[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: 40CFR144.51]

[Page 652-655]
 
                   TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT
 
         CHAPTER I--ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED)
 
PART 144_UNDERGROUND INJECTION CONTROL PROGRAM--Table of Contents
 
                       Subpart E_Permit Conditions
 
Sec.  144.51  Conditions applicable to all permits.


    The following conditions apply to all UIC permits. All conditions 
applicable to all permits shall be incorporated into the permits either 
expressly or [chyph]by reference. If incorporated by 
ref[chyph]er[chyph]ence, a specific citation to these 
reg[chyph]u[chyph]la[chyph]tions (or the 
cor[chyph]re[chyph]spond[chyph]ing approved State 
reg[chyph]u[chyph]la[chyph]tions) must be given in the permit.
    (a) Duty to comply. The permittee must comply with all conditions of 
this permit. Any permit noncompliance constitutes a violation of the 
Safe Drinking Water Act and is grounds for enforcement action; for 
permit termination, revocation and reissuance, or modification; or for 
denial of a permit renewal application; except that the permittee need 
not comply with the provisions of this permit to the extent and for the 
duration such noncompliance is authorized in an emergency permit under 
Sec.  144.34.
    (b) Duty to reapply. If the permittee wishes to continue an activity 
regulated by this permit after the expiration date of this permit, the 
permittee must apply for and obtain a new [chyph]permit.
    (c) Need to halt or reduce activity not a defense. It shall not be a 
defense for a permittee in an enforcement action that it would have been 
necessary to halt or reduce the permitted activity in order to maintain 
compliance with the conditions of this permit.
    (d) Duty to mitigate. The permittee shall take all reasonable steps 
to minimize or correct any adverse impact on the environment resulting 
from noncompliance with this permit.
    (e) Proper operation and maintenance. The permittee shall at all 
times properly operate and maintain all facilities and systems of 
treatment and control (and related appurtenances) which are installed or 
used by the permittee to achieve compliance with the conditions of this 
permit. Proper operation and maintenance includes effective performance, 
adequate funding, adequate operator staffing and training, and adequate 
laboratory and process controls, including appropriate quality assurance 
procedures. This provision requires the operation of back-up or 
auxiliary facilities or similar systems only when necessary to achieve 
compliance with the conditions of the permit.
    (f) Permit actions. This permit may be modified, revoked and 
reissued, or terminated for cause. The filing of a request by the 
permittee for a permit modification, revocation and 
re[chyph]issu[chyph]ance, or termination, or a 
noti[chyph]fi[chyph]ca[chyph]tion of planned changes or 
an[chyph]ti[chyph]ci[chyph]pated noncompliance, does not stay any permit 
condition.
    (g) Property rights. This permit does not convey any property rights 
of any sort, or any exclusive privilege.
    (h) Duty to provide information. The permittee shall furnish to the 
Director, within a time specified, any information which the Director 
may request to determine whether cause exists for modifying, revoking 
and reissuing, or

[[Page 653]]

terminating this permit, or to determine compliance with this permit. 
The permittee shall also furnish to the Director, upon request, copies 
of records required to be kept by this permit.
    (i) Inspection and entry. The permittee shall allow the Director, or 
an authorized representative, upon the presentation of credentials and 
other documents as may be required by law, to:
    (1) Enter upon the permittee's premises where a regulated facility 
or activity is located or conducted, or where records must be kept under 
the conditions of this permit;
    (2) Have access to and copy, at reasonable times, any records that 
must be kept under the conditions of this permit;
    (3) Inspect at reasonable times any facilities, equipment (including 
monitoring and control equipment), practices, or operations regulated or 
required under this permit; and
    (4) Sample or monitor at reasonable times, for the purposes of 
assuring permit compliance or as otherwise authorized by the SDWA, any 
substances or parameters at any location.
    (j) Monitoring and records. (1) Samples and measurements taken for 
the purpose of monitoring shall be representative of the monitored 
activity.
    (2) The permittee shall retain records of all monitoring 
information, including the following:
    (i) Calibration and maintenance records and all original strip chart 
recordings for continuous monitoring instrumentation, copies of all 
reports required by this permit, and records of all data used to 
complete the application for this permit, for a period of at least 3 
years from the date of the sample, measurement, report, or application. 
This period may be extended by request of the Director at any time; and
    (ii) The nature and composition of all injected fluids until three 
years after the completion of any plugging and abandonment procedures 
specified under Sec.  144.52(a)(6), or under part 146 subpart G as 
appropriate. The Director may require the owner or operator to deliver 
the records to the Director at the conclusion of the retention period. 
For EPA administered programs, the owner or operator shall continue to 
retain the records after the three year retention period unless he 
delivers the records to the Regional Administrator or obtains written 
approval from the Regional Administrator to discard the records.
    (3) Records of monitoring information shall include:
    (i) The date, exact place, and time of sampling or measurements;
    (ii) The individual(s) who performed the sampling or measurements;
    (iii) The date(s) analyses were performed;
    (iv) The individual(s) who performed the analyses;
    (v) The analytical techniques or methods used; and
    (vi) The results of such analyses.
    (k) Signatory requirement. All applications, reports, or information 
submitted to the Administrator shall be signed and certified. (See Sec.  
144.32.)
    (l) Reporting requirements. (1) Planned changes. The permittee shall 
give notice to the Director as soon as possible of any planned physical 
alterations or additions to the permitted facility.
    (2) Anticipated noncompliance. The permittee shall give advance 
notice to the Director of any planned changes in the permitted facility 
or activity which may result in noncompliance with permit requirements.
    (3) Transfers. This permit is not transferable to any person except 
after notice to the Director. The Director may require modification or 
revocation and reissuance of the permit to change the name of the 
permittee and incorporate such other requirements as may be necessary 
under the Safe Drinking Water Act. (See Sec.  144.38; in some cases, 
modification or revocation and reissuance is mandatory.)
    (4) Monitoring reports. Monitoring results shall be reported at the 
intervals specified elsewhere in this permit.
    (5) Compliance schedules. Reports of compliance or noncompliance 
with, or any progress reports on, interim and final requirements 
contained in any compliance schedule of this permit shall be submitted 
no later than 30 days following each schedule date.

[[Page 654]]

    (6) Twenty-four hour reporting. The permittee shall report any 
noncompliance which may endanger health or the environment, including:
    (i) Any monitoring or other information which indicates that any 
contaminant may cause an endangerment to a USDW; or
    (ii) Any noncompliance with a permit condition or malfunction of the 
injection system which may cause fluid migration into or between USDWs.

Any information shall be provided orally within 24 hours from the time 
the permittee becomes aware of the circumstances. A written submission 
shall also be provided within 5 days of the time the permittee becomes 
aware of the circumstances. The written submission shall contain a 
description of the noncompliance and its cause, the period of 
noncompliance, including exact dates and times, and if the noncompliance 
has not been corrected, the anticipated time it is expected to continue; 
and steps taken or planned to reduce, eliminate, and prevent 
reoccurrence of the noncompliance.
    (7) Other noncompliance. The permittee shall report all instances of 
noncompliance not reported under paragraphs (l) (4), (5), and (6) of 
this section, at the time monitoring reports are submitted. The reports 
shall contain the information listed in paragraph (l)(6) of this 
section.
    (8) Other information. Where the permittee becomes aware that it 
failed to submit any relevant facts in a permit application, or 
submitted incorrect information in a permit application or in any report 
to the Director, it shall promptly submit such facts or information.
    (m) Requirements prior to commencing injection. Except for all new 
wells authorized by an area permit under Sec.  144.33(c), a new 
injection well may not commence injection until construction is 
complete, and
    (1) The permittee has submitted notice of completion of construction 
to the Director; and
    (2)(i) The Director has inspected or otherwise reviewed the new 
injection well and finds it is in compliance with the conditions of the 
permit; or
    (ii) The permittee has not received notice form the Director of his 
or her intent to inspect or otherwise review the new injection well 
within 13 days of the date of the notice in paragraph (m)(1) of this 
section, in which case prior inspection or review is waived and the 
permittee may commence injection. The Director shall include in his 
notice a reasonable time period in which he shall inspect the well.
    (n) The permittee shall notify the Director at such times as the 
permit requires before conversion or abandonment of the well or in the 
case of area permits before closure of the project.
    (o) A Class I, II or III permit shall include and a Class V permit 
may include, conditions which meet the applicable requirements of Sec.  
146.10 of this chapter to insure that plugging and abandonment of the 
well will not allow the movement of fluids into or between USDWs. Where 
the plan meets the requirements of Sec.  146.10 of this chapter, the 
Director shall incorporate it into the permit as a permit condition. 
Where the Director's review of an application indicates that the 
permittee's plan is inadequate, the Director may require the applicant 
to revise the plan, prescribe conditions meeting the requirements of 
this paragraph, or deny the permit. For purposes of this paragraph, 
temporary or intermittent cessation of injection operations is not 
abandonment.
    (p) Plugging and abandonment report. For EPA-administered programs, 
within 60 days after plugging a well or at the time of the next 
quarterly report (whichever is less) the owner or operator shall submit 
a report to the Regional Administrator. If the quarterly report is due 
less than 15 days before completion of plugging, then the report shall 
be submitted within 60 days. The report shall be certified as accurate 
[chyph]by the person who performed the plug[chyph]ging operation. Such 
report shall consist of either:
    (1) A statement that the well was plugged in accordance with the 
plan previously submitted to the Regional Administrator; or
    (2) Where actual plugging differed from the plan previously 
submitted, and updated version of the plan on the form supplied by the 
regional administrator, specifying the differences.

[[Page 655]]

    (q) Duty to establish and maintain mechanical integrity. (1) The 
owner or operator of a Class I, II or III well permitted under this part 
shall establish prior to commencing injection or on a schedule 
determined by the Director, and thereafter maintain mechanical integrity 
as defined in Sec.  146.8 of this chapter. For EPA-administered 
programs, the Regional Administrator may require by written notice that 
the owner or operator comply with a schedule describing when mechanical 
integrity demonstrations shall be made.
    (2) When the Director determines that a Class I, II, or III well 
lacks mechanical integrity pursuant to Sec.  146.8 of this chapter, he 
shall give written notice of his determination to the owner or operator. 
Unless the Director requires immediate cessation, the owner or operator 
shall cease injection into the well within 48 hours of receipt of the 
Director's determination. The Director may allow plugging of the well 
pursuant to the requirements of Sec.  146.10 of this chapter or require 
the permittee to perform such additional construction, operation, 
monitoring, reporting and corrective action as is necessary to prevent 
the movement of fluid into or between USDWs caused by the lack of 
mechanical integrity. The owner or operator may resume injection upon 
written notification from the Director that the owner or operator has 
demonstrated mechanical integrity pursuant to Sec.  146.8 of this 
chapter.
    (3) The Director may allow the owner or operator of a well which 
lacks mechanical integrity pursuant to Sec.  146.8(a)(1) of this chapter 
to continue or resume injection, if the owner or operator has made a 
satisfactory demonstration that there is no movement of fluid into or 
between USDWs.

[48 FR 14189, Apr. 1, 1983, as amended at 49 FR 20185, May 11, 1984; 53 
FR 28147, July 26, 1988; 58 FR 63898, Dec. 3, 1993]