New York well plugging bonds.
From $100.
New York requires the owner or operator of a regulated well to furnish and continuously maintain a Well Plugging and Surface Restoration Bond with the Department of Environmental Conservation under ECL § 23-0305. Your well count and depth set the penal sum. Premiums cost 1% of the bond amount plus a $25 fee, $100 minimum.
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How much does a New York well plugging bond cost?
1% of the bond amount plus a $25 fee, from $100. Enter your amount in the calculator for the exact price.
Three steps. One sitting.
There is no underwriting queue for the standard well plugging bond — enter your penal sum, pay, and file the executed bond with the Division of Mineral Resources. Here is the whole thing:
Apply online
Your operator details exactly as registered with the Division, the penal sum your well count and depth require, and the effective date. The application also carries a credit consent that authorizes a soft pull only.
Pay & e-sign
The bond is checkout-priced from a $100 minimum, so it issues the moment you pay. Large six-figure penal sums on deep wells may draw a brief underwriter review first.
File with the Division of Mineral Resources
Form 85-02-2 and a certified power of attorney go to NYSDEC, Division of Mineral Resources, 625 Broadway — 3rd Floor, Albany, NY 12233-6500. Wet-ink originals mailed whenever the Bureau of Oil and Gas Regulation insists on them.
What it is and who needs it.
What the well plugging bond actually guarantees
New York regulates wells drilled for oil, gas, solution salt mining, brine, storage, and disposal — plus stratigraphic, geothermal, and brine disposal wells deeper than 500 feet — under Article 23 of the Environmental Conservation Law, administered by the DEC Division of Mineral Resources. ECL § 23-0305(8)(e) requires that, prior to the commencement of drilling of any well, the operator furnish and continuously maintain a bond acceptable to the Department, conditioned on performance of that operator’s plugging responsibilities.
Form 85-02-2 binds the principal and surety unto the State of New York in the stated penal sum, and its condition is that the principal comply with the law and the Department’s rules on the proper plugging of such wells and adequate restoration of the adjacent surface terrain. If the operator does not, the Department may call on the surety to complete the reclamation. Total surety liability for any one or more recoveries never exceeds the penal sum, and the bond is continuous — it stays in force until the Department releases the surety, or the surety cancels on 90 days’ advance written notice to both the principal and the Division.
It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays, you repay the surety. Two Article 23 traps are worth knowing. First, DEC’s financial-security rule under 6 NYCRR Part 551 keeps your security on file until a subsequent owner files acceptable security and the Department approves the transfer, or the well is plugged and abandoned to the Department’s satisfaction under Part 555 — selling the well does not release you by itself. Second, failure to maintain the security is deemed a breach of your plugging responsibilities and entitles the Department to claim the proceeds outright. We track the term and send renewal notices 60 and 30 days out so the filing never lapses.
You need this bond if you are
Claims, renewal, filing, and what sets the price.
If a claim is made
A claim comes from the party the bond protects, the obligee named on the form, when the duty the bond guarantees is not met.
The surety investigates and pays a valid claim, up to the bond amount. You then repay the surety: a surety bond is a guarantee of your performance, not insurance for you.
Renewal and term
The premium covers a one-year term from the effective date you choose.
Renew before the expiry date to keep the bond in force: the license, permit or contract it backs expects continuous coverage.
How to file it
File with the Division of Mineral Resources. Form 85-02-2 and a certified power of attorney go to NYSDEC, Division of Mineral Resources, 625 Broadway — 3rd Floor, Albany, NY 12233-6500. Wet-ink originals mailed whenever the Bureau of Oil and Gas Regulation insists on them.
What sets the price
The premium is 1% of the bond amount plus a $25 fee, $100 minimum: the amount the obligee sets moves the price, not your business profile.
One soft credit pull, never a hard inquiry, and it never affects your score.
Where a check runs, it decides approval; the rate is the same for everyone approved.
One application, issued the moment you pay.
These are the actual issuing fields — operator details, the penal sum, an effective date, and a credit consent that authorizes a soft pull only.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other New York bonds.
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
File your DEC security today.
From $100, issued the moment you pay, soft pull only. Enter your penal sum and file form 85-02-2 with the Division of Mineral Resources. Free until issued.