SB 454,
as amended, Allen. Water quality: oil and gas:begin delete exemptend deletebegin insert exemptedend insert aquifer.
Existing federal law prohibits certain oil and gas well activities that affect underground sources of drinking water unless those sources are located in anbegin delete exemptend deletebegin insert exemptedend insert 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 anbegin delete exemptend deletebegin insert exemptedend insert 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 3113 is added to the Public Resources
2Code, to read:
The division shall not submit a proposal for an aquifer
4exemption to the United States Environmental Protection Agency
5under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 300f
6et seq.) and regulations implementing that act unless the division
7and the State Water Resources Control Board concur in writing
8that the aquifer meets either of the following conditions:
9(a) The division determines that the aquifer is hydrocarbon
10bearing, as described in Section 146.4(b)(1) of Title 40 of the Code
11of Federal Regulations, and both of the following additional
12determinations are made:
13(1) The division and the State Water Resources Control
Board
14determine that the intended injection zone isbegin delete geologically andend delete
15
hydrogeologically isolated from any other zone containing waters
16that may have a beneficial use.
17(2) The State Water Resources Control Board determines either
18that the intended injection zone does not contain waters with
19potential beneficial uses or that the intended injection zone contains
20waters with potential beneficial uses and the fluids to be injected
21into the zone will not impact those beneficial uses.
22(b) The division and the State Water Resources Control Board
23concur that the aquifer is nonhydrocarbon bearing and the aquifer
24meets all of the following conditions:
25(1) The aquifer meets the criteria in Section 146.4(a) to (c),
26inclusive, of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
27(2) The total dissolved solids content of the water in the aquifer
28is greater than 3,000 milligrams per liter.
29(3) The intended injection zone isbegin delete geologically andend delete
30 hydrogeologically isolated from any other zone containing waters
31that may have a beneficial use.
32(4) The State Water Resources Control Board determines in
33writing to the division and posts on the board’s Internet Web site
34in a public and readily accessible location that the injection of
35fluids into the aquifer would not contaminate a source of water
36that currently has, or could in the future have, a beneficial use.
37(5) If the aquifer contains water that is currently or potentially
38limited in its beneficial use due to existing contamination, the State
P3 1Water Resources Control Board determines that the injection of
2fluids into the aquifer would not impair the limited current or
3potential beneficial use of the waters.
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