Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) Except where the emergency procedures set
forth in 7:9D-1.12 apply, the owner or
authorized agent of the land on which the well drilling activity is conducted
and the New Jersey licensed well driller of the proper class shall sign and
obtain a valid New Jersey well permit from the Department prior to drilling,
constructing, installing, physically altering, or redesignating the use of any
well.
(b) The use of a well shall
not be redesignated pursuant to (a) above unless the well driller is able to
verify that the well to be redesignated satisfies all applicable construction
standards established for the new use of the well.
(c) A site-wide permit may be obtained for 10
or more wells for the same use, where the borehole and any annular space
remaining after the installation of equipment necessary for the intended use of
the well are sealed during construction or where the wells are installed to
function in a series as part of a system, such as dewatering wells and
wellpoints, temperature probes, electrodes, injection wells used for
bioremediation or chemical remediation, wick drain, soil boring, soil vapor
extraction, air sparge, closed-loop geothermal, cathodic protection, vibrating
wire piezometer, pneumatic piezometer, and borros anchor.
(d) Well permits are non-transferable and
valid for a period of one year from the date of issuance, except for well
permits issued for domestic use, which are valid for a period of two years.
1. If the well is not constructed within the
appropriate period, a new well permit shall be obtained from the Department
prior to the start of any well drilling activity.
(e) Except for general permits-by-rule
established pursuant to (g) below, the well driller shall keep an electronic or
paper copy of the State well permits and shall make the permits available
onsite at all times for inspection by any State, county, or local official. The
well driller shall provide the property owner with a copy of the permit in
advance of drilling activity, which shall be made available for inspection upon
request of any State, county, or local official.
(f) A State well permit shall be required
prior to the construction of all wells as described in N.J.A.C. 7:9D-2, except
for those wells described in (g) and (h) below. An applicant for a permit to
drill, construct, install, physically alter, or redesignate the use shall
submit an application as follows:
1. For each
well requiring a permit, a well permit application shall be submitted via the
Department's electronic permitting system, which requires the owner's name and
address, name of facility, well driller's name and address, the proposed
diameter, the proposed depth, the proposed pumping capacity, the type of well,
the proposed location of well in relation to any building structure and the
potential sources of contamination identified in N.J.A.C.
7:9D-2.7(a)
through (c), the date of application, and the electronic certification of the
well driller who has submitted the application form. For applications that
cannot be accurately submitted via the Department's electronic permitting
system or where applicants have no access to a computer, the Department
requires the submission of an application on a paper form prescribed by the
Department. In addition to the information listed in this paragraph, a
completed paper application requires the signature of the property owner, the
signature of the well driller, and the New Jersey registration number of the
well driller submitting the paper application.
2. For applications for public community
water supply wells, including supply and test wells for future potable use, the
following additional information shall be required:
i. The permit application number of the
Permit to Construct the public community water supply wells required pursuant
to N.J.A.C. 7:10-11; and
ii. All
well permits submitted for public community water supply or test wells for
future potable use shall include a copy of the schematic drawing of the
proposed or existing well construction.
3. The proposed well location (horizontal
data point), as well as the method used to obtain the proposed well location,
shall be reported in all well applications according to (f)2i through iv below.
Explanatory information and program contacts are provided on the Department's
website at
www.nj.gov/dep/watersupply or by
contacting the Department pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:9D-1.17.
i. All well location coordinates shall be
mapped within 100 feet of the actual proposed location. The mapping method used
shall have horizontal accuracy of at least 30 meters.
ii. Horizontal data points shall be submitted
in New Jersey State Plane coordinates using the North American Datum of 1983
(NAD 1983), and shall conform to
N.J.A.C. 7:1D Appendix A, New
Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Geographic Information System
Mapping and Digital Data Standards, incorporated herein by reference, as
amended and supplemented. This can also be found electronically at:
http://www.nj.gov/dep/rules/rules/njac7_1d.pdf.
iii. Well locational information shall be
reported using one of the following methods:
(1) Global Positioning System (GPS). GPS data
shall be obtained in accordance with Department standards set forth at
N.J.A.C. 7:1D Appendix A. More information on GPS is available
on the Department's Bureau of Geographic Information Systems' website at
http://www.nj.gov/dep/gis. The
GPS coordinates shall be collected by the well drillers as close as possible to
the proposed well location;
(2)
NJ-GeoWeb. Access to NJ-GeoWeb and a tutorial is available through the
Department's Bureau of Geographic Information Systems' (BGIS) website at
http://www.nj.gov/dep/gis;
or
(3) Survey. All surveyed
coordinate locations for a proposed well shall be established by a New Jersey
licensed land surveyor.
(g) As provided by N.J.S.A. 58:4A-14a(2), the
following activities are considered general permits-by-rule and may be
conducted by a well driller without an individual permit issued by the
Department:
1. The repair of any well to
include redevelopment or in kind well screen replacements;
2. The installation of pitless well adapters;
i. Pitless well adapters may also be
installed by licensed pump installers without an individual permit.
3. Soil borings and any Category 4
wells that are 50 feet or less in total depth and 8.5 inches or less in
borehole diameter;
4. Cathodic
protection wells which are 50 feet or less in total depth and six inches or
less in borehole diameter; and
5.
Dewatering wells or dewatering wellpoints that are 25 feet or less in total
depth and six inches or less in borehole diameter; and
6. Elevator jackholes or boreholes requiring
casing as per N.J.A.C. 7:9D-2.5(c) that are installed in a
manner that is protective of groundwater in accordance with the New Jersey
Department of Community Affairs, Division of Codes and Standards, Uniform
Construction Code, N.J.A.C. 5:23 and the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers, Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators at A17.1, which
are incorporated herein by reference, as amended and supplemented.
(h) Any activity performed
pursuant to (g) above shall be performed and completed by a well driller and
any resulting well shall be constructed and decommissioned in accordance with
N.J.A.C. 7:9D-2 and 3, except that no well record or well decommissioning
report shall be required.
(i) Where
appropriate, the Department shall, as a condition of a well permit, require
that a well driller comply with one or more of the following conditions:
1. Limit or modify the depth, screened
interval or open hole interval, design, well location and/or specify special or
alternative construction methods used;
2. Provide advanced notice of drilling in
order to allow for the inspection of the well site by authorized
representatives and/or provide for the taking of geophysical logs, geologic or
water samples as necessary; and/or
3. Any requirement deemed necessary by the
Department to protect public health and/or the subsurface and percolating
waters of the State.
(j)
The owner of the property on which a well is drilled shall be responsible for
ensuring that all information provided to the well driller for the well permit
application is true, accurate, and complete. The well driller shall be
responsible for providing accurate information regarding the property, the
property owner information, the well location, and proposed construction
information on the well permit application in accordance with (f) above. In
cases where the property owner has designated an authorized agent in writing,
the agent shall assume the owner's responsibility for the information on the
permit application.
(k) The well
permit application shall be returned without review to the well driller if the
Department determines that:
1. The
application is incomplete, contains inaccurate information, lacks sufficient
information, or is illegible; or
2.
The application is not accompanied by the required fee.
(l) Any request for deviation from standards
pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:9D-2.8 shall be submitted to the Department.
