ARTICLE 5. Unreasonable Waste of Gas [3300. - 3314.]

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC 5.

in effect

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 3300. Section 3300.

The unreasonable waste of natural gas by the act, omission, sufferance, or insistence of the lessor, lessee or operator of any land containing oil or gas, or both, whether before or after the removal of gasoline from the gas, is opposed to the public interest and is unlawful. The blowing, release, or escape of gas into the air shall be prima facie evidence of unreasonable waste.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 3301. Section 3301.

Whenever the supervisor finds that it is in the interest of the protection of oil or gas from unreasonable waste, the lessors, lessees, operators or other persons owning or controlling royalty or other interests in the separate properties of the same producing or prospective oil or gas field, may, with the approval of the supervisor, enter into agreements for the purpose of bringing about the cooperative development and operation of all or a part or parts of the field, or for the purpose of bringing about the development or operation of all or a part or parts of such field as a unit, or for the purpose of fixing the time, location, and manner of drilling and operating of wells for the production of oil or gas, or providing for the return of gas into the sub-surface of the earth for the purpose of storage or the repressuring of an oil or gas field. Any such agreement shall bind the successors and assigns of the parties thereto in the land affected thereby and shall be enforceable in an action for specific performance.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 3302. Section 3302.

Upon complaint being made to the director by any person operating in any oil field that there is occurring or threatened an unreasonable waste of gas in any field or fields, and when a petition is filed with the director requesting that a hearing be held to consider whether such waste is occurring or threatened, if it appears to the director that there is probable cause for such complaint, he shall order the supervisor to hold such a hearing and to fix a time and place therefor. A hearing may also be ordered by the director on the application of the supervisor.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 3303. Section 3303.

Notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be given by publication in a newspaper printed and published in the county in which the unreasonable waste of gas is alleged to be taking place or to be threatened. The notice shall specify the commonly accepted name or a general description of the field or locality. Publication shall be daily for five days prior to the time of the hearing. The supervisor shall also send notice by mail to each lessor, lessee, or operator, known to him, of any well in the field. Failure to send such written notice shall not affect the validity of the proceeding.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 3304. Section 3304.

The place of hearing shall be in the county or in any of the counties in which the unreasonable waste of gas is alleged to be taking place or to be threatened.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 3305. Section 3305.

At the hearing all persons interested are entitled to be heard and may present testimony either oral or written. All witnesses shall be sworn, and a transcript of the proceedings shall be kept by a stenographic reporter. All the provisions of this chapter in reference to the subpoenaing of witnesses and the taking of depositions are applicable to the hearing before the supervisor. On the request of the supervisor, a hearing officer in the Office of Administrative Hearings may assist and rule upon legal matters, but such officer shall not make the determination specified in Section 3306.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 3306. Section 3306.

Upon the conclusion of the hearing, the supervisor shall determine whether or not there is an unreasonable waste of gas in the field, in existence or threatened, and shall also determine the extent to which the waste of gas, occurring or threatened, is unreasonable.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 3307. Section 3307.

If it appears that gas is being produced from any oil well or wells in quantities exceeding a reasonable proportion to the amount of oil produced from the same well or wells, even though it is shown that such excess gas is being used in the generation of light, heat, power, or any other industrial purpose, the supervisor shall hold that such excess production of gas is unreasonable waste.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 3308. Section 3308.

If the waste of gas is found to be unreasonable, an order shall be made by the supervisor directing that the unreasonable waste of gas be discontinued or refrained from to the extent stated in the order. The sale or delivery of gas to another by a lessor, lessee, or operator shall be no defense, excuse, or reason for any lessor, lessee, or operator disobeying an order of the supervisor directing the discontinuance or curtailment of the production of the well or wells from which gas is being produced.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 3309. Section 3309.

A copy of the supervisor’s order shall be posted in a conspicuous place upon the property affected, and the order shall become final 10 days after posting, unless it is appealed from as provided in Section 3350.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 3310. Section 3310.

When the decision of the supervisor that there is an unreasonable waste of gas occurring or threatened has become final, a certified copy thereof shall be filed with the director. The director, unless the order is complied with voluntarily, shall have proceedings instituted in the name of the people of the State of California to enjoin the unreasonable waste of gas. Such proceedings shall be instituted in the superior court of the county in which is situated the property, or any part thereof, where the wastage is occurring or is threatened. Any number of defendants may be joined in the same proceeding, although their properties and interests may be severally owned and their actual or threatened unreasonable wastage of gas may be separate and distinct, if the actual or threatened unreasonable waste by all of the defendants is in, or with reference to, the same producing or prospective oil or gas field.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 3311. Section 3311.

In those suits, a restraining order shall not be issued ex parte, and a temporary or permanent injunction issued in the proceedings shall not be refused or dissolved or stayed pending appeal upon the giving of any bond or undertaking or otherwise, but otherwise the procedure, including the procedure on appeal, shall be conformable with the provisions of Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 525) of Title 7 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure. In the proceedings, the findings of the supervisor, unless set aside, or except to the extent modified, by the director, shall constitute prima facie evidence of the unreasonable wastage of gas therein found to be occurring or threatened.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 3312. Section 3312.

Whenever it appears to the director that the owners, lessors, lessees, or operators of any well or wells producing oil and gas or oil or gas are causing or permitting an unreasonable waste of gas, he may institute, or have proceedings instituted, in the name of the people of the State of California, to enjoin the unreasonable waste of gas regardless of whether proceedings have or have not been instituted under sections 3302 to 3305, and regardless of whether an order has or has not been made therein. Such proceedings shall be instituted in the superior court of the county in which is situated the well or wells, or any thereof, from which the unreasonable waste of gas is occurring. The owners, lessors, lessees, or operators causing or permitting an unreasonable waste of gas in the same oil or gas field may be made parties to the action, although their properties and interests may be separately owned and their unreasonable waste separate and distinct.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 3313. Section 3313.

In such suits a restraining order shall not be issued ex parte, and a temporary or permanent injunction issued in such proceedings shall not be refused or dissolved or stayed pending appeal upon the giving of any bond or undertaking or otherwise, but otherwise the procedure shall be governed by the provisions of Chapter III of Title VII of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 3314. Section 3314.

Proceedings to enjoin waste as contemplated by this chapter shall be special proceedings restricted to the single issue whether gas is being produced or is threatened to be produced in unreasonably wasteful quantities and the extent to which such production should be enjoined on behalf of the State of California.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026