Texas Administrative Code › Title 16 - ECONOMIC REGULATION › Part 1 - RAILROAD COMMISSION OF TEXAS › Chapter 3 - OIL AND GAS DIVISION › Section 3.9 - Disposal Wells

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
Any person who disposes of saltwater or other oil and gas
				  waste by injection into a porous formation not productive of oil, gas, or
				  geothermal resources shall be responsible for complying with this section,
				  Texas Water Code, Chapter 27, and Title 3 of the Natural Resources Code.
(1) General. Saltwater or other oil and gas
				waste, as that term is defined in the Texas Water Code, Chapter 27, may be
				disposed of, upon application to and approval by the commission, by injection
				into nonproducing zones of oil, gas, or geothermal resources bearing formations
				that contain water mineralized by processes of nature to such a degree that the
				water is unfit for domestic, stock, irrigation, or other general uses. Every
				applicant who proposes to dispose of saltwater or other oil and gas waste into
				a formation not productive of oil, gas, or geothermal resources must obtain a
				permit from the commission authorizing the disposal in accordance with this
				section. Permits from the commission issued before the effective date of this
				section shall continue in effect until revoked, modified, or suspended by the
				commission.
(2) Geological
				requirements. Before such formations are approved for disposal use, the
				applicant shall show that the formations are separated from freshwater
				formations by impervious beds which will give adequate protection to such
				freshwater formations. The applicant must submit a letter from the Groundwater
				Advisory Unit of the Oil and Gas Division stating that the use of such
				formation will not endanger the freshwater strata in that area and that the
				formations to be used for disposal are not freshwater-bearing.
(3) Application.
(A) The application to dispose of saltwater
				or other oil and gas waste by injection into a porous formation not productive
				of oil, gas, or geothermal resources shall be filed with the commission in
				Austin accompanied by the prescribed fee. On the same date, one copy shall be
				filed with the appropriate district office.
(B) The applicant for a disposal well permit
				under this section shall include with the permit application a printed copy or
				screenshot showing the results of a survey of information from the United
				States Geological Survey (USGS) regarding the locations of any historical
				seismic events within a circular area of 100 square miles (a circle with a
				radius of 9.08 kilometers) centered around the proposed disposal well
				location.
(C) The commission may
				require an applicant for a disposal well permit under this section to provide
				the commission with additional information such as logs, geologic
				cross-sections, pressure front boundary calculations, and/or structure maps, to
				demonstrate that fluids will be confined if the well is to be located in an
				area where conditions exist that may increase the risk that fluids will not be
				confined to the injection interval. Such conditions may include, but are not
				limited to, complex geology, proximity of the basement rock to the injection
				interval, transmissive faults, and/or a history of seismic events in the area
				as demonstrated by information available from the USGS.