[Title 40 CFR 146.3]
[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 146 - UNDERGROUND INJECTION CONTROL PROGRAM: CRITERIA AND]
[Subpart A - General Provisions]
[Sec. 146.3 - Definitions.]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]


40PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT222009-07-012009-07-01false146.3Sec. 146.3PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENTENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED)WATER PROGRAMS (CONTINUED)UNDERGROUND INJECTION CONTROL PROGRAM: CRITERIA ANDGeneral Provisions
Sec. 146.3  Definitions.

    The following definitions apply to the underground injection control 
program.
    Abandoned well means a well whose use has been permanently 
discontinued or which is in a state of disrepair such that it cannot be 
used for its intended purpose or for observation purposes.
    Administrator means the Administrator of the United States 
Environmental Protection Agency, or an authorized representative.
    Application means the EPA standard national forms for applying for a 
permit, including any additions, revisions or modifications to the 
forms; or forms approved by EPA for use in approved States, including 
any approved modifications or revisions. For RCRA, application also 
includes the information required by the Director under Sec. 122.25 
(contents of Part B of the RCRA application).
    Aquifer means a geological formation, group of formations, or part 
of a formation that is capable of yielding a significant amount of water 
to a well or spring.
    Area of review means the area surrounding an injection well 
described according to the criteria set forth in Sec. 146.06 or in the 
case of an area permit, the project area plus a circumscribing area the 
width of which is either \1/4\ of a mile or a number calculated 
according to the criteria set forth in Sec. 146.06.
    Casing means a pipe or tubing of appropriate material, of varying 
diameter and weight, lowered into a borehole during or after drilling in 
order to support the sides of the hole and thus prevent the walls from 
caving, to prevent loss of drilling mud into porous ground, or to 
prevent water, gas, or other fluid from entering or leaving the hole.
    Catastrophic collapse means the sudden and utter failure of 
overlying ``strata'' caused by removal of underlying materials.
    Cementing means the operation whereby a cement slurry is pumped into 
a drilled hole and/or forced behind the casing.
    Cesspool means a ``drywell'' that receives untreated sanitary waste 
containing human excreta, and which sometimes has an open bottom and/or 
perforated sides.
    Confining bed means a body of impermeable or distinctly less 
permeable material stratigraphically adjacent to one or more aquifers.
    Confining zone means a geological formation, group of formations, or 
part of a formation that is capable of limiting fluid movement above an 
injection zone.
    Contaminant means any physical, chemical, biological, or 
radiological substance or matter in water.
    Conventional mine means an open pit or underground excavation for 
the production of minerals.
    Director means the Regional Administrator, the State director or the 
Tribal director as the context requires, or an

[[Page 776]]

authorized representative. When there is no approved State or Tribal 
program, and there is an EPA administered program, ``Director'' means 
the Regional Administrator. When there is an approved State or Tribal 
program, ``Director'' normally means the State or Tribal director. In 
some circumstances, however, EPA retains the authority to take certain 
actions even when there is an approved State or Tribal program. (For 
example, when EPA has issued an NPDES permit prior to the approval of a 
State program, EPA may retain jurisdiction over that permit after 
program approval; see Sec. 123.69). In such cases, the term Director 
means the Regional Administrator and not the State or Tribal director.
    Disposal well means a well used for the disposal of waste into a 
subsurface stratum.
    Drywell means a well, other than an improved sinkhole or subsurface 
fluid distribution system, completed above the water table so that its 
bottom and sides are typically dry except when receiving fluids.
    Effective date of a UIC program means the date that a State UIC 
program is approved or established by the Administrator.
    Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA'') means the United States 
Environmental Protection Agency.
    EPA means the United States ``Environmental Protection Agency.''
    Exempted aquifer means an aquifer or its portion that meets the 
criteria in the definition of ``underground source of drinking water'' 
but which has been exempted according to the procedures of Sec. 
144.8(b).
    Existing injection well means an ``injection well'' other than a 
``new injection well.''
    Experimental technology means a technology which has not been proven 
feasible under the conditions in which it is being tested.
    Facility or activity means any ``HWM facility,'' UIC ``injection 
well,'' NPDES ``point source,'' or State 404 dredge and fill activity, 
or any other facility or activity (including land or appurtenances 
thereto) that is subject to regulation under the RCRA, UIC, NPDES, or 
404 programs.
    Fault means a surface or zone of rock fracture along which there has 
been displacement.
    Flow rate means the volume per time unit given to the flow of gases 
or other fluid substance which emerges from an orifice, pump, turbine or 
passes along a conduit or channel.
    Fluid means material or substance which flows or moves whether in a 
semisolid, liquid, sludge, gas, or any other form or state.
    Formation means a body of rock characterized by a degree of 
lithologic homogeneity which is prevailingly, but not necessarily, 
tabular and is mappable on the earth's surface or traceable in the 
subsurface.
    Formation fluid means ``fluid'' present in a ``formation'' under 
natural conditions as opposed to introduced fluids, such as drilling 
mud.
    Generator means any person, by site location, whose act or process 
produces hazardous waste identified or listed in 40 CFR part 261.
    Ground water means water below the land surface in a zone of 
saturation.
    Hazardous waste means a hazardous waste as defined in 40 CFR 261.3.
    Hazardous Waste Management facility (``HWM facility'') means all 
contiguous land, and structures, other appurtenances, and improvements 
on the land used for treating, storing, or disposing of hazardous waste. 
A facility may consist of several treatment, storage, or disposal 
operational units (for example, one or more landfills, surface 
impoundments, or combination of them).
    HWM facility means ``Hazardous Waste Management facility.''
    Improved sinkhole means a naturally occurring karst depression or 
other natural crevice found in volcanic terrain and other geologic 
settings which have been modified by man for the purpose of directing 
and emplacing fluids into the subsurface.
    Indian Tribe means any Indian Tribe having a Federally recognized 
governing body carrying out substantial governmental duties and powers 
over a defined area.
    Injection well means a ``well'' into which ``fluids'' are being 
injected.
    Injection zone means a geological ``formation'', group of 
formations, or

[[Page 777]]

part of a formation receiving fluids through a well.
    Lithology means the description of rocks on the basis of their 
physical and chemical characteristics.
    Owner or operator means the owner or operator of any facility or 
activity subject to regulation under the RCRA, UIC, NPDES, or 404 
programs.
    Packer means a device lowered into a well to produce a fluid-tight 
seal.
    Permit means an authorization, license, or equivalent control 
document issued by EPA or an ``approved State'' to implement the 
requirements of this part and parts 124, 144, and 145. Permit does not 
include RCRA interim status (Sec. 122.23), UIC authorization by rule 
(Sec. Sec. 144.21 to 144.26 and 144.15), or any permit which has not 
yet been the subject of final agency action, such as a ``draft permit'' 
or a ``proposed permit.''
    Plugging means the act or process of stopping the flow of water, oil 
or gas into or out of a formation through a borehole or well penetrating 
that formation.
    Plugging record means a systematic listing of permanent or temporary 
abandonment of water, oil, gas, test, exploration and waste injection 
wells, and may contain a well log, description of amounts and types of 
plugging material used, the method employed for plugging, a description 
of formations which are sealed and a graphic log of the well showing 
formation location, formation thickness, and location of plugging 
structures.
    Point of injection for Class V wells means the last accessible 
sampling point prior to waste fluids being released into the subsurface 
environment through a Class V injection well. For example, the point of 
injection of a Class V septic system might be the distribution box--the 
last accessible sampling point before the waste fluids drain into the 
underlying soils. For a dry well, it is likely to be the well bore 
itself.
    Pressure means the total load or force per unit area acting on a 
surface.
    Project means a group of wells in a single operation.
    Radioactive waste means any waste which contains radioactive 
material in concentrations which exceed those listed in 10 CFR part 20, 
appendix B, table II column 2.
    RCRA means the Solid Waste Disposal Act as amended by the Resource 
Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (Pub. L. 94-580, as amended by 
Pub. L. 95-609, 42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.).
    Sanitary waste means liquid or solid wastes originating solely from 
humans and human activities, such as wastes collected from toilets, 
showers, wash basins, sinks used for cleaning domestic areas, sinks used 
for food preparation, clothes washing operations, and sinks or washing 
machines where food and beverage serving dishes, glasses, and utensils 
are cleaned. Sources of these wastes may include single or multiple 
residences, hotels and motels, restaurants, bunkhouses, schools, ranger 
stations, crew quarters, guard stations, campgrounds, picnic grounds, 
day-use recreation areas, other commercial facilities, and industrial 
facilities provided the waste is not mixed with industrial waste.
    SDWA means the Safe Drinking Water Act (Pub. L. 95-523, as amended 
by Pub. L. 95-190, 42 U.S.C. 300(f) et seq.).
    Septic system means a ``well'' that is used to emplace sanitary 
waste below the surface and is typically comprised of a septic tank and 
subsurface fluid distribution system or disposal system.
    Site means the land or water area where any facility or activity is 
physically located or conducted, including adjacent land used in 
connection with the facility or activity.
    Sole or principal source aquifer means an aquifer which has been 
designated by the Administrator pursuant to section 1424 (a) or (e) of 
the SDWA.
    State Director means the chief administrative officer of any State, 
interstate, or Tribal agency operating an ``approved program,'' or the 
delegated representative of the State Director. If the responsibility is 
divided among two or more State, interstate, or Tribal agencies, ``State 
Director'' means the chief administrative officer of the State, 
interstate, or Tribal agency authorized to perform the particular 
procedure or function to which reference is made.
    Stratum (plural strata) means a single sedimentary bed or layer, 
regardless of

[[Page 778]]

thickness, that consists of generally the same kind of rock material.
    Subsidence means the lowering of the natural land surface in 
response to: Earth movements; lowering of fluid pressure; removal of 
underlying supporting material by mining or solution of solids, either 
artificially or from natural causes; compaction due to wetting 
(Hydrocompaction); oxidation of organic matter in soils; or added load 
on the land surface.
    Subsurface fluid distribution system means an assemblage of 
perforated pipes, drain tiles, or other similar mechanisms intended to 
distribute fluids below the surface of the ground.
    Surface casing means the first string of well casing to be installed 
in the well.
    Total dissolved solids (``TDS'') means the total dissolved 
(filterable) solids as determined by use of the method specified in 40 
CFR part 136.
    UIC means the Underground Injection Control program under Part C of 
the Safe Drinking Water Act, including an ``approved program.''
    Underground injection means a ``well injection.''
    Underground source of drinking water (USDW) means an aquifer or its 
portion:

    (1)(i) Which supplies any public water system; or
    (ii) Which contains a sufficient quantity of ground water to supply 
a public water system; and
    (A) Currently supplies drinking water for human consumption; or
    (B) Contains fewer than 10,000 mg/l total dissolved solids; and
    (2) Which is not an exempted aquifer.
    USDW means ``underground source of drinking water.''
    Well means: A bored, drilled, or driven shaft whose depth is greater 
than the largest surface dimension; or, a dug hole whose depth is 
greater than the largest surface dimension; or, an improved sinkhole; 
or, a subsurface fluid distribution system.
    Well injection means the subsurface emplacement of fluids through a 
well.
    Well plug means a watertight and gastight seal installed in a 
borehole or well to prevent movement of fluids.
    Well stimulation means several processes used to clean the well 
bore, enlarge channels, and increase pore space in the interval to be 
injected thus making it possible for wastewater to move more readily 
into the formation, and includes (1) surging, (2) jetting, (3) blasting, 
(4) acidizing, (5) hydraulic fracturing.
    Well monitoring means the measurement, by on-site instruments or 
laboratory methods, of the quality of water in a well.

(Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Air Act, Resource 
Conservation and Recovery Act: 42 U.S.C. 6905, 6912, 6925, 6927, 6974)

[45 FR 42500, June 24, 1980, as amended at 46 FR 43161, Aug. 27, 1981; 
47 FR 4998, Feb. 3, 1982; 48 FR 14293, Apr. 1, 1983; 53 FR 37414, Sept. 
26, 1988; 64 FR 68573, Dec. 7, 1999]