An aquifer or a portion thereof which meets the criteria for an “underground source of drinking water” in § 146.3 may be determined under § 144.7 of this chapter to be an “exempted aquifer” for Class I-V wells if it meets the criteria in paragraphs (a) through (c) of this section. Class VI wells must meet the criteria under paragraph (d) of this section:
(a) It does not currently serve as a source of drinking water; and
(b) It cannot now and will not in the future serve as a source of drinking water because:
(1) It is mineral, hydrocarbon or geothermal energy producing, or can be demonstrated by a permit applicant as part of a permit application for a Class II or III operation to contain minerals or hydrocarbons that considering their quantity and location are expected to be commercially producible.
(2) It is situated at a depth or location which makes recovery of water for drinking water purposes economically or technologically impractical;
(3) It is so contaminated that it would be economically or technologically impractical to render that water fit for human consumption; or
(4) It is located over a Class III well mining area subject to subsidence or catastrophic collapse; or
(c) The total dissolved solids content of the ground water is more than 3,000 and less than 10,000 mg/l and it is not reasonably expected to supply a public water system.
(d) The areal extent of an aquifer exemption for a Class II enhanced oil recovery or enhanced gas recovery well may be expanded for the exclusive purpose of Class VI injection for geologic sequestration under § 144.7(d) of this chapter if it meets the following criteria:
(1) It does not currently serve as a source of drinking water; and
(2) The total dissolved solids content of the ground water is more than 3,000 mg/l and less than 10,000 mg/l; and
(3) It is not reasonably expected to supply a public water system.
(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 47 FR 4998, Feb. 3, 1982; 48 FR 14293, Apr. 1, 1983; 75 FR 77291, Dec. 10, 2010]
Notes of Decisions
W. Nebraska Resources Council v. Env't Prot. Agency, 793 F.2d 194 (8th Cir. 1986).
· cites it 5× “40 C.F.R. § 146.4 . The identification of an exempt aquifer may, in certain circumstances, allow the underground injection of contaminants to be permitted where it would otherwise be prohibited.”
Ctr. for Biological Diversity v. Dep't of Conservation, 236 Cal. Rptr. 3d 729 (Cal. Ct. App. 5th 2018).
· cites it 2× “*167 ( 40 C.F.R. § 146.4 (b).) 5 We will refer *733 to aquifers which meet the definition of underground source of drinking water and, in accordance with that definition, have not been designated as exempt by EPA, as "nonexempt aquifers.”
Nat. Resources Def. Council v. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comm'n, 879 F.3d 1202 (D.C. Cir. 2018).
“” 40 C.F.R. § 146.4 (a)-(b)(l). In the Councils’ view, the Board simply concluded that the effect of the mining project upon the aquifer would be “small” because the effect of any mining project upon any exempted aquifer would be “small,” and saying no more violated the…”
W. Nebraska Resources Council v. United States Env't Prot. Agency, 943 F.2d 867 (8th Cir. 1991).
· cites it 5× “In the order under review, EPA granted that approval, concluding that this portion of the Chadron aquifer qualifies for exemption because (i) it “does not currently serve as a source of drinking water,” 40 C.F.R. § 146.4 (a), and (ii) it “cannot now and will not in the future…”
Ctr. for Biological Diversity v. Dept. of Conservation (Cal. Ct. App. 2018).
· cites it 2× “( 40 C.F.R. § 146.4 (b).)5 We will refer to aquifers which meet the definition of underground source of drinking water and, in accordance with that definition, have not been designated as exempt by EPA, as “nonexempt aquifers.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.