North Dakota Administrative Code › Title 43 - Industrial Commission › Article 43-05 - Geologic Storage of Carbon Dioxide › Chapter 43-05-01 - Geologic Storage of Carbon Dioxide › Section 43-05-01-02.4 - Exempted aquifers and expansions of areal extent of existing aquifer exemptions

Current through Supplement No. 393, July, 2024
1.
				The commission may identify by narrative description, illustrations, maps, or
				other means and shall implement these rules to protect as underground sources
				of drinking water, all aquifers and parts of aquifers that meet the definition
				of "underground source of drinking water". Even if an aquifer has not been
				specifically identified by the commission, it is an underground source of
				drinking water if it meets the definition of "underground source of drinking
				water". Other than United States environmental protection agency-approved
				aquifer exemption expansions, new aquifer exemptions shall not be issued for
				injection wells.
2. The commission
				shall identify, by narrative description, illustrations, maps, or other means,
				and describe in geographic and geometric terms, such as vertical and lateral
				limits and gradient, which are clear and definite, all aquifers or parts of
				aquifers that the commission proposes to designate as exempted aquifers using
				the criteria in section
				43-02-05-03. No designation of an
				exempted aquifer submitted as part of the underground injection control program
				is final until approved by the United States environmental protection agency
				administrator as part of the underground injection control program.
3. A storage operator of enhanced oil or gas
				recovery wells may apply to the commission for approval to expand the areal
				extent of an aquifer exemption already in place for an enhanced oil or gas
				recovery well for the exclusive purpose of carbon dioxide injection for
				geologic sequestration. Such applications are considered a revision to the
				applicable federal underground injection control program or a substantial
				program revision to an approved state underground injection control program and
				are not final until approved by the United States environmental protection
				agency.
a. A storage operator's application
				must define by narrative description, illustrations, maps, or other means and
				describe in geographic or geometric terms, such as vertical and lateral limits
				and gradient that are clear and definite, all aquifers or parts thereof that
				are requested to be designated as exempted under section
				43-02-05-03.
b. In evaluating an application, the
				commission shall determine that it meets the criteria for exemptions in section
				43-02-05-03. In making the
				determination, the commission shall consider:
(1) Current and potential future use of the
				underground sources of drinking water to be exempted as drinking water
				resources;
(2) The predicted extent
				of the injected carbon dioxide plume, and any mobilized fluids that may result
				in degradation of water quality, over the lifetime of the geologic
				sequestration project, as informed by computational modeling performed pursuant
				to subdivision a of subsection 2 of section
				43-05-01-05.1, in order to ensure
				that the proposed injection operation will not at any time endanger underground
				sources of drinking water, including nonexempted portions of the injection
				formation;
(3) Whether the areal
				extent of the expanded aquifer exemption is sufficient to account for any
				possible revisions to the computational model during revaluation of the area of
				review; and
(4) Information
				submitted to support a waiver request made by the applicant under section
				43-05-01 -11.6, if
				appropriate.