81R1735 JTS-D
By: Creighton H.B. No. 178
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to limitations on the location of injection wells.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 361.1011, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 361.1011. PROHIBITION ON PERMIT FOR FACILITY AFFECTED
BY FAULT. If [a fault exists within two and one-half miles from the
proposed or existing wellbore of a Class I injection well or the
area within the cone of influence, whichever is greater, or if] a
fault exists within 3,000 feet of a proposed hazardous waste
management facility [other than a Class I injection well] or of a
capacity expansion of an existing hazardous waste management
facility, the burden is on the applicant, unless previously
demonstrated to the commission or to the United States
Environmental Protection Agency, to show that:
(1) [in the case of Class I injection wells, that the
fault is not sufficiently transmissive or vertically extensive to
allow migration of hazardous constituents out of the injection
zone; or
[(2) in the case of a proposed hazardous waste
management facility other than a Class I injection well or for a
capacity expansion of an existing hazardous waste management
facility, that:
[(A)] the fault has not had displacement within
Holocene time, or if faults have had displacement within Holocene
time, that no such faults pass within 200 feet of the portion of the
surface facility where treatment, storage, or disposal of hazardous
wastes will be conducted; and
(2) [(B)] the fault will not result in structural
instability of the surface facility or provide for groundwater
movement to the extent that there is endangerment to human health or
the environment.
SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 27, Water Code, is amended
by adding Sections 27.057, 27.058, 27.059, 27.060, 27.061, and
27.062 to read as follows:
Sec. 27.057. PROHIBITION ON PERMIT FOR INJECTION WELL IN
CERTAIN AREAS. The commission may not issue a permit for an
injection well if the well is to be located:
(1) on the recharge zone of an aquifer designated as a
sole source aquifer under Section 1424(e), Safe Drinking Water Act
of 1974 (42 U.S.C. Section 300h-3(e)); or
(2) in an oil field from which commercial production
of oil began before 1935.
Sec. 27.058. PROHIBITION ON PERMIT FOR INJECTION WELL
WITHIN CERTAIN DISTANCE OF RESIDENCE, CHURCH, SCHOOL, DAY-CARE
CENTER, PARK, OR PUBLIC DRINKING WATER SUPPLY. (a) The commission
by rule shall prohibit the issuance of a permit for an injection
well if the well is to be located within one-half mile (2,640 feet)
of an established:
(1) residence;
(2) church;
(3) school;
(4) day-care center;
(5) surface water body used for a public drinking
water supply; or
(6) dedicated public park.
(b) The commission by rule shall prohibit the issuance of a
permit for an injection well that is proposed to be located at a
distance greater than one-half mile (2,640 feet) from a location
described by Subsection (a) unless the applicant demonstrates that
the well will be operated so as to safeguard public health and
welfare and protect physical property and the environment, at any
distance beyond the well's property boundaries, consistent with the
purposes of this chapter.
(c) The measurement of distance required by Subsections (a)
and (b) shall be taken toward an established residence, church,
school, day-care center, surface water body used for a public
drinking water supply, or dedicated park that is in use when the
notice of intent to file a permit application is filed with the
commission or, if no notice of intent is filed, when the permit
application is filed with the commission. The restriction imposed
by Subsection (a) does not apply if the residence, church, school,
day-care center, surface water body used for a public drinking
water supply, or dedicated park is located on property that is owned
by the permit applicant and that is adjacent to the well for which
the application is filed.
Sec. 27.059. PROHIBITION ON PERMIT FOR INJECTION WELL
AFFECTED BY FAULT. The commission may not issue a permit for an
injection well if a fault exists within two and one-half miles from
the proposed or existing wellbore of an injection well or the area
within the cone of influence, whichever is greater, unless the
applicant can demonstrate that the fault is not sufficiently
transmissive or vertically extensive to allow migration of
hazardous constituents out of the injection zone.
Sec. 27.060. OTHER AREAS UNSUITABLE FOR INJECTION WELLS.
The commission by rule shall define the characteristics that make
other areas unsuitable for an injection well, including
consideration of characteristics related to:
(1) flood hazards;
(2) discharge from or recharge to a groundwater
aquifer;
(3) soil conditions;
(4) areas of direct drainage within one mile of a lake
used to supply public drinking water;
(5) active geological processes;
(6) coastal high hazard areas, such as areas subject
to hurricane storm surge and shoreline erosion; or
(7) critical habitat of endangered species.
Sec. 27.061. PROHIBITION ON PERMIT FOR INJECTION WELL IN
UNSUITABLE AREA. The commission by rule shall prohibit the
issuance of a permit for a new injection well if the well is to be
located in an area determined to be unsuitable under rules adopted
by the commission under Section 27.060 unless the design,
construction, and operational features of the well will prevent
adverse effects from unsuitable site characteristics.
Sec. 27.062. PETITION BY LOCAL GOVERNMENT FOR RULE ON
INJECTION WELL IN UNSUITABLE AREA. (a) The commission by rule
shall allow a local government to petition the commission for a rule
that restricts or prohibits the siting of a new injection well in an
area specified by the petition, including an area that has one or
more of the characteristics described by Section 27.060.
(b) A rule adopted under this section may not affect the
siting of a new injection well if an application or a notice of
intent to file an application concerning the well is filed with the
commission before the filing of a petition under this section.
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply to
permit applications pending before the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality on or after the effective date of this Act. A
permit issued before the effective date of this Act is governed by
the law in effect when the permit was issued, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.