American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2015 - 128

ConventionSection: Kansas Independent Oil & Gas Association
any well within 500 feet of any structure
present before drilling activity commenced
without consent from the surface owner.
"The issue really is a private contractual
matter between two parties and is not a
legislative issue," Cross comments, adding
that many other legislators agreed with
KIOGA.
Other legislation was introduced on
behalf of Northern Natural Gas to abolish
the law of capture for all gas injected into
underground storage fields. KIOGA opposed this measure, Cross confirms. He
says the association had legal representatives testify against the bill in committee,
and it did not pass through for a vote.
"The issue of natural gas migrating
from or escaping the storage boundaries
has been addressed by the courts over
the past several years," he observes.
"KIOGA opposed the legislation because
it would have hurt many Kansas producers,
mineral owners, landowners, and others."
This year's session also saw the resurgence of the abandoned well issue, Cross
says. Legislation supported by KIOGA
to extend the abandoned well plugging

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fund through 2020 passed both houses
and was signed by the governor in May.
According to Cross, lawmakers amended the law by deleting the quarterly
transfer of $100,000 from the State Water
Plan Fund to the well-plugging fund. A
House committee also increased the quarterly transfer from the Kansas Corporation
Commission's Conservation Fee Fund to
the plugging fund from $100,000 to
$200,000.

Lesser Prairie Chicken
Cross calls the U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service's decision to list the lesser prairie
chicken as a threatened species despite
interstate and industry efforts to protect
and mitigate impact on the species one
of many Endangered Species Act abuses.
He says Congress is "beginning to understand this and is beginning to focus
on correcting ESA abuses."
He notes Congressman Doug Collins,
R-Ga., and Senator Chuck Grassley, RIa., have introduced a bill to bring transparency to so-called "sue-and-settle" lawsuits between activist groups and likeminded federal agencies.
Earlier this spring, Cross says, he met
with Senator Susan Collins, R-Me., and
Senator Jon Tester, D-Mt., both of whom
serve on the Senate Appropriations Committee, as well as Congressman Kevin
Yoder, R-Ks., of the House Appropriations
Committee, to encourage them to consider
USFWS funding cuts as a way to bind
the agency to implement the ESA in a
fair and balanced manner. Cross says he
also is working with congressmen from
Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma
and Colorado in asking the House Appropriations Committee to delay funding
for any further lesser prairie chicken regulatory actions for five years to allow

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128 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

state conservation plans time to work.
KIOGA also is working with Senator
Jerry Moran, R-Ks., and Senator Jim Inhofe, R-Ok., to lead another congressional
effort to remove the lesser prairie chicken's
threatened listing for five years to enable
state conservation plans to work.
"All these changes translate to more
litigation, more rule makings, and more
uncertainty for independent producers,"
Cross continues. "We want more transparency in the listing decisions, to limit
the amount of taxpayer money spent on
litigation, to expand the role of states,
and to ensure the ecosystems and the
species that occupy them are protected
for future generations.
"KIOGA is working hard through several avenues to address challenges posed
to the Kansas oil and gas industry from
listing the chicken as threatened, including
through political, legal, and operational
means," he adds.
In addition to those federal efforts,
Cross says KIOGA continues to work
with Governor Brownback and Kansas'
wildlife regulators to support local and
state efforts to delist the lesser prairie
chicken, as well as other measures to
help determine and mitigate regulatory
risks.
On the legal side, Cross notes KIOGA
is a plaintiff in litigation against the USFWS that contends the agency violated
the due process clause of the 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by effectively
regulating behind closed doors. "KIOGA
will stay engaged with our legal team as
the case progresses through the U.S. District Court in Washington, and a likely
appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the D.C. Circuit," he adds.
In operational terms, the association
continues its efforts to offer educational

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American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2015

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