Fla. Admin. Code Ann. R. 62-528.300 - Underground Injection Control: General Provisions
(1)
Classification of Injection Wells. Injection wells are classified as follows:
(a) Class I.
1. Wells used by generators of hazardous
wastes or owners or operators of hazardous waste management facilities to
inject hazardous waste beneath the lowermost formation containing, within one
quarter mile of the well bore, an underground source of drinking
water.
2. Other industrial and
municipal (publicly or privately owned) disposal wells which inject fluids
beneath the lowermost formation containing, within one quarter mile of the well
bore, an underground source of drinking water.
3. Radioactive waste disposal wells that
inject fluids below the lowermost formation containing an underground source of
drinking water within one-quarter mile of the well bore.
(b) Class II. Wells which inject fluids:
1. Which are brought to the surface in
connection with conventional oil or natural gas production and may be
commingled with waste waters from gas plants which are an integral part of
production operations, unless those waters are classified as a hazardous waste
at the time of injection.
2. For
enhanced recovery of oil or natural gas; and
3. For storage of hydrocarbons which are
liquid at standard temperature and pressure.
(c) Class III. Wells which inject for
extraction of minerals, including:
1. Mining
of sulfur by the Frasch process;
2.
Solution mining of minerals: (Note - Solution mining of minerals includes
sodium chloride, potash, phosphate, copper, uranium and any other mineral which
can be mined by this process).
(d) Class IV. Wells used by generators of
hazardous wastes or of radioactive wastes, by owners or operators of hazardous
waste management facilities, or by owners or operators of radioactive waste
disposal sites to dispose of hazardous wastes or radioactive wastes:
1. Into or above a formation which, within
one quarter mile of the well, contains either an underground source of drinking
water, or an exempted aquifer, or
2. Which cannot be classified as a Class I
well under paragraph 62-528.300(1)(a),
F.A.C., or as a Class IV well under subparagraph 1. above.
(e) Class V. Only injection wells not
included in Class I, II, III, or IV are Class V wells, which are grouped
together for the purpose of permitting:
1.
Group 1 - Thermal Exchange Process Wells.
a.
Air conditioning return flow wells used to return to any aquifer the water used
for heating or cooling. An air conditioning supply well, heat pump, and return
flow well used to inject water into the same permeable zone from which it was
withdrawn constitute a closed-loop system;
b. Cooling water return flow wells used to
inject water previously used for cooling;
2. Group 2 - Aquifer Recharge Wells.
a. Recharge wells used to replenish, augment,
or store water in an aquifer;
b.
Salt water intrusion barrier wells used to inject water into a fresh water
aquifer to prevent the intrusion of salt water into the fresh water;
c. Subsidence control wells (not used for the
purpose of oil or natural gas production) used to inject fluids into a zone
which does not produce oil or gas to reduce or eliminate subsidence associated
with the overdraft of fresh water;
d. Connector wells used to connect two
aquifers to allow interchange of water between those
aquifers;
3. Group 3 -
Domestic Wastewater Wells.
a. Wells which are
part of domestic wastewater treatment systems excluding wells which are defined
as Class I wells under subparagraph
62-528.300(1)(a)
2., F.A.C., used to discharge effluent or reclaimed water from domestic
wastewater treatment facilities;
b.
Septic system wells used to inject the waste from a multiple dwelling, business
establishment, community, or regional business establishment septic tank. This
chapter does not apply to individual or single family domestic waste
residential septic systems nor to non-residential septic systems receiving only
domestic wastewater which have the capacity to serve fewer than twenty persons
per day, and which are regulated under Chapter 64E-6, F.A.C. Septic system
wells receiving nondomestic wastewater shall be considered as Group 4
wells;
4. Group 4 -
Nondomestic Wastewater Wells.
a. Dry wells
used for the injection of wastes into a subsurface formation;
b. Injection wells associated with an aquifer
remediation project;
c. Wells other
than Class I or Class IV used to inject radioactive waste, provided the
concentrations of the waste do not exceed drinking water standards contained in
Chapter 62-550, F.A.C.;
d.
Desalination process concentrate wells;
5. Group 5 - Mining or Mineral Extraction
Wells.
a. Wells used to inject spent brine
into the same formation from which it was withdrawn after extraction of
halogens or their salts;
b. Sand
backfill wells used to inject a mixture of water and sand, tailings or other
solids into mined out portions of subsurface mines;
c. Injection wells used for in situ recovery
of phosphate, uraniferous sandstone, clay, sand, and other minerals extracted
by the borehole slurry mining method;
6. Group 6 - Stormwater Wells. Wells used to
drain surface fluid, primarily storm run-off or for lake level control, into a
subsurface formation;
7. Group 7 -
Aquifer Storage and Recovery System Wells. Wells associated with an aquifer
storage and recovery facility where surface water or ground water is injected
and stored for later recovery for potable or nonpotable use. Wells used to
store and recover effluent or reclaimed water from a domestic wastewater
treatment plant shall be permitted as Group 3 wells.
8. Group 8 - Class V Wells Regulated Under
Additional Federal Requirements.
a. Large
capacity cesspools including multiple dwelling, community or regional
cesspools, or other devices that receive sanitary wastes, containing human
excreta, which have an open bottom and sometimes perforated sides. The UIC
requirements do not apply to single family residential cesspools nor to
non-residential cesspools that receive solely sanitary waste and have the
capacity to serve fewer than 20 persons a day;
b. Motor vehicle waste disposal wells that
receive or have received fluids from vehicular repair or maintenance
activities, such as an auto body repair shop, automotive repair shop, new and
used car dealership, specialty repair shop (e.g., transmission and muffler
repair shop), or any facility that does any vehicular repair work. Fluids
disposed in these wells may contain organic and inorganic chemicals in
concentrations that exceed the maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) established by
the primary drinking water regulations (see 40 CFR part 142). These fluids
also may include waste petroleum products and may contain contaminants, such as
heavy metals and volatile organic compounds, which pose risks to human
health;
9. Group 9 -
Other Class V Wells.
a. Exploratory
wells;
b. Injection wells
associated with the recovery of geothermal energy for heating, aquaculture and
production of electric power;
c.
Swimming pool drainage wells;
d.
Injection wells used in experimental technologies; and
e. Other
wells.
(2) Identification of Underground Sources of
Drinking Water. The Department will identify by narrative description,
illustrations, maps, and other means and shall protect, except where exempted
under subsection 62-528.300(3),
F.A.C., as an underground source of drinking water, all aquifers or parts of
aquifers which meet the definition of an "underground source of drinking water"
in subsection 62-528.200(66),
F.A.C. Even if an aquifer has not been specifically identified by the
Department, it is an underground source of drinking water if it meets the
definition in subsection
62-528.200(66),
F.A.C., and the criteria in subsection
62-520.410(1),
F.A.C.
(3) Identification of and
Criteria for Exempted Aquifers.
(a) After
notice and opportunity for a public hearing as provided by Rules
62-528.315 through
62-528.330, F.A.C., the
Department shall identify (by narrative description, illustrations, maps, or
other means) and describe in geographic or geometric terms (such as vertical
and lateral limits and gradient) which are clear and definite, all aquifers or
parts thereof which the Department proposes to designate as exempted aquifers
using the criteria in paragraph (c) below. No such designation shall be final
until approved by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as part of
the State program.
(b) Subsequent
to program approval, the Department may, after notice and opportunity for a
public hearing, identify additional exempted aquifers. Exemption of aquifers
identified under subparagraph (c)2. below are considered major aquifer
exemptions and shall be treated as a program revision subject to the provisions
of 40 C.F.R. pt. 145.32 (1994) and requiring public notice in the Federal
Register. Exemption of aquifers identified under subparagraph (c)3. below are
considered minor aquifer exemptions and shall become final if the Department
submits the exemption in writing to the Environmental Protection Agency
Administrator, or an authorized delegatee, and the Administrator, or an
authorized delegatee, has not disapproved the designation within 45 days. Any
disapproval by the Administrator shall state the reasons and shall constitute
final Environmental Protection Agency action for purposes of judicial
review.
(c) To be an exempted
aquifer, an aquifer or a portion thereof which meets the criteria for an
"underground source of drinking water" in paragraph
62-528.200(66)(a),
F.A.C., shall meet the following criteria:
1.
It does not currently serve as a source of drinking water; and
2. It cannot now and will not in the future
serve as a source of drinking water because:
a. It is mineral, hydrocarbon, or geothermal
energy producing, or can be demonstrated by a permit applicant for a Class III
operation to contain minerals or hydrocarbons that considering their quantity
and location are expected to be commercially producible;
b. It is situated at a depth or location
which makes recovery of water for drinking water purposes economically or
technologically impractical;
c. It
is so contaminated that it would be economically or technologically impractical
to render that water fit for human consumption; or
d. It is located over a Class III well mining
area subject to subsidence or catastrophic collapse, or
3. The total dissolved solids content of the
ground water is more than 3, 000 and less than 10, 000 mg/L and it is not
reasonably expected to be or become a supply of drinking water; and
4. Has satisfied the following requirements
in accordance with paragraph (b) above:
a. A
major aquifer exemption has been approved by the Environmental Protection
Agency; or
b. A minor aquifer
exemption has not been disapproved by the Environmental Protection
Agency.
(d) For
Class III wells, the Department shall require an applicant for a permit which
necessitates an aquifer exemption under sub-subparagraph (c)2.a. above to
furnish the data necessary to demonstrate that the aquifer is expected to be
mineral or hydrocarbon producing. Information contained in the mining plan for
the proposed project, such as a map and general description of the mining zone,
general information on the mineralogy and geochemistry of the mining zone,
analysis of the amenability of the mining zone to the proposed mining method,
and a timetable of planned development of the mining zone shall be considered
by the Department in addition to the information required by subsection
62-528.450(2),
F.A.C. Approval of the aquifer exemption shall be treated as a program
revision.
(e) No aquifer exemption
request shall be processed until the Department has received the appropriate
fee as specified in subparagraph
62-4.050(4)(o)
5. or 6., F.A.C.
(4) Area
of Review.
(a) An area of review, which shall
apply to each Class I and Class III well, well field, project or area of the
State, and for a Class V injection well when required, shall be determined by
the applicant in a manner that shall take into account the zone of endangering
influence, which is the lateral area in which the buoyant forces or increased
pressures in the injection zone may cause the migration of the injected or
formation fluid into an underground source of drinking water. The area of
review is the land surface overlying the zone of endangering
influence.
(b) In determining the
area of review, the information to be used shall include chemical, physical,
and biological characteristics of the injection fluids and formation fluids;
hydrogeology; appropriate mathematical models, if available, for computing
pressure and concentration changes in the injection zone as a function of
distance and time; population; ground water use and dependence; and historical
practices in the area. A radius around the injection well of one mile, or two
miles for a hazardous waste well, shall be a minimum. In the case of an
application for a well field project, a fixed width of not less than one mile
for the circumscribing area shall be a minimum.
(5) Corrective Action.
(a) Coverage. Applicants for Class I or Class
III injection well permits shall identify, and for any Class V well permit when
required by the Department shall identify, the location of all known wells
within the area of review for that injection well which penetrate the injection
zone or confining zone. For such wells which are in use or improperly sealed,
completed, or abandoned, the applicant shall also submit a plan specifying
plugging and abandonment, pressure limitations, or such actions or
modifications as are necessary to prevent movement of fluid into underground
sources of drinking water ("corrective action"). Where the plan is adequate,
the Department shall incorporate it into the permit as a condition. Where the
Department's review of an application indicates that the applicant's plan is
inadequate (based on the factors in paragraph (b) below) the Department shall
require the applicant to revise the plan, prescribe a plan for corrective
action as a condition of the permit under paragraph (b) below, or deny the
application. In no case shall the Department issue a permit without
incorporating a plan for corrective action in such permit when such corrective
action is required by this subsection.
(b) Criteria and Factors. In determining the
adequacy of corrective action proposed by the application under paragraph (a)
of this subsection and in determining the additional steps needed to prevent
fluid movement into underground sources of drinking water, the following
criteria and factors shall be considered by the Department:
1. Nature, volume, and injection rate of the
injected fluid;
2. Nature of native
fluids, or by-products of injection;
3. Potentially affected population;
4. Geology;
5. Hydrology;
6. History of the injection
operation;
7. Completion and
plugging records for all wells;
8.
Abandonment procedures in effect at the time the well was abandoned;
9. Hydraulic connections with underground
sources of drinking water;
10. Life
of injection well; and
11. Pressure
considerations.
(c)
Requirements.
1. Existing Injection Wells. Any
permit issued for an existing injection well requiring corrective action shall
include a compliance schedule requiring any corrective action accepted or
prescribed under paragraph (a) of this subsection. In addition, schedules of
compliance shall require compliance as soon as possible, but not later than
three years after the effective date of the permit.
2. New Injection Wells. No owner or operator
of a new injection well shall begin injection until all required corrective
action has been completed. The Department shall not authorize construction of a
new injection well prior to the completion of all required action unless the
applicant can affirmatively demonstrate that such construction will not pose a
threat to the quality of the waters of the State. However, operational testing
pursuant to subsection
62-528.450(3),
F.A.C., shall not be authorized until all corrective action has been
completed.
3. If needed to prevent
fluid movement into an underground source of drinking water, the Department
shall require as a permit condition that injection pressure be so limited that
pressure in the injection zone at the site of any improperly completed or
abandoned well in the area of review does not exceed a pressure which could
cause fluid movement into an underground source of drinking water. This
pressure limitation shall satisfy the corrective action requirement.
Alternatively, such injection pressure limitation can be part of a compliance
schedule and last until all other corrective action has been taken. The
Department shall consider alternative methods of control which prevent fluid
movement into underground sources of drinking water through wells which are
improperly sealed, completed or abandoned within the area of review.
4. Class III Wells Only. When setting
corrective action requirements, the Department shall consider the overall
effect of the project on the hydraulic gradient in potentially affected
underground sources of drinking water, and the corresponding changes in
potentiometric surface(s) and flow direction(s) rather than the discrete effect
of each well. If a decision is made that corrective action is not necessarily
based on the determinations above, the monitoring program required in
subsection 62-528.425(2),
F.A.C., shall be designed to verify the validity of such
determinations.
(6) Mechanical Integrity.
(a) An injection well has mechanical
integrity if:
1. There is no leak in the
casing, tubing or packer; and
2.
There is no fluid movement into an underground source of drinking water through
channels adjacent to the injection well bore.
(b) One of the following tests shall be used
to evaluate the absence of leaks under subparagraph (a)1. of this subsection.
1. Monitoring of the tubing-casing annulus
pressure with sufficient frequency to be representative, as determined by the
Department, while maintaining an annulus pressure different from atmospheric
pressure measured at the surface, after an initial pressure test pursuant to
subparagraph 2. and paragraph (e) of this subsection; or
2. Pressure test of inner casing or
tubing.
(c) The following
methods shall be used to determine the absence of fluid movement under
subparagraph (a)2. A temperature or noise log, and a radioactive tracer survey.
The radioactive tracer survey shall not be required by the Department if such
testing may pose a threat to an underground source of drinking water.
(d) The Department shall allow the use of a
test to demonstrate mechanical integrity, other than those listed in paragraphs
(b) and (c) above, with the written approval of the United States Environmental
Protection Agency. (The permittee proposes the alternative to the Department,
and the Department seeks the approval from EPA.) If the Environmental
Protection Agency has published in the Federal Register an alternative
mechanical integrity test method, only written Department approval shall be
required before conducting alternative mechanical integrity tests to those
specified in paragraphs (b) and (c) above. The Department approval process is
described in subsection
62-528.100(2),
F.A.C.
(e) A pressure test required
under paragraph (b) above shall be conducted with a liquid at a minimum
pressure of 1.5 times the maximum pressure at which the well is to be
permitted, or 50 PSI, whichever is higher, for at least one hour. Internal
mechanical integrity under subparagraph (a)1. above is demonstrated if there is
no more than a five-percent pressure change over the one-hour test period. The
pressure used to test wells constructed using tubing and packer shall not
exceed the design specifications of the tubing or packer.
(f) In conducting and evaluating the tests
enumerated in this rule or others to be allowed by the Department, the
permittee and the Department shall apply methods and standards generally
accepted in the industry. When the permittee reports the results of mechanical
integrity tests to the Department, a description of the test(s), method(s)
used, and interpretation of the results shall be included. In making the
evaluation, the Department shall review monitoring and other test data
submitted since the previous evaluation.
(g) The Department shall require additional
or alternative mechanical integrity tests in accordance with
40 C.F.R. §
146.8(f) (1996).
(h) A permit for any Class I or III well or
injection project which lacks mechanical integrity shall include, and for any
Class V well may include, a condition prohibiting injection operations until
the permittee affirmatively demonstrates under paragraphs
62-528.300(6)(a)
-(c), F.A.C., that the well has mechanical integrity, or the permittee
affirmatively demonstrates that there is no movement of fluid into or between
underground sources of drinking water.
(7) Confidential Information. In addition to
the provision in Section
403.111, F.S., claims of
confidentiality for the following information shall be denied:
(a) The name and address of any permit
applicant or permittee, and
(b)
Information which deals with the existence, absence, or level of contamination
in drinking water.
(8)
Quality Assurance/Quality Control.
(a) All
water quality sampling and analyses associated with Class I, Class III, and
Class IV injection wells shall be in accordance with a current Department
approved quality assurance plan under Rule
62-160.210 and paragraphs
62-160.300(7)(g) through
(k), F.A.C.
(b) All Class V injection wells requiring
water quality analyses to be performed shall be in accordance with a current
Department approved comprehensive quality assurance plan under Rule 62-160.210
and subsection 62-160.300(6),
F.A.C.
(9) Reuse
Requirements.
(a) This subsection applies
only to those Class I municipal wells located within, serving a population
within, or associated with a domestic wastewater treatment facility located
within a water resource caution area as described in Chapter 62-40,
F.A.C.
(b) If, after conducting a
reuse feasibility study under Section
403.064(2),
F.S., a permit applicant determines that the reuse of reclaimed water is
feasible, the permittee shall implement reuse according to the schedule for
implementation contained in the study conducted under Section
403.064, F.S., to the degree
that reuse is determined to be feasible.
(c) Nothing in this paragraph shall limit the
use of a Class I municipal injection well as backup for a reclaimed water reuse
system.
Notes
Specific Authority 373.309, 403.061, 403.087, 403.721 FS. Law Implemented 373.308, 403.021, 403.061, 403.062, 403.064, 403.087, 403.088, 403.161, 403.702, 403.721 FS.
New 4-1-82, Amended 8-30-82, 5-8-85, Formerly 17-28.13, Amended 8-30-88, Formerly 17-28.130, 62-28.130, Amended 8-10-95, 6-24-97, 11-20-02.
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