(a) General requirements. Operators of onshore Federal and Indian oil and gas leases shall comply with the requirements and standards of this subpart for the protection of surface and subsurface resources. Except as provided under § 3177.8(c), the operator may not dispose of produced water unless and until approval is obtained from the authorized officer. All produced water from Federal/Indian leases must be disposed of by injection into the subsurface, discharging into pits, or other acceptable methods approved by the authorized officer, including surface discharge under NPDES permit. Injection is generally the preferred method of disposal. Operators are encouraged to contact the appropriate authorized officer before filing an application for disposal of produced water so that the operator may be apprised of any existing agreements outlining cooperative procedures between the Bureau of Land Management and either the State/Indian Tribe or the Environmental Protection Agency concerning Underground Injection Control permits for injection wells, and of any potentially significant adverse effects on surface and/or subsurface resources. The approval of the Environmental Protection Agency or a State/Tribe shall not be considered as granting approval to dispose of produced water from leased Federal or Indian lands until and unless BLM approval is obtained. Applications filed pursuant to NTL-2B and still pending approval shall be supplemented or resubmitted if they do not meet the requirements and standards of this subpart. The disposal methods shall be approved in writing by the authorized officer regardless of the physical location of the disposal facility. Existing NTL-2B approvals will remain valid. However, upon written justification, the authorized officer may impose additional conditions or revoke any previously approved disposal permit, if the authorized officer, for example, finds that an existing facility is creating environmental problems, or that an unlined pit should be lined, because the quality of the produced water has changed so that it no longer meets the standards for unlined pits set out in this subpart.

(b) Temporary disposal. Unless prohibited by the authorized officer, produced water from newly completed wells may be temporarily disposed of into reserve pits for a period of up to 90 days, if the use of the pit was approved as a part of an application for permit to drill. Any extension of time beyond this period requires documented approval by the authorized officer.

(c) Approval timeline. (1) Upon receipt of a completed application the authorized officer shall take one of the following actions within 30 days:

(i) Approve the application as submitted or with appropriate modification or conditions;

(ii) Return the application and advise the applicant in writing of the reasons for disapproval; or

(iii) Advise the applicant in writing of the reasons for delay and the excepted final action date.

(2) If the approval for a disposal facility, e.g., commercial pit or class II injection well, is revoked or suspended by the permitting agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency or the primacy State, the BLM water disposal approval is immediately terminated and the operator is required to propose an alternative disposal method.