South Dakota oil and gas laws can be found in Chapter 45-9, Title 45 of South Dakota Statutes. Pursuant to S.D. Codified Laws § 45-9-1, the purpose of the statute is to foster, encourage, and promote the development, production, and utilization of natural resources of oil and gas. Pursuant to S.D. Codified Laws § 45-9-3, the waste of oil and gas is prohibited. However, the production of gas for personal use in conjunction with the production of water insofar as such gas comes from the water-bearing formations is expressly excluded.
Powers and Jurisdiction of the Board
Pursuant to S.D. Codified Laws § 45-9-13, the Board of Minerals and Environment promulgates rules and issue orders reasonably necessary to:
- prevent waste,
- protect correlative rights,
- govern the practice or procedure before the board.
The board may delegate to the secretary of environment and natural resources the authority to enforce any rules or orders promulgated or issued pursuant to the statute.
Regulation of Production
Pursuant to S.D. Codified Laws § 45-9-11, the Board of Minerals and Environment promulgates rules to regulate or to provide for:
- The drilling, producing, and plugging of wells, and all other operations for the production of oil or gas;
- The shooting and chemical or physical treatment of wells;
- The spacing or locating of wells;
- Operations to increase ultimate recovery such as cycling of gas, the maintenance of pressure, and the introduction of gas, water, or other substances into producing formations; and
- Disposal of salt water and oil field wastes.
Pursuant to S.D. Codified Laws § 45-9-12, without limiting its general authority, the Board of Minerals and Environment may regulate, or may delegate to the office of the state geologist, specific authority to regulate the production of oil and gas from any field, pool, or area, where physical waste is created.
Civil Actions
Pursuant to S.D. Codified Laws § 45-9-71, if any person violates or threatens to violate any provision or any rule, regulation, or order of the Board of Minerals and Environment, the board will bring suit against such person to restrain such person from continuing such violation or from carrying out the threat of violation. In any such suit, the court will have jurisdiction to grant to the board, without bond or other undertaking, such prohibitory and mandatory injunctions as the fact may warrant, including temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions.
Pursuant to S.D. Codified Laws § 45-9-72, if the Board of Minerals and Environment fails to bring suit to enjoin a violation or threatened violation of any provision or any rule, regulation, or order of the board within ten days after receipt of written request, the person making such request may bring suit in his/her own behalf to restrain such violation or threatened violation in any court in which the board might have brought suit. The board will be made a party defendant in such suit in addition to the person violating or threatening to violate a provision or rule, regulation, or order of the board and the action will proceed and injunctive relief is granted to the board without bond in the same manner as if suit had been brought by the board.
Penalties
Pursuant to S.D. Codified Laws § 45-9-68, any person who violates any provision, or any rule, regulation, or order of the Board of Minerals and Environment is subject to a civil penalty of up to five hundred dollars for each act of violation and for each day that such violation continues, or is liable for damages to the environment, or both.
