Company: REI
Filing Date: 2025-03-05
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001628280-25-010585
Chunk: 36

Company: RING ENERGY, INC.
Filing Date: 2025-03-05
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 36
---
 that may impact groundwater conditions. Also, in June 2016, the EPA issued a final rule implementing wastewater pretreatment standards that prohibit onshore unconventional oil and natural gas extraction facilities from sending wastewater to publicly owned treatment works. This restriction of disposal options for hydraulic fracturing waste and other changes to CWA requirements have resulted in increased costs to operators, including us. Federal and state regulatory agencies can impose administrative, civil, and criminal penalties for non-compliance with discharge permits or other requirements of the CWA and analogous state laws and regulations.

In January 2023, the EPA and the Corps issued a final rule that revised the definition of WOTUS. Separately, in May 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. EPA narrowed federal jurisdiction over wetlands to “traditional navigable waters” and wetlands or other waters that have a “continuous surface connection” with or are otherwise indistinguishable from traditional navigable water. In September 2023, the EPA and the Corps published a direct-to-final rule that conforms the regulatory definition of “Waters of the United States” to the Supreme Court’s May 2023 decision in Sackett v. EPA. However, litigation opposing the September 2023 final rule remains ongoing and substantial uncertainty exists with respect to future implementation of the September 2023 rule and the scope of CWA jurisdiction more generally. Following legal actions, implementation of the most recent rule is currently split across the country. The rule is subject to an injunction in 27 states, including Texas, resulting in implementation of the pre-2015 rule adjusted to take into account jurisdictional limitations decided by the Supreme Court in Sackett v. EPA. The other 23 states are subject to the WOTUS-defining rule published in September 2023. Additionally, the Trump administration may pursue a new rulemaking to further revise or clarify the extent of federal jurisdiction under the CWA, though the substance and timing of such action cannot be predicted. As such, uncertainty remains with respect to future implementation of the rule and the outcome of the pending litigation. Many of our customers and service providers rely on permits obtained under the CWA for their oil and gas pipeline projects, the most common of which is Nationwide Permit 12 (“NWP 12”), which, from time to time, is renewed or modified by the Corps, whose actions in turn may be subject to litigation. To the extent any action expands the scope of the CWA in areas where we or our suppliers,