Virginia Administrative Code › Title 9 - ENVIRONMENT › Agency 15 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Chapter 20 - GUIDELINES FOR THE PREPARATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENTS FOR OIL OR GAS WELL DRILLING OPERATIONS IN TIDEWATER VIRGINIA › Part I - Applicability and General Requirements › Section 9VAC15-20-10 - 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:
"Access road" means a paved or unpaved route or path from a
					 public highway or public road to a well site or associated facility.
"Associated facilities" means any facility used for gas or
					 oil operations in the Commonwealth, other than a well or well site.
"Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area" means an area delineated
					 by a local government in accordance with "9VAC25-830: Chesapeake Bay
					 Preservation Area Designation and Management Regulations" and §
					 62.1-44.15:74 of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act. A Chesapeake Bay
					 Preservation Area consists of Resource Protection Areas and Resource Management
					 Areas.
"Cuttings" means fragments of rock produced in a well bore
					 by a drill bit and brought to the surface by drilling fluids or air
					 pressure.
"Department of Environmental Quality" means the Department
					 of Environmental Quality as described in § 10.1-1182 et seq. of the Code
					 of Virginia.
"Department of Energy" means the Department of Energy as
					 described in § 45.2-100 et seq. of the Code of Virginia.
"Director of the Department of Energy" means the Director
					 of the Department of Energy or the director's authorized agent.
"Director of the Department of Environmental Quality" means
					 the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality or the director's
					 authorized agent.
"Drilling fluid" means any fluid or drilling mud circulated
					 in the well bore during drilling operations.
"Economic characteristics" means activities associated with
					 the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
"Enhanced recovery" means (i) any activity involving
					 injection of any air, gas, water, or other fluid into the productive strata;
					 (ii) application of pressure, heat, or other means for the reduction of
					 viscosity of the hydrocarbons; or (iii) the supplying of additional motive
					 force other than normal pumping to increase the production of gas or oil from
					 any well or pool.
"Environment" means the natural, scenic, and historic
					 attributes of Virginia.
"Environmental impact assessment" or "assessment" means
					 that documentation that is required by § 45.2-1646 of the Code of Virginia
					 to be a part of any application for a permit to drill an oil or gas well in
					 Tidewater Virginia.
"Exploratory well" means any well drilled (i) to find and
					 produce gas or oil in an unproven area, (ii) to find a new reservoir in a field
					 previously found to be productive of gas or oil in another reservoir, or (iii)
					 to extend the limits of a known gas or oil reservoir.
"Facilities and equipment" means all infrastructure
					 supporting the development, drilling, construction, completion, or operation of
					 any gas or oil operation including well drilling equipment, well heads,
					 separators, compressors, pumps, manifolds, vehicles, fluid circulation systems,
					 waste handling facilities, storage tanks, valves, pipelines, etc., used to
					 explore for, produce, or transport oil or gas.
"Fiscal characteristics" means the structure of taxation,
					 public revenue, public expenditure, and public debt.
"Gas" or "natural gas" means all natural gas whether
					 hydrocarbon or nonhydrocarbon or any combination or mixture of them, including
					 hydrocarbons, hydrogen sulfide, helium, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen,
					 casing head gas, and all other fluids not defined as oil.
"Gas or oil operation" or "operation" means any activity
					 relating to drilling, redrilling, deepening, stimulating, production, enhanced
					 recovery, converting from one type of well to another, combining or physically
					 changing to allow the migration of fluid from one formation to another,
					 plugging, or replugging any well, land disturbing activity relating to the
					 development, construction, operation, and abandonment of a gathering pipeline,
					 the development, operation, maintenance, and restoration of any site involved
					 with gas or oil operations, or any work undertaken at a facility used for gas
					 or oil operations. The term embraces all of the land or property that is used
					 for or that contributes directly or indirectly to a gas or oil operation,
					 including all roads.
"Gas well" means any well that 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.
"Gathering pipeline" means (i) a pipeline that is used or
					 intended for use in the transportation of gas or oil from the well to a
					 transmission pipeline or other pipeline regulated by the Federal Energy
					 Regulatory Commission or the State Corporation Commission or (ii) a pipeline
					 that is used or intended for use in the transportation of gas or oil from the
					 well to an off-site storage, marketing, or other facility where the gas or oil
					 is sold.
"Highly erodible soils" means soils (excluding vegetation)
					 with an erodibility index (EI) from sheet and rill erosion equal to or greater
					 than eight. The erodibility index for any soil is defined as the product of the
					 formula RKLS/T, as defined by the Food Security Act (F.S.A.) Manual of August,
					 1988 in the "Field Office Technical Guide" of the U.S. Department of
					 Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, where K is the soil susceptibility to
					 water erosion in the surface layer; R is the rainfall and runoff; LS is the
					 combined effects of slope length and steepness; and T is the soil loss
					 tolerance.
"Highly permeable soils" means soils with a given potential
					 to transmit water through the soil profile. Highly permeable soils are
					 identified as any soil having a permeability equal to or greater than six
					 inches of water movement per hour in any part of the soil profile to a depth of
					 72 inches (permeability groups "rapid" and "very rapid") as found in the
					 "National Soils Handbook" of July 1983 in the "Field Service Technical Guide"
					 of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service.
"Historic properties" means any prehistoric or historic
					 district, site, building, structure, or object included in or eligible for
					 inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places or the Virginia
					 Historical Landmarks Register including any artifacts, records, and remains
					 that are related to and located within such properties.
"Historic properties survey" means a survey undertaken to
					 establish the presence or absence of historic properties, and any related and
					 necessary management plans developed to conserve such resources.
"Land-disturbing activity" means any change in or
					 reconfiguration of the land surface or vegetation on the land surface through
					 vegetation clearing or earth moving activities including clearing, grading,
					 excavating, drilling, transporting, or filling.
"Mcf" means, when used with reference to natural gas, one
					 thousand cubic feet of gas at a pressure base of 14.73 pounds per square inch
					 gauge and at a temperature base of 60°F.
"Natural area preserve" means a natural area that has been
					 dedicated pursuant to § 10.1-213 of the Code of Virginia.
"Natural heritage resources" means the habitat of rare,
					 threatened, or endangered plant and animal species, rare or state significant
					 natural communities or geologic sites, and similar features of scientific
					 interest benefiting the welfare of the citizens of the Commonwealth.
"Natural heritage survey" means a survey undertaken to
					 establish the presence or absence of natural heritage resources and any related
					 and necessary management plans developed to conserve such resources.
"Nontidal wetlands" means those wetlands other than tidal
					 wetlands that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a
					 frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal
					 circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life
					 in saturated soil conditions, as defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection
					 Agency in response to § 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, in
					 33 CFR 328.3b.
"Oil" means natural crude oil or petroleum and other
					 hydrocarbons, regardless of gravity, that are produced at the well in liquid
					 form by ordinary production methods and that are not the result of condensation
					 of gas after it leaves the underground reservoir.
"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 space" means any land, water, or submerged land that
					 is provided for, preserved for, or used for (i) park or recreational purposes;
					 (ii) conservation of land or other natural resources; (iii) cultural, historic,
					 or scenic purposes; (iv) assisting in the shaping of the character, direction,
					 and timing of community development; or (v) nontidal or tidal wetlands.
"Operations area" means the location of the well, well
					 site, associated facilities, production facilities, access roads, pipeline
					 systems, and other related facilities and equipment necessary to the conduct of
					 a gas or oil operation.
"Person" means any individual or group, any partnership,
					 corporation, association, organization, or other legal entity, including any
					 public body.
"Pipeline corridor" means those areas that pipeline systems
					 pass through or will be constructed to pass through, including associated
					 easements, leases, or rights-of-way.
"Pipeline systems" means all parts of those physical
					 facilities through which gas or oil moves in transportation, including pipes,
					 valves, and other appurtenances attached to pipes such as compressor units,
					 metering stations, regulator stations, delivery stations, holders, or other
					 related facilities.
"Production well" means a well, related production
					 facilities and equipment, and activities related to the drilling of a well for
					 the purpose of developing and producing, or converting an exploratory well to
					 develop or produce, oil or gas from geological strata for the purpose of sale,
					 exchange, transfer, or use by the owner or for the purpose of exchange,
					 transfer, sale, or use by any other person.
"Rare, threatened, or endangered species" means any insect,
					 fish, wildlife, or plant species that is listed as, is a candidate for listing
					 as, or is recommended for listing as a rare, threatened, or endangered species
					 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Department of Agriculture and
					 Consumer Services, the Department of Wildlife Resources, or the Department of
					 Conservation and Recreation.
"Recreational resources" means the broad range of outdoor
					 and indoor public and private areas and facilities, many of which are
					 identified in the "Virginia Outdoors Plan," used in meeting Virginia's
					 recreational needs including public parks, public forests, natural areas,
					 wildlife management areas, lakes and reservoirs, historic resources, trails,
					 rivers, beaches, water access areas, Virginia byways, tidal and nontidal
					 wetlands, and greenways.
"Scenic resources" means features that characterize an area
					 by giving it a special visual identity or that present unique vistas or
					 landscapes, including such features as designated or candidate state or federal
					 scenic rivers, federal or state scenic highways or parkways, Virginia byways,
					 and scenic values as recognized by local, state, or federal governments.
"Tidal wetlands" means "vegetated wetlands" and
					 "nonvegetated wetlands" as defined in § 28.2-1300 of the Code of
					 Virginia.
"Tidewater Virginia" means that area of Virginia as defined
					 in § 62.1-44.15:68 of the Code of Virginia and the localities of Manassas
					 and Manassas Park.
"Virginia Outdoors Plan" means the State Comprehensive
					 Outdoor Recreation Plan developed and administered by the Department of
					 Conservation and Recreation.
"Waste from gas, oil, or geophysical operations" means any
					 substance other than gas or oil that is (i) produced or generated during or
					 results from the development, drilling, and completion of wells and associated
					 facilities or the development and construction of gathering pipelines or (ii)
					 produced or generated during or results from well, pipeline, and associated
					 facilities' operations including brines and produced fluids other than gas or
					 oil. In addition, this term shall include all rubbish and debris, including all
					 material generated during or resulting from well plugging, site restoration, or
					 the removal and abandonment of gathering pipelines and associated
					 facilities.
"Well" means any shaft or hole sunk, drilled, bored, or dug
					 into the earth or into underground strata for the extraction, injection, or
					 replacement of any gaseous or liquid substance, or any shaft or hole sunk or
					 used in conjunction with such extraction, injection, or placement. The term
					 shall not include any shaft or hole sunk, drilled, bored, or dug into the earth
					 for the sole purpose of pumping or extracting therefrom potable, fresh or
					 usable water for household, domestic, industrial, agricultural, or public use
					 and shall not include water boreholes, methane drainage boreholes where the
					 methane is vented or flared rather than produced and saved, subsurface
					 boreholes drilled from the mine face or an underground coal mine, any other
					 boreholes necessary or convenient for the extraction of coal or drilled
					 pursuant to a uranium exploratory program carried out pursuant to the laws of
					 this Commonwealth, or any coal or nonfuel mineral core hole or borehole for the
					 purpose of exploration.
Statutory Authority: § 45.2-1646 of the Code of
						Virginia.