Current through Register Vol. 43, No. 12, March 20, 2024
(a) No
operator shall test, construct, convert, or operate a storage facility without
a site selection plan approved by the director. The operator shall submit a
proposed site selection plan to the conservation division that includes all
information specified in, and demonstrates compliance with, subsections (b)
through (k).
(b) Each operator
shall submit to the conservation division an area of review evaluation, signed
by a licensed professional engineer or licensed professional geologist,
identifying any plugged or unplugged well of any type, including any well used
for production of oil or gas, water supply or injection, solution mining,
storage operations, monitoring, or corrosion control, that penetrates the
storage facility and is located within one-quarter mile of any proposed
boundary. The area of review evaluation shall contain any information available
from public records, publicly accessible data, or the operator's records.
(1) The operator shall indicate whether each
well has been properly constructed or plugged to protect public safety, usable
water, and soil.
(2) The operator
shall include a schedule to correct or plug any well that is not properly
constructed or plugged to protect public safety, usable water, and soil,
including any well that does not have adequate cement to isolate any storage
cavity or storage reservoir from any reservoir in the well, or adequate cement
behind the casing.
(c)
Each operator shall submit the proposed boundaries of the storage facility.
(1) No reservoir storage facility boundary
may be approved by the conservation division unless each reservoir storage well
is located at least 150 feet from each boundary.
(2) No storage facility boundary may be
approved by the conservation division unless the boundary is located at least
two miles from each of the following:
(A)
Active or abandoned excavated mine cavity;
(B) solution mining operation facility
boundary;
(C) LPG, crude oil, or
natural gas storage facility boundary;
(D) underground porosity gas storage facility
boundary; and
(E) any incorporated
city or organized township.
(d)
(1) Each
operator of a cavern storage facility shall demonstrate that any potential
surface subsidence event would remain within the storage facility boundary. No
cavern storage facility boundary may be approved by the director unless each of
the following is located at least 100 feet from the cavern wall:
(A) Land owned by a surface owner who has not
submitted to the operator a signed consent form stating that there is no
objection to storage;
(B) any
building or structure not owned by the cavern storage facility's
owner;
(C) any utility with a
right-of-way, including any wind generator, electrical transmission line, or
pipeline; and
(D) any railroad,
road, or highway.
(2) A
distance greater than 100 feet may be required if the director determines that
a greater distance is necessary to protect public safety, usable water, or
soil.
(e) No cavern
having a maximum horizontal diameter of greater than 300 feet may be approved
by the director.
(f) Each cavern
storage well shall be located so that each cavern wall is at least 100 feet
from each cavern wall of any offset storage cavern. The operator shall consider
the cavern spacing-to-diameter ratio, cavern pressure differentials, frequency
of cavern injection and withdrawal cycles, and cavern shape, size, and
depth.
(g) Each operator of a
cavern storage facility shall submit the proposed salt roof thickness, which
shall be at least 100 feet measured from the top of the bedded salt formation
to the cavern roof, unless otherwise approved by the director.
(h) Each operator shall submit a regional
geological evaluation and a local geological evaluation covering an area within
one-quarter mile outside each storage facility boundary, for all formations
between the surface and the top of the proposed cavern or reservoir, and all
formations below the base of the proposed cavern or reservoir to a depth of 300
feet below the base.
(1) If the proposed
storage facility is a cavern storage facility, the applicant shall submit the
following:
(A) A structure map and
stratigraphic cross section identifying any bedded salt formation proposed to
be solution mined, usable water formation, regional or local fault zone,
structural anomaly, salt thinning due to strat-igraphic change, dissolution
zone in the salt, and migration pathway that could cause a loss of containment;
and
(B) an isopach map of the
bedded salt formation identifying any regional or local faulting, dissolution
zone in the salt, salt thinning due to any stratigraphic change, and migration
pathway that could cause a loss of containment.
(2) If the proposed storage facility is a
reservoir storage facility, the applicant shall submit the following:
(A) A structure map and stratigraphic cross
section identifying the reservoir and any usable water formation, regional or
local fault zone, structural anomaly, structural spill point controlling the
containment of air, and migration pathway that could cause a loss of
containment; and
(B) an isopach map
of the storage reservoir formation identifying any regional or local faulting
and any migration pathway that could cause a loss of containment.
(3) Each operator shall submit an
updated local geologic evaluation pursuant to subsection (h) within 30 days
after any new storage well is drilled and completed, unless otherwise approved
by the director.
(i)
(1) Each operator shall submit the proposed
layout of the storage facility and the equipment design parameters, including
the minimum and maximum pressure, temperature, and flow rate requirements for
the following:
(A) Each electrical generating
facility component, including any compressor train used to increase air
pressure, compressor intercooler or aftercooler used to reduce air temperature
before injection into any cavern storage well, recuperator, expander, exhaust
air stack, and fuel-fired combustion turbine;
(B) any equipment, alarm, or safety device
that prevents the injection of water and moisture into a cavern;
(C) each air injection and withdrawal flow
line connecting any storage well to the electrical generating facility;
and
(D) any flow line, equipment,
and class I injection well that is used to dispose of fluids and solids
produced during storage well operations.
(2) The operator shall list any air sample
location that will be used to monitor the quality of air injected into any
storage well.
(3) The layout of the
proposed storage facility shall include the following:
(A) Each storage well;
(B) for any plugged or unplugged cavern
storage well, the cavern configuration and dimensions associated with each
historical sonar survey;
(C) the
corrosion control system;
(D) any
well in the area of review evaluation submitted pursuant to subsection
(b);
(E) any navigable water,
floodplain, or area prone to flooding;
(F) any utility having a right-of-way,
including any wind generator, electrical transmission line, or pipeline;
and
(G) any manufactured surface
structure, including any industrial or agricultural facility.
(4) Within 30 days after
construction of the storage facility is completed, the operator shall submit an
updated layout of the storage facility and the updated equipment design
parameters to the conservation division.
(j) No person shall test, construct, convert,
or operate a storage facility or drill, complete, service, plug, or operate any
storage well in either of the following types of geological strata:
(1) A porous geologic stratum containing
usable water; or
(2) an excavated
mine cavity.
(k) No site
selection plan may be approved by the director if underground communication
between cavern storage wells exists.
