The Underground Injection Control (UIC) program regulates injection wells to protect drinking water sources. The UIC program in Texas is jointly administered by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and Railroad Commission, depending on well type. TCEQ oversees Class I, III, IV, and V injection wells, while the Railroad Commission oversees Class II wells. Texas currently has over 48,000 regulated injection wells in use. Trends like population growth and drought may increase demand for certain well types like those used for water treatment byproducts disposal and aquifer storage/recovery.

1. Texas Underground Injection Control
(UIC) Program Overview
Presented to Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts
October 30, 2014
Lorrie Council, PG
Manager, UIC Permits Section
Radioactive Materials Division, Office of Waste
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

2. UIC Program Basics
• Underground Injection Control (UIC) is a federal regulatory program
administered by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• EPA has designated six classes of injection wells in the UIC program
• In 1982, EPA delegated UIC authority to Texas. Texas jurisdiction for UIC
is split between Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)
and Texas Railroad Commission (TRC), based on well type
• The state’s UIC Program regulates injection in order to protect fresh
water and Underground Sources of Drinking Water (USDWs)
• Statutes provide the basis for the UIC Program:
– Texas Injection Well Act (Chapter 27 of Texas Water Code)
– Federal Safe Drinking Water Act
– Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (hazardous waste)
• Rules provide the regulatory framework for UIC Program:
– Title 30, Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 331 (TCEQ UIC)
– Title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, Parts 144-147

3. UIC Program Basics
• Underground injection wells used for decades to dispose of waste:
– 1930s: oil companies began injecting wastes into depleted reservoirs through
converted oil production wells
– 1950s: injection of hazardous chemicals and steel industry wastes began
– 1960: use of injection wells for waste disposal rose sharply as manufacturing of
chemicals increased
• Important UIC program definitions:
– Well: A bored, drilled, or driven shaft, or a dug hole where the depth is greater than
the largest surface dimension
– Underground Injection: Subsurface emplacement of fluids through a well
– Aquifer: Geologic formation that is capable of yielding a significant amount of water
to a well or spring
– Underground Source of Drinking Water (USDW): An aquifer or portion of an aquifer
that:
• Supplies any public water system or contains a sufficient quantity of
groundwater to supply a public water system, and
• Currently supplies drinking water for human consumption, or
• Contains < 10,000 mg/L total dissolved solids & is not an exempted aquifer

4. WATER TABLE
Underground Source of Drinking Water
Include: Drinkable Quality Water (<3,000 TDS)
Brine - Salt Water (>10,000 TDS)
DRY
WET - AQUIFER
USDW
BRINE
And
Useable Quality Water (3,000-10,000 TDS)

5. UIC Deep Well Features
Surface Casing
& Cement
Long String
Casing &
Cement
Typical of Class I and II Injection Wells
Tubing , Packer,
Wellhead Controls

6. UIC Program Basics – Class I Wells
Class I: industrial and municipal waste disposal wells that inject
beneath the lowermost USDW (non-hazardous, hazardous and
radioactive wastes) – TCEQ regulates
Desalination Concentrate Disposal Well
(San Antonio Water System)
Class I Industrial Disposal Well

7. UIC Program Basics – Class II Wells
Class II: oil and gas related injection wells used to dispose of salt water
produced with oil or natural gas, to inject fluids for enhanced
recovery, or to store hydrocarbons – TRC regulates (over 54,000 Class
II wells in Texas as of 12/31/13)
Well Head – Class II
Injection Well
Class II Salt Water Disposal Site Near Dallas
(Chesapeake Energy photo)

8. UIC Program Basics – Class III Wells
Class III: wells used for solution mining of minerals such as
a) uranium, sulfur and sodium sulfate – TCEQ regulates and,
b) for solution mining for salt (brine mining) – TRC regulates
Block diagram of in-situ recovery uranium mining operations

9. UIC Program Basics – Class IV Wells
Class IV: wells that inject hazardous or radioactive fluids
into or above a USDW – TCEQ regulates (prohibited except
where authorized for use in Superfund or RCRA cleanups)
Class IV injection well discovered during site visit
and later closed as part of a site cleanup

10. UIC Program Basics – Class V Wells
Class V: miscellaneous types of injection wells that are not
included in other well classes that generally inject into or
above USDWs - TCEQ regulates
EPA schematic showing some
Class V injection well types
Aquifer Storage and
Recovery Well Diagram

11. UIC Program Basics
Class VI Wells
Class VI (new well class): injects
carbon dioxide gases below USDWs
for geologic sequestration - EPA
has program primacy (none in TX)

12. TCEQ 2013 Well Inventory by Class
Well
Class
Type of Injection Well Number of
Facilities
Active
Wells
Wells Temp.
Abandoned
I Hazardous Waste
Disposal
24 60 7
I NonhazardousWaste
Disposal
26 48 2
III In Situ Mining 7 6,880 0
IV Prohibited (unless
specifically authorized)
6 113 0
V Miscellaneous Wells
(~21 subclasses)
2,386 40,871 0
Total No. Facilities and Wells
(as reported to EPA in February 2014)
2,449 47,972 9

13. USDW Protection Standard
• The standard of protection for USDWs applies to all injection
wells, with varying requirements by well class
• Texas rules addressing this standard are found in:
30TAC§331.5 Prevention of Pollution
(a) No permit or authorization by rule shall be allowed where an injection well
causes or allows the movement of fluid that would result in the pollution of an
underground source of drinking water. A permit or authorization by rule shall
include terms and conditions reasonably necessary to protect fresh water from
pollution
• Federal Rules addressing this standard are found in 40 CFR
§144.12 Prohibition of Movement of Fluid Into Underground
Sources of Drinking Water, stating that movement of fluid
containing any contaminant into a USDW is prohibited if the
presence of that contaminant may cause a violation of a
primary drinking water standard or otherwise adversely affect
the health of persons.

14. TCEQ UIC Program Elements
• Well Permitting and Authorization
• Participation in hearings
• Compliance monitoring and enforcement
• Participation in the Legislative Process, Rulemaking,
Program Development, and Program Revision
• Programmatic interface and reporting to EPA
• Provision of UIC Program materials to the public and
regulated community
• Participation in Ground Water Protection Council
• Response to Public Inquiries

15. TCEQ UIC Program Information
• TCEQ maintains UIC Program information on the Internet:
http://www.tceq.texas.gov/permitting/waste_permits/uic_permits/uic.html
– information and requirements by well class
– application forms
– rules, fee requirements, financial assurance, QAPP
– program contacts
– brief list of wells regulated by TRC
– link to UIC permit application database search
• UIC Program content on the Internet is updated on a
regular basis – it is the best place to obtain current
application forms

16. Timelines for TCEQ
UIC Permits & Authorizations
• Class I Individual Permits: new permits, renewals,
amendments, pre-injection unit registrations (390 days if no
public comment)
• Class I General Permit: For injection of nonhazardous
desalination concentrate and drinking water treatment
residuals (~90 days)
• Class III: In situ uranium mining area permits and production
area authorizations (PAAs) (390 days if no public comment)
• Class V: authorizations for most require submittal of data and
written approval of authorization before construction and
operation (~60 days) – some types of wells may require more
information and take longer to authorize (e.g., high-volume
discharges, desalination concentrate disposal, aquifer recharge)

17. TCEQ UIC Program
General Permit
• The UIC General Permit – developed specifically for disposal
of nonhazardous drinking water treatment residuals (DWTRs)
including DWTRs containing naturally occurring radioactive
material.
• Changes in 2013 to the General Permit:
– Rule Revision (allowing DWTR disposal in bedded salt
caverns) became effective August 16, 2013
– Amendment of General Permit (allowing disposal in
bedded or non-domal salt caverns) adopted by TCEQ
November 19, 2013 - permit term is 10 years
• San Antonio Water System registered five wells under the
General Permit and has installed one DWTR disposal well to-date
(the additional wells will be installed as phases of their
Reverse Osmosis Plant come online)

18. TCEQ UIC Program
Future Anticipated Trends
• Drought conditions in Texas coupled with increasing population
projections have resulted in water-supply related concerns
• 2012 Texas Water Plan issued by Texas Water Development
Board identified strategies for increasing water supplies
including:
– Increased use of aquifer recharge or aquifer storage and recovery
projects, some using injection wells – this could increase the number
of Class V injection wells – depending on the quality of injected water,
supplemental information may be warranted as part of the Class V
authorization application
– Increased use of brackish groundwater coupled with desalination
treatment plants – this could result in additional permits for
concentrate disposal using Class I wells or under the General Permit
(e.g., San Antonio Water System) or Class V wells coupled with an
aquifer exemption (e.g., El Paso Water Utilities) – or it might include
dually-permitting a Class II injection well as a Class I injection well

19. UIC Program Summary
• Texas has authority for the UIC Program, with split
jurisdiction between TCEQ and TRC, based on well type
• TCEQ’s UIC Program has permitted, authorized, or
inventoried ~48,000 wells located at over 2,400 facilities
statewide – Classes I, III, IV, and V wells
• TRC’s UIC Program has issued permits for over 54,000 Class II
wells and 107 Class III brine mining wells
• TCEQ’s UIC program continues to update its applications and
procedures to reflect both streamlining efforts and updates
based on statutory or rule revisions – the updated
applications are posted on TCEQ’s Internet site
• Increasing population and continuing drought conditions in
Texas are likely to result in greater need for certain types of
injection wells and an increasing inventory of injection wells

20. Questions???

21. UIC Program Contact Information
Lorrie Council, PG, Manager
UIC Permits Section
Radioactive Materials Division, Office of Waste
Phone: 512-239-6461, Fax: 512-239-6464
Email: lorrie.council@tceq.texas.gov
Main TCEQ UIC Phone Line: 512-239-6466
TCEQ Internet: http://www.tceq.texas.gov
TCEQ UIC Program Internet:
http://www.tceq.texas.gov/permitting/waste_permits/
uic_permits/uic.html