[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 30, Volume 2]
[Revised as of July 1, 2001]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 30CFR250.105]
[Page 245-251]
TITLE 30--MINERAL RESOURCES
CHAPTER II--MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE,
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
PART 250--OIL AND GAS AND SULPHUR OPERATIONS IN THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF--Table of Contents
Subpart A--General
Sec. 250.105 Definitions.
Terms used in this part will have the meanings given in the Act and
as defined in this section:
Act means the OCS Lands Act, as amended (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.).
Affected State means with respect to any program, plan, lease sale,
or other activity proposed, conducted, or approved under the provisions
of the Act, any State:
(1) The laws of which are declared, under section 4(a)(2) of the
Act, to be the law of the United States for the portion of the OCS on
which such activity is, or is proposed to be, conducted;
(2) Which is, or is proposed to be, directly connected by
transportation facilities to any artificial island or installation or
other device permanently or temporarily attached to the seabed;
(3) Which is receiving, or according to the proposed activity, will
receive oil for processing, refining, or transshipment that was
extracted from the OCS and transported directly to such State by means
of vessels or by a combination of means including vessels;
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(4) Which is designated by the Secretary as a State in which there
is a substantial probability of significant impact on or damage to the
coastal, marine, or human environment, or a State in which there will be
significant changes in the social, governmental, or economic
infrastructure, resulting from the exploration, development, and
production of oil and gas anywhere on the OCS; or
(5) In which the Secretary finds that because of such activity there
is, or will be, a significant risk of serious damage, due to factors
such as prevailing winds and currents to the marine or coastal
environment in the event of any oil spill, blowout, or release of oil or
gas from vessels, pipelines, or other transshipment facilities.
Air pollutant means any airborne agent or combination of agents for
which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established, under
section 109 of the Clean Air Act, national primary or secondary ambient
air quality standards.
Analyzed geological information means data collected under a permit
or a lease that have been analyzed. Analysis may include, but is not
limited to, identification of lithologic and fossil content, core
analysis, laboratory analyses of physical and chemical properties, well
logs or charts, results from formation fluid tests, and descriptions of
hydrocarbon occurrences or hazardous conditions.
Archaeological interest means capable of providing scientific or
humanistic understanding of past human behavior, cultural adaptation,
and related topics through the application of scientific or scholarly
techniques, such as controlled observation, contextual measurement,
controlled collection, analysis, interpretation, and explanation.
Archaeological resource means any material remains of human life or
activities that are at least 50 years of age and that are of
archaeological interest.
Attainment area means, for any air pollutant, an area that is shown
by monitored data or that is calculated by air quality modeling (or
other methods determined by the Administrator of EPA to be reliable) not
to exceed any primary or secondary ambient air quality standards
established by EPA.
Best available and safest technology (BAST) means the best available
and safest technologies that the Director determines to be economically
feasible wherever failure of equipment would have a significant effect
on safety, health, or the environment.
Best available control technology (BACT) means an emission
limitation based on the maximum degree of reduction for each air
pollutant subject to regulation, taking into account energy,
environmental and economic impacts, and other costs. The Regional
Director will verify the BACT on a case-by-case basis, and it may
include reductions achieved through the application of processes,
systems, and techniques for the control of each air pollutant.
Coastal environment means the physical, atmospheric, and biological
components, conditions, and factors that interactively determine the
productivity, state, condition, and quality of the terrestrial ecosystem
from the shoreline inward to the boundaries of the coastal zone.
Coastal zone means the coastal waters (including the lands therein
and thereunder) and the adjacent shorelands (including the waters
therein and thereunder) strongly influenced by each other and in
proximity to the shorelands of the several coastal States. The coastal
zone includes islands, transition and intertidal areas, salt marshes,
wetlands, and beaches. The coastal zone extends seaward to the outer
limit of the U.S. territorial sea and extends inland from the shorelines
to the extent necessary to control shorelands, the uses of which have a
direct and significant impact on the coastal waters, and the inward
boundaries of which may be identified by the several coastal States,
under the authority in section 305(b)(1) of the Coastal Zone Management
Act (CZMA) of 1972.
Competitive reservoir means a reservoir in which there are one or
more producible or producing well completions on each of two or more
leases or portions of leases, with different lease operating interests,
from which the lessees plan future production.
Correlative rights when used with respect to lessees of adjacent
leases,
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means the right of each lessee to be afforded an equal opportunity to
explore for, develop, and produce, without waste, minerals from a common
source.
Data means facts and statistics, measurements, or samples that have
not been analyzed, processed, or interpreted.
Departures means approvals granted by the appropriate MMS
representative for operating requirements/procedures other than those
specified in the regulations found in this part. These requirements/
procedures may be necessary to control a well; properly develop a lease;
conserve natural resources, or protect life, property, or the marine,
coastal, or human environment.
Development means those activities that take place following
discovery of minerals in paying quantities, including but not limited to
geophysical activity, drilling, platform construction, and operation of
all directly related onshore support facilities, and which are for the
purpose of producing the minerals discovered.
Director means the Director of MMS of the U.S. Department of the
Interior, or an official authorized to act on the Director's behalf.
District Supervisor means the MMS officer with authority and
responsibility for operations or other designated program functions for
a district within an MMS Region.
Easement means an authorization for a nonpossessory, nonexclusive
interest in a portion of the OCS, whether leased or unleased, which
specifies the rights of the holder to use the area embraced in the
easement in a manner consistent with the terms and conditions of the
granting authority.
Eastern Gulf of Mexico means all OCS areas of the Gulf of Mexico the
Director decides are adjacent to the State of Florida. The Eastern Gulf
of Mexico is not the same as the Eastern Planning Area, an area
established for OCS lease sales.
Emission offsets means emission reductions obtained from facilities,
either onshore or offshore, other than the facility or facilities
covered by the proposed Exploration Plan (EP) or Development and
Production Plan (DPP).
Enhanced recovery operations means pressure maintenance operations,
secondary and tertiary recovery, cycling, and similar recovery
operations that alter the natural forces in a reservoir to increase the
ultimate recovery of oil or gas.
Existing facility, as used in Sec. 250.303, means an OCS facility
described in an Exploration Plan or a Development and Production Plan
approved before June 2, 1980.
Exploration means the commercial search for oil, gas, or sulphur.
Activities classified as exploration include but are not limited to:
(1) Geophysical and geological (G&G) surveys using magnetic,
gravity, seismic reflection, seismic refraction, gas sniffers, coring,
or other systems to detect or imply the presence of oil, gas, or
sulphur; and
(2) Any drilling conducted for the purpose of searching for
commercial quantities of oil, gas, and sulphur, including the drilling
of any additional well needed to delineate any reservoir to enable the
lessee to decide whether to proceed with development and production.
Facility means:
(1) As used in Sec. 250.130, any installation permanently or
temporarily attached to the seabed on the OCS (including manmade islands
and bottom-sitting structures). It includes mobile offshore drilling
units (MODUs) or other vessels engaged in drilling or downhole
operations, used for oil, gas, or sulphur drilling, production, or
related activities. It also includes facilities for product measurement
and royalty determination (e.g., Lease Automatic Custody Transfer units,
gas meters) of OCS production on installations not on the OCS. Any group
of OCS installations interconnected with walkways, or any group of
installations that includes a central or primary installation with
processing equipment and one or more satellite or secondary
installations is a single facility. The Regional Supervisor may decide
that the complexity of the individual installations justifies their
classification as separate facilities.
(2) As used in Sec. 250.303, means any installation or device
permanently or temporarily attached to the seabed. It
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includes mobile offshore drilling units (MODUs), even while operating in
the ``tender assist'' mode (i.e. with skid-off drilling units) or other
vessels engaged in drilling or downhole operations. They are used for
exploration, development, and production activities for oil, gas, or
sulphur and emit or have the potential to emit any air pollutant from
one or more sources. During production, multiple installations or
devices are a single facility if the installations or devices are at a
single site. Any vessel used to transfer production from an offshore
facility is part of the facility while it is physically attached to the
facility.
(3) As used in Sec. 250.417(b), means a vessel, a structure, or an
artificial island used for drilling, well-completion, well-workover,
and/or production operations.
Gas reservoir means a reservoir that contains hydrocarbons
predominantly in a gaseous (single-phase) state.
Gas-well completion means a well completed in a gas reservoir or in
the associated gas-cap of an oil reservoir.
Governor means the Governor of a State, or the person or entity
designated by, or under, State law to exercise the powers granted to
such Governor under the Act.
H2S absent means:
(1) Drilling, logging, coring, testing, or producing operations have
confirmed the absence of H2S in concentrations that could
potentially result in atmospheric concentrations of 20 ppm or more of
H2S; or
(2) Drilling in the surrounding areas and correlation of geological
and seismic data with equivalent stratigraphic units have confirmed an
absence of H2S throughout the area to be drilled.
H2S present means drilling, logging, coring, testing, or
producing operations have confirmed the presence of H2S in
concentrations and volumes that could potentially result in atmospheric
concentrations of 20 ppm or more of H2S.
H2S unknown means the designation of a zone or geologic
formation where neither the presence nor absence of H2S has
been confirmed.
Human environment means the physical, social, and economic
components, conditions, and factors that interactively determine the
state, condition, and quality of living conditions, employment, and
health of those affected, directly or indirectly, by activities
occurring on the OCS.
Interpreted geological information means geological knowledge, often
in the form of schematic cross sections, 3-dimensional representations,
and maps, developed by determining the geological significance of data
and analyzed geological information.
Interpreted geophysical information means geophysical knowledge,
often in the form of schematic cross sections, 3-dimensional
representations, and maps, developed by determining the geological
significance of geophysical data and analyzed geophysical information.
Lease means an agreement that is issued under section 8 or
maintained under section 6 of the Act and that authorizes exploration
for, and development and production of, minerals. The term also means
the area covered by that authorization, whichever the context requires.
Lease term pipelines means those pipelines owned and operated by a
lessee or operator that are completely contained within the boundaries
of a single lease, unit, or contiguous (not cornering) leases of that
lessee or operator.
Lessee means a person who has entered into a lease with the United
States to explore for, develop, and produce the leased minerals. The
term lessee also includes the MMS-approved assignee of the lease, and
the owner or the MMS-approved assignee of operating rights for the
lease.
Major Federal action means any action or proposal by the Secretary
that is subject to the provisions of section 102(2)(C) of the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. (2)(C) (i.e., an action that
will have a significant impact on the quality of the human environment
requiring preparation of an environmental impact statement under section
102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act).
Marine environment means the physical, atmospheric, and biological
components, conditions, and factors that interactively determine the
productivity, state, condition, and quality of the marine ecosystem.
These include
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the waters of the high seas, the contiguous zone, transitional and
intertidal areas, salt marshes, and wetlands within the coastal zone and
on the OCS.
Material remains means physical evidence of human habitation,
occupation, use, or activity, including the site, location, or context
in which such evidence is situated.
Maximum efficient rate (MER) means the maximum sustainable daily oil
or gas withdrawal rate from a reservoir that will permit economic
development and depletion of that reservoir without detriment to
ultimate recovery.
Maximum production rate (MPR) means the approved maximum daily rate
at which oil or gas may be produced from a specified oil-well or gas-
well completion.
Minerals includes oil, gas, sulphur, geopressured-geothermal and
associated resources, and all other minerals that are authorized by an
Act of Congress to be produced.
Natural resources includes, without limiting the generality thereof,
oil, gas, and all other minerals, and fish, shrimp, oysters, clams,
crabs, lobsters, sponges, kelp, and other marine animal and plant life
but does not include water power or the use of water for the production
of power.
Nonattainment area means, for any air pollutant, an area that is
shown by monitored data or that is calculated by air quality modeling
(or other methods determined by the Administrator of EPA to be reliable)
to exceed any primary or secondary ambient air quality standard
established by EPA.
Nonsensitive reservoir means a reservoir in which ultimate recovery
is not decreased by high reservoir production rates.
Oil reservoir means a reservoir that contains hydrocarbons
predominantly in a liquid (single-phase) state.
Oil reservoir with an associated gas cap means a reservoir that
contains hydrocarbons in both a liquid and gaseous (two-phase) state.
Oil-well completion means a well completed in an oil reservoir or in
the oil accumulation of an oil reservoir with an associated gas cap.
Operating rights means any interest held in a lease with the right
to explore for, develop, and produce leased substances.
Operator means the person the lessee(s) designates as having control
or management of operations on the leased area or a portion thereof. An
operator may be a lessee, the MMS-approved designated agent of the
lessee(s), or the holder of operating rights under an MMS-approved
operating rights assignment.
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) means all submerged lands lying
seaward and outside of the area of lands beneath navigable waters as
defined in section 2 of the Submerged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1301) whose
subsoil and seabed appertain to the United States and are subject to its
jurisdiction and control.
Person includes, in addition to a natural person, an association
(including partnerships and trusts), a State, a political subdivision of
a State, or a private, public, or municipal corporation.
Pipelines are the piping, risers, and appurtenances installed for
transporting oil, gas, sulphur, and produced waters.
Processed geological or geophysical information means data collected
under a permit or a lease that have been processed or reprocessed.
Processing involves changing the form of data to facilitate
interpretation. Processing operations may include, but are not limited
to, applying corrections for known perturbing causes, rearranging or
filtering data, and combining or transforming data elements.
Reprocessing is the additional processing other than ordinary processing
used in the general course of evaluation. Reprocessing operations may
include varying identified parameters for the detailed study of a
specific problem area.
Production means those activities that take place after the
successful completion of any means for the removal of minerals,
including such removal, field operations, transfer of minerals to shore,
operation monitoring, maintenance, and workover operations.
Production areas are those areas where flammable petroleum gas,
volatile liquids or sulphur are produced, processed (e.g., compressed),
stored, transferred (e.g., pumped), or otherwise
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handled before entering the transportation process.
Projected emissions means emissions, either controlled or
uncontrolled, from a source or sources.
Regional Director means the MMS officer with responsibility and
authority for a Region within MMS.
Regional Supervisor means the MMS officer with responsibility and
authority for operations or other designated program functions within an
MMS Region.
Right-of-use means any authorization issued under this part to use
OCS lands.
Right-of-way pipelines are those pipelines that are contained
within:
(1) The boundaries of a single lease or unit, but are not owned and
operated by a lessee or operator of that lease or unit;
(2) The boundaries of contiguous (not cornering) leases that do not
have a common lessee or operator;
(3) The boundaries of contiguous (not cornering) leases that have a
common lessee or operator but are not owned and operated by that common
lessee or operator; or
(4) An unleased block(s).
Routine operations, for the purposes of subpart F, means any of the
following operations conducted on a well with the tree installed:
(1) Cutting paraffin;
(2) Removing and setting pump-through-type tubing plugs, gas-lift
valves, and subsurface safety valves that can be removed by wireline
operations;
(3) Bailing sand;
(4) Pressure surveys;
(5) Swabbing;
(6) Scale or corrosion treatment;
(7) Caliper and gauge surveys;
(8) Corrosion inhibitor treatment;
(9) Removing or replacing subsurface pumps;
(10) Through-tubing logging (diagnostics);
(11) Wireline fishing;
(12) Setting and retrieving other subsurface flow-control devices;
and
(13) Acid treatments.
Sensitive reservoir means a reservoir in which high reservoir
production rates will decrease ultimate recovery. For submitting the
first MER, all oil reservoirs with an associated gas cap are classified
as sensitive.
Significant archaeological resource means those archaeological
resources that meet the criteria of significance for eligibility to the
National Register of Historic Places as defined in 36 CFR 60.4, or its
successor.
Suspension means a granted or directed deferral of the requirement
to produce (Suspension of Production (SOP)) or to conduct leaseholding
operations (Suspension of Operations (SOO)).
Waste of oil, gas, or sulphur means:
(1) The physical waste of oil, gas, or sulphur;
(2) The inefficient, excessive, or improper use, or the unnecessary
dissipation of reservoir energy;
(3) The locating, spacing, drilling, equipping, operating, or
producing of any oil, gas, or sulphur well(s) in a manner that causes or
tends to cause a reduction in the quantity of oil, gas, or sulphur
ultimately recoverable under prudent and proper operations or that
causes or tends to cause unnecessary or excessive surface loss or
destruction of oil or gas; or
(4) The inefficient storage of oil.
Welding means all activities connected with welding, including hot
tapping and burning.
Wellbay is the area on a facility within the perimeter of the
outermost wellheads.
Well-completion operations means the work conducted to establish
production from a well after the production-casing string has been set,
cemented, and pressure-tested.
Well-control fluid means drilling mud, completion fluid, or workover
fluid as appropriate to the particular operation being conducted.
Western Gulf of Mexico means all OCS areas of the Gulf of Mexico
except those the Director decides are adjacent to the State of Florida.
The Western Gulf of Mexico is not the same as the Western Planning Area,
an area established for OCS lease sales.
Workover operations means the work conducted on wells after the
initial well-completion operation for the purpose of maintaining or
restoring the productivity of a well.
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You means a lessee, the owner or holder of operating rights, a
designated agent of the lessee(s), a pipeline right-of-way holder, or a
State lessee granted a right-of-use and easement.
Performance Standards