The provisions of this subpart are applicable to those facilities engaged in the production, field exploration, drilling, well completion and well treatment in the oil and gas extraction industry which are located landward of the inner boundary of the territorial seas as defined in 40 CFR 125.1(gg) and which are not included within subpart D, E, or F, Provided, however, That the applicability of this subpart to (a) facilities in existence on April 13, 1979 or thereafter engaged in the production, field exploration, drilling, well completion and well treatment in the oil and gas extraction industry which are located on land and which would have been considered “coastal” as defined under the interim final regulations for this industry (40 CFR 435.41, 41 FR 44942, October 13, 1976) or which are (b) located in the Santa Maria Basin of California is suspended.

(Secs. 301, 304(b) and 501 of the Clean Water Act as amended, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) [44 FR 22075, Apr. 13, 1979, as amended at 47 FR 31555, July 21, 1982]

For the purpose of this subpart:

(a) The general definitions, abbreviations, and methods of analysis set forth in 40 CFR part 401 shall apply to this subpart.

Except as provided in §§ 125.30 through 125.32, any existing point source subject to this subpart shall achieve the following effluent limitations representing the degree of effluent reduction attainable by the application of the best practicable control technology currently available (BPT): there shall be no discharge of waste water pollutants into navigable waters from any source associated with production, field exploration, drilling, well completion, or well treatment (i.e., produced water, drilling muds, drill cuttings, and produced sand).

[60 FR 33966, June 29, 1995]

(a) PSES for wastewater from unconventional oil and gas extraction. Except as provided in 40 CFR 403.7 and 403.13, any existing source subject to this section, must achieve the following pretreatment standards for existing sources (PSES).

(1) There shall be no discharge of wastewater pollutants associated with production, field exploration, drilling, well completion, or well treatment for unconventional oil and gas extraction (including, but not limited to, drilling muds, drill cuttings, produced sand, produced water) into publicly owned treatment works.

(2) For the purposes of this section,

(i) Unconventional oil and gas means crude oil and natural gas produced by a well drilled into a shale and/or tight formation (including, but not limited to, shale gas, shale oil, tight gas, tight oil).

(ii) Drill cuttings means the particles generated by drilling into subsurface geologic formations and carried out from the wellbore with the drilling fluid.

(iii) Drilling mud means the circulating fluid (mud) used in the rotary drilling of wells to clean and condition the hole and to counterbalance formation pressure.

(iv) Produced sand means the slurried particles used in hydraulic fracturing, the accumulated formation sands, and scales particles generated during production. Produced sand also includes desander discharge from the produced water waste stream, and blowdown of the water phase from the produced water treating system.

(v) Produced water means the fluid brought up from the hydrocarbon-bearing strata during the extraction of oil and gas, and includes, where present, formation water, injection water, and any chemicals added downhole or during the oil/water separation process.

(3) Compliance deadline for existing sources. Existing sources discharging into publicly owned treatment works on or between April 7, 2015 and June 28, 2016, shall comply with the PSES by August 29, 2019. All other existing sources shall comply by August 29, 2016.

(b) PSES for Wastewater from Conventional Oil and Gas Extraction. [Reserved]

[81 FR 41857, June 28, 2016, as amended at 81 FR 88127, Dec. 7, 2016]

(a) PSNS for wastewater from unconventional oil and gas extraction. Except as provided in 40 CFR 403.7 and 403.13, any new source with discharges subject to this section must achieve the following pretreatment standards for new sources (PSNS).

(1) There shall be no discharge of wastewater pollutants associated with production, field exploration, drilling, well completion, or well treatment for unconventional oil and gas extraction (including, but not limited to, drilling muds, drill cuttings, produced sand, produced water) into publicly owned treatment works.

(2) For the purposes of this section, the definitions of unconventional oil and gas, drill cuttings, drilling muds, produced sand, and produced water are as specified in § 435.33(b)(2)(i) through (v).

(b) PSNS for Wastewater from Conventional Oil and Gas Extraction. [Reserved]

[81 FR 41857, June 28, 2016]