AB 982, as amended, Williams. Oil and gas: hydraulic fracturing.
Under existing law, the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resourcesbegin delete (DOGGR)end delete in the Department of Conservation regulates the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of oil and gas wells in the state. The State Oil and Gas Supervisorbegin delete (supervisor)end deletebegin insert, referred to as the supervisor,end insert supervises the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of wells and the operation, maintenance, and removal or abandonment of tanks and facilities related to oil and gas production within an oil and gas field regarding safety and environmental damage. Existing law requires an operator of a well, before commencing the
work of drilling the well, to provide notice to, and obtain approval from, the supervisor or district deputy.
This bill would define “hydraulic fracturing.” The bill would also require any notice of intent to drill, rework, or deepen a well where hydraulic fracturing will occur to include a groundwater monitoring plan for review and approval bybegin delete the supervisor andend delete the appropriate regional water quality control board, which would contain specific information relating to groundwater, water quality, and the monitoring of wells and water quality. The bill would further require any notice of intent to provide specific information regarding the amountbegin delete of water, theend deletebegin insert andend insert source of thebegin delete water, and the method of disposal of produced wastewaterend deletebegin insert
water usedend insert during hydraulic fracturing operations.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 3017 is added to the Public Resources
2Code, to read:
“Hydraulic fracturing” means the injection of fluids or
4gases into an underground geologic formation with the intention
5to cause or enhance fractures in the underground geologic
6formation, in order to cause or enhance the production of oil or
7gas from a well. Alternate terms include, but are not limited to,
8“fracking,” “hydrofracking,” and “hydrofracturing.”
Section 3203.1 is added to the Public Resources Code,
10to read:
(a) As part of any notice of intent to drill, rework, or
12deepen a well where hydraulic fracturing will occur, the operator
13shall provide a groundwater monitoring plan for review and
14approval bybegin delete the supervisor andend delete the appropriate regional water
15quality control board. The groundwater monitoring plan shall
16include, at a minimum, all of the following information:
17(1) The current water quality of the groundwater basin through
18which the well will be drilled that is sufficient to characterize the
19quality of the aquifer and identify the zone of influence of the
20proposed well.
21(2) Water quality data or a plan to obtain data regarding the
22presence and concentration of the constituents to be used in, or
23that can be influenced by, the drilling process.
24(3) A plan that includes sites for monitoring wells, which will
25allow the detection of contamination associated with well operation
26during and after the period of its active use.
27(4) An emergency monitoring plan that will be implemented in
28the case of well casing failure or any other event which has the
29potential to contaminate groundwater.
30(b) Water quality monitoring data shall be submitted
31electronically to the State Water Resource Control Board
P3 1geotracker database and any public data
registry identified by the
2division for disclosure of hydraulic fracturing data.
3(c) This section shall not apply if the appropriate regional water
4quality control board confirms that the proposed well will not
5penetrate or will not be located within the zone of influence of an
6aquifer that is designated for a beneficial use.
Section 3203.2 is added to the Public Resources Code,
8to read:
Any notice of intent to drill, rework, or deepen a well
10where hydraulic fracturing will occur, shall include all of the
11following information:
12(a) A description of the estimated quantity of water planned to
13be used in the hydraulic fracturing process.
14(b) The source or sources of the water to be used.
15(c) A specific plan for disposing of wastewater produced by the
16hydraulic fracturing process.
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