R317-7-9. Permitting Procedures and Conditions

9.1 Application for a Permit

A. Any person who is required to have a permit shall complete, sign and submit an application to the Director.

B. When the owner and operator are different, it is the operator's duty to obtain a permit.

C. The application must be complete before the permit is issued.

D. All applicants shall provide the following information:

1. activities conducted by the applicant which require a permit;

2. name, mailing address and location of facility;

3. up to four Standard Industrial Code (SIC) codes which best reflect the principal products or services provided;

4. operator's name, address, telephone number, ownership status, and status as Federal, State, private, public or other entity;

5. whether the facility is located on Indian lands;

6. list of State and Federal environmental permits or construction approvals received or applied for and other relevant environmental permits;

7. topographic map (or other map if the topographic map is unavailable) extending one mile beyond the property boundary; depicting the facility and its intake and discharge structures, any hazardous waste, treatment, storage and disposal facilities; each injection well; and wells, springs, surface water bodies, and drinking water wells listed in public records or otherwise known;

8. a brief description of the nature of the business;

9. a map showing the injection well for which a permit is sought and the applicable area of review. Within the area of review, the map must show a number, or name, and location of all producing wells, injection wells, abandoned wells, dry holes, surface bodies of water, springs, mines, (surface and subsurface), quarries, water wells and other pertinent surface features including residences and roads. The map should also show faults, if known or suspected. Only information of public record is required to be included on this map;

10. a tabulation of data on all wells within the area of review which penetrates into the proposed injection zone. Such data shall include a description of each well's type, construction, date drilled, location, depth, record of plugging and/or completion, any available water quality data, and any additional information the Director may require;

11. maps and cross sections indicating the vertical limits of all underground sources of drinking water within the area of review, their position relative to the injection formation and the direction of water movement, where known, in each underground source of drinking water which may be affected by the proposed injection;

12. maps and cross sections detailing the geologic structure and lithology of the local area;

13. generalized maps and cross sections illustrating the regional geologic and hydrologic setting;

14. proposed operating data:

(a) average and maximum daily rate and volume of the fluid to be injected;

(b) average and maximum injection pressure; and

(c) source and an appropriate analysis of the chemical, physical, radiological and biological characteristics of injection fluids;

15. proposed formation testing program to obtain an analysis of the chemical, physical and radiological characteristics of and other information on the receiving formation;

16. proposed stimulation program;

17. proposed injection procedure;

18. schematic or other appropriate drawings of the surface and subsurface construction details of the system;

19. contingency plans to cope with all shut-ins or well failures to prevent migration of fluids into any underground source of drinking water;

20. plans (including maps) for meeting the monitoring requirements;

21. for wells within the area of review which penetrate the injection zone but are not properly completed or plugged, the corrective action proposed to be taken;

22. construction procedures, as follows:

(a) For Class I Nonhazardous Wells: a cementing and casing program, logging procedures, deviation checks, and a drilling, testing, and coring program, which comply with Section 7-10.1(A) or 40 C.F.R. 146.12;

(b) For Class I Hazardous Waste Wells: cementing and casing program, well materials specifications and their life expectancy, logging procedures, deviation checks, and a drilling, testing and coring program, which comply with 40 C.F.R. 146.65 and 146.66;

(c) For Class III wells: cementing and casing program, logging procedures, deviation checks, and a drilling, testing, and coring program, which comply with section 7-10.1(B) or 40 C.F.R. 146.32.

23. A plan for plugging and abandoning the well, as follows:

(a) Class I Nonhazardous Well plans shall include information required by 40 C.F.R. 146.14(c) and Section 7-10.5 of these rules;

(b) Class I Hazardous Waste Well plans shall include information required by 40 C.F.R. 146.71(a)(4) and 146.72(a);

(c) Class III well plans shall include information required by 40 C.F.R. 146.34(c) and Section 7-10.5 of these rules.

24. A certificate that the applicant has assured, through a performance bond or other appropriate means, the resources necessary to close, plug or abandon the well. Class I Hazardous Waste wells shall also demonstrate financial responsibility pursuant to 40 C.F.R. 144.60 through 144.70;

25. such other information as may be required by the Director.

9.2 Applicants shall keep records of all data used to complete permit applications and supplemental information for at least three years from the date of permit approval.

9.3 Permit applications and reports required under these rules shall be signed in accordance with 40 C.F.R. Section 144.32.

9.4 Permit Provisions, Conditions and Schedules of Compliance.

Any permit issued by the Director is subject to the conditions and requirements and shall be issued in accordance with the procedures outlined in 40 C.F.R. 144.51 (a)-(o) and (q), 144.52, 144.53, 144.54, 144.55 and 146.7, and 40 C.F.R. 124.3(a), 124.5(a),(c),(d) and (f), 124.6(a),(c),(d) and (e), 124.8, 124.10(a)(1)ii, and iii, (a)(1)(v), 124.10(b),(c),(d) and (e), 124.11, 124.12(a) and 124.17(a) and (c). The permit may specify schedules of compliance which require compliance not later than three years after the effective date of the permit.

9.5 Duration of Permits. Permits for Class I and Class V wells shall be effective for a fixed term not to exceed ten years. Permits for Class III wells shall be issued for a period up to the operating life of the facility. Each issued Class III well permit shall be reviewed by the Director at least once every five years to determine whether it should be modified, revoked and reissued, or terminated. The Director may issue any permit for a duration that is less than the full allowable term under this section.

9.6 Transfer, Modification, and Termination. Permits may be transferred, modified, revoked, reissued, or terminated by the Director under the conditions and following the procedures outlined in 40 C.F.R. 144.36, 144.38, 144.39, 144.40, and 144.41.

9.7 Confidentiality of Information. The following information when submitted as required by these rules cannot be claimed confidential:

A. name and address of permit applicant or permittee; and

B. information which deals with the existence, absence or level of contaminants in drinking water.

9.8 Waivers of Requirements

A. The Director may waive the requirements of these rules only under the conditions and circumstances outlined in 40 C.F.R. Section 144.16.

B. The "two mile" distance provisions in Sections 7-3.1(B), 7-3.4, 7-10.1(A)(1), and 7-11 of these rules may be reduced by the Director on a case-by-case basis to less than two miles but in no event to less than 1/4 mile upon a finding by the Director that the distance reduction will not pose a threat to any USDW. The burden shall be on the applicant to demonstrate that hydrogeologic conditions, ground water quality in the area, and other environmental studies and information support the finding.