For new facilities and facilities undergoing an expansion of the subsurface area drip dispersal system, the applicant must supply a recharge feature plan with the application that is signed and sealed by a licensed professional engineer or a licensed professional geoscientist who has inspected the site of the proposed subsurface area drip dispersal system. The recharge feature plan must: (1) document the presence or absence of any recharge features identified on any tracts of land owned, operated, controlled, rented, or leased by the applicant and to be used as a part of the facility; (2) list the sources and methods used to identify the presence or absence of recharge features. At a minimum, the licensed professional engineer or geoscientist must review the records and maps maintained by the following sources: (A) Railroad Commission of Texas; (B) a groundwater conservation district, if applicable; (C) Texas Water Development Board; (D) the commission; (E) Natural Resources Conservation Service; (F) a previous owner of the site, if available; and (G) on-site inspection; (3) provide a narrative description of the site-specific geology and groundwater at the facility. The narrative must include, at a minimum, the following information: (A) a site-specific description of the geologic formations underlying the facility; (B) the depth to groundwater; (C) the general direction of groundwater flow; (D) potential uses of the groundwater and any known uses of the groundwater within a 1/2 mile radius of the perimeter of the proposed subsurface area drip dispersal system site; and (E) any well drillers' logs and water quality data obtained for wells on the subsurface area drip dispersal system site and within 500 feet of the property line; and (4) identify measures to prevent impacts to groundwater from any recharge features present. The licensed professional engineer or licensed professional geoscientist must include at least one of the following in the plan: (A) provisions for the installation of the necessary and appropriate protective measures for each located recharge feature, including berms, buffer zones, or other equivalent protective measures; or (B) submission of a detailed groundwater monitoring plan covering all of the affected facility, including the subsurface area drip dispersal system. The plan shall monitor the first occurrence of groundwater. At a minimum, the groundwater monitoring plan shall specify the location of proposed monitoring wells including a minimum of two wells downgradient of the subsurface area drip dispersal systems, procedures to collect a groundwater sample from representative wells, the proposed constituents to be included in the sampling plan, and frequency of the sampling event; and, provide for any other similar method or approach demonstrated by the applicant to be protective of any associated recharge feature and approved by the executive director. |
