Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 43 - NATURAL RESOURCES › Part XVII - Office of Conservation-Injection and Mining › Subpart 6 - Statewide Order No. 29-N-6 › Chapter 6 - Class VI Injection Wells › Section XVII-601 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. The following definitions apply to all regulations in
					 this Chapter. Terms not defined in this Section for Class VI wells have the
					 meaning given by R.S. (1950) Title 30, section 1103
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.
Act 517
-Act 517 of the 2009 Louisiana
					 regular legislative session. See
Louisiana Geologic Sequestration of
					 Carbon Dioxide Act
.
Application
-the filing by a person on the
					 Office of Conservation forms 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 Revie
w-the region surrounding the
geologic sequestration project
where USDWs may be endangered
					 by the injection activity, and is delineated using computational modeling that
					 accounts for the physical and chemical properties of all phases of the injected
carbon dioxide stream
and displaced fluids, and is based on
					 available site characterization, monitoring, and operational data as set forth
					 in §615 B
Carbon Dioxide
-naturally occurring,
					 geologically sourced, or anthropogenically sourced carbon dioxide including its
					 derivatives and all mixtures, combinations, and phases, whether liquid or
					 gaseous, stripped, segregated, or divided from any other fluid stream
					 thereof.
Carbon Dioxide Plume
-the extent
					 underground, in three dimensions, of an injected
carbon dioxide
					 stream
.
Carbon Dioxide Stream
-the carbon dioxide
					 that has been captured from an emission source (e.g., a power plant), plus
					 incidental associated substances derived from the source materials and the
					 capture process, and any substances added to the stream to enable or improve
					 the injection process. This meaning does not apply to any carbon dioxide stream
					 meeting the definition of a hazardous waste under  Title 40, Code of Federal
					 Regulations, Part 261.
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 or leaving 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.
Commissioner
-the Assistant Secretary of
					 the Office of Conservation, Department of Natural Resources.
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 stratigraphically overlying the
injection zone
that acts as a barrier to fluid movement above
					 an
injection zone
.
Contaminant
-any physical, chemical,
					 biological, or radiological substance or matter in water.
Corrective Action
-the use of UIC
					 program-approved methods to ensure that wells within the area of review do not
					 serve as conduits for the movement of fluids into USDWs.
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.
Draft Permit
-a document prepared under
					 §611.C.1 indicating the commissioners decision to issue or deny, modify,
					 revoke and reissue, terminate, or reissue a permit. A notice of intent to
					 terminate a permit and a notice of intent to deny a permit as discussed in
					 §613.E.2 are types of
draft permits
. A denial of request
					 for modification, revocation and reissuance, or termination, as discussed in
					 §613.B.4 is not a draft permit.
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 or
					 §515
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
					 §603 F
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 gases or other 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 consolidated or
					 unconsolidated 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; or any person or entity who
					 generates or causes to be generated any fluid for well injection.
Geologic Sequestration
-the long-term
					 containment of a gaseous, liquid, or supercritical carbon dioxide stream in
					 subsurface geologic formations. This term does not apply to carbon dioxide
					 capture or transport.
Geologic Sequestration Project
-an
					 injection well or wells used to emplace a
carbon dioxide
					 stream
beneath the lowermost formation containing a USDW; or wells
					 used for
geologic sequestration
of carbon dioxide that have
					 received an expansion to the areal extent of an existing Class II enhanced oil
					 recovery or enhanced gas recovery aquifer exemption pursuant to §603.F of
					 this chapter. It includes the subsurface three-dimensional extent of the
carbon dioxide plume
, associated area of elevated pressure,
					 and displaced fluids, as well as the surface area above that delineated
					 region.
Geologic Sequestration Site
-the
					 underground reservoir, carbon dioxide injection wells, monitoring wells,
					 underground equipment, and surface buildings and equipment utilized in the
					 sequestration or storage operation, including pipelines owned or operated by
					 the sequestration or storage operator used to transport the carbon dioxide from
					 one or more capture facilities or sources to the sequestration or storage and
					 injection site. The underground reservoir component of the sequestration or
					 storage facility includes any necessary and reasonable aerial buffer and
					 subsurface monitoring zones designated by the commissioner for the purpose of
					 ensuring the safe and efficient operation of the storage facility for the
					 storage of carbon dioxide and shall be chosen to protect against pollution, and
					 escape, or migration of carbon dioxide.
Geologic Storage
-the long or short-term
					 underground storage of carbon dioxide in subsurface geologic formations.
Geologic Storage Facility
-see
Geologic Sequestration Site
.
Geologic Storage Site
-see
Geologic
					 Sequestration Site
.
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 Interval
-that part of the
injection zone
in which the well is screened or perforated or
					 in which injected fluids are directly emplaced.
Injection Zone
-a geological formation,
					 group of formations or part of a formation receiving fluids through a well. For
					 Class VI projects, it must also be of sufficient areal extent, thickness,
					 porosity, and permeability to receive carbon dioxide through a well or wells
					 associated with a geologic sequestration project.
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.
Louisiana Geologic Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide
					 Act
-Act 517 of 2009 at Chapter 11 of Title 30 of the Louisiana Revised
					 Statutes of 1950,
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.
Operator
-the person recognized as being
					 responsible to the Office of Conservation for the well, site, facility, or
					 activity subject to regulatory authority under these rules and regulations. The
operator
can, but need not be, the
owner
of
					 the well, site, facility, or activity.
Owner
-the person that owns any well, site,
					 facility, or activity subject to regulation under the UIC program. The
owner
can, but need not be, the
operator
of
					 the well, site, facility, or activity.
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
-any natural person, individual,
					 association, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, or other
					 entity, receiver, tutor, curator, executor, administrator, fiduciary,
					 municipality, state or federal agency, or an agent or employee of the
					 aforementioned 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, and may contain a well log, description of amounts and
					 types of plugging material used, the method employed for plugging, a
					 description of formations which are sealed and a graphic log of the well
					 showing formation location, formation thickness, and location of plugging
					 structures.
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.
Post-Injection Site Care
-the appropriate
					 monitoring and other actions (including corrective action) needed following
					 cessation of geologic sequestration injection to ensure that USDWs are not
					 endangered, as required under §633
Pressure
-the total load or force per unit
					 area acting on a surface.
Pressure Front
-the zone of elevated
					 pressure in the subsurface created by injection where there is a pressure
					 differential sufficient to cause the movement of injected fluids or formation
					 fluids into a USDW.
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.).
Reservoir
-that portion of any underground
					 geologic stratum, formation, or aquifer, including oil and gas reservoirs, or
					 other saline formations, and coal and coalbed methane seams, suitable for or
					 capable of being made suitable for injection or storage of fluids.
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.
Site Closure
-the point or time, as
					 determined by the UIC program following the requirements under §633, at
					 which the owner or operator of a geologic sequestration site is released from
post-injection site care
responsibilities.
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.
Third Party
-a party who is not within the
					 corporate structure of the owner or operator.
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
.
Transmissive Fault or Fracture
-a fault or
					 fracture that has sufficient permeability and vertical extent to allow fluids
					 to move between formations.
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.
USEPA
-the United States Environmental
					 Protection Agency.
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 monitoring
-the measurement by on-site
					 instruments or laboratory methods, of the quality of water in a well.
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 fluids to move more readily into the
					 formation, and includes, but may not be limited to:
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.
AUTHORITY NOTE:
					 Promulgated in accordance with
					 R.S.
					 30:4 et seq., 30:22 et seq., and 30:1101 et
					 seq.