BILL NUMBER: SB 395 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 4, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Senator Jackson
FEBRUARY 20, 2013
An act to add Article 17 (commencing with Section
25258.3) to Chapter 6.5 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to
hazardous substances. amend Section 25159.12 of the
Health and Safety Code, and to amend Section 3205.2 of the Public
Resources Code, relating to hazardous waste.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 395, as amended, Jackson. Hazardous substances:
produced water. waste: wells.
Existing
(1) Existing law, part of the
hazardous waste control law, requires the Department of
Toxic Substances Control to adopt regulations to establish a process
by which chemicals or chemical ingredients in products may be
identified and prioritized for consideration as being chemicals of
concern and to establish a process by which chemicals of concern may
be evaluated. The department is prohibited from duplicating or
adopting conflicting regulations for regulated product categories
prohibits a person from discharging hazardous waste
into an injection well unless certain conditions are met with regard
to the location of the well and obtaining a hazardous waste
facilities permit. Existing law also imposes other requirements upon
the operator of an injection well and defines the term "injection
well" for these purposes as excluding wells regulated by the Division
of Oil and Gas, pursuant to specified federal regulations . A
violation of the hazardous waste control law is a crime.
This bill would define produced water and require its
regulation as a hazardous substance during the extraction of oil and
gas, including hydraulic fracturing operations delete
that exclusion of those regulated wells from the definition of
"injection well," thereby subjecting those wells to the
requirements imposed upon injection wells .
Since a violation of these requirements would be a crime, the bill
would impose a state-mandated local program.
(2) Existing law requires an operator of a class II commercial
wastewater disposal well who engages in the drilling, redrilling, or
deepening of, or any operation altering the casing of, the well, or
in maintaining or abandoning the well or attendant facilities, to
file with the State Oil and Gas Supervisor an indemnity bond in a
specified amount. Existing law defines the term class II commercial
wastewater disposal well for this purpose as a well that, among other
things, is used to dispose of oilfield wastewater.
This bill would specify that, for this purpose, oilfield
wastewater does not include hazardous waste.
The
(3) The California Constitution
requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts
for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions
establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) Produced water is any fluid that is emitted from an oil or gas
production well. Produced water historically has been exempt from
California hazardous waste management laws when disposed of in class
II commercial wastewater disposal wells and therefore has been
disposed of in these wells without prior testing for hazardous
content. As a result, no public agency has monitored or collected
comprehensive data on the volume or toxicity of hazardous materials
injected into class II commercial wastewater disposal wells in
California.
(b) Produced water from oil and gas wells may contain a variety of
chemicals that are hazardous. Well stimulation techniques often
inject hazardous chemicals into wells that return to the surface as
produced water. In addition, fluids emitted from wells may carry
dissolved hazardous elements from the underground rock formation.
(c) A common form of well stimulation is hydraulic fracturing, by
which tens of thousands to millions of gallons of fluid are injected
into a well under pressure. Hydraulic fracturing uses a variety of
hazardous chemicals. A 2011 survey by the United States House of
Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce minority staff found
29 chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing are (1) known or possible
human carcinogens, (2) regulated under the federal Safe Drinking
Water Act for their risks to human health, or (3) listed as hazardous
air pollutants under the federal Clean Air Act. These chemicals
contaminate produced water and are eventually disposed of, usually
into a class II commercial wastewater disposal well. Without proper
handling and monitoring of hazardous wastes from this process, the
state does not have any way to know of, or prevent, any contamination
in case of a well failure.
(d) Class II commercial wastewater disposal wells may pierce
aquifers suitable for domestic or agricultural use. If the well
casing fails, materials may potentially leak into surrounding
groundwater. Once an aquifer is contaminated, it is virtually
impossible to clean it. Groundwater is a vital resource for human
health, environmental well-being, and economic productivity.
Groundwater should be protected for beneficial uses, including human
consumption, agriculture, surface water supply, and recreation.
(e) Therefore, it is intent of the Legislature to ensure that
oilfield waste be regulated in the same manner as other forms of
waste by removing the exemption for produced water in the Health and
Safety Code. If the produced wastewater is hazardous, then well
operators should handle it in the same manner as other forms of
hazardous waste.
SEC. 2. Section 25159.12 of the Health
and Safety Code is amended to read:
25159.12. For purposes of this article, the following definitions
apply:
(a) "Annulus" means the space between the outside edge of the
injection tube and the well casing.
(b) "State board" means the State Water Resources Control Board.
(c) "Compatibility" means that waste constituents do not react
with each other, with the materials constituting the injection well,
or with fluids or solid geologic media in the injection zone or
confining zone in a manner as to cause leaching, precipitation of
solids, gas or pressure buildup, dissolution, or any other effect
that will impair the effectiveness of the confining zone or the safe
operation of the injection well.
(d) "Confining zone" means the geological formation, or part of a
formation, that is intended to be a barrier to prevent the migration
of waste constituents from the injection zone.
(e) "Constituent" means an element, chemical, compound, or mixture
of compounds that is a component of a hazardous waste or leachate
and that has the physical or chemical properties that cause the waste
to be identified as hazardous waste by the department pursuant to
this chapter.
(f) "Discharge" means to place, inject, dispose of, or store
hazardous wastes into, or in, an injection well owned or operated by
the person who is conducting the placing, disposal, or storage.
(g) "Drinking water" has the same meaning as "potential source of
drinking water," as defined in subdivision (t) of Section 25208.2.
(h) "Facility" means the structures, appurtenances, and
improvements on the land, and all contiguous land, that are
associated with an injection well and are used for treating, storing,
or disposing of hazardous waste. A facility may consist of several
waste management units, including, but not limited to, surface
impoundments, landfills, underground or aboveground tanks, sumps,
pits, ponds, and lagoons that are associated with an injection well.
(i) "Groundwater" means water, including, but not limited to,
drinking water, below the land surface in a zone of saturation.
(j) "Hazardous waste" means any hazardous waste specified
as hazardous waste or extremely hazardous waste, as
defined in this chapter. Any A waste
mixture formed by mixing any a waste or
substance with a hazardous waste shall be considered hazardous waste
for the purposes of this article.
(k) "Hazardous waste facilities permit" means a permit issued for
an injection well pursuant to Sections 25200 and 25200.6.
( l ) "Injection well" or "well" means any bored,
drilled, or driven shaft, dug pit, or hole in the ground the depth of
which is greater than the circumference of the bored hole and any
associated subsurface appurtenances, including, but not limited to,
the casing. For the purposes of this article, injection well does not
include either of the following:
(1) Wells
include a well exempted pursuant to Section 25159.24.
(2) Wells that are regulated by the Division of Oil and Gas in the
Department of Conservation pursuant to Division 3 (commencing with
Section 3000) of the Public Resources Code and Subpart F (commencing
with Section 147.250) of Subchapter D of Chapter 1 of Part 147 of
Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations and are in compliance
with that division and Subpart A (commencing with Section 146.1) of
Part 147 of Subchapter D of Chapter 1 of Title 40 of the Code of
Federal Regulations.
(m) "Injection zone" means that portion of the receiving formation
that has received, is receiving, or is expected to receive, over the
lifetime of the well, waste fluid from the injection well.
"Injection zone" does not include that portion of the receiving
formation that exceeds the horizontal and vertical extent specified
pursuant to Section 25159.20.
(n) "Owner" means a person who owns a facility or part of a
facility.
(o) "Perched water" means a localized body of groundwater that
overlies, and is hydraulically separated from, an underlying body of
groundwater.
(p) "pH" means a measure of a sample's acidity expressed as a
negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion concentration.
(q) "Qualified person" means a person who has at least five years
of full-time experience in hydrogeology and who is a professional
geologist registered pursuant to Section 7850 of the Business and
Professions Code, or a registered petroleum engineer registered
pursuant to Section 6762 of the Business and Professions Code.
"Full-time experience" in hydrogeology may include a combination of
postgraduate studies in hydrogeology and work experience, with each
year of postgraduate work counted as one year of full-time work
experience, except that not more than three years of postgraduate
studies may be counted as full-time experience.
(r) "Receiving formation" means the geologic strata that are
hydraulically connected to the injection well.
(s) "Regional board" means the California regional water quality
control board for the region in which the injection well is located.
(t) "Report" means the hydrogeological assessment report specified
in Section 25159.18.
(u) "Safe Drinking Water Act" means Subchapter XII (commencing
with Section 300f) of Chapter 6A of Title 42 of the United States
Code.
(v) "Strata" means a distinctive layer or series of layers of
earth materials.
(w) "Waste management unit" means that portion of a facility used
for the discharge of hazardous waste into or onto land, including all
containment and monitoring equipment associated with that portion of
the facility.
SEC. 3. Section 3205.2 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
3205.2. (a) Notwithstanding Section 3204, any
a person who engages in the operation of a class II
commercial wastewater disposal well, as defined in subdivision (d),
shall file an indemnity bond with the supervisor for fifty thousand
dollars ($50,000) for each well so used. The bond shall cover all
operations of drilling, redrilling, deepening, altering casing,
maintaining, or abandoning the well and attendant facilities. The
bond shall be executed by the person as the principal, and by an
authorized surety company as the surety, and, except for differences
in the amount, shall be in substantially the same language and upon
the same conditions as provided in Section 3204.
(b) A blanket bond submitted under subdivision (a) or (c) of
Section 3205 may be used in lieu of the bond required in subdivision
(a), except that the termination and cancellation shall be in
accordance with subdivision (c) of this section.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 3207, any a
bond issued in compliance with this section may be terminated
and canceled and the surety relieved of all obligations
thereunder under the bond when the well is
properly abandoned or another valid bond has been substituted
therefor. for the bond.
(d) (1) A class II commercial wastewater
disposal well is a well that is used to dispose of oilfield
wastewater , as specified in paragraph (2), for a fee and
that is regulated by the division pursuant to this chapter and
Subpart F (commencing with Section 147.250) of Part 147 of Title 40
of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), oilfield wastewater does not
include hazardous waste, as defined in Chapter 6.5 (commencing with
Section 25100) of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code.
SECTION 1. Article 17 (commencing with Section
25258.3) is added to Chapter 6.5 of the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
Article 17. Hydraulic fracturing produced water
25258.3. For purposes of this article, "produced water" means any
water brought up from the hydrocarbon bearing formation strata
during the extraction of oil and gas, including hydraulic fracturing
operations, and can include formation water, injection water, and any
chemicals added downhole or during the oil and water separation
process.
25258.4. Produced water shall be regulated as, and shall be
deemed to be, a hazardous waste for purposes of this chapter and the
regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter.
SEC. 2. SEC. 4. No reimbursement is
required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred
by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this
act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or
infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within
the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the
definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII
B of the California Constitution.