Michael O. Leavitt Center for Politics & Public Service

Project Prologue

Underground Water Sources

October 1994 The Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program exists to protect underground sources of ground water from contamination through discharges into the subsurface via injection wells. Underground sources of drinking water, or USDWs, are ground water aquifers that currently serve as sources of drinking water or could do so in the future based on the quality of the ground water and a sustainable flow rate sufficient to supply a drinking water well.

Although the UIC Program is a federal EPA Program, Utah has received authority from EPA to administer the program for all injection wells. The Utah Division of Water Quality administers the Utah UIC Program for Class I, III, IV, and V injection wells, the definitions for which are available in the regulations, R317-7.  DETAIL OF THE PARTICULAR ISSUE On October 28, 1994, the Utah Water Quality Board approved revisions to the Utah UIC Program administrative rules, R317-7, to incorporate recent changes in the federal UIC rules that clarify existing requirements pertaining to financial responsibility and permit applications and add additional requirements for Class I, III, and V injection wells pertaining to mechanical integrity, plugging and abandonment, Class V authorization by rule, and hazardous waste injection.  WHY IT WAS IMPORTANT In order to maintain primacy of the UIC Program, Utah’s UIC rules must meet the minimum requirements of the federal rules. Therefore, it was necessary for Utah to incorporate these changes in the federal rule. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DECISIONS MADE Several of the changes addressed Class I Non-Hazardous and Class I Hazardous injection wells. Insofar as Utah does not have any Class I injection wells, implementation of the Utah UIC Program was not affected by these changes. November 17, 2000 DETAIL OF THE PARTICULAR ISSUE On November 17, 2000, the Utah Water Quality Board approved revisions to the Utah UIC Program administrative rules, R317-7, to incorporate recent changes in the federal UIC rules that banned the construction of new Motor Vehicle Waste Disposal Wells and Large Capacity Cesspools and required closure of existing ones.  EPA issued this ban after conducting a study that identified these two types of wells as significant point sources of contamination to USDWs. WHY IT WAS IMPORTANT In order to maintain primacy of the UIC Program, Utah’s UIC rules must meet the minimum requirements of the federal rules. Therefore, it was necessary for Utah to incorporate these changes in the federal rule. Implementation of this ban will eliminate an important source of ground water contamination. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DECISIONS MADE This change in the Utah UIC Rule was significant as it required a significant amount of staff time to identify and close these newly banned wells, to educate the public about improper disposal of motor vehicle wastewater, and to ensure that no new motor vehicle waste disposal wells are built.

Michael O. Leavitt Center for Politics and Public Service