The following terms, when used in Subchapter B of this chapter,
shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
otherwise.
(1) Affected person--A person who, as a result of activity
sought to be permitted has suffered or may suffer actual injury or
economic damage other than as a member of the general public.
(2) Anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO
2 )--
(A) CO2 that has been
captured from or would otherwise have been released into the atmosphere
that has been:
(i) separated from any other fluid stream; or
(ii) captured from an emissions source, including:
(I) an advanced clean energy project as defined by
Health and Safety Code, §382.003, or another type of electric
generation facility; or
(II) an industrial source of emissions; and
(iii) any incidental associated substance derived from
the source material for, or from the process of capturing, CO2 described by clause (i) of this subparagraph;
and
(iv) any substance added to CO2 described
by clause (i) of this subparagraph to enable or improve the process
of injecting the CO2 ; and
(B) does not include naturally occurring CO2 that is produced, acquired, recaptured, recycled,
and reinjected as part of enhanced recovery operations.
(3) Anthropogenic CO2 injection
well--An injection well used to inject or transmit gaseous, liquid,
or supercritical anthropogenic CO2 into
a reservoir.
(4) Aquifer--A geologic formation, group of formations,
or part of a formation that is capable of yielding a significant amount
of water to a well or spring.
(5) Area of review (AOR)--The subsurface three-dimensional
extent of the CO2 stream plume and the
associated pressure front, as well as the overlying formations, any
underground sources of drinking water overlying an injection zone
along with any intervening formations, and the surface area above
that delineated region.
(6) Carbon dioxide (CO2 )
plume--The underground extent, in three dimensions, of an injected
CO2 stream.
(7) Carbon dioxide (CO2 )
stream--CO2 that has been captured from
an emission source or the atmosphere, incidental associated substances
derived from the source materials and the capture process, and any
substances added to the stream to enable or improve the injection
process. The term does not include any CO2 stream
that meets the definition of a hazardous waste under 40 CFR Part 261.
(8) Casing--A pipe or tubing of appropriate material,
of varying diameter and weight, lowered into a borehole during or
after drilling in order to support the sides of the hole and thus
prevent the walls from caving, to prevent loss of drilling mud into
porous ground, or to prevent water, gas, or other fluid from entering
or leaving the hole.
(9) Cementing--The operation whereby a cement slurry
is pumped into a drilled hole and/or forced behind the casing.
(10) Class VI well--Any well used to inject anthropogenic
CO2 specifically for the purpose of the
long-term containment of a gaseous, liquid, or supercritical CO2 in subsurface geologic formations.
(11) Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)--The codification
of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments
and agencies of the federal government.
(12) Commission--A quorum of the members of the Railroad
Commission of Texas convening as a body in open meeting.
(13) Confining zone--A geologic formation, group of
formations, or part of a formation stratigraphically overlying the
injection zone or zones that acts as barrier to fluid movement. For
Class VI wells operating under an injection depth waiver, confining
zone means a geologic formation, group of formations, or part of a
formation stratigraphically overlying and underlying the injection
zone or zones that acts as a barrier to fluid movement.
(14) Corrective action--Methods to assure that wells
within the area of review do not serve as conduits for the movement
of fluids into or between underground sources of drinking water, including
the use of corrosion resistant materials, where appropriate.
(15) Delegate--The person authorized by the director
to take action on behalf of the Railroad Commission of Texas under
this chapter.
(16) Director--The director of the Oil and Gas Division
of the Railroad Commission of Texas or the director's delegate.
(17) Division--The Oil and Gas Division of the Railroad
Commission of Texas.
(18) Draft permit--A document prepared indicating the
director's tentative decision to issue or deny, modify, revoke and
reissue, terminate, or reissue a permit. A notice of intent to terminate
a permit, and a notice of intent to deny a permit are types of "draft
permits." A denial of a request for modification, revocation and reissuance,
or termination is not a draft permit.
(19) Enhanced recovery operation--Using any process
to displace hydrocarbons from a reservoir other than by primary recovery,
including using any physical, chemical, thermal, or biological process
and any co-production project. This term does not include pressure
maintenance or disposal projects.
(20) EPA--The United States Environmental Protection
Agency.
(21) Exempted aquifer--An aquifer or its portion that
meets the criteria in the definition of underground source of drinking
water but which has been exempted according to the procedures in 40
CFR §144.7.
(22) Facility closure--The point at which the operator
of a geologic storage facility is released from post-injection storage
facility care responsibilities.
(23) Flow rate--The volume per time unit given to the
flow of gases or other fluid substance which emerges from an orifice,
pump, turbine or passes along a conduit or channel.
(24) Fluid--Any material or substance which flows or
moves whether in a semisolid, liquid, sludge, gas, or any other form
or state.
(25) Formation--A body of consolidated or unconsolidated
rock characterized by a degree of lithologic homogeneity which is
prevailingly, but not necessarily, tabular and is mappable on the
earth's surface or traceable in the subsurface.
(26) Formation fluid--Fluid present in a formation
under natural conditions.
(27) Fracture pressure--The pressure that, if applied
to a subsurface formation, would cause that formation to physically
fracture.
(28) Geologic storage--The long-term containment of
gaseous, liquid, or supercritical anthropogenic CO2
in subsurface geologic formations.
(29) Geologic storage facility or storage facility--The
underground geologic formation, underground equipment, injection wells,
and surface buildings and equipment used or to be used for the geologic
storage of anthropogenic CO2 and all
surface and subsurface rights and appurtenances necessary to the operation
of a facility for the geologic storage of anthropogenic CO2 . The term includes the subsurface three-dimensional
extent of the CO2 plume, associated area
of elevated pressure, and displaced fluids, as well as the surface
area above that delineated region, and any reasonable and necessary
areal buffer and subsurface monitoring zones. The term does not include
a pipeline used to transport CO2 from
the facility at which the CO2 is captured
to the geologic storage facility. The storage of CO
2 incidental to or as part of enhanced recovery operations
does not in itself automatically render a facility a geologic storage
facility.
(30) Good faith claim--A factually supported claim
based on a recognized legal theory to a continuing possessory right
in pore space such that the pore space can be used for geologic storage
of carbon dioxide.
(31) Injection zone--A geologic formation, group of
formations, or part of a formation that is of sufficient areal extent,
thickness, porosity, and permeability to receive CO
2 through a well or wells associated with a geologic storage
facility.
(32) Injection well--A well into which fluids are injected.
(33) Interested person--Any person who expresses an
interest in an application, permit, or Class VI UIC well.
(34) Limited English-speaking household--A household
in which all members 14 years and older have at least some difficulty
with English.
(35) Lithology--The description of rocks on the basis
of their physical and chemical characteristics.
(36) Mechanical integrity--
(A) An anthropogenic CO2 injection
well has mechanical integrity if:
(i) there is no significant leak in the casing, tubing,
or packer; and
Cont'd... |
