Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 24, December 23, 2024
These definitions apply to 19.11.1 through 19.11.4 NMAC. See
Section 71-9-3 NMSA 1978 (2016) for the
definitions of "correlative rights", "division",
"geothermal reservoir", "geothermal resources" and
"person".
A.
Definitions beginning with the letter "A".
(1)
"Act" means the Geothermal Resources Development
Act, Section
71-9-1 et seq. NMSA 1978
(2016).
(2)
"Affected
person" means a person having a property interest, water right or
geothermal resource interest (correlative right) within the public notice area
specified in Subsection B of
19.11.2.13 NMAC.
(3)
"Applicant" means any person
who applies with the division for a permit to construct, modify or operate a
well or facility used for the exploration, development or production of
geothermal resources.
(4)
"Annular space" means the space between the walls of the well as
drilled and the casing or between a permanent casing and the
borehole.
(5)
"ASL"
means above sea level.
B.
Definitions beginning with the letter "B".
(1)
"Blowout" means an
uncontrolled escape of liquids or gases, or both, from a geothermal
well.
(2)
"Blowout prevention
equipment" means equipment that is designed to be attached to the casing
in a geothermal well to prevent a blowout.
(3)
"BOPE" means blowout
prevention equipment.
C.
Definitions beginning with the letter "C".
(1)
"Casing" means the conduit
required to prevent waste and contamination of the ground water, the geothermal
resource or both, and to hold the formation open during the well's construction
or use.
(2)
"Closed-loop
system" as used in 19.11.4 NMAC means a system that uses above ground
tanks for the management of drilling fluids.
(3)
"Contaminant" means any
physical, chemical, biological or radiological substance or matter in
water.
D.
Definitions beginning with the letter "D".
(1)
"Department" means the
energy, minerals and natural resources department.
(2)
"Director" means the
director of the energy conservation and management division of the
department.
(3)
"Drilling
operations" means the actual drilling, re-drilling, completion or
recompletion of a well for exploration, observation, production or injection
including the running and cementing of casing, the performance of such
operations as logging and perforating and the installation of pumps and
well-head equipment.
E.
Definitions beginning with the letter "E".
(1)
"EPA" means the United
States environmental protection agency.
(2)
"Exploratory well" means a
well drilled for the discovery or evaluation of geothermal resources either in
an identified geothermal reservoir or in unexplored areas.
F.
Definitions beginning with the
letter "F".
"Fresh water" means the water in lakes and
playas (regardless of quality, unless the water exceeds 10,000 mg/l TDS and it
can be shown that degradation of the water body will not adversely affect
hydrologically connected ground water), the surface waters of streams
regardless of the water quality within a given reach and ground water that has
an existing concentration of 10,000 mg/l or less.
G.
Definitions beginning with the
letter "G".
"GRCA" means the Geothermal Resources
Conservation Act, Section
71-5-1 et seq. NMSA
1978.
H.
Definitions
beginning with the letter "H".
[RESERVED]
I.
Definitions beginning with the
letter "I".
"Injection well" means any well employed for
injecting material into a geothermal area or adjacent area to maintain
pressures in a geothermal reservoir, pool or other source, or to provide new
material to serve as a material medium therein, or for reinjecting any material
medium (including fluids) or the residue thereof, or any by-product of
geothermal resource exploration or development into the earth.
J.
Definitions beginning with the
letter "J".
[RESERVED]
K.
Definitions beginning with the
letter "K".
[RESERVED]
L.
Definitions beginning with the
letter "L".
"LLDPE" means linear low-density
polyethylene.
M.
Definitions
beginning with the letter "M".
(1)
"Material medium" means any substance including, but not limited
to, naturally heated fluids, brines, associated gases and steam in whatever
form, found at any depth and in any position below the surface of the earth,
which contains or transmits the natural heat energy of the earth, but excluding
petroleum, oil, hydrocarbon gas or other hydrocarbon substances.
(2)
"Mg/l" means milligrams per
liter.
(3)
"Mg/kg"
means milligrams per kilogram.
(4)
"MIT" means mechanical integrity test.
(5)
"Monitoring well" means, for
purposes of 19.11.4 NMAC, any well used to observe the level of the water and
its temperature, pressure and chemistry in a shallow protected water aquifer
above or near a potential geothermal resource.
N.
Definitions beginning with the
letter "N".
"Notice" means, for purposes of 19.11.4 NMAC, a
written statement to the division that the permittee intends to do
work.
O.
Definitions
beginning with the letter "O". "Observation well" means any
well used to observe the level of the water and its temperature, pressure and
chemistry in an area of potential geothermal resource. This includes a thermal
gradient well.
P.
Definitions
beginning with the letter "P".
(1)
"Permittee" means the person issued a permit by the director, or a
person required to have a permit pursuant to 19.11.2 NMAC including a person
who is required to have a permit but has not applied for or obtained a permit.
The permittee shall be the owner of the geothermal lease or geothermal interest
and any well(s) or facility located upon the geothermal lease or interest or
the operator of the geothermal facility if it is someone other than the owner
of the geothermal lease or interest.
(2)
"Pit" means a drilling,
workover or blow-down pit, which is constructed with the intent that the pit
will hold liquids and mineral solids. Pits may be used for one or more wells
and must be located at one of the associated permitted well drilling locations
or surface facilities. Any containment structure such as a pond or other
impoundment that holds only fresh water that has not been treated for drilling,
workover or blow-down purposes is not a pit.
(3)
"Production well" means a
well which is used to transmit fluids derived from a geothermal resource to the
surface where the fluids are available for industrial, commercial or domestic
purposes.
Q.
Definitions beginning with the letter "Q".
[RESERVED]
R.
Definitions beginning with the letter "R".
"Responsible
official" means a corporate officer (president, secretary, treasurer or
vice president), general partner or proprietor or public principal executive
officer or elected official who is authorized to execute documents on behalf of
the corporation, entity or office.
S.
Definitions beginning with the
letter "S".
(1)
"Sump"
means a subgrade impermeable vessel that is partially buried in the ground, is
in contact with the ground surface or is a collection device incorporated
within a secondary containment system, which remains predominantly empty,
serves as a drain or receptacle for de minimis releases on an intermittent
basis and is not used to store, treat, dispose of or evaporate products or
geothermal wastes. Buckets, pails, drip pans or similar vessels that are not in
contact with the ground surface are not sumps.
(2)
"Suspension of operations"
means the cessation of drilling, re-drilling or alteration of casing before the
well is officially abandoned or completed.
T.
Definitions beginning with the
letter "T".
"TDS" means total dissolved solids.
U.
Definitions beginning with the
letter "U".
(1)
"UIC"
means Underground Injection Control.
(2)
"UTM" means Universal
Transverse Mercator.
V.
Definitions beginning with the letter "V".
[RESERVED]
W.
Definitions beginning with the letter "W".
(1)
"Waste" means any physical
waste including, but not limited to:
(a)
underground waste resulting from inefficient, excessive or improper use, or
dissipation of geothermal energy, or of any geothermal resource pool, reservoir
or other source; or the locating, spacing, constructing, equipping, operating
or producing of any well in a manner that results, or tends to result, in
reducing the quantity of geothermal energy to be recovered from any geothermal
area; or
(b) the inefficient
above-ground transporting and storage of geothermal energy; and the locating,
spacing, equipping, operating or producing of any well or injection well in a
manner causing or tending to cause unnecessary or excessive surface loss or
destruction of geothermal energy; the escape into the open air from a well of
steam or hot water that exceeds what is reasonably necessary in the efficient
development or production of a well.
(2)
"Well" means, (a) a bored,
drilled or driven shaft; (b) a dug hole whose depth is greater than the largest
surface dimension; (c) an improved sinkhole; or (d) a subsurface fluid
distribution system.
