A “life of well bond” or a “life of production facility bondâ€? is required for oil production facilities who have outstanding liabilities to the state or who continually violate existing laws, as stated by California’s AB 1960. The bond needs to ensure that the facility will properly plug and abandon the well, safely decommission the facility, and that financing for any spill and incident cleanup will be provided with limited costs to the state. Once the facility has been properly decommissioned, the bond will be released. This law became effective on January 1, 2009.