Virginia Administrative Code › Title 4 - CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES › Agency 25 - DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY › Chapter 150 - VIRGINIA GAS AND OIL REGULATION › Part I - Standards of General Applicability › Article 1 - General Information › Section 4VAC25-150-10 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms when used in this chapter
						shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates
						otherwise:
"Act" means the Virginia Gas and Oil Act, Chapter 16
						(§ 45.2-1600 et seq.) of Title 45.2 of the Code of Virginia.
"Adequate channel" means a watercourse that will convey
						the designated frequency storm event without overtopping its banks or causing
						erosive damage to the bed, banks and overbank sections.
"Applicant" means any person or business who files an
						application with the Division of Gas and Oil.
"Approved" means accepted as suitable for its intended
						purpose when included in a permit issued by the director or determined to be
						suitable in writing by the director.
"Berm" means a ridge of soil or other material
						constructed along an active earthen fill to divert runoff away from the
						unprotected slope of the fill to a stabilized outlet or sediment trapping
						facility.
"Board" means the Virginia Gas and Oil Board.
"Bridge plug" means an obstruction intentionally placed
						in a well at a specified depth.
"CAS number" means the unique number identifier for a
						chemical substance assigned by the Chemical Abstracts Service.
"Cased completion" means a technique used to make a well
						capable of production in which production casing is set through the productive
						zones.
"Cased/open hole completion" means a technique used to
						make a well capable of production in which at least one zone is completed
						through casing and at least one zone is completed open hole.
"Casing" means all pipe set in wells except conductor
						pipe and tubing.
"Causeway" means a temporary structural span constructed
						across a flowing watercourse or wetland to allow construction traffic to access
						the area without causing erosion damage.
"Cement" means hydraulic cement properly mixed with
						water.
"Cement bond log" means an acoustic survey or
						sonic-logging method that records the quality or hardness of the cement used in
						the annulus to bond the casing and the formation.
"Centralizer" means a device secured around the casing at
						regular intervals to center it in the hole.
"Channel" means a natural stream or man-made
						waterway.
"Chemical Disclosure Registry" means the chemical
						registry website known as FracFocus.org developed by the Ground Water
						Protection Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission.
"Chief" means the Chief of the Division of Mines of the
						Department of Energy.
"Coal-protection string" means a casing designed to
						protect a coal seam by excluding all fluids, oil, gas, or gas pressure from the
						seam, except such as may be found in the coal seam itself.
"Cofferdam" means a temporary structure in a river, lake,
						or other waterway for keeping the water from an enclosed area that has been
						pumped dry so that bridge foundations, pipelines, etc., may be
						constructed.
"Completion" means the process that results in a well
						being capable of producing gas or oil.
"Conductor pipe" means the short, large diameter string
						used primarily to control caving and washing out of unconsolidated surface
						formations.
"Corehole" means any hole drilled solely for the purpose
						of obtaining rock samples or other information to be used in the exploration
						for coal, gas, or oil. The term shall not include a borehole used solely for
						the placement of an explosive charge or other energy source for generating
						seismic waves.
"Days" means calendar days.
"Denuded area" means land that has been cleared of
						vegetative cover.
"Department" means the Department of Energy.
"Detention basin" means a stormwater management facility
						which temporarily impounds and discharges runoff through an outlet to a
						downstream channel. Infiltration is negligible when compared to the outlet
						structure discharge rates. The facility is normally dry during periods of no
						rainfall.
"Dike" means an earthen embankment constructed to confine
						or control fluids.
"Directional survey" means a well survey that measures
						the degree of deviation of a hole from true vertical, and the distance and
						direction of points in the hole from vertical.
"Director" means the Director of the Department of Energy
						or his authorized agent.
"Diversion" means a channel constructed for the purpose
						of intercepting surface runoff.
"Diverter" or "diverter system" means an assembly of
						valves and piping attached to a gas or oil well's casing for controlling flow
						and pressure from a well.
"Division" means the Division of Gas and Oil of the
						Department of Energy.
"Emergency response plan" means the document that details
						the steps to prevent, control, and provide adequate countermeasures for a
						petroleum product discharge not covered by the spill prevention, control, and
						countermeasures plan or for a non-petroleum product discharge.
"Erosion and sediment control plan" means a document
						containing a description of materials and methods to be used for the
						conservation of soil and the protection of water resources in or on a unit or
						group of units of land. It may include appropriate maps, an appropriate soil
						and water plan inventory and management information with needed
						interpretations, and a record of decisions contributing to conservation
						treatment. The plan shall contain a record of all major conservation decisions
						to ensure that the entire unit or units of land will be so treated to achieve
						the conservation objectives.
"Expanding cement" means any cement approved by the
						director that expands during the hardening process, including but not limited
						to regular oil field cements with the proper additives.
"Firewall" means an earthen dike or fire resistant
						structure built around a tank or tank battery to contain the oil in the event a
						tank ruptures or catches fire.
"Flume" means a constructed device lined with
						erosion-resistant materials intended to convey water on steep grades.
"Flyrock" means any material propelled by a blast that
						would be actually or potentially hazardous to persons or property.
"Form prescribed by the director" means a form issued by
						the division, or an equivalent facsimile, for use in meeting the requirements
						of the Act or this chapter.
"Gas well" means any well which produces or appears
						capable of producing a ratio of 6,000 cubic feet (6 Mcf) of gas or more to each
						barrel of oil, on the basis of a gas-oil ratio test.
"Gob well" means a coalbed methane gas well that is
						capable of producing coalbed methane gas from the de-stressed zone associated
						with any full-seam extraction of coal that extends above and below the
						mined-out coal seam.
"Groundwater" means all water under the ground, wholly or
						partially within or bordering the Commonwealth or within its jurisdiction,
						which has the potential for being used for domestic, industrial, commercial, or
						agricultural use or otherwise affects the public welfare.
"Highway" means any public street, public alley, or
						public road.
"Hydraulic fracturing" means the treatment of a well by
						the application of hydraulic fracturing fluid under pressure for the express
						purpose of initiating or propagating fractures in a target geologic formation
						to enhance production of oil or natural gas.
"Hydraulic fracturing fluid" means the fluid, including
						the applicable base fluid and all additives, used to perform hydraulic
						fracturing treatment.
"Inclination survey" means a survey taken inside a
						wellbore that measures the degree of deviation of the point of the survey from
						true vertical.
"Inhabited building" means a building, regularly occupied
						in whole or in part by human beings, including, but not limited to, a private
						residence, church, school, store, public building or other structure where
						people are accustomed to assemble except for a building being used on a
						temporary basis, on a permitted site, for gas, oil, or geophysical
						operations.
"Intermediate string" means a string of casing that
						prevents caving, shuts off connate water in strata below the water-protection
						string, and protects strata from exposure to lower zone pressures.
"Live watercourse" means a definite channel with bed and
						banks within which water flows continuously.
"Mcf" means, when used with reference to natural gas,
						1,000 cubic feet of gas at a pressure base of 14.73 pounds per square inch
						gauge and a temperature base of 60°F.
"Mud" means a mixture of materials that creates a
						weighted fluid to be circulated downhole during drilling operations for the
						purpose of lubricating and cooling the bit, removing cuttings, and controlling
						formation pressures and fluid.
"Natural channel" or "natural stream" means nontidal
						waterways that are part of the natural topography. They usually maintain a
						continuous or seasonal flow during the year and are characterized as being
						irregular in cross section with a meandering course.
"Nonerodible" means a material such as riprap, concrete,
						or plastic that will not experience surface wear due to natural forces.
"Oil well" means any well that produces or appears
						capable of producing a ratio of less than 6,000 cubic feet (6 Mcf) of gas to
						each barrel of oil, on the basis of a gas-oil ratio test.
"Open hole completion" means a technique used to make a
						well capable of production in which no production casing is set through the
						productive zones.
"Person" means any individual, corporation, partnership,
						association, company, business, trust, joint venture, or other legal
						entity.
"Plug" means the sealing of, or a device or material used
						for the sealing of, a gas or oil wellbore or casing to prevent the migration of
						water, gas, or oil from one stratum to another.
"Pre-development" means the land use and site conditions
						that exist at the time that the operations plan is submitted to the
						division.
"Produced waters" means water or fluids produced from a
						gas well, oil well, coalbed methane gas well, or gob well as a byproduct of
						producing gas, oil, or coalbed methane gas.
"Producer" means a permittee operating a well in Virginia
						that is producing or is capable of producing gas or oil.
"Production string" means a string of casing or tubing
						through which the well is completed and may be produced and controlled.
"Red shales" means the undifferentiated shaley portion of
						the Bluestone formation normally found above the Pride Shale Member of the
						formation, and extending upward to the base of the Pennsylvanian strata, which
						red shales are predominantly red and green in color but may occasionally be
						gray, grayish green, and grayish red.
"Red zone" is a zone in or contiguous to a permitted area
						that could have potential hazards to workers or to the public.
"Retention basin" means a stormwater management facility
						that, similar to a detention basin, temporarily impounds runoff and discharges
						its outflow through an outlet to a downstream channel. A retention basin is a
						permanent impoundment.
"Sediment basin" means a depression formed from the
						construction of a barrier or dam built to retain sediment and debris.
"Sheet flow" or "overland flow" means shallow,
						unconcentrated and irregular flow down a slope. The length of strip for sheet
						flow usually does not exceed 200 feet under natural conditions.
"Slope drain" means tubing or conduit made of nonerosive
						material extending from the top to the bottom of a cut or fill slope.
"Special diligence" means the activity and skill
						exercised by a good businessperson in a particular specialty, which must be
						commensurate with the duty to be performed and the individual circumstances of
						the case, not merely the diligence of an ordinary person or
						nonspecialist.
"Spill prevention, control, and countermeasure plan" or
						"SPCC plan" means the document that details the steps to prevent, control, and
						provide adequate countermeasures to certain petroleum product
						discharges.
"Stabilized" means able to withstand normal exposure to
						air and water flows without incurring erosion damage.
"Stemming" means the inert material placed in a borehole
						after an explosive charge for the purpose of confining the explosion gases in
						the borehole or the inert material used to separate the explosive charges
						(decks) in decked holes.
"Stimulate" means any action taken by a gas or oil
						operator to increase the inherent productivity of a gas or oil well, including,
						but not limited to, fracturing, shooting, or acidizing, but excluding (i)
						cleaning out, bailing, or workover operations and (ii) the use of
						surface-tension reducing agents, emulsion breakers, paraffin solvents, and
						other agents that affect the gas or oil being produced, as distinguished from
						the producing formation.
"Storm sewer inlet" means any structure through which
						stormwater is introduced into an underground conveyance system.
"Stormwater management facility" means a device that
						controls stormwater runoff and changes the characteristics of that runoff,
						including but not limited to, the quantity, quality, the period of release, or
						the velocity of flow.
"String of pipe" or "string" means the total footage of
						pipe of uniform size set in a well. The term embraces conductor pipe, casing,
						and tubing. When the casing consists of segments of different size, each
						segment constitutes a separate string. A string may serve more than one
						purpose.
"Sulfide stress cracking" means embrittlement of the
						steel grain structure to reduce ductility and cause extreme brittleness or
						cracking by hydrogen sulfide.
"Surface mine" means an area containing an open pit
						excavation, surface operations incident to an underground mine, or associated
						activities adjacent to the excavation or surface operations, from which coal or
						other minerals are produced for sale, exchange, or commercial use and includes
						all buildings and equipment above the surface of the ground used in connection
						with such mining.
"Target formation" means the geologic gas or oil
						formation identified by the well operator in his application for a gas, oil or
						geophysical drilling permit.
"Temporary stream crossing" means a temporary span
						installed across a flowing watercourse for use by construction traffic.
						Structures may include bridges, round pipes or pipe arches constructed on or
						through nonerodible material.
"Ten-year storm" means a storm that is capable of
						producing rainfall expected to be equaled or exceeded on the average of once in
						10 years. It may also be expressed as an exceedance probability with a 10%
						chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.
"Tidewater Virginia" means the region defined in §
						62.1-44.15:68 of the Code of Virginia.
"Trade secret" means the term defined in § 59.1-336
						of the Code of Virginia.
"Tubing" means the small diameter string set after the
						well has been drilled from the surface to the total depth and through which the
						gas or oil or other substance is produced or injected.
"Two-year storm" means a storm that is capable of
						producing rainfall expected to be equaled or exceeded on the average of once in
						two years. It may also be expressed as an exceedance probability with a 50%
						chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.
"Vertical ventilation hole" means any hole drilled from
						the surface to the coal seam used only for the safety purpose of removing gas
						from the underlying coal seam and the adjacent strata, thus, removing the gas
						that would normally be in the mine ventilation system.
"Water bar" means a small obstruction constructed across
						the surface of a road, pipeline right-of-way, or other area of ground
						disturbance in order to interrupt and divert the flow of water on a grade for
						the purpose of controlling erosion and sediment migration.
"Water-protection string" means a string of casing
						designed to protect groundwater-bearing strata.
Statutory Authority: § 45.2-103 of the Code of
						  Virginia.