsections (d) and (e) of this section. In the event of the failure of any conference, conciliation and persuasion to remedy any alleged violation, the board may cause to have issued and served upon the operator alleged to be committing such violation a formal complaint that shall specify the provisions of this chapter that the operator allegedly is violating and a statement of the manner in and the extent to which said operator is alleged to be violating the provisions of this chapter. Such complaint may be served by certified mail, and a return receipt signed by the operator, an officer of a corporate operator, or the designated agent of the operator shall constitute service. The operator shall answer the complaint and request a hearing before a designated hearing officer within thirty (30) days from receipt of the complaint if matters asserted in the complaint are disputed. If the operator fails to answer the complaint and request a hearing, the matters asserted in the complaint shall be deemed admitted by the operator, and the board may proceed to cancel the reclamation or permanent closure plan and forfeit the financial assurance in the amount necessary to reclaim affected lands or complete the permanent closure activities. Upon request for a hearing by an operator, the board shall schedule a hearing before a hearing officer appointed by the board at a time not less than thirty (30) days after the date the operator requests a hearing. The board shall issue subpoenas at the request of the director of the department of lands and at the request of the charged operator, and the matter shall be otherwise handled and conducted in accordance with chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code. The hearing officer shall, pursuant to said hearing, enter an order in accordance with chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code, which, if adverse to the operator, shall designate a time period within which corrective action should be taken. The time period designated shall be long enough to allow the operator, in the exercise of reasonable diligence, to rectify any failure to comply designated in said order. In the event that the operator takes such action as is necessary to comply with the order within the time period designated in said order, no further action shall be taken by the board to compel performance under the chapter.
2. Upon request of the board, the attorney general shall institute proceedings to have the financial assurance of an operator forfeited for the violation by the operator of an order entered pursuant to this section.
3. The forfeiture of such financial assurance shall fully satisfy all obligations of the operator to reclaim the affected land or complete permanent closure activities under the provisions of this chapter. If the violation involves an operator that has not furnished financial assurance required by this chapter, or an operator that is not required to furnish financial assurance pursuant to this chapter, or an operator who violates this chapter by performing an act not included in the original approved reclamation plan or the original approved permanent closure plan, and such departure from the plan is not subsequently approved, such operator shall be subject to a civil penalty for his failure to comply with such order in the amount determined by the board to be the anticipated cost of reasonable reclamation of affected lands or permanent closure of the cyanidation facility. Nothing in this subsection shall relieve the operator of any obligation, including the obligation to complete closure requirements, pursuant to a permit issued by the department of environmental quality under section 39-118A, Idaho Code, or limit that department’s authority to require compliance with such permit requirements.
4. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, the board may commence an action without financial assurance or undertaking, in the name of the state of Idaho, to enjoin any operator who is conducting operations without an approved plan required by section 47-1506, Idaho Code, or without the financial assurance required by this chapter. The court, or a judge thereof at chambers, if satisfied from the complaint or by affidavits that such acts have been or are being committed, shall issue a temporary restraining order without notice or bond, enjoining the defendant, his agents, and employees from conducting such operations without said plan or bond. Upon a showing of good cause therefor, the temporary restraining order may require the defendant to perform reclamation of the mined area in conformity with sections 47-1509 and 47-1510, Idaho Code, or to complete permanent closure activities, pending final disposition of the action. The action shall then proceed as in other cases for injunctions. If it is established at trial that the defendant has operated without an approved plan or financial assurance, the court shall enter, in addition to any other order, a decree enjoining the defendant, his agents and employees from thereafter conducting such activities or similar actions in violation of this chapter. The board may, in conjunction with its injunctive procedures, proceed in the same or in a separate action to recover from an operator who is conducting mining or exploration operations or operating a cyanidation facility without the required plan or financial assurance, the cost of performing the reclamation activities required by sections 47-1509 and 47-1510, Idaho Code, or the cost of permanent closure activities from any such operator who has not provided financial assurance to cover the cost of the required activities.
5. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the board may, without bond or undertaking and without any administrative action, hearing or decision, commence an action in the name of the state of Idaho (1) to enjoin a permitted mining operation or cyanidation facility when, under an existing approved plan, an operator violates the terms of the plan and where immediate and irreparable injury, loss or damage may result to the state, and (2) to recover the penalties and to collect civil damages provided for by law.
6. In addition to the procedures set forth in subsections (a), (d) and (e) of this section, and in addition to the civil penalty provided in subsection (c) of this section, any operator who violates any of the provisions of this chapter or rules adopted pursuant thereto, or who fails to perform the duties imposed by these provisions, or who violates any determination or order promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, shall be liable to a civil penalty of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) for each day during which such violation continues, and in addition may be enjoined from continuing such violation. Such penalties shall be recoverable in an action brought in the name of the state of Idaho by the attorney general in the district court for the county where the violation, or some part thereof, occurs, or in the district court for the county wherein the defendant resides.
   1. All sums recovered related to the reclamation provisions of this chapter shall be placed in the state treasury and credited to the mining reclamation fund, which is hereby created, to be used to reclaim affected lands and to administer the reclamation provisions of this chapter.
   2. All sums recovered related to the cyanidation facility closure provisions of this chapter shall be placed in the state treasury and credited to the cyanidation facility closure fund, which is hereby created. Moneys in the fund may be expended pursuant to appropriation and used to complete permanent closure activities and to administer the permanent closure provisions of this chapter.
7. Any person who willfully and knowingly falsifies any records, information, plans, specifications, or other data required by the board or willfully fails, neglects, or refuses to comply with any of the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) and not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) or imprisonment not to exceed one (1) year, or both.
8. Reclamation plans approved by the board as of July 1, 2019, shall be deemed to be in full compliance with the requirements of this chapter.

§ 47-1514. Appeal from final order — Procedure.

1. Any operator dissatisfied with any final order of the board made pursuant to this chapter may, within sixty (60) days after notice of such order, obtain judicial review thereof by appealing to the district court of the state of Idaho for the county wherein the operator resides or has a place of business, or to the district court for the county in which the cyanidation facility or the land or any portions thereof affected by the order is located. Such appeal shall be perfected by filing with the clerk of such court, in duplicate, a notice of appeal, together with a complaint against the board, in duplicate, which shall recite the prior proceedings before the board or hearing officer, and shall state the grounds upon which the petitioner claims he is entitled to relief. A copy of the summons and complaint shall be delivered to the board or such person or persons as the board may designate to receive service of process. The clerk of the court shall immediately forward a copy of the notice of appeal and complaint to the board, which shall forthwith prepare, certify and file in said court, a true copy of any decision, findings of fact, conclusions or order, together with any pleadings upon which the case was heard and submitted to the board or hearing officer, and shall, upon order of the court, provide transcripts of any record, including all exhibits and testimony of any proceedings in said matter before the board or any of its subordinates. Such suit in the district court shall be a trial de novo and shall proceed in all respects like other civil suits, including, but not limited to, the rights of appeal to the supreme court of the state of Idaho.
2. When the board finds that justice so requires, it may postpone the effective date of a final order made, pending judicial review. The reviewing court, including the court to which a case may be taken on appeal, may issue all necessary and appropriate orders to postpone the effective date of any final order pending conclusion of the review proceedings.
3. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter concerning administrative or judicial proceedings, whenever the board determines that an operator has not complied with the provisions of this chapter, the board may file a civil action in the district court for the county wherein the violation, or some part thereof, occurs, or in the district court for the county wherein the defendant resides. The board may request the court to issue an appropriate order to remedy the violation. The right of appeal to the supreme court of the state of Idaho shall be available.

§ 47-1515. Information.

Any information supplied by an operator to the board, the director, or the department of lands, and designated by such operator as confidential, shall be subject to disclosure according to chapter 1, title 74, Idaho Code.

§ 47-1516. Deposit of forfeitures and damages.

All forfeitures and civil damages collected under the provisions of this act shall be deposited with the state treasurer in a special fund to be used by the board for mined land reclamation purposes.

§ 47-1517. Conduct of activities.

1. An operator shall conduct all exploration and mining operations in accordance with all applicable statutes and regulations pertaining to water use and mining safety applicable to exploration and mining operations.
2. An operator desiring to operate a cyanidation facility within the state of Idaho shall conduct all related activities in accordance with all applicable statutes and rules related to cyanidation including, but not limited to, section 39-118A, Idaho Code.

§ 47-1518. Effective date — Application of chapter.

1. The reclamation provisions of this chapter shall be in full force and effect on and after May 31, 1971. A surface mine operator shall not be required to perform the reclamation activities referred to in this chapter as to any surface mining operations performed prior to May 31, 1972, and, further, shall not be required to perform such reclamation activities as to any pit or overburden pile as it exists prior to May 31, 1972.
2. The cyanidation provisions of this chapter shall be in full force and effect on and after July 1, 2005. A cyanidation facility with an existing permit approved by the department of environmental quality under section 39-118A, Idaho Code, as of July 1, 2005, shall be deemed to be in full compliance with the requirements of this chapter. If there is a material modification or a material expansion of a cyanidation facility after July 1, 2005, the provisions of this chapter shall apply to the modification or expansion. Provided however, that reclamation or closure-related activities at a facility with an existing cyanidation permit that did not actively add cyanide after January 1, 2005, shall not be considered to be material modifications or a material expansion of the facility.
3. An underground mine operator shall not be subject to this chapter for affected land disturbed by underground mine operations prior to July 1, 2019. If there is a significant change to affected land at an underground mining operation after July 1, 2019, the provisions of this chapter shall apply to the significant change.
4. The financial assurance and post-closure provisions of this chapter amended in 2019 shall be in force and effect on or after July 1, 2019. Provided that the financial assurance and post-closure provisions of this chapter amended in 2019 shall not apply to:
   1. Mining operations currently permitted or authorized to commence operations prior to July 1, 2019; or
   2. Any mining operation that has permanently ceased operations prior to July 1, 2019.
5. For mining operations that have submitted maps and plans to state or federal agencies as required by section 47-1506, Idaho Code, but such operations have not been approved prior to July 1, 2019, such operations shall have one (1) year after operation approval to submit plans and financial assurance required by the financial assurance and post-closure provisions of this chapter as amended in 2019.
6. The board shall promulgate temporary rules by August 1, 2019, to implement the 2019 amendments to this chapter.

§ 47-1519. Application of chapter to mineral extraction for public highway purposes.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the bonding provisions of this chapter shall not apply to any surface mining operations conducted by a public or governmental agency for maintenance, repair, or construction of a public highway. Surface mining operations conducted by a public or governmental agency for maintenance, repair, or construction of a public highway which disturb two (2) or more acres shall comply with the provisions of section 47-1506, Idaho Code, as though all minerals were mined for the purpose of immediate or ultimate sale. Surface mining operations conducted by a public or governmental agency for maintenance, repair or construction of a public highway which disturb less than two (2) acres are exempt from the provisions of section 47-1506, Idaho Code. The extraction of minerals from within the right-of-way of a public highway by a public or governmental agency for maintenance, repair or construction of a public highway shall not be deemed surface mining operations under this chapter, provided that the affected land is an integral part of the public highway.

§ 47-1601. Geothermal resources — Land leases — Authorization.

The state board of land commissioners is hereby authorized and empowered to issue geothermal resource leases for terms of up to forty-nine (49) years on any state or school lands which may contain geothermal resources, together with the right to use and occupy so much of the surface of said land as may be required for all purposes reasonably incident to the prospecting for, exploration for, drilling or other well construction for, and production of geothermal resources.

§ 47-1602. “Geothermal resources” defined.

For the purposes of this chapter, “geothermal resources” shall mean the natural heat energy of the earth, the energy, in whatever form, which may be found in any position and at any depth below the surface of the earth present in, resulting from, or created by, or which may be extracted from, such natural heat, and all minerals in solution or other products obtained from the material medium of any geothermal resource. Geothermal resources are found and hereby declared to be sui generis, being neither a mineral resource nor a water resource, but they are also found and hereby declared to be closely related to and possibly affecting and affected by water resources in many instances. No right to seek, obtain, or use geothermal resources has passed or shall pass with any existing or future lease of state or school lands, including but not limited to, mineral leases and leases issued under chapter 8, title 47, Idaho Code.

§ 47-1603. Rules and regulations.

The state board of land commissioners is hereby authorized and empowered to adopt such rules and regulations governing the issuance of geothermal resource leases and governing the conduct of any operations thereunder.

§ 47-1604. Leased area.

The surface area covered by a geothermal lease issued pursuant to this chapter shall be determined by the state board of land commissioners.

§ 47-1605. Leases — Rental and royalty.

1. Geothermal resources leases shall be issued at an annual rental of not less than twenty-five cents (25¢) per acre, payable in advance. The rental specified in geothermal leases shall be fixed in any manner by the state board of land commissioners including, but not limited to, competitive bidding, negotiation, fixed amounts or formulas.
2. Royalty shall be established by the board of land commissioners based on the market value of the geothermal resources produced from the lands under lease. The royalties specified in geothermal leases shall be fixed in any manner by the state board of land commissioners including, but not limited to, competitive bidding, negotiation, fixed amounts or formulas. Royalties shall be paid in addition to rental payments, at the discretion of the board of land commissioners.

§ 47-1606. Leases — Purposes for which land used.

The state board of land commissioners shall have the right to lease state or school lands for grazing, agricultural, or other purposes, as may be otherwise provided by law, and to issue geothermal resource leases covering lands leased for grazing, agricultural, or other purposes, provided however, that the lessee under a geothermal resource lease issued under the provisions of this chapter shall have paramount right to the use of so much of the surface of the land as shall be necessary for the purposes of his lease and shall have the right to ingress and egress at all times during the term of such lease.

§ 47-1607. Leases — Assignment or transfer — Restrictions.

No geothermal resource lease, which shall be issued under the provisions of this chapter, shall be assignable or transferable except upon the written consent of the state board of land commissioners.

§ 47-1608. Bonding.

The board shall require the execution of good and sufficient bonds in amounts the board determines reasonable for reclamation and all damages to the land surface and improvements thereon, whether or not the lands have been sold or leased for any other purpose. These bonds shall not duplicate bonds for well closure held by the Idaho department of water resources.

§ 47-1609. Leases — Cancellation.

The state board of land commissioners shall reserve and may exercise the authority to cancel any geothermal resource lease upon failure by the lessee to exercise due diligence or care in the prosecution of his operations in accordance with the terms and conditions stated in such lease and with all laws of the state of Idaho, and shall insert in every such lease appropriate provisions for its cancellation by the board in the event of noncompliance upon the part of the lessee.

§ 47-1610. Constitutional requirements — Compliance.

All grants and permissions under this act shall be executed as required by the Constitution of the state of Idaho, Article IV, section 16.

§ 47-1611. Cooperative agreements and modification of leases authorization.

The state board of land commissioners is a person authorized to join on behalf of the state of Idaho in agreements for cooperative or unit plans of development or operation of the geothermal resources of geothermal resource areas involving state or school lands and to do all things necessary to make operative such plan or plans subject to any and all provisions of state and federal law; and for such purposes the board is hereby authorized with the consent of its lessees to modify and change any and all terms of leases issued by it to facilitate efficiency and resource conservation in geothermal resource operations on and from lands under its jurisdiction; provided however, that said board shall not use or contract to use funds under its control for the purpose of drilling or otherwise paying the cost of geothermal resource operations.

§ 47-1701. Purpose of act.

It is the purpose of this act to provide for the reclamation of abandoned mines on state and federal lands and on certain private lands, thereby protecting human health, safety and welfare, conserving natural resources, aiding in the protection of wildlife, aquatic resources, domestic animals, and reducing soil erosion.

§ 47-1702. Short title.

This act may be known and cited as the “Idaho Abandoned Mine Reclamation Act.”

§ 47-1703. Funding.

This chapter shall govern the use of state and federal moneys specifically appropriated for abandoned mine reclamation. This chapter shall not require the state to expend or appropriate state moneys. The board may receive federal funds, state funds, and any other funds, and, within the limits imposed by a specific grant, expend them as directed by this chapter. All grants, funds, fees, fines, penalties and other uncleared money which has been or will be paid to the state for abandoned mine reclamation shall be placed in the state treasury and credited to the abandoned mine reclamation fund, which is hereby created. This fund shall be available to the board, by legislative appropriation, and shall be expended for the reclamation of lands affected by eligible mining operations.

§ 47-1704. Definitions.

1. “Abandoned mine” means a mine deserted by the operator, having no regular maintenance, and not covered by a valid mining claim.
2. “Affected land” means the land adjacent to an eligible mine that is, or may be, adversely affected by past mining operations.
3. “Board” means the state board of land commissioners or such department, commission, or agency as may lawfully succeed to the powers and duties of such board.
4. “Director” means the head of the department of lands or such officer as may lawfully succeed to the powers and duties of said director.
5. “Eligible mine” means an abandoned mine located on land owned by the state or federal government or an abandoned mine located on private land when the owner of the private land has requested, and the board has granted, designation as an eligible mine.
6. “Mine” means an area where valuable minerals were extracted from the earth and includes all associated development areas including, but not limited to, milling and processing areas, overburden disposal areas, stockpiles, roads, tailings ponds and other areas disturbed at the mining operation site.
7. “Operator” means any person or persons, any partnership, limited partnership, or corporation, or any association of persons, either natural or artificial including, but not limited to, every public or governmental agency engaged in mining or mineral exploration operations, whether individually, jointly, or through subsidiaries, agents, employees, or contractors and shall mean every governmental agency owning or controlling the use of any mine when the mineral extracted is to be used by or for the benefit of such agency. It shall not include any governmental agency with respect to those mining or mineral exploration operations as to which it grants mineral leases or prospecting permits or similar contracts, but nothing herein shall relieve the operator acting pursuant to a mineral lease, prospecting permit or similar contract from the terms of this chapter.
8. “Valuable mineral” shall have the same meaning as “valuable mineral” defined in section 47-1205, Idaho Code.

§ 47-1705. Responsibility of state board of land commissioners.

The state board of land commissioners is charged with the responsibility of administering this act in accordance with the purpose of the act and the intent of the legislature. The director of the department of lands shall, upon authorization of the board, exercise the powers and discharge the duties vested in the board by this act.

§ 47-1706. Duties and powers of board.

In addition to the other duties and powers of the board prescribed by law, the board is granted and shall be entitled to exercise the following authority and powers and perform the following duties:

1. To reclaim any eligible mine and affected lands. Reclamation on federal lands shall be completed only upon consent of the federal agency responsible for the administration of those lands. Reclamation activities may include:
   1. The reclamation and restoration of abandoned surface mined areas;
   2. The reclamation of abandoned milling and processing areas;
   3. The sealing, filling, and grading of abandoned deep mine entries;
   4. The planting of land adversely affected by past mining to prevent erosion and sedimentation;
   5. The prevention, abatement, treatment, and control of water pollution created by abandoned mine drainage;
   6. The control of surface subsidence due to abandoned deep mines; and
   7. Such other reclamation activities as may be necessary to accomplish the purposes of this act.
2. To administer and enforce the provisions of this act and the rules and orders promulgated thereunder as provided in this act.
3. To conduct and promote the coordination and acceleration of research, studies, surveys, experiments, demonstrations and training in carrying out the provisions of this act. In carrying out the activities authorized in this section, the board may enter into contracts with and make grants to institutions, agencies, organizations and individuals, and shall collect and make available any information obtained therefrom.
4. To adopt and promulgate reasonable rules respecting the administration of this act and such rules as may be necessary to carry out the intent and purposes of this act. All such rules shall be adopted in accordance with and subject to the provisions of chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code.
5. To enter upon eligible mines and affected lands at reasonable times, for inspection purposes and to determine whether the provisions of this act are being complied with. Inspections on private lands shall be conducted in the presence of the landowner or his duly authorized employees or representatives, or with written permission of the landowner.

§ 47-1707. Priorities.

Expenditure of funds from the abandoned mine reclamation account [abandoned mine reclamation fund] shall reflect the following priorities in the order stated:

1. The protection of public health, safety, and general welfare from the adverse effects of past mining practices.
2. The restoration of land and water resources previously degraded by the adverse effects of past mining practices.

§ 47-1708. Interagency coordination.

The board shall recognize other governmental, educational, and private organizations or agencies which have expertise and information regarding abandoned mines and affected lands. The board shall characterize, prioritize, and complete reclamation of eligible mines and affected lands in coordination with these agencies. In addition, the board may reasonably compensate them from the abandoned mine reclamation account [abandoned mine reclamation fund] for services that the board requests they provide.

§ 47-1801. Purpose.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an alternative form of performance bond or financial assurance for mining operations and mineral leases as required by the state board of land commissioners.

§ 47-1802. Applicability.

Mine operators who are working under the requirements of title 47, Idaho Code, may be required to provide alternative financial assurance, and if so required, shall provide such alternative financial assurance in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

§ 47-1803. Reclamation fund created — Financial assurance.

1. The state treasurer shall be the custodian of an interest-bearing, dedicated fund known as the “Reclamation Fund” which is hereby created. The reclamation fund shall be funded by payments from applicable parties, interest and cost recoveries initiated by the state board of land commissioners. All payments, interest and cost recoveries shall be established by the state board of land commissioners.
2. An operator’s commitment to reclaim affected lands and operator’s payments to the reclamation fund shall be documented on a department of lands form requiring that the operator shall faithfully perform the requirements of the approved plan and comply with all administrative rules and policy governing the operation.
3. Moneys accruing to or received by the fund shall be expended by the department of lands, after approval by the state board of land commissioners and upon legislative appropriation, for reclamation of mines subject to the provisions of this chapter. Moneys in excess of those needed for reclamation liabilities shall be utilized, after approval of the state board of land commissioners, for mine administration, abandoned mine land reclamation or educational purposes. The state board of land commissioners shall adopt policy to determine an appropriate minimum balance to be maintained in the reclamation fund for reclamation liabilities.

§ 47-1804. Cost recovery.

If an operator fails to provide financial assurance as required by the provisions of this chapter, or has forfeited moneys from the reclamation fund and has not repaid those moneys, the state board of land commissioners shall be authorized to file liens against personal property and equipment of the operator to recover costs. The operator shall be liable for the actual cost of the required financial assurance, reclamation costs and administrative costs incurred by the department of lands.

§ 47-1805. Operations not approved.

The state board of land commissioners shall not approve any application for a reclamation plan, placer permit, mineral lease, or approve an amendment of any such document filed by a company, individual, corporate officer or operator who is not in compliance with applicable mining or leasing statutes or administrative rules, or who has forfeited reclamation funds and has not fully reimbursed the department of lands for the reclamation and administrative costs incurred by the state board of land commissioners, or who has not paid the required financial assurance.