CHAPTER 33-15-20

CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM OIL AND GAS WELL PRODUCTION

FACILITIES

Section

33-15-20-01 General Provisions

33-15-20-02 Registration and Reporting Requirements

33-15-20-03 Prevention of Significant Deterioration Applicability and

Source Information Requirements

33-15-20-04 Requirements for Control of Production Facility Emissions

33-15-20-01. General provisions.

1. Applicability. The provisions of this chapter apply to any oil or gas

well production facility which emits sulfur or sulfur compounds to the

atmosphere.

2. Definitions. As used in this chapter, all terms not defined herein shall

have the meaning given them in section 33-15-01-04 or in North Dakota

Century Code chapter 23-25.

a. "Casinghead gas" means any gas or vapor, or both gas and vapor,

indigenous to and produced from a pool classified as an oil pool by

the North Dakota state industrial commission.

b. "Completion" means an oil well must be considered completed

when the first oil is produced through wellhead equipment into

lease tanks from the ultimate producing interval after casing has

been run. A gas well must be considered complete when the well

is capable of producing gas through wellhead equipment from

the ultimate producing zone after casing has been run. A dry

hole must be considered complete when all North Dakota state

industrial commission provisions of plugging are complied with.

c. "Condensate" means the liquid hydrocarbons recovered at the

surface that result from condensation due to reduced pressure

or temperature of petroleum hydrocarbons existing in a gaseous

phase in the reservoir.

d. "Continuous burning pilot" means a stable auxiliary flame

supported by a reliable fuel source which is independent of

wellhead production.

e. "Cubic foot of gas" means that volume of gas contained in one

cubic foot [28.32 liters] of space and computed at a pressure of

fourteen and seven-tenths pounds per square inch [1034 grams per

square centimeter] absolute at a base temperature of sixty degrees

Fahrenheit [15.5 degrees Celsius].

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f. "Gas well" means a well producing gas or natural gas from a

common source of gas supply as determined by the North Dakota

state industrial commission.

g. "Natural gas or gas" means and includes all natural gas and all

other fluid hydrocarbons not herein defined as oil.

h. "Oil" means and includes crude petroleum oil and other

hydrocarbons regardless of specific gravity which are produced

at the wellhead in liquid form and the liquid hydrocarbons known

as distillate or condensate recovered or extracted from gas, other

than gas produced in association with oil and commonly known as

casinghead gas.

i. "Oil well" means any well capable of producing oil or oil and

casinghead gas from a common source of supply as determined

by the North Dakota state industrial commission.

j. "Operator" means any person or persons who, duly authorized,

is in charge of the development of a lease or the operation of a

producing property.

k. "Owner" means the person who has the right to drill into and

produce from a pool and to appropriate the oil or gas he produces.

l. "Pool" means an underground reservoir containing a common

accumulation of oil or gas or both; each zone of a structure which

is completely separated from any other zone in the same structure

is a pool.

m. "Production facility" means all equipment, wells, flow lines,

separators, treaters, tanks, flares, gathering lines, and auxiliary

nontransportation-related equipment used in the exploration,

development, or subsequent production or handling of oil and

gas from an oil or gas well or wells which are located on one or

more contiguous or adjacent surface properties, and are under the

control of the same person (or persons under common control).

n. "Recomplete" or "recompletion" means the subsequent completion

of a well in a different pool from the pool in which it was originally

completed.

o. "Reservoir" means pool or common source of supply.

History: Effective October 1, 1987; amended effective June 1, 1990; June 1,1992.

General Authority: NDCC 23-25-03

Law Implemented: NDCC 23-25-03

33-15-20-02. Registration and reporting requirements.

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1. The owner or operator of any oil or gas well that is completed or

recompleted on or after July 1, 1987, shall submit an oil and gas

well registration form available from the department, and an analysis

of any gas produced from the well. The registration form and gas

analysis must be submitted to the department within ninety days of

the completion or recompletion of the well. The registration form must

contain sufficient information to allow the department to determine if

the oil or gas well and associated production facility is in compliance

with all applicable sections of this chapter.

2. The owner or operator of any oil or gas well that has been completed or

recompleted prior to July 1, 1987, and emits ten tons per year or more

of sulfur (all sulfur compounds expressed as S) from any associated

production facility shall submit an oil and gas well registration form

available from the department, and an analysis of any gas produced

from the well. The registration form must contain sufficient information

to allow the department to determine if the oil or gas well and associated

production facility is in compliance with all applicable sections of this

chapter. The registration form and gas analysis must be submitted to

the department by January 1, 1988, unless the emissions are the result

of a modification or change that occurs after July 1, 1987. For wells that

are subject to this subsection due to a modification or change which

occurred after July 1, 1987, the registration form and gas analysis must

be submitted within ninety days of the modification or change.

3. The owner or operator of any oil or gas well subject to this section shall

inform the department of any change to the information contained on

the registration form for a particular well and shall submit a new gas

analysis if the composition or the volume of the gas produced from the

well has changed from the previous analysis to cause an increase of ten

tons per year or more of sulfur (all sulfur compounds expressed as S).

History: Effective October 1, 1987; amended effective June 1, 1990; June 1,1992.

General Authority: NDCC 23-25-03

Law Implemented: NDCC 23-25-03

33-15-20-03. Prevention of significant deterioration applicability and

source information requirements.

1. Any oil or gas well production facility that emits or has the potential to

emit two hundred fifty tons per year or more of any air contaminant

regulated under North Dakota Century Code chapter 23-25, as

determined by the department, shall comply with the permitting

requirements of chapter 33-15-15.

2. To determine prevention of significant deterioration of air quality (PSD)

applicability for sulfur dioxide, the following formula must be used:

E = 0.00084 R T (% H2S)

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Where: E = sulfur dioxide emission rate (tons/yr).

R = the average daily amount of gas burned,

incinerated and/or flared (thousand cubic

feet per day-MCFD) based upon a thirty-day

period. The thirty-day period must be the

last thirty operating days of a one hundred

eighty-day period following the completion

or recompletion of a well. In cases where

the well is shut in for extended periods

during the one hundred eighty-day period

following completion or recompletion, a

case-by-case determination of PSD can be

requested of the department.

T = days of operation per year (day/yr). This

number must be three hundred sixty-five

unless there are verifiable physical limitations

or a federally enforceable permit that limits

the number of operating days.

% H2S = mole percent hydrogen sulfide content as

determined by the most recent gas analysis.

The formula is derived as follows:

Emissions from all onsite equipment at the production facility must be

included in the total annual emission determination.

3. The owner or operator of any oil or gas well production facility subject to

subsection 1 of this section shall provide information to demonstrate that

emissions from the facility do not significantly contribute to exceeding

the ambient air quality standards, as defined in chapter 33-15-02, or

class I or class II increments, as defined in chapter 33-15-15; and shall

address other requirements as specified in chapter 33-15-15.

History: Effective October 1, 1987; amended effective June 1, 1990; June 1,1992.

General Authority: NDCC 23-25-03

Law Implemented: NDCC 23-25-03

33-15-20-04. Requirements for control of production facility emissions.

1. The emissions from all treaters, separators, engines, incinerators,

flares, tanks, and other onsite equipment must comply with the

requirements of subsection 5.

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2. Each flare used for treating gas containing hydrogen sulfide (H2S), must

be equipped and operated with an automatic ignitor or a continuous

burning pilot which must be maintained in good working order. This

is required even if the flare is used for emergency purposes only. A

continuous burning pilot is required if this department determines

that an automatic ignition system is ineffective due to production

characteristics. The flare stack must be of sufficient height to allow

for adequate dispersion of sulfur dioxide (SO2) necessary to meet the

requirements of this article.

3. Any volatile organic compound gas or vapor may be subject to controls

as specified in chapter 33-15-07.

4. Routine inspections and maintenance of tanks, hatches, compressors,

vent lines, pressure relief valves, packing elements, and couplings

must be conducted to minimize emissions from equipment used for gas

containing hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Tank hatches must hold a positive

working pressure or must be repaired or replaced.

5. The owner or operator of any oil or gas well production facility shall

install equipment necessary to ensure that emissions comply with the

ambient air quality standards of chapter 33-15-02, including, but not

limited to, hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide; the class I and class II

increments for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and particulate matter

of chapter 33-15-15, if applicable; the odor concentration limits of

chapter 33-15-16; and any other applicable chapter of this article. For

the purpose of this chapter, compliance must be determined outside

the surface boundary of the production facility.

6. When a malfunction, the correction of a malfunction or maintenance

at any oil and gas well production facility occurs that can be expected

to cause the emission of air contaminants in violation of this article

for longer than twenty-four hours, the person responsible for such

installation shall notify the department of such malfunction or

maintenance as set forth in section 33-15-01-13. This subsection

pertains only to the reporting of malfunctions and maintenance

and does not obviate the source’s responsibility to comply with the

remainder of this chapter or article.

7. The owner or operator of any oil and gas well production facility

completed prior to the effective date of the revisions to section

33-15-20-04 shall comply with the requirements of this chapter within

six months of the effective date of these revisions. The owner or

operator of any oil and gas well production facility completed after the

effective date of the revisions to section 33-15-20-04 shall comply with

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the requirements of this chapter within ninety days of the completion

of the well.

History: Effective October 1, 1987; amended effective June 1, 1990.

General Authority: NDCC 23-25-03

Law Implemented: NDCC 23-25-03

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