§4.3. Financial security

            A. As required by R.S. 30:4, an applicant for a permit to drill or to amend a permit to drill for change of operator shall provide financial security as provided in this Section in a form acceptable to the secretary. For an application for a permit to drill, the security shall be provided within thirty days of the completion date or from the date the operator is notified that financial security is required. For an application to amend a permit to drill for a change of operator, the security shall be provided as required by this Section or by establishing a site-specific trust account in accordance with R.S. 30:88 prior to the operator change.

            B.(1) Except as provided in Paragraph (2) of this Subsection, the amount of the financial security shall be provided for in rules and regulations promulgated by the secretary in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act. The amounts may be on an individual-well or multiple-well basis and may be categorized based on the well's location.

            (2) For an individual well located on land of a depth equal to or less than three thousand feet, the financial security required shall be two dollars per foot. However, the secretary may increase the financial security by rules and regulations promulgated after September 1, 2017, in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act.

            C. Financial security shall not be required for the following wells:

            (1) Any well declared to be orphaned by the secretary and subsequently transferred to another operator.

            (2) Any well to be drilled by an operator who has an agreement with the department to plug a well that has been declared to be orphaned by the secretary and that orphaned well is similar to the proposed well in terms of depth and location.

            Acts 2016, No. 634, §1, eff. June 17, 2016; Acts 2025, No. 458, §1, eff. Oct. 1, 2025.