Public resources: oil and gas: underground injection of gas.

Existing law establishes the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources in the Department of Conservation and provides the division with the authority to regulate oil and gas wells and production facilities. Existing law defines "well" to mean, among other things, a well drilled for the purpose of disposing of waste fluids from an oil or gas field. Existing law requires a person engaging in the operation of a class II commercial wastewater disposal well to file an indemnity bond with the State Oil and Gas Supervisor. This bill would revise this definition of "well" to mean a well used for the purposes of disposing of waste fluids brought to the surface in connection with conventional oil or gas production and may be commingled with wastewater from gas plants that are an integral part of production operations, unless those wastewaters are classified as hazardous waste at the time of injection. Existing law requires an operator of a well to file with the supervisor a report containing, among other things, information on the disposition of the water produced from an oil or gas field, the amount of fluid injected into a well used for enhanced recovery, and wastewater disposal. This bill would require a person engaging in the operation of a class II commercial waste fluid disposal well to file with the supervisor an indemnity bond. The bill would require an operator of a well to file with the supervisor a report containing information on the disposal of fluid and the composition of fluid in an oil or gas field, and additionally require the report to include the composition of fluid injected into a well.