California Code of Regulations › Title 17 - Public Health › Division 3 - Air Resources › Chapter 1 - Air Resources Board › Subchapter 10 - Climate Change › Article 4 - Regulations to Achieve Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions › Subarticle 13 - Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards for Crude Oil and Natural Gas Facilities › Section 95667 - Definitions

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a)
						For the purposes of this subarticle, the following definitions apply:
(1) "Air district or local air district"
						means the local Air Quality Management District or the local Air Pollution
						Control District.
(2) "API gravity"
						means a scale used to reflect the specific gravity (SG) of a fluid such as
						crude oil, condensate, produced water, or natural gas. The API gravity is
						calculated as [(141.5/SG) - 131.5], where SG is the specific gravity of the
						fluid at 60°F, and where API refers to the American Petroleum
						Institute.
(3) "Blowout" means the
						uncontrolled flow of gas, liquids, or solids (or a mixture thereof) from a well
						to the surface.
(4) "California
						waters" means any surface or groundwater, including saline waters, within the
						territorial boundaries of the state. California's territorial boundaries extend
						three nautical miles beyond the outermost islands, reefs, and rocks, and
						include all waters between the islands and the coast.
(5) "CARB" means the California Air Resources
						Board.
(6) "Centrifugal compressor"
						means equipment that increases the pressure of natural gas by centrifugal
						action through an impeller. Screw, sliding vane, and liquid ring compressors
						are not centrifugal compressors for the purpose of this subarticle.
(7) "Centrifugal compressor seal" means a wet
						or dry seal around the compressor shaft where the shaft exits the compressor
						case.
(8) "Circulation tank" means
						a tank or portable tank used to circulate, store, or hold liquids or solids
						from a crude oil or natural gas well during or following a well stimulation
						treatment but prior to the well being put into production.
(9) "Commercial quality natural gas" means a
						mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons with at least 80 percent methane by volume and
						less than 10 percent by weight volatile organic compounds and meets the
						criteria specified in Public Utilities Commission General Order 58-A (November
						10, 2016), which is incorporated herein by reference.
(10) "Component" means a valve, fitting,
						flange, threaded-connection, process drain, stuffing box, pressure-vacuum
						valve, pressure-relief device, pipes, seal fluid system, diaphragm, hatch,
						sight-glass, meter, open-ended line, well casing, natural gas powered pneumatic
						controller, natural gas powered pneumatic pump, or reciprocating compressor rod
						packing or seal for compressors located at onshore or offshore crude oil or
						natural gas production facilities.
(11) "Condensate" means hydrocarbon or other
						liquid, excluding steam, either produced or separated from crude oil or natural
						gas during production and which condenses due to changes in pressure or
						temperature.
(12) "Continuous
						bleed" means the continuous venting of natural gas from a gas powered pneumatic
						controller to the atmosphere. Continuous bleed pneumatic controllers are those
						that vent continuously in order to operate.
(13) "Critical component" means any component
						that would require the shutdown of a critical process unit if that component
						was shutdown or disabled.
(14)
						"Critical process unit" means a process unit or group of components that must
						remain in service because of its importance to the overall process that
						requires it to continue to operate, and has no equivalent equipment to replace
						it or cannot be bypassed, and it is technically infeasible to repair leaks from
						that process unit without shutting it down and opening the process unit to the
						atmosphere.
(15) "Crude oil" means
						a mixture of hydrocarbons that exists in liquid or semi-solid phase in natural
						underground reservoirs and remains liquid or semi-solid at atmospheric pressure
						after passing through surface separating facilities.
(16) "Crude oil and produced water separation
						and storage" means all activities associated with separating, storing or
						holding of emulsion, crude oil, condensate, or produced water at facilities to
						which this subarticle applies.
(17)
						"Direct measurement" means a flow rate measurement performed using one of the
						following methods:
(A) High-volume sampling
						performed in accordance with Appendix G; or
(B) Measurement with a calibrated flow
						measuring instrument that meets the requirements in US EPA Method 2D ( 40 CFR
						Part 60, Appendix A-1, January 14, 2019, which is incorporated herein by
						reference) and is calibrated on an annual basis according to the requirements
						in US EPA Method 2D ( 40 CFR Part 60, Appendix A-1, January 14,
						2019).
(18) "Emissions"
						means the discharge of natural gas into the atmosphere.
(19) "Emulsion" means any mixture of crude
						oil, condensate, or produced water with varying quantities of natural gas
						entrained in the liquids.
(20)
						"Equipment" means any stationary or portable machinery, object, or contrivance
						covered by this subarticle, as set out by sections
						95666 and
						95668.
(21) "Facility" means any building,
						structure, or installation to which this subarticle applies and which has the
						potential to emit natural gas. Facilities include all buildings, structures, or
						installations which:
(A) Are under the same
						ownership or operation, or which are owned or operated by entities which are
						under common control;
(B) Belong to
						the same industrial grouping either by virtue of falling within the same
						two-digit standard industrial classification code or by virtue of being part of
						a common industrial process, manufacturing process, or connected process
						involving a common raw material; and,
(C) Are located on one or more contiguous or
						adjacent properties.
(22)
						"First attempt at repair" means actions to attempt to repair a leak that do not
						require the disconnection of the component, replacement of parts, or the use of
						a specialized crew or equipment (e.g., tightening, lubrication, or
						adjustment).
(23) "Fitting" means a
						component, excluding flanges and threaded connectors, used to attach or connect
						pipes or piping systems. Examples of "fittings" include quick-disconnect
						fittings, push-in fittings, and cam-locks.
(24) "Flash or flashing" means a process
						during which gas dissolved in crude oil, condensate, or produced water under
						pressure is released when the liquids are subject to a decrease in pressure,
						such as when the liquids are transferred from an underground reservoir to the
						earth's surface or from a pressure vessel to an atmospheric tank.
(25) "Flash analysis testing" means the
						determination of emissions from crude oil, condensate, and produced water by
						using sampling and laboratory procedures used for measuring the volume and
						composition of gases released from the liquids, including the molecular weight,
						the weight percent of individual compounds, and a gas-oil or gas-water
						ratio.
(26) "Fuel gas system"
						means, for the purposes of this subarticle, any system that supplies natural
						gas as a fuel source to on-site natural gas powered equipment other than a
						vapor control device.
(27) "Gas
						blanket system" means a gas phase maintained above a liquid in a tank where the
						tank is maintained under a positive pressure.
(28) "Gas disposal well" means, for the
						purpose of this subarticle, any well that is used for the subsurface injection
						of natural gas for disposal.
(29)
						"Gauge tank" means a tank found upstream of a separator and tank system which
						is used for measuring the amount of liquid produced by an oil well and receives
						or stores crude oil, condensate, or produced water.
(30) "Idle well" means any well that for a
						period of 24 consecutive months has not either produced oil or natural gas,
						produced water to be used in production stimulation, or been used for enhanced
						oil recovery, reservoir pressure management, or injection. An idle well does
						not include an active observation well. An idle well continues to be an idle
						well until one of the following occurs:
(A)
						The well has been properly abandoned in accordance with Public Resources Code
						Section
						3208;
						or
(B) Since the well became an
						idle well, the well has for a continuous six-month period either maintained
						production of oil or natural gas, maintained production of water used in
						production stimulation, or been used for enhanced oil recovery, reservoir
						pressure management, or injection.
(31) "Inaccessible component" means any
						component located over fifteen feet above ground when access is required from
						the ground; or any component located over six (6) feet away from a platform or
						a permanent support surface when access is required from the
						platform.
(32) "Intermittent bleed"
						means the intermittent venting of natural gas from a gas powered pneumatic
						controller to the atmosphere. Intermittent bleed pneumatic controllers may vent
						all or a portion of their supply gas when control action is necessary but do
						not vent continuously.
(33) "Leak
						or fugitive leak" means the unintentional release of emissions at a rate
						greater than or equal to the leak thresholds specified in this
						subarticle.
(34) "Leak detection
						and repair or LDAR" means the inspection of components to detect leaks of total
						hydrocarbons and the repair of components with leaks above the standards
						specified in this subarticle and within the timeframes specified in this
						subarticle.
(35) "Liquids
						unloading" means an activity conducted with the use of pressurized natural gas
						to remove liquids that accumulate at the bottom of a natural gas well and
						obstruct gas flow.
(36) "Natural
						gas" means a naturally occurring mixture or process derivative of hydrocarbon
						and non-hydrocarbon gases. Its constituents include the greenhouse gases
						methane and carbon dioxide, as well as heavier hydrocarbons. Natural gas may be
						field quality (which varies widely) or pipeline quality.
(37) "Natural gas gathering and boosting
						station" means all equipment and components located within a facility fence
						line associated with collecting natural gas from multiple wells and moving it
						toward a natural gas processing plant, transmission pipeline, or distribution
						pipeline.
(38) "Natural gas
						processing plant" means a plant used for the separation of natural gas liquids
						(NGLs) or non-methane gases from produced natural gas, or the separation of
						NGLs into one or more component mixtures.
(39) "Natural gas transmission compressor
						station" means all equipment and components located within a facility fence
						line associated with moving natural gas from production fields or natural gas
						processing plants through natural gas transmission pipelines, or within natural
						gas underground storage fields.
(40) "Natural gas transmission pipeline"
						means a state rate-regulated Intrastate pipeline, or a pipeline that falls
						under the "Hinshaw Exemption" as referenced in section
						1(c) of the
						Natural Gas Act, 15 U.S.C.
						sections 717 -
						717z.
(41) "Natural gas underground storage" means
						all equipment and components associated with the temporary subsurface storage
						of natural gas in depleted crude oil or natural gas reservoirs or salt dome
						caverns. Natural gas storage does not include gas disposal wells.
(42) "Non-associated gas" means natural gas
						that is not produced as a byproduct of crude oil production but may or may not
						be produced with condensate.
(43)
						"Offshore" means all marine waters located within the boundaries of the State
						of California.
(44) "Onshore" means
						all lands located within the boundaries of the State of California.
(45) "Operator" means any entity, including
						an owner or contractor, having operational control of components or equipment,
						including leased, contracted, or rented components and equipment to which this
						subarticle applies.
(46) "Optical
						gas imaging" means an instrument that makes emissions visible that may
						otherwise be invisible to the naked eye.
(47) "Owner" means the entity that owns or
						operates components or equipment to which this subarticle applies.
(48) "Photo-ionization detector or PID
						instrument" means a gas detection device that utilizes ultra-violet light to
						ionize gas molecules and is commonly employed in the detection of non-methane
						volatile organic compounds.
(49)
						"Pneumatic controller" means an instrument used to maintain a process condition
						such as liquid level, pressure, pressure differential, and
						temperature.
(50) "Pneumatic pump"
						means a device that uses natural gas or compressed air to power a piston or
						diaphragm in order to circulate or pump liquids.
(51) "Pond" means an excavation that is used
						for the routine storage or disposal of produced water and which is not used for
						crude oil separation or processing.
(52) "Portable equipment" means equipment
						designed for, and capable of, being carried or moved from one location to
						another and which it resides for less than 365 days. Portability indicators
						include the presence of wheels, skids, carrying handles, dolly, trailer, or
						platform.
(53) "Portable
						pressurized separator" means a pressure vessel that can be moved from one
						location to another by attachment to a motor vehicle without having to be
						dismantled and is capable of separating and sampling crude oil, condensate, or
						produced water at the temperature and pressure of the separator required for
						sampling.
(54) "Portable tank"
						means a tank that can be moved from one location to another by attachment to a
						motor vehicle without having to be dismantled.
(55) "Pressure separator" means a pressure
						vessel used for the primary purpose of separating crude oil and produced water
						or for separating natural gas and produced water.
(56) "Pressure vessel" means any hollow
						container used to hold gas or liquid and rated, as indicated by an ASME
						pressure rating stamp, and operated to contain normal working pressures of at
						least 15 psig without continuous vapor loss to the atmosphere.
(57) "Production" means all activities
						associated with the production or recovery of emulsion, crude oil, condensate,
						produced water, or natural gas at facilities to which this subarticle
						applies.
(58) "Produced water"
						means water recovered from an underground reservoir as a result of crude oil,
						condensate, or natural gas production and which may be recycled, disposed, or
						re-injected into an underground reservoir.
(59) "Reciprocating natural gas compressor"
						means equipment that increases the pressure of natural gas by positive
						displacement of a piston in a compression cylinder and is powered by an
						internal combustion engine or electric motor with a horsepower rating supplied
						by the manufacturer.
(60)
						"Reciprocating natural gas compressor rod packing" means a seal comprising of a
						series of flexible rings in machined metal cups that fit around the
						reciprocating compressor piston rod to create a seal limiting the amount of
						compressed natural gas that vents into the atmosphere.
(61) "Reciprocating natural gas compressor
						seal" means any device or mechanism used to limit the amount of natural gas
						that vents from a compression cylinder into the atmosphere.
(62) "Remote monitoring data" means, for the
						purposes of this subarticle, data obtained by CARB from a satellite-based
						measurement technology capable of detecting methane plumes.
(63) "Sales gas system" means, for the
						purposes of this subarticle, any system that collects and transfers natural gas
						to be used off-site.
(64)
						"Separator" means any tank or pressure separator used for the primary purpose
						of separating crude oil, produced water, and natural gas or for separating
						natural gas, condensate, and produced water. In crude oil production a
						separator may be referred to as a Wash Tank or as a three-phase
						separator.
(65) "Separator and tank
						system" means the first separator in a crude oil or natural gas production
						system and any tank or sump connected directly to the first
						separator.
(66) "Standard
						conditions" means a temperature of 60°F and a pressure of 14.696 psia for
						the purposes of calculating emissions in standard cubic feet.
(67) "Successful repair" means tightening,
						adjusting, or replacing equipment or a component for the purpose of stopping or
						reducing fugitive leaks below the minimum leak threshold or emission flow rate
						standard specified in this subarticle. A repair shall be deemed "successful"
						once it is shown, via remeasurement using the applicable technique, as
						specified in this subarticle, for the equipment or component, that the leak in
						question has been stopped or reduced below the minimum leak threshold or
						emission flow rate as specified in this subarticle.
(68) "Sump" means a lined or unlined surface
						impoundment or excavated depression in the ground which, during normal
						operations, is used to separate, store, or hold emulsion, crude oil,
						condensate, or produced water.
(69)
						"Tank" means any container constructed primarily of non-earthen materials used
						for the purpose of storing, holding, or separating emulsion, crude oil,
						condensate, or produced water and that is designed to operate below 15 psig
						normal operating pressure.
(70)
						"Unsafe-to-Monitor Components" means components installed at locations that
						would prevent the safe inspection or repair of components as defined by U.S.
						Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards or in provisions
						for worker safety found in 29 CFR Part 1910.
(71) "Vapor collection system" means
						equipment and components installed on pressure vessels, separators, tanks, or
						sumps including piping, connections, and flow-inducing devices used to collect
						and route emission vapors to a processing, sales gas, or fuel gas system; to a
						gas disposal well; or to a vapor control device.
(72) "Vapor control device" means destructive
						or non-destructive equipment used to control emissions.
(73) "Vapor control efficiency" means the
						ability of a vapor control device to control emissions, expressed as a
						percentage, which can be determined by following the requirements in Appendix
						F.
(74) "Vent or venting" means the
						intentional or automatic release of natural gas into the atmosphere from
						components, equipment, or activities described in this subarticle.
(75) "Well" means a boring in the earth for
						the purpose of the following:
(A) Exploring
						for or producing oil or gas.
(B)
						Injecting fluids or gas for stimulating oil or gas recovery.
(C) Re-pressuring or pressure maintenance of
						oil or gas reservoirs.
(D)
						Disposing of oil field waste gas or liquids.
(E) Injection or withdraw of gas from an
						underground storage facility.
For the purpose of this subarticle, wells do not
						  include active observation wells as defined in Public Resources Code Section
						  3008
						  subdivision (c), or wells that have been properly abandoned in accordance with
						  Public Resources Code Section
						  3208.
(76) "Wellhead" means the piping, casing,
						tubing and connected valves protruding above the earth's surface for an oil or
						natural gas well. The wellhead ends where the flow line connects to a wellhead
						valve. The wellhead does not include other equipment at the well site except
						for any conveyance through which gas is vented to the atmosphere.
(77) "Well casing vent" means an opening on a
						well head that blocks or allows natural gas to flow to the atmosphere or to a
						vapor collection system.
(78) "Well
						stimulation treatment" means the treatment of a well designed to enhance crude
						oil and natural gas production or recovery by increasing the permeability of
						the formation and as further defined by the Geologic Energy Management Division
						(CalGEM) SB 4 Well Stimulation Treatment Regulations, Title 14, Division 2,
						Chapter 4, Subchapter 2, Article 2, section
						1761(a) (June 16,
						2017), which is incorporated herein by reference.