Texas Administrative Code › Title 16 - ECONOMIC REGULATION › Part 1 - RAILROAD COMMISSION OF TEXAS › Chapter 3 - OIL AND GAS DIVISION › Section 3.95 - Underground Storage of Liquid or Liquefied Hydrocarbons in Salt Formations

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) Definitions.
				The following terms, when used in this section, shall have the following
				meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Affected person--A person who, as a
				result of actions proposed in an application for a storage facility permit or
				for amendment or modification of an existing storage facility permit, has
				suffered or may suffer actual injury or economic damage other than as a member
				of the general public.
(2) Brine
				string--The uncemented tubing through which highly saline water flows into or
				out of a hydrocarbon storage well during hydrocarbon withdrawal or injection
				operations.
(3) Cavern--The storage
				space created in a salt formation by solution mining.
(4) Commission--The Railroad Commission of
				Texas.
(5) Emergency shutdown
				valve--A valve that automatically closes to isolate a hydrocarbon storage
				wellhead from surface piping in the event of specified conditions that, if
				uncontrolled, may cause an emergency.
(6) Fire detector--A device capable of
				detecting the presence of a flame or the heat from a fire.
(7) Fresh water--Water having
				bacteriological, physical, and chemical properties that make it suitable and
				feasible for beneficial use for any lawful purpose. For purposes of this
				section, brine associated with the creation, operation, and maintenance of an
				underground hydrocarbon storage facility is not considered fresh
				water.
(8) Hydrocarbon storage well
				or storage well--A well, including the storage wellhead, casing, tubing,
				borehole, and cavern, used for the injection or withdrawal of liquid or
				liquefied hydrocarbons into or out of an underground hydrocarbon storage
				facility.
(9) Leak detector--A
				device capable of detecting by chemical or physical means the presence of
				hydrocarbon vapor or the escape of vapor through a small opening.
(10) Liquid or liquefied hydrocarbons--Crude
				oil and products, derivatives, or byproducts of oil or gas that are:
(A) liquid under standard conditions of
				temperature and pressure;
(B)
				liquefied under the temperatures and pressures at which they are stored;
				or
(C) stored under conditions that
				necessitate the use of displacement fluids to withdraw them from
				storage.
(11)
				Operator--The person recognized by the Commission as being responsible for the
				physical operation of an underground hydrocarbon storage facility, or such
				person's authorized representative.
(12) Owner--The person recognized by the
				Commission as owning all or part of a storage facility, or such person's
				authorized representative.
(13)
				Person--A natural person, corporation, organization, government, governmental
				subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association,
				or any other legal entity.
(14)
				Pollution--Alteration of the physical, chemical, or biological quality of, or
				the contamination of, water that makes it harmful, detrimental, or injurious to
				humans, animal life, vegetation, or property, or to public health, safety, or
				welfare, or impairs the usefulness or the public enjoyment of the water for any
				lawful or reasonable purpose.
(15)
				Process or transfer area--Any area at an underground hydrocarbon storage
				facility where hydrocarbons are physically altered by equipment, including
				dehydrators, compressors, and pumps, or where hydrocarbons are transferred to
				or from trucks, rail cars, or pipelines.
(16) Storage wellhead--Equipment installed at
				the surface of the wellbore, including the casinghead and tubing head, spools,
				block or wing valves, and instrument flanges. Spool pieces must have a length
				of less than six feet to be considered a part of the storage
				wellhead.
(17) Surface piping--Any
				pipe within a storage facility that is directly connected to a storage well,
				outboard of the wellhead emergency shutdown valve and used to transport
				product, brine, or fresh water to or from a storage well whether such pipe is
				above or below ground level.
(18)
				Underground hydrocarbon storage facility or storage facility--A facility used
				for the storage of liquid or liquefied hydrocarbons in an underground salt
				formation, including surface and subsurface rights, appurtenances, and
				improvements necessary for the operation of the facility.