On Thursday, April 2, the California Department of Conservation (“DOC”) published a notice of proposed emergency rulemaking for the state’s Class II Underground Injection Control (“UIC”) program.  The purpose of the rulemaking is set a schedule to eliminate injection into non-exempt aquifers so as to ensure that California oil and gas activities are in compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act (“SDWA”).  The SDWA prohibits injection of Class II wells — those that dispose of waste water from oil and gas production — into non-exempt aquifers.  The Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (“DOGGR”), within the DOC, first proposed this rulemaking in a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in February 2015.  In March, twelve wells were shut-in in order to achieve this goal.

Dr. Steven Bohlen, DOGGR Supervisor, provided further explanation for the rulemaking: “This is a significant step in California’s commitment to ensure that underground injection practices comply with the federal [SDWA] and to quickly eliminate risks to California’s precious water resources.”  California regulators state that there has been no drinking water contamination from oil and gas wells as of March 2015; thus the previous well shut-ins and emergency rulemaking are largely precautionary measures.

The emergency rules will be sent to the Office of Administrative Law on April 9, and will become effective no later than April 30.  Read more about California’s Class II UIC program on our blog here.

Update: On April 20, 2015, the emergency regulations were adopted after being approved by the Office of Administrative Law, and are now in effect.

By Mike Mills (michael.mills@stoel.com) and Shannon Morrissey.  Ms. Morrissey is a Law Clerk with Stoel Rives LLP and is not currently licensed to practice law in California.

About Stoel Rives Environmental Law

Learn More

Few firms view their Environment, Land Use, and Natural Resources practices as core legal services. Stoel Rives is one of them. The firm ranks #8 in the United States according to Law360’s list of the largest practices of its kind. Our sophisticated compliance counseling, permitting, regulatory development, and litigation practices continue a long tradition of specialization and deep experience. Our environment, land use, and natural resource attorneys incorporate prior agency experience, technical acumen, and industry knowledge into their legal advice. They also build strong relationships with agency officials and industry associations. Our litigation successes include landmark decisions. More than 60 attorneys, paralegals, and compliance analysts comprise Stoel Rives’ nationwide Environment, Land Use & Natural Resources practice.