| (v) activities associated with any underground hydrocarbon
storage facility, provided the terms "hydrocarbons" and "underground
hydrocarbon storage facility" shall have the meanings set out in the
Texas Natural Resources Code, §91.201; and
(vi) activities associated with the storage, handling,
reclamation, gathering, transportation, or distribution of oil or
gas prior to the refining of such oil or prior to the use of such
gas in any manufacturing process or as a residential or industrial
fuel;
(C) the operation, abandonment, and proper plugging
of wells subject to the jurisdiction of the commission to regulate
the exploration, development, and production of oil or gas or geothermal
resources; and
(D) the discharge, storage, handling, transportation,
reclamation, or disposal of waste or any other substance or material
associated with any activity listed in subparagraphs (A) - (C) of
this paragraph, except for waste generated in connection with activities
associated with gasoline plants, natural gas or natural gas liquids
processing plants, pressure maintenance plants, or repressurizing
plants if that waste is a hazardous waste as defined by the administrator
of the United States Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to the
federal Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended (42 United States Code §6901,
et seq.).
(31) Mined brine--Brine produced from a brine mining
injection well by solution of subsurface salt formations. The term
"mined brine" does not include saltwater produced incidentally to
the exploration, development, and production of oil or gas or geothermal
resources.
(32) Brine mining pit--Pit, other than a fresh mining
water pit, used in connection with activities associated with the
solution mining of brine. Most brine mining pits are used to store
mined brine.
(33) Fresh mining water pit--Pit used in conjunction
with a brine mining injection well for storage of water used for solution
mining of brine.
(34) Inert wastes--Nonreactive, nontoxic, and essentially
insoluble oil and gas wastes, including, but not limited to, concrete,
glass, wood, metal, wire, plastic, fiberglass, and trash.
(35) Coastal zone--The area within the boundary established
in Title 31, Texas Administrative Code, §503.1 (Coastal Management
Program Boundary).
(36) Coastal management program (CMP) rules--The enforceable
rules of the Texas Coastal Management Program codified at Title 31,
Texas Administrative Code, Chapters 501, 505, and 506.
(37) Coastal natural resource area (CNRA)--One of the
following areas defined in Texas Natural Resources Code, §33.203:
coastal barriers, coastal historic areas, coastal preserves, coastal
shore areas, coastal wetlands, critical dune areas, critical erosion
areas, gulf beaches, hard substrate reefs, oyster reefs, submerged
land, special hazard areas, submerged aquatic vegetation, tidal sand
or mud flats, water in the open Gulf of Mexico, and water under tidal
influence.
(38) Coastal waters--Waters under tidal influence and
waters of the open Gulf of Mexico.
(39) Critical area--A coastal wetland, an oyster reef,
a hard substrate reef, submerged aquatic vegetation, or a tidal sand
or mud flat as defined in Texas Natural Resources Code, §33.203.
(40) Practicable--Available and capable of being done
after taking into consideration existing technology, cost, and logistics
in light of the overall purpose of the activity.
(41) Non-commercial fluid recycling--The recycling
of fluid produced from an oil or gas well, including produced formation
fluid, workover fluid, and completion fluid, including fluids produced
from the hydraulic fracturing process on an existing commission-designated
lease or drilling unit associated with a commission-issued drilling
permit or upon land leased or owned by the operator for the purposes
of operation of a non-commercial disposal well operated pursuant to
a permit issued under §3.9 of this title (relating to Disposal
Wells) or a non-commercial injection well operated pursuant to a permit
issued under §3.46 of this title (relating to Fluid Injection
into Productive Reservoirs), where the operator of the lease, or drilling
unit, or non-commercial disposal or injection well treats or contracts
with a person for the treatment of the fluid, and may accept such
fluid from other leases and or operators.
(42) Non-commercial fluid recycling pit--Pit used in
conjunction with one or more oil or gas leases or units that is constructed,
maintained, and operated by the operator of record of the lease or
unit and is located on an existing commission-designated lease or
drilling unit associated with a commission-issued drilling permit,
or upon land leased or owned by the operator for the purposes of operation
of a non-commercial disposal well operated pursuant to a permit issued
under §3.9 of this title or a non-commercial injection well operated
pursuant to a permit issued under §3.46 of this title, for the
storage of fluid for the purpose of non-commercial fluid recycling
or for the storage of treated fluid.
(43) Recycle--To process and/or use or re-use oil and
gas wastes as a product for which there is a legitimate commercial
use and the actual use of the recyclable product. 'Recycle,' as defined
in this subsection, does not include injection pursuant to a permit
issued under §3.46 of this title.
(44) Treated fluid-Fluid that has been treated using
water treatment technologies to remove impurities such that the treated
fluid can be reused or recycled. Treated fluid is not a waste but
may become a waste if it is abandoned or disposed of rather than reused
or recycled.
(45) Recyclable product--A reusable material as defined
in §4.204(12) of this title (relating to Definitions).
(46) 100-year flood plain--An area that is inundated
by a 100-year flood, which is a flood that has a one percent or greater
chance of occurring in any given year, as determined from maps or
other data from the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA),
or, if not mapped by FEMA, from the United States Department of Agriculture
soil maps.
(47) Distilled water--Water that has been purified
by being heated to a vapor form and then condensed into another container
as liquid water that is essentially free of all solutes.
(b) No pollution. No person conducting activities subject
to regulation by the commission may cause or allow pollution of surface
or subsurface water in the state.
(c) Exploratory wells. Any oil, gas, or geothermal
resource well or well drilled for exploratory purposes shall be governed
by the provisions of statewide or field rules which are applicable
and pertain to the drilling, safety, casing, production, abandoning,
and plugging of wells.
(d) Pollution control.
(1) Prohibited disposal methods. Except for those disposal
methods authorized for certain wastes by paragraph (3) of this subsection,
subsection (e) of this section, or §3.98 of this title (relating
to Standards for Management of Hazardous Oil and Gas Waste), or disposal
methods required to be permitted pursuant to §3.9 of this title
(relating to Disposal Wells) (Rule 9) or §3.46 of this title
(relating to Fluid Injection into Productive Reservoirs) (Rule 46),
no person may dispose of any oil and gas wastes by any method without
obtaining a permit to dispose of such wastes. The disposal methods
prohibited by this paragraph include, but are not limited to, the
unpermitted discharge of oil field brines, geothermal resource waters,
or other mineralized waters, or drilling fluids into any watercourse
or drainageway, including any drainage ditch, dry creek, flowing creek,
river, or any other body of surface water.
(2) Prohibited pits. No person may maintain or use
any pit for storage of oil or oil products. Except as authorized by
this subsection, no person may maintain or use any pit for storage
of oil field fluids, or for storage or disposal of oil and gas wastes,
without obtaining a permit to maintain or use the pit. A person is
not required to have a permit to use a pit if a receiver has such
a permit, if the person complies with the terms of such permit while
using the pit, and if the person has permission of the receiver to
use the pit. The pits required by this paragraph to be permitted include,
but are not limited to, the following types of pits: saltwater disposal
pits; emergency saltwater storage pits; collecting pits; skimming
pits; brine pits; brine mining pits; drilling fluid storage pits (other
than mud circulation pits); drilling fluid disposal pits (other than
reserve pits or slush pits); washout pits; and gas plant evaporation/retention
pits. If a person maintains or uses a pit for storage of oil field
fluids, or for storage or disposal of oil and gas wastes, and the
use or maintenance of the pit is neither authorized by this subsection
nor permitted, then the person maintaining or using the pit shall
backfill and compact the pit in the time and manner required by the
director. Prior to backfilling the pit, the person maintaining or
using the pit shall, in a permitted manner or in a manner authorized
by paragraph (3) of this subsection, Cont'd... |
