California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 356

Introduced by Assembly Member Williams

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Nazarian and Mark Stone)

February 17, 2015

An act to amend Section 3106 of, and to add Section 3106.1 to, the Public Utilities Code, and to add Section 13227.5 to the Water Code, relating to oil and gas.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 356, as introduced, Williams. Oil and gas: groundwater monitoring.

(1) Existing law requires the State Oil and Gas Supervisor to supervise the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of wells and the operation, maintenance, and removal or abandonment of tanks and facilities attendant to oil and gas production. Existing law authorizes the supervisor to require a well operator to implement a monitoring program, designed to detect releases to the soil and water, for aboveground oil production tanks and facilities. Under existing law, a person who fails to comply with specified requirements relating to the regulation of oil or gas operation is guilty of a misdemeanor.

This bill would additionally authorize the supervisor to require a well operator to implement a monitoring program for belowground oil production tanks and facilities, and disposal and injection wells,. Because a failure to comply with this requirement would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(2) The federal Safe Drinking Water Act regulates certain wells as Class II injection wells. Under existing federal law, the authority to regulate Class II injection wells in California is delegated to the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources. Under existing regulations, a well operator is required to obtain approval from the supervisor or a district deputy for a subsurface injection or disposal project, including Class II injection wells, or any change in a project, as provided.

This bill would require an operator of a Class II injection well, as a part of its application or notice of change process, to submit to an appropriate regional water quality control board a groundwater monitoring plan containing certain information, including, among other things, a schedule for monitoring and reporting groundwater quality data. The bill would require the data be submitted to the State Water Resources Control Board for inclusion in the state board’s geotracker database. Because a violation of this requirement would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the regional water quality control board to review and approve the plan.

(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.  

Section 3106 of the Public Resources Code is
amended to read:

3106.  

(a) The supervisor shall so supervise the drilling,
operation, maintenance, and abandonment of wells and the
operation, maintenance, and removal or abandonment of tanks and
facilities attendant to oil and gas production, including pipelines
not subject to regulation pursuant to Chapter 5.5 (commencing
with Section 51010) of Part 1 of Division 1 of Title 5 of the
Government Code that are within an oil and gas field, so as to
prevent, as far as possible, damage to life, health, property, and
natural resources; damage to underground oil and gas deposits
from infiltrating water and other causes; loss of oil, gas, or reservoir
begin delete energy, end delete begin insert energy; end insert and damage to underground and surface waters
suitable for irrigation or domestic purposes by the infiltration of,
or the addition of, detrimental substances.

(b) The supervisor shall also supervise the drilling, operation,
maintenance, and abandonment of wells so as to permit the owners
or operators of the wells to utilize all methods and practices known
to the oil industry for the purpose of increasing the ultimate
recovery of underground hydrocarbons and which, in the opinion
of the supervisor, are suitable for this purpose in each proposed
case. To further the elimination of waste by increasing the recovery
of underground hydrocarbons, it is hereby declared as a policy of
this state that the grant in an oil and gas lease or contract to a lessee
or operator of the right or power, in substance, to explore for and
remove all hydrocarbons from any lands in the state, in the absence
of an express provision to the contrary contained in the lease or
contract, is deemed to allow the lessee or contractor, or the lessee’s
or contractor’s successors or assigns, to do what a prudent operator
using reasonable diligence would do, having in mind the best
interests of the lessor, lessee, and the state in producing and
removing hydrocarbons, including, but not limited to, the injection
of air, gas, water, or other fluids into the productive strata, the
application of pressure heat or other means for the reduction of
viscosity of the hydrocarbons, the supplying of additional motive
force, or the creating of enlarged or new channels for the
underground movement of hydrocarbons into production wells,
when these methods or processes employed have been approved
by the supervisor, except that nothing begin delete contained end delete in this section
imposes a legal duty upon the lessee or contractor, or the lessee’s
or contractor’s successors or assigns, to conduct these operations.

(c) The supervisor may require an operator to implement a
monitoring program, designed to detect releases to the soil and
water, including both groundwater and surface water, for
aboveground begin insert and belowground end insert oil production tanks and begin delete facilities. end delete
begin insert facilities, and disposal and injection wells. end insert

(d) To best meet oil and gas needs in this state, the supervisor
shall administer this division so as to encourage the wise
development of oil and gas resources.

SEC. 2.  

Section 3106.1 is added to the Public Resources Code,
to read:

3106.1.  

(a) Notwithstanding subdivision (c) of Section 3106,
for a well that is a Class II injection well pursuant to the federal
Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 311f et seq.), an operator
submitting an application for approval pursuant to Section 1724.6
of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations or a notice of
intent pursuant to Section 1724.10 of Title 14 of the California
Code of Regulations shall provide, as a part of the application or
notice, a groundwater monitoring plan for review and approval by
an appropriate regional water quality control board. The
groundwater monitoring plan shall include, at a minimum, all of
the following information:

(1) The current water quality of the groundwater basin through
which the well passes, that is sufficient to characterize the quality
of the aquifer.

(2) The current water quality of the injection zone sufficient to
demonstrate that the injection zone is not suitable to be used as a
source of drinking or irrigation water based on treatment
technologies existing at the time of application or notice.

(3) The identification of both public supply and domestic water
wells located within one mile of the boundaries of the injection
zone.

(4) A demonstration that the proposed injection well is located
in an area that is geologically suitable, including an appropriate
confining and injection zone.

(5) Chemical and physical analyses of, and data regarding,
identities and concentrations of all constituents present in the
injected fluid or gas. Subdivision (j) of Section 3160 shall apply
to a claim of trade secret for information described in this
paragraph.

(6) Sites for monitoring wells that will allow for the detection
of contamination or degradation associated with injection well
operations during and after the period of its active use.

(7) (A) A schedule for monitoring and reporting data that
provides groundwater quality data on a quarterly basis, at a
minimum, during the active life of a well and at least annually
after the well has been closed and abandoned.

(B) The data shall be submitted electronically to the State Water
Resources Control Board for inclusion in the state board’s
geotracker database.

(8) An emergency plan that will be implemented in the case of
a well failure or other event that has the potential to degrade
groundwater.

(b) This section does not apply to a well if the appropriate
regional water quality board has determined that the well meets
both of the following:

(1) The well does not inject into, or pass through, an aquifer
with a beneficial use.

(2) There are no public supply or domestic water wells located
within one mile of the injection zone.

SEC. 3.  

Section 13227.5 is added to the Water Code, to read:

13227.5.  

A regional board, with respect to its region, shall
review and approve a groundwater monitoring plan submitted
pursuant to Section 3106.1 of the Public Resources Code to ensure
that groundwater quality is protected.

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.