Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 43 - NATURAL RESOURCES › Part XVII - Office of Conservation-Injection and Mining › Subpart 1 - Statewide Order No. 29-N-1 › Chapter 1 - Class I, III, IV and V Injection Wells › Section XVII-101 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. The following definitions apply to all regulations
					 following hereafter. Terms not defined in this Section have the meaning given
					 by R.S. (1950) Title 30, Section 3.
Abandoned Well
- a well whose use has been
					 permanently discontinued or which is in a state of disrepair such that it
					 cannot be used for its intended purpose or for observation purposes.
Act
- Part I, Chapter 1 of Title 30 of the
					 Louisiana Revised Statutes.
Application
- the filing by a person on the
					 Office of Conservation forms for applying for an underground injection permit,
					 including any additions, revisions or modifications to the forms.
Aquifer
- a geological formation, group of
					 formations, or part of a formation that is capable of yielding a significant
					 amount of water to a well or spring.
Area of Review
w-the area surrounding an
					 "injection well" as described in §109. A.2 for Class I and §109. B.2 for Class III.
Casing
- a metallic or nonmetallic tubing
					 or pipe 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
					 form caving, to prevent loss of drilling mud into porous ground, or to prevent
					 water, gas or other fluid from entering the hole.
Catastrophic Collapse
- the sudden and
					 utter failure of overlying
strata
caused by removal of
					 underlying materials.
Cementing
- the operation whereby a cement
					 slurry is pumped into a drilled hole and/or forced behind the casing.
Cesspool
-a drywell that receives untreated
					 sanitary waste containing human excreta, and which sometimes has an open bottom
					 and/or perforated sides.
Confining Bed
- a body of impermeable or
					 distinctly less permeable material stratigraphically adjacent to one or more
					 aquifers.
Confining Zone
- a geological formation,
					 group of formations, or part of a formation that is capable of limiting fluid
					 movement above an injection zone.
Contaminant
- any physical, chemical,
					 biological, or radiological substance or matter in water.
Commissioner
- the Assistant Secretary of
					 the Office of Conservation, Department of Natural Resources.
Disposal Well
- a well used for the
					 disposal of waste into a subsurface stratum.
Drilling Mud
- heavy suspension used in
					 drilling an injection well introduced down the drill pipe and through the drill
					 bit.
Drywell
-a well, other than an improved
					 sinkhole or subsurface fluid distribution system, completed above the water
					 table so that its bottom and sides are typically dry except when receiving
					 fluids.
Effective Date
- the date that the
					 Louisiana State UIC Program is approved by the Environmental Protection
					 Agency.
Emergency Permit
- a UIC permit issued in
					 accordance with §115
Exempted Aquifer
- an aquifer or its
					 portion that meets the criteria of the definition of underground source of
					 drinking water but which has been exempted according to the procedures set
					 forth in §103 H
Existing Injection Well or Project
- an
					 injection well or project other than a new injection well or project.
Experimental Technology
- a technology
					 which has not been proven feasible under the conditions in which it is being
					 tested.
Facility or Activity
- any facility or
					 activity, including land or appurtenances thereto, that is subject to these
					 regulations.
Fault
- a surface or zone of rock fracture
					 along which there has been displacement.
Flow Rate
- the volume per time unit given
					 to the flow of fluid substance which emerges from an orifice, pump, turbine or
					 passes along a conduit or channel.
Fluid
- any material or substance which
					 flows or moves whether in a semisolid, liquid, sludge, gas or any other form or
					 state.
Formation
- a body of rock characterized by
					 a degree of lithologic homogeneity revealingly, but not necessarily, tabular
					 and is mappable on the earth's surface or traceable in the subsurface.
Formation Fluid
- fluid present in a
					 formation under natural conditions as opposed to introduced fluids, such as
					 drilling muds.
Generator
- any person, by site location,
					 whose act or process produces hazardous waste identified or listed in the
					 Louisiana Hazardous Waste Management Program.
Ground Water
- water below the land surface
					 in a zone of saturation.
Hazardous Waste
- a hazardous waste as
					 defined in the Louisiana Hazardous Waste Management Program.
Hazardous Waste Management (HWM) Facility
-
					 all contiguous land, and structures, other appurtenances, and improvements on
					 the land, used for treating, storing or disposing of hazardous waste.
Improved Sinkhole
-a naturally occurring
					 karst depression or other natural crevice found in volcanic terrain and other
					 geologic settings which have been modified by man for the purpose of directing
					 and emplacing fluids into the subsurface.
Injection Well
- a well into which fluids
					 are being injected other than fluids associated with active drilling
					 operations.
Injection Zone
- a geological formation,
					 group of formations or part of a formation receiving fluids through a
					 well.
Ionizing Radiation
- any electromagnetic or
					 particulate radiation capable of producing ions, directly or indirectly, in its
					 passage through matter. It includes any or all of the following: alpha rays,
					 beta rays, gamma rays, X-rays, neutrons, high-speed electrons, high-speed
					 protons, and other atomic particles; but not sound or radio waves, or visible,
					 infrared or ultraviolet light.
Lithology
- the description of rocks on the
					 basis of their physical and chemical characteristics.
Major Facility
- any Class I or IV
					 hazardous waste injection well facility or activity.
Manifest
- the shipping document originated
					 and signed by the generator which contains the information required by the
					 Hazardous Waste Management Program.
New Injection Well
- a well which began
					 injection after the Louisiana Underground Injection Control program is approved
					 and the applicable (Office of Conservation) rules and regulations are
					 promulgated.
Owner or Operator
- the owner or operator
					 of any facility or activity subject to regulation under the UIC program.
Packer
- a device lowered into a well to
					 produce a fluid tight seal within the casing.
Permit
- an authorization, license, or
					 equivalent control document issued by the commissioner to implement the
					 requirements of these regulations. Permit includes, but it is not limited to,
					 area permits and emergency permits. Permit does not include UIC authorization
					 by rule or any permit which has not yet been the subject of final agency
					 action, such as a draft permit.
Person
- an individual, association,
					 partnership, corporation, municipality, state or federal agency, or an agent or
					 employee thereof.
Plugging
- the act or process of stopping
					 the flow of water, oil or gas into or out of a formation through a borehole or
					 well penetrating that formation.
Plugging Record
- a systematic listing of
					 permanent or temporary abandonment of water, oil, gas, test, exploration, and
					 waste injection wells.
Point of Injection
-the last accessible
					 sampling point prior to waste fluids being released into the subsurface
					 environment through a Class V injection well. For example, the point of
					 injection of a Class V septic system might be the distribution box, the last
					 accessible sampling point before the waste fluids drain into the underlying
					 soils. For a dry well, it is likely to be the well bore itself
Pressure
- the total load or force per unit
					 area acting on a surface.
Project
- a group of wells in a single
					 operation.
Public Water System
- a system for the
					 provision to the public of piped water for human consumption, if such system
					 has at least 15 service connections or regularly serves at least 25
					 individuals. Such term includes:
a. any collection, treatment, storage, and distribution
					 facilities under control of the operator of such system and used primarily in
					 connection with such system; and
b. any collection or pretreatment storage facilities not
					 under such control which are used primarily in connection with such system.
Radiation
- any electromagnetic or ionizing
					 radiation including gamma rays and X-rays, alpha and beta particles, high-speed
					 electrons, neutrons, protons and other nuclear particles; but not sound waves.
					 Unless specifically stated otherwise, these regulations apply only to ionizing
					 radiation.
Radioactive Material
- any material,
					 whether solid, liquid, or gas, which emits radiation spontaneously.
Radioactive Waste
- any waste which
					 contains radioactive material for which no use or reuse is intended and which
					 is to be discarded.
RCRA
- the Solid Waste Disposal Act as
					 amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 ( P.L. 94-580 as
					 amended by P.L. 95-609,
					 42 U.S.C.
					 6901 et seq.).
Sanitary Waste
-liquid or solid wastes
					 originating solely from humans and human activities, such as wastes collected
					 from toilets, showers, wash basins, sinks used for cleaning domestic areas,
					 sinks used for food preparation, clothes washing operations, and sinks or
					 washing machines where food and beverage serving dishes, glasses, and utensils
					 are cleaned. Sources of these wastes may include single or multiple residences,
					 hotels and motels, restaurants, bunkhouses, schools, ranger stations, crew
					 quarters, guard stations, campgrounds, picnic grounds, day-use recreation
					 areas, other commercial facilities, and industrial facilities provided the
					 waste is not mixed with industrial waste.
Schedule of Compliance
- a schedule or
					 remedial measures included in a permit, including an enforceable sequence of
					 interim requirements (for example, actions, operations, or milestone events)
					 leading to compliance with the act and these regulations.
Septic System
-a well that is used to
					 emplace sanitary waste below the surface and is typically comprised of a septic
					 tank and subsurface fluid distribution system or disposal system.
Site
- the land or water area where any
					 facility or activity is physically located or conducted including adjacent land
					 used in connection with the facility or activity.
Skin Effect
- the blockage or plugging of
					 the well perforations or near wellbore formation face from solids in the waste
					 stream that results in increased injection pressures and can be measured by
					 accepted engineering test procedures.
Sole or Principal Source Aquifer
- an
					 aquifer which is the sole or principal drinking water source for an area and
					 which, if contaminated, would create a significant hazard to public
					 health.
State
- the state of Louisiana.
Stratum
(plural
Strata
)-a
					 single sedimentary bed or layer, regardless of thickness, that consists of
					 generally the same kind of rock material.
Subsurface Fluid Distribution System
-an
					 assemblage of perforated pipes, drain tiles, or other similar mechanisms
					 intended to distribute fluids below the surface of the ground.
Surface Casing
- the first string of casing
					 to be installed in the well, excluding conductor casing.
Total Dissolved Solids
- the total
					 dissolved filterable solids as determined by use of the method specified in the
					 14th edition, pp. 91-92, of
Standard Methods for the Examination of
					 Water and Waste Water
.
UIC
- the Louisiana State Underground
					 Injection Control Program.
Underground Injection
-a well
					 injection.
Underground Source of Drinking Water
					 (USDW)
-an aquifer or its portion:
a. which supplies any public water system; or
b. which contains a sufficient quantity of ground water to
					 supply a public water system; and
i. currently supplies drinking water for human consumption;
					 or
ii. contains fewer than 10,000 mg/1 total dissolved solids;
					 and which is not an exempted aquifer.
USDW
- Underground Source of Drinking
					 Water.
Well
-a bored, drilled, or driven shaft
					 whose depth is greater than the largest surface dimension; or, a dug hole whose
					 depth is greater than the largest surface dimension; or, an improved sinkhole;
					 or, a subsurface fluid distribution system.
Well Injection
- the subsurface emplacement
					 of fluids through an injection well.
Well Plug
- a fluid-tight seal installed in
					 a borehole or well to prevent movement of fluids.
Well Stimulation
- several processes used
					 to clean the well bore, enlarge channels, and increase pore space in the
					 interval to be injected thus making it possible for wastewater to move more
					 readily into the formation, and includes:
a. surging;
b. jetting;
c. blasting;
d. acidizing; or
e. hydraulic fracturing.
Workover
- to perform one or more of a
					 variety of remedial operations on an injection well, such as cleaning,
					 perforation, change tubing, deepening, squeezing, plugging back, etc. (see
					 §109. A.8 b
AUTHORITY NOTE:
					 Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 30:ID and 4C(16), and
					 4.1.