BILL NUMBER: SB 454	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 21, 2015
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 6, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Allen

                        FEBRUARY 25, 2015

   An act to add Section 3113 to the Public Resources Code, relating
to water quality.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 454, as amended, Allen. Water quality: oil and gas: exempt
aquifer.
   Existing federal law prohibits certain oil and gas well activities
that affect underground sources of drinking water unless those
sources are located in an exempt aquifer. Existing federal law
authorizes a state delegated with the responsibility of regulating
certain wells to propose that an aquifer or a portion of an aquifer
be an exempt aquifer and authorizes the United States Environmental
Protection Agency to approve the proposal if the aquifer or a portion
of the aquifer meets certain criteria. Under existing federal law,
the authority to regulate those wells in California is delegated to
the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources in the Department
of Conservation.
   This bill would prohibit the division from submitting a proposal
for an aquifer exemption to the United States Environmental
Protection Agency unless the division and the State Water Resources
Control Board concur in writing that the aquifer meets specified
conditions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 3113 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
   3113.  The division shall not submit a proposal for an aquifer
exemption to the United States Environmental Protection Agency under
the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 300f et seq.) and
regulations implementing that act unless the division and the State
Water Resources Control Board concur in writing that the aquifer
meets either of the following conditions:
   (a) The division determines that the aquifer is hydrocarbon
bearing, as described in Section 146.4(b)(1) of Title 40 of the Code
of Federal Regulations, and  either   both 
of the following additional determinations  is 
 are  made:
   (1) The division and the State Water Resources Control Board
determine that the intended injection zone is geologically and
hydrogeologically isolated from any  other  zone containing
waters that may have a beneficial use.
   (2) The State Water Resources Control Board determines  either
that the intended injection zone does not contain waters with
potential beneficial uses or  that the intended injection zone
contains waters with potential beneficial uses and the fluids to be
injected into the zone will not impact those beneficial uses.
   (b) The division  determines   and  
the State Water Resources Control Board concur  that the
aquifer is nonhydrocarbon bearing and the aquifer meets all of the
following conditions:
   (1) The aquifer meets the criteria in Section 146.4(a) to (c),
inclusive, of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
   (2) The total dissolved solids content of the water in the aquifer
is greater than 3,000 milligrams per liter.
   (3) The  division and the State Water Resources Control
Board determine that the  intended injection zone is
geologically and hydrogeologically isolated from any  other 
zone containing waters that may have a beneficial use.
   (4) The State Water Resources Control Board determines in writing
to the division and posts on the board's Internet Web site in a
public and readily accessible location that the injection of fluids
into the aquifer would not contaminate a source of water that
currently has, or could in the future have, a beneficial 
use, subject to the following:   use.  
   (A) For an aquifer situated at a depth or location that makes
recovery of the water currently technologically impractical or an
aquifer that is so contaminated that it would be economically or
technologically impractical to render that water fit for human
consumption or other beneficial use, the board shall consider and
make a written determination regarding the potential for future
technology to make the aquifer viable as a water source. 

   (B) The board shall consider and make a written determination
regarding the state's need to identify and develop new sources of
water and how that need might affect the viability of a currently
contaminated aquifer. 
   (5) If the aquifer contains water that is currently or potentially
limited in its beneficial use due to existing contamination, the
State Water Resources Control Board determines that the injection of
fluids into the aquifer would not impair the limited current or
potential beneficial use of the waters.