Section 331.7 - Permit Required(a) Except as provided in § 331.9 of this title (relating to Injection Authorized by Rule) and by subsections (d) and (e) of this section, all injection wells and activities must be authorized by an individual permit.(b) For Class III in situ uranium solution mining wells, Frasch sulfur wells, and other Class III operations under commission jurisdiction, an area permit authorizing more than one well may be issued for a defined permit area in which wells of similar design and operation are proposed. The wells must be operated by a single owner or operator. Before commencing operation of those wells, the permittee may be required to obtain a production area authorization for separate production or mining areas within the permit area.(c) The owner or operator of a large capacity septic system, a septic system which accepts industrial waste, or a subsurface area drip dispersal system, as defined in § 222.5 of this title (relating to Definitions) must obtain a wastewater discharge permit in accordance with Texas Water Code, Chapter 26 or Chapters 26 and 32, and Chapter 305 of this title (relating to Consolidated Permits), and must submit the inventory information required under § 331.10 of this title (relating to Inventory of Wells Authorized by Rule).(d) The commission may issue a general permit under Subchapter L of this chapter. The commission may determine that an injection well and the injection activities are more appropriately regulated under an individual permit than under a general permit based on findings that the general permit will not protect ground and surface fresh water from pollution due to site-specific conditions.(e) Regardless of subsection (a) of this section, an injection well authorized by the Railroad Commission of Texas to use nonhazardous desalination concentrate or nonhazardous drinking water treatment residuals as an injection fluid for enhanced recovery purposes does not require a permit from the commission. The use or disposal of radioactive material under this subsection is subject to the applicable requirements of Chapter 336 of this title.(f) Permits issued before September 1, 2007 for Class III wells for uranium mining will expire on September 1, 2012 unless the permit holder submits an application for permit renewal under § 305.65 of this title (relating to Renewal) before September 1, 2012. Any holders of permits for Class III wells for uranium mining issued before September 1, 2007 who allow those permits to expire by not submitting a permit renewal application by September 1, 2012 are not relieved from the obligations under the expired permit or applicable rules, including obligations to restore groundwater and to plug and abandon wells in accordance with the requirements of the permit and applicable rules.(g) Class V injection wells associated with an aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) project or an aquifer recharge project may be authorized by individual permit, general permit, or by rule. The executive director will notify a groundwater conservation district of an ASR project proposed to be authorized by rule that is located within the jurisdictional boundary of that groundwater conservation district.30 Tex. Admin. Code § 331.7
The provisions of this §331.7 adopted to be effective May 13, 1986, 11 TexReg 1980; amended to be effective April 28, 1997, 22 TexReg 3526; amended to be effective July 12, 2001, 26 TexReg 5019; amended to be effective January 9, 2003, 28 TexReg 340; amended to be effective July 5, 2006, 31 TexReg 5339; amended to be effective July 10, 2008, 33 TexReg 5342; amended to be effective March 12, 2009, 34 TexReg 1638; Amended by Texas Register, Volume 41, Number 20, May 13, 2016, TexReg 3522, eff. 5/19/2016; Amended by Texas Register, Volume 45, Number 21, May 22, 2020, TexReg 3461, eff. 5/28/2020; Amended by Texas Register, Volume 46, Number 01, January 1, 2021, TexReg 0193, eff. 1/7/2021