[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 40, Volume 20]
[Revised as of July 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 40CFR144.39]

[Page 650-651]
 
                   TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT
 
         CHAPTER I--ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED)
 
PART 144_UNDERGROUND INJECTION CONTROL PROGRAM--Table of Contents
 
                    Subpart D_Authorization by Permit
 
Sec.  144.39  Modification or revocation and reisssuance of permits.

    When the Director receives any information (for example, inspects 
the facility, receives information submitted by the permittee as 
required in the permit (see Sec.  144.51 of this chapter), receives a 
request for modification or revocation and reissuance under Sec.  124.5, 
or conducts a review of the permit file) he or she may determine whether 
or not one or more of the causes listed in paragraphs (a) and (b) of 
this section for modification or revocation and reissuance or both 
exist. If cause exists, the Director may modify or revoke and reissue 
the permit accordingly, subject to the limitations of paragraph (c) of 
this section, and may request an updated application if necessary. When 
a permit is modified, only the conditions subject to modification are 
reopened. If a permit is revoked and reissued, the entire permit is 
reopened and subject to revision and the permit is reissued for a new 
term. See Sec.  124.5(c)(2) of this chapter. If cause does not exist 
under this section or Sec.  144.41 of this chapter, the Director shall 
not modify or revoke and reissue the permit. If a permit modification 
satisfies the criteria in Sec.  144.41 for ``minor modifications'' the 
permit may be modified without a draft permit or public review. 
Otherwise, a draft permit must be prepared and other procedures in part 
124 must be followed.
    (a) Causes for modification. The following are causes for 
modification. For Class I hazardous waste injection wells, Class II, or 
Class III wells the following may be causes for revocation and 
reissuance as well as modification; and for all other wells the 
following may be cause for revocation or reissuance as well as 
modification when the permittee requests or agrees.
    (1) Alterations. There are material and substantial alterations or 
additions to the permitted facility or activity which occurred after 
permit issuance which justify the application of permit conditions that 
are different or absent in the existing permit.
    (2) Information. The Director has received information. Permits 
other than for Class II and III wells may be modified during their terms 
for this cause only if the information was not available at the time of 
permit issuance (other than revised regulations, guidance, or test 
methods) and would have justified the application of different permit 
conditions at the time of issuance. For UIC area permits (Sec.  144.33), 
this cause shall include any

[[Page 651]]

information indicating that cumulative effects on the environment are 
unacceptable.
    (3) New regulations. The standards or regulations on which the 
permit was based have been changed by promulgation of new or amended 
standards or regulations or by judicial decision after the permit was 
issued. Permits other than for Class I hazardous waste injection wells, 
Class II, or Class III wells may be modified during their terms for this 
cause only as follows:
    (i) For promulgation of amended standards or regulations, when:
    (A) The permit condition requested to be modified was based on a 
promulgated part 146 regulation; and
    (B) EPA has revised, withdrawn, or modified that portion of the 
regulation on which the permit condition was based, and
    (C) A permittee requests modification in accordance with Sec.  124.5 
within ninety (90) days after Federal Register notice of the action on 
which the request is based.
    (ii) For judicial decisions, a court of competent jurisdiction has 
remanded and stayed EPA promulgated regulations if the remand and stay 
concern that portion of the regulations on which the permit condition 
was based and a request is filed by the permittee in accordance with 
Sec.  124.5 within ninety (90) days of judicial remand.
    (4) Compliance schedules. The Director determines good cause exists 
for modification of a compliance schedule, such as an act of God, 
strike, flood, or materials shortage or other events over which the 
permittee has little or no control and for which there is no reasonably 
available remedy. See also Sec.  144.41(c) (minor modifications).
    (b) Causes for modification or revocation and reissuance. The 
following are causes to modify or, alternatively, revoke and reissue a 
permit:
    (1) Cause exists for termination under Sec.  144.40, and the 
Director determines that modification or revocation and reissuance is 
appropriate.
    (2) The Director has received notification (as required in the 
permit, see Sec.  144.41(d)) of a proposed transfer of the permit. A 
permit also may be modified to reflect a transfer after the effective 
date of an automatic transfer (Sec.  144.38(b)) but will not be revoked 
and reissued after the effective date of the transfer except upon the 
request of the new permittee.
    (3) A determination that the waste being injected is a hazardous 
waste as defined in Sec.  261.3 either because the definition has been 
revised, or because a previous determination has been changed.
    (c) Facility siting. Suitability of the facility location will not 
be considered at the time of permit modification or revocation and 
reissuance unless new information or standards indicate that a threat to 
human health or the environment exists which was unknown at the time of 
permit issuance.

[48 FR 14189, Apr. 1, 1983, as amended at 53 FR 28147, July 26, 1988]