New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 19 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND WILDLIFE
Chapter 15 - OIL AND GAS
Part 36 - SURFACE WASTE MANAGEMENT FACILITIES
Section 19.15.36.7 - DEFINITIONS

Universal Citation: 19 NM Admin Code 19.15.36.7

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 18, September 24, 2024

A. Definitions relating to types of surface waste management facilities.

(1) "Centralized facility" means a surface waste management facility:
(a) that is used exclusively by one generator subject to New Mexico's Oil and Gas Conservation Tax Act, NMSA 1978, Section 7-30-1, as amended;

(b) where the generator or operator does not receive compensation for oil field waste management at that facility; and

(c) receives exclusively oil field wastes that are generated from production units or leases the generator, or an affiliate of the generator, operates (for this provision's purposes, an affiliate of a generator is a person who controls, is controlled by or is under common control with the generator).

(2) "Commercial facility" means a surface waste management facility that is not a centralized facility.

(3) "Landfarm" means a discrete area of land designated and used for the remediation of petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated soils and drill cuttings.

(4) "Landfill" means a discrete area of land or an excavation designed for permanent disposal of exempt or non-hazardous waste.

(5) "Small landfarm" means a centralized landfarm of two acres or less that has a total capacity of 2000 cubic yards or less in a single lift of eight inches or less, remains active for a maximum of three years from the date of its registration and that receives only petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated soils (excluding drill cuttings) that are exempt or non-hazardous waste.

B. Other definitions.

(1) "Active portion" means that part of a surface waste management facility that has received or is receiving oil field waste and has not been closed.

(2) "Cell" means a confined area engineered for the disposal or treatment of oil field waste.

(3) "Composite liner" means a liner that may consist of multiple layers of geosynthetics and low-permeability soils. The different layers of a composite liner may have different material properties and may be applied at different stages of landfill liner installation.

(4) "Geosynthetic" means the general classification of synthetic materials used in geotechnical applications, including the following classifications:
(a) "geocomposite" means a manufactured material using geotextiles, geogrids or geomembranes, or combinations thereof, in a laminated or composite form;

(b) "geogrid" means a deformed or non-deformed, netlike polymeric material used to provide reinforcement to soil slopes;

(c) "geomembrane" means an impermeable polymeric sheet material that is impervious to liquid and gas as long as it maintains its integrity, and is used as an integral part of an engineered structure designed to limit the movement of liquid or gas in a system;

(d) "geonet" means a type of geogrid that allows planar flow of liquids and serves as a drainage system;

(e) "geosynthetic clay liner (GCL)" means a relatively thin layer of processed clay (typically bentonite) that is either bonded to a geomembrane or fixed between two sheets of geotextile; and

(f) "geotextile" means a sheet material that is less impervious to liquid than a geomembrane but more resistant to penetration damage, and is used as part of an engineered structure or system to serve as a filter to prevent the movement of soil fines into a drainage system, to provide planar flow for drainage, to serve as a cushion to protect geomembranes or to provide structural support.

(5) "Leachate" means the liquid that has passed through or emerged from oil field waste and contains soluble, suspended or miscible materials.

(6) "Landfarm cell" means a bermed area of 10 acres or less within a landfarm.

(7) "Landfarm lift" means an accumulation of soil or drill cuttings predominately contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons that is placed into a landfarm cell for treatment.

(8) "Lower explosive limit" means the lowest percent by volume of a mixture of explosive gases in air that will propagate a flame at 77 degrees fahrenheit and atmospheric pressure.

(9) "Major modification" means a modification of a surface waste management facility that involves an increase in the land area that the permitted surface waste management facility occupies; a change in the design capacity or nature of the permitted oil field waste stream; addition of a new treatment process; an exception to, waiver of or change to a numerical standard provided in 19.15.36 NMAC; or other modification that the division determines is sufficiently substantial that public notice and public participation in the application process are appropriate.

(10) "Minor modification" means a modification of a surface waste management facility that is not a major modification.

(11) "Operator" means the person who owns the surface waste management facility.

(12) "Poor foundation conditions" are features that indicate that a natural or human-induced event may result in inadequate foundational support for a surface waste management facility's structural components.

(13) "Run-off" means rainwater, leachate or other liquid that drains over land from any part of a surface waste management facility.

(14) "Structural components of a landfill" are liners, leachate collection and removal systems, final covers, run-on/run-off systems and other components used in a landfill's construction or operation that are necessary for protection of fresh water, public health or the environment.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. New Mexico may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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