SECTION 5.102. Definitions

The following terms, when used in Subchapter B of this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

(1) Affected person--A person who, as a result of activity sought to be permitted has suffered or may suffer actual injury or economic damage other than as a member of the general public.

(2) Anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO ₂ )--

(A) CO₂ that has been captured from or would otherwise have been released into the atmosphere that has been:

(i) separated from any other fluid stream; or

(ii) captured from an emissions source, including:

(I) an advanced clean energy project as defined by Health and Safety Code, §382.003, or another type of electric generation facility; or

(II) an industrial source of emissions; and

(iii) any incidental associated substance derived from the source material for, or from the process of capturing, CO₂ described by clause (i) of this subparagraph; and

(iv) any substance added to CO₂ described by clause (i) of this subparagraph to enable or improve the process of injecting the CO₂ ; and

(B) does not include naturally occurring CO₂ that is produced, acquired, recaptured, recycled, and reinjected as part of enhanced recovery operations.

(3) Anthropogenic CO₂ injection well--An injection well used to inject or transmit gaseous, liquid, or supercritical anthropogenic CO₂ into a reservoir.

(4) Aquifer--A geologic formation, group of formations, or part of a formation that is capable of yielding a significant amount of water to a well or spring.

(5) Area of review (AOR)--The subsurface three-dimensional extent of the CO₂ stream plume and the associated pressure front, as well as the overlying formations, any underground sources of drinking water overlying an injection zone along with any intervening formations, and the surface area above that delineated region.

(6) Carbon dioxide (CO₂ ) plume--The underground extent, in three dimensions, of an injected CO₂ stream.

(7) Carbon dioxide (CO₂ ) stream--CO₂ that has been captured from an emission source or the atmosphere, incidental associated substances derived from the source materials and the capture process, and any substances added to the stream to enable or improve the injection process. The term does not include any CO₂ stream that meets the definition of a hazardous waste under 40 CFR Part 261.

(8) Casing--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.

(9) Cementing--The operation whereby a cement slurry is pumped into a drilled hole and/or forced behind the casing.

(10) Class VI well--Any well used to inject anthropogenic CO₂ specifically for the purpose of the long-term containment of a gaseous, liquid, or supercritical CO₂ in subsurface geologic formations.

(11) Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)--The codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the federal government.

(12) Commission--A quorum of the members of the Railroad Commission of Texas convening as a body in open meeting.

(13) Confining zone--A geologic formation, group of formations, or part of a formation stratigraphically overlying the injection zone or zones that acts as barrier to fluid movement. For Class VI wells operating under an injection depth waiver, confining zone means a geologic formation, group of formations, or part of a formation stratigraphically overlying and underlying the injection zone or zones that acts as a barrier to fluid movement.

(14) Corrective action--Methods to assure that wells within the area of review do not serve as conduits for the movement of fluids into or between underground sources of drinking water, including the use of corrosion resistant materials, where appropriate.

(15) Delegate--The person authorized by the director to take action on behalf of the Railroad Commission of Texas under this chapter.

(16) Director--The director of the Oil and Gas Division of the Railroad Commission of Texas or the director's delegate.

(17) Division--The Oil and Gas Division of the Railroad Commission of Texas.

(18) Draft permit--A document prepared indicating the director's tentative decision to issue or deny, modify, revoke and reissue, terminate, or reissue a permit. A notice of intent to terminate a permit, and a notice of intent to deny a permit are types of "draft permits." A denial of a request for modification, revocation and reissuance, or termination is not a draft permit.

(19) Enhanced recovery operation--Using any process to displace hydrocarbons from a reservoir other than by primary recovery, including using any physical, chemical, thermal, or biological process and any co-production project. This term does not include pressure maintenance or disposal projects.

(20) EPA--The United States Environmental Protection Agency.

(21) Exempted aquifer--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 in 40 CFR §144.7.

(22) Facility closure--The point at which the operator of a geologic storage facility is released from post-injection storage facility care responsibilities.

(23) Flow rate--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.

(24) Fluid--Any material or substance which flows or moves whether in a semisolid, liquid, sludge, gas, or any other form or state.

(25) Formation--A body of consolidated or unconsolidated 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.

(26) Formation fluid--Fluid present in a formation under natural conditions.

(27) Fracture pressure--The pressure that, if applied to a subsurface formation, would cause that formation to physically fracture.

(28) Geologic storage--The long-term containment of gaseous, liquid, or supercritical anthropogenic CO₂ in subsurface geologic formations.

(29) Geologic storage facility or storage facility--The underground geologic formation, underground equipment, injection wells, and surface buildings and equipment used or to be used for the geologic storage of anthropogenic CO₂ and all surface and subsurface rights and appurtenances necessary to the operation of a facility for the geologic storage of anthropogenic CO₂ . The term includes the subsurface three-dimensional extent of the CO₂ plume, associated area of elevated pressure, and displaced fluids, as well as the surface area above that delineated region, and any reasonable and necessary areal buffer and subsurface monitoring zones. The term does not include a pipeline used to transport CO₂ from the facility at which the CO₂ is captured to the geologic storage facility. The storage of CO ₂ incidental to or as part of enhanced recovery operations does not in itself automatically render a facility a geologic storage facility.

(30) Good faith claim--A factually supported claim based on a recognized legal theory to a continuing possessory right in pore space such that the pore space can be used for geologic storage of carbon dioxide.

(31) Injection zone--A geologic formation, group of formations, or part of a formation that is of sufficient areal extent, thickness, porosity, and permeability to receive CO ₂ through a well or wells associated with a geologic storage facility.

(32) Injection well--A well into which fluids are injected.

(33) Interested person--Any person who expresses an interest in an application, permit, or Class VI UIC well.

(34) Limited English-speaking household--A household in which all members 14 years and older have at least some difficulty with English.

(35) Lithology--The description of rocks on the basis of their physical and chemical characteristics.

(36) Mechanical integrity--

(A) An anthropogenic CO₂ injection well has mechanical integrity if:

(i) there is no significant leak in the casing, tubing, or packer; and

(ii) there is no significant fluid movement into a stratum containing an underground source of drinking water through channels adjacent to the injection well bore as a result of operation of the injection well.

(B) The Commission will consider any deviations during testing that cannot be explained by the margin of error for the test used to determine mechanical integrity, or other factors, such as temperature fluctuations, to be an indication of the possibility of a significant leak and/or the possibility of significant fluid movement into a stratum containing an underground source of drinking water through channels adjacent to the injection wellbore.

(37) Monitoring well--A well either completed or re-completed to observe subsurface phenomena, including the presence of anthropogenic CO₂ , pressure fluctuations, fluid levels and flow, temperature, and/or in situ water chemistry.

(38) Offshore--The area in the Gulf of Mexico seaward of the coast that is within three marine leagues of the coast.

(39) Operator--A person, acting for itself or as an agent for others, designated to the Railroad Commission of Texas as the person with responsibility for complying with the rules and regulations regarding the permitting, physical operation, closure, and post-closure care of a geologic storage facility, or such person's authorized representative.

(40) Owner--The owner of any facility or activity subject to regulation under the UIC program.

(41) Owner or operator--The owner or operator of any injection well, or any other facility or activity that is subject to regulation under the UIC program. When a geologic storage facility is owned by one person but is operated by another person, it is the operator's duty to comply with the requirements of this subchapter and any permit issued under this subchapter, except that either the owner or the operator may demonstrate financial responsibility.

(42) Packer--A device lowered into a well to produce a fluid-tight seal.

(43) Permit--An authorization, license, or equivalent control document issued by the Commission to implement the requirements of this chapter.

(44) Person--A natural person, corporation, organization, government, governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, or any other legal entity.

(45) Plugging--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.

(46) Post-injection facility care--Monitoring and other actions (including corrective action) needed following cessation of injection to assure that underground sources of drinking water are not endangered and that the anthropogenic CO₂ remains confined to the permitted injection interval.

(47) Pressure front--The zone of elevated pressure that is created by the injection of the CO₂ stream into the subsurface where there is a pressure differential sufficient to cause movement of the CO₂ stream or formation fluids from the injection zone into an underground source of drinking water.

(48) Reservoir--A natural or artificially created subsurface stratum, formation, aquifer, cavity, void, or coal seam.

(49) Stratigraphic test well--An exploratory well drilled for the purpose of gathering information in connection with a proposed carbon dioxide geologic storage project, including formation testing to obtain information on the chemical and physical characteristics of the injection zones and confining zones. Such testing may include injectivity testing.

(50) Stratum (or strata)--A single sedimentary bed or layer, regardless of thickness, that consists of generally the same kind of rock material.

(51) Surface casing--The first string of well casing to be installed in the well.

(52) Transmissive fault or fracture--A fault or fracture that has sufficient permeability and vertical extent to allow fluids to move beyond the confining zone.

(53) UIC--Underground injection control.

(54) Underground source of drinking water (USDW)--An aquifer or its portion which is not an exempt aquifer as defined in 40 CFR §146.4 and which:

(A) supplies any public water system; or

(B) contains a sufficient quantity of ground water to supply a public water system; and

(i) currently supplies drinking water for human consumption; or

(ii) contains fewer than 10,000 mg/l total dissolved solids.

(55) Well injection--The subsurface emplacement of fluids through a well.

(56) Well stimulation--Any of 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 fluid to move more readily into the formation including, but not limited to, surging, jetting, blasting, acidizing, and hydraulic fracturing.

(57) Workover--An operation in which a down-hole component of a well is repaired or the engineering design of the well is changed. Workovers include operations such as sidetracking, the addition of perforations within the permitted injection interval, and the addition of liners or patches. For the purposes of this chapter, workovers do not include well stimulation operations.

Source Note: The provisions of this §5.102 adopted to be effective December 20, 2010, 35 TexReg 11202; amended to be effective September 19, 2022, 47 TexReg 5797; amended to be effective September 11, 2023, 48 TexReg 5022