[Title 40 CFR 144.62]
[Code of Federal Regulations (annual edition) - July 1, 2009 Edition]
[Title 40 - PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT]
[Chapter I - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED)]
[Subchapter D - WATER PROGRAMS (CONTINUED)]
[Part 144 - UNDERGROUND INJECTION CONTROL PROGRAM]
[Subpart F - Financial Responsibility: Class I Hazardous Waste Injection]
[Sec. 144.62 - Cost estimate for plugging and abandonment.]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]


40PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT222009-07-012009-07-01false144.62Sec. 144.62PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENTENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED)WATER PROGRAMS (CONTINUED)UNDERGROUND INJECTION CONTROL PROGRAMFinancial Responsibility: Class I Hazardous Waste Injection
Sec. 144.62  Cost estimate for plugging and abandonment.

    (a) The owner or operator must prepare a written estimate, in 
current dollars, of the cost of plugging the injection well in 
accordance with the plugging and abandonment plan as specified in 
Sec. Sec. 144.28 and 144.51. The plugging and abandonment cost estimate 
must equal the cost of plugging and abandonment

[[Page 732]]

at the point in the facility's operating life when the extent and manner 
of its operation would making plugging and abandonment the most 
expensive, as indicated by its plugging and abandonment plan.
    (b) The owner or operator must adjust the plugging and abandonment 
cost estimate for inflation within 30 days after each anniversary of the 
date on which the first plugging and abandonment cost estimate was 
prepared. The adjustment must be made as specified in paragraphs (b) (1) 
and (2) of this section, using an inflation factor derived from the 
annual Oil and Gas Field Equipment Cost Index. The inflation factor is 
the result of dividing the latest published annual Index by the Index 
for the previous year.
    (1) The first adjustment is made by multiplying the plugging and 
abandonment cost estimate by the inflation factor. The result is the 
adjusted plugging and abandonment cost estimate.
    (2) Subsequent adjustments are made by multiplying the latest 
adjusted plugging and abandonment cost estimate by the latest inflation 
factor.
    (c) The owner or operator must revise the plugging and abandonment 
cost estimate whenever a change in the plugging and abandonment plan 
increases the cost of plugging and abandonment. The revised plugging and 
abandonment cost estimate must be adjusted for inflation as specified in 
Sec. 144.62(b).
    (d) The owner or operator must keep the following at the facility 
during the operating life of the facility: the latest plugging and 
abandonment cost estimate prepared in accordance with Sec. 144.62 (a) 
and (c) and, when this estimate has been adjusted in accordance with 
Sec. 144.62(b), the latest adjusted plugging and abandonment cost 
estimate.