Illinois Administrative Code › Title 62 - MINING › Part 240 - THE ILLINOIS OIL AND GAS ACT › Subpart A - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 240.10 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
"Act" - means the Illinois Oil and Gas Act [225 ILCS 725
				  ].
"Annular or Casing Injection/Disposal Well" - means a well
				  into which fluids are injected between the surface casing and the well bore,
				  the surface casing and the production casing, and/or the production casing and
				  the tubing, or a well into which fluids are injected which does not have
				  production casing, tubing and packer.
"Cement" - means all petroleum industry cements meeting the
				  requirements set forth in "Specifications for Oil Well Cements and Cement
				  Additives", API Standard 10A, January 1974, published by the American Petroleum
				  Institute, 1220 L Street, Northwest, Washington DC 20005 (this incorporation
				  does not include any later publications or editions), except as provided in
				  Subpart K.
"Class II Fluids" means:
Produced water and/or other fluids brought to the surface in
				  connection with drilling, completion, workover and plugging of oil and natural
				  gas wells; enhanced recovery operations; or natural gas storage
				  operations;
Produced water and/or other fluids from above, that prior to
				  re-injection have been:
used on site for purposes integrally associated to oil and
				  natural gas well drilling, completion, workover and plugging, oil and gas
				  production, enhanced recovery operations or natural gas storage;
chemically treated or altered to the extent necessary to make
				  them usable for purposes integrally related to oil and natural gas well
				  drilling, completion, workover and plugging, oil and gas production, enhanced
				  recovery operations, or natural gas storage operations;
commingled with fluid wastes resulting from fluid treatments
				  outlined above, provided the commingled fluid wastes do not constitute a
				  hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act ( 42 USC 6901
				  et seq. (RCRA));
Fresh water from groundwater or surface water sources that is
				  used for purposes integrally related or associated with oil and natural gas
				  well drilling, completion, workover and plugging, oil and gas production,
				  enhanced recovery operations or natural gas storage;
Waste fluids from gas plants (including filter backwash,
				  precipitated sludge, iron sponge, hydrogen sulfide and scrubber liquid) that
				  are an integral part of oil and gas production operations; and waste fluids
				  from gas dehydration plants (including glycol-based compounds and filter
				  backwash) that are an integral part of natural gas storage operations, unless
				  the gas plant or gas dehydration plant wastes are classified as hazardous under
				  RCRA.
"Class II UIC Well" - means an injection, disposal or
				  commercial disposal well into which fluids are injected:
That are brought to the surface in connection with natural
				  gas storage operations, or conventional oil or natural gas production, and may
				  be commingled with wastewaters from gas plants that are an integral part of
				  production operations, unless those waters are classified as a hazardous waste
				  at the time of injection;
For enhanced recovery of oil or natural gas; and
For storage of hydrocarbons that are liquid at standard
				  temperature and pressure.
"Commercial Disposal Well" - means a permitted Class II well
				  for which the permittee receives deliveries of Class II fluids by tank truck
				  and charges a fee for the specific purpose of disposal of Class II
				  fluids.
"Commercial Production" - means oil and/or gas has been
				  produced and sold from a well.
"Convert" - means to change an oil, gas, Class II UIC, water
				  supply, observation or gas storage well to another of those types of wells,
				  requiring the issuance of a new permit.
"Department" - means
the Department
				  of
Natural Resources
(Section 1 of the Act), with main
				  offices located at One Natural Resources Way, Springfield IL 62702.
"Directional Drilling" - means the controlled directional
				  drilling when the bottom of the well bore is directed away from the vertical
				  position.
"Director" - means the Director of the Department of Natural
				  Resources or his or her designee.
"Disposal Well" - means a Class II UIC well into which fluids
				  brought to the surface in connection with oil or natural gas production are
				  injected into a non-productive oil or gas zone for purposes other than enhanced
				  oil recovery.
"District Office" - means the Department's office for the
				  district in which the well is located.
"Enhanced Oil Recovery" - means
any
secondary or tertiary
recovery method used in an effort to recover
				  hydrocarbons from a pool by injection of fluids, gases or other substances to
				  maintain, restore or augment natural reservoir energy, or by introducing gases,
				  chemicals, other substances or heat or by in-situ combustion, or by any
				  combination thereof.
(Section 1 of the Act)
"Enhanced Oil Recovery Injection Well" - means a Class II UIC
				  well used for enhanced oil recovery.
"Flowline" - means all injection, produced water, oil or gas
				  flowlines located within the boundaries of a lease or unit, or gathering lines
				  between leases to a centralized storage area, or to the point where the lines
				  connect with a primary transportation pipeline.
"Fresh water" - means surface and subsurface water in its
				  natural state useful for drinking water for human consumption, domestic
				  livestock, irrigation, industrial, municipal and recreational purposes, and
				  that will support aquatic life and contains less than 10,000 ppm total
				  dissolved solids.
"General Oilfield Waste" - means oily rags, chemical
				  containers including any unused chemicals, oil filters and gaskets, used motor
				  oil, lubricating oils, hydraulic fluids, diesel fuels, paint and solvent wastes
				  and other similar wastes generated during drilling, completion, production and
				  plugging activities and that are not exempt from the provisions of Subtitle C
				  of RCRA.
"Injection Well" - means an enhanced oil recovery injection
				  well or disposal well.
"Liquid Oilfield Waste" - means
oilfield
				  brines,
produced waters,
Class II fluids,
tank
				  and pit
crude oil
bottom sediments, and
				  drilling and completion fluids, to the extent those wastes are now or hereafter
				  exempt from the provisions of Subtitle C of the Federal Resource Conservation
				  Recovery Act of 1976.
(Section 8c of the Act)
"Liquid Oilfield Waste Hauler" - means a person holding a
				  permit to operate a liquid oilfield waste transportation system.
"Material Misrepresentation" - means knowingly submitting any
				  untrue, misstated, misleading or deceptive information, or a document
				  containing that information, or with knowledge of the concealment, suppression
				  or omission of any information, in or from an application, permit, required
				  record, or any other document required by the Act or this Part, that causes the
				  Department to act differently than it would have if it had known the
				  undisclosed or true information.
"Office" - means the Office of Oil and Gas Resource
				  Management within the Department of Natural Resources.
"Orphan Well" - means
a well for
				  which:
no fee assessment under Section 19.7 of the Act has
				  been paid or no other bond coverage has been provided for 2 consecutive
				  years;
no oil or gas has been produced from the well or from
				  the lease or unit on which the well is located for 2 consecutive years;
				  and
no permittee or owner can be identified or located by
				  the Department. Orphaned wells include wells that may have been drilled for
				  purposes other than those for which a permit is required under the Act if the
				  well is a conduit for oil or saltwater intrusions into freshwater zones or onto
				  the surface which may be caused by oil and gas operations.
(Section 1
				  of the Act)
"Owner" - means
the person who has the right to drill
				  into and produce from any pool, and to appropriate the production either
				  for
the person or for the person
and another,
				  or others,
or solely for others,
excluding the
				  mineral owner's royalty if the right to drill and produce has been granted
				  under an oil and gas lease.
An owner may also be a person
				  granted the right to drill and operate an injection (Class II UIC) well
				  independent of the right to drill for and produce oil or gas. When the right to
				  drill, produce, and appropriate production is held by more than one person,
				  then all persons holding these rights may designate the owner by a written
				  operating agreement or similar written agreement. In the absence of such an
				  agreement, and subject to the provisions of Sections 22.2 and 23.1 through
				  23.16 of the Act, the owner shall be the person designated in writing by a
				  majority in interest of the persons holding these rights.
(Section 1
				  of the Act)
"Permit" - means
the Department's written
				  authorization
allowing
:
a well
or test hole
to be drilled,
				  deepened, converted and/or operated by an owner
(Section 1 of the
				  Act); or
a tank battery or concrete storage structure to be
				  constructed and operated; or
operation of a liquid oilfield waste transportation system or
				  engage in lease road oiling.
"Permittee" - means the
owner
holding
				  or required to hold the permit, and who is also responsible for paying
				  assessments in accordance with Section 19.7 of
the
Act and,
				  where applicable, executing and filing the bond associated with the well as
				  principal
and who is responsible for compliance with all
				  statutory and regulatory requirements pertaining to the well. When the right
				  and responsibility for operating a well is vested in a receiver or trustee
				  appointed by a court of competent jurisdiction, the permit shall be issued to
				  the receiver or trustee
. (Section 1 of the Act) Permittee also means
				  the owner or person required to hold the permit for a tank battery, pit, or
				  concrete storage structure or a permit to engage in liquid oilfield waste
				  hauling, lease road oiling, or test well and test hole drilling.
"Person" - means
any natural person, corporation,
				  association, partnership, governmental agency or other legal entity, receiver,
				  trustee, guardian, executor, administrator, fiduciary or representative of any
				  kind.
(Section 1 of the Act)
"PRF" - means the Department's Plugging and Restoration Fund,
				  established under Section 6 of the Act.
"Pool" - means
a natural underground reservoir
				  containing, in whole or in part, a natural accumulation of oil or gas, or both.
				  Each productive zone or stratum of a general structure, which is completely
				  separated from any other zone or stratum in the structure, is deemed a separate
				  "pool"
. (Section 1 of the Act)
"Primary Oil Recovery" - means the initial drilling of a well
				  in the effort to recover hydrocarbons for a pool that is not currently, nor was
				  previously, subject to enhanced oil recovery.
"Post-Primary Oil Recovery" - means the drilling of a well in
				  an effort to recover hydrocarbons from a pool that was previously subject to
				  primary oil recovery or to enhanced oil recovery.
"Produced Water" - means water regardless of chloride and
				  total dissolved solids (TDS) content that is produced in conjunction with oil
				  and/or natural gas production and natural gas storage operations.
"Production Casing" - means the string of casing placed in a
				  well and used for the purpose of isolating the production or injection
				  formation.
"Repressure" - means to increase the reservoir pressure by
				  the introduction of gas, air or water or other fluid into the reservoir.
"Reservoir" - for the purpose of this Part, is
				  interchangeable with the term "pool".
"Rotary Drilling" - means the hydraulic process of drilling a
				  well for oil or gas as that method is commonly used in the industry.
"Shooting" - means the exploding of nitroglycerin or other
				  high explosives in a well for the purpose of increasing the production of oil
				  or gas.
"Surface Waters" - means any river, stream, lake, pond or
				  intermittent stream.
"Tank" - means a vessel into which oil or water is gathered,
				  produced or stored.
"Tank Battery" - means one or more open or closed top tanks,
				  of any capacity, that are located on a lease, unit or adjacent property, for
				  the purpose of collecting, separating and/or storing crude oil and/or other
				  liquid oilfield wastes that are generated as a result of oil and gas production
				  operations.
"Undeveloped Limits of a Mine" - means that portion of a mine
				  where the entries have not been driven to the boundaries of the mine
				  property.
"Vacuum" - means pressure that is reduced below the pressure
				  of the atmosphere.
"Water Drainage Way" - means any drainage ditch, roadside
				  ditch, grassy waterway or any other natural or manmade surface or underground
				  water drainage system.
"Well" - means any drill hole required to be permitted under
				  Section 6(2) of the Act, including coal or mineral groundwater monitoring
				  wells, structure test holes, coal test holes, and mineral test holes, and any
				  other well required to be permitted under Sections 6 and 12 of the Act,
				  including oil and gas production wells, water supply wells, Class II UIC
				  injection wells, gas storage and gas storage monitoring wells, orphan wells,
				  unpermitted leaking drill holes and plugged wells.