On August 15th, the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) published for public comment proposed amendments to the waste management rules in RRC Chapters 3 and 4. This draft was published after receiving input from oil & gas industry experts, environmental consultants, and the public over the last couple of years.
Beginning in early 2021, a task force of oil & gas industry experts and environmental consultants formed to revise the existing waste management rules. Their recommendations were passed on to the RRC who thereafter reviewed the feedback and drafted a proposal which was published for public comment in October of last year. The input received then prompted the newest version of the draft published last month.
The current rule has only received minor amendments since its adoption in 1984 so this will be the first major overhaul in four decades! While these changes were motivated by the RRC’s need to address environmental concerns, as well as significant changes in the industry’s practices, the effort to revise the regulations was initiated by RRC Commissioner Jim Wright who planned to rewrite Rule 8.
What is Rule 8?
The RRC uses Rule 8 to decide how companies should handle the material that is dug up from the ground during oil and gas operations. Because this material from the oilfields is exempt from federal regulations for hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Rule 8 regulates how this waste can be recycled for additional drilling or dumped in pits near the well. However, pits can pose a risk to the environment as they can leak this toxic waste and contaminate surface and ground water. The RRC aims to address these concerns and modernize their regulations to keep up with the growing industry.
Proposed Amendments
The proposed new rules expand the waste under RRC jurisdiction to those from other operations such as brine mining, injection and carbon sequestration wells. The RRC will also require waste generators to characterize the waste and may even request a laboratory analysis for waste generated at a commercial facility. There are new and modified definitions of common terms such as “commercial facility” and “non-commercial facility,” and “produced water recycling facility” and “produced water recycling pit.”
The new rules will authorize an operator to engage in waste management activities without a permit as long as the appropriate rule requirements are met. The RRC also proposes that authorized pits be separated into two categories: Schedule A and Schedule B, each with its own requirements, regarding content type and construction specifications. Operators will also be required to perform monitoring only if groundwater is likely to be present within 100 feet of the ground surface.
The RRC proposes the new waste management rules to go into effect July 1, 2025.
For more information, the complete proposal can be found at the RRC website at https://www.rrc.texas.gov/general-counsel/rules/proposed-rules/ under Chapters 3 and 4.