Ala. Admin. Code r. 400-8-1-.01

Current through Register Vol. 43, No. 3, December 31, 2024

Section 400-8-1-.01 - [Effective 1/11/2025] Definitions

1.Abandoned well shall mean, for purposes only of compliance with requirements herein, that a well is to be considered abandoned when it has not been used for twelve (12) consecutive months and cannot be operated, whether because it was drilled as a dry hole or has ceased to be utilized, or operations have not been conducted thereon, or for some other reason.

2.Activity shall mean any activity related to the geologic storage of carbon dioxide subject to regulation under this chapter.

3.Aquifer shall mean a geological formation, group of formations, or part of a formation that is capable of yielding a significant amount of water to a well, spring, or other point of discharge.

4.Area of review shall mean the region adjoining and surrounding the geologic sequestration project or geologic storage area where underground sources of drinking water or other natural resources may be endangered by the storage operation and injection activity. The term "area of review" may be used synonymously with the term "buffer zone."

5.Carbon dioxide plume shall mean the extent underground, in three dimensions, of an injected carbon dioxide stream.

6.Carbon dioxide stream shall mean carbon dioxide that has been captured from an emission source (e.g., a coal-burning power plant), plus incidental associated substances derived from the source materials and the capture process, and any substances added to the stream to enable or improve the injection process. This does not apply to any carbon dioxide stream that meets the definition of a hazardous waste.

7.Casing shall mean a pipe or tubing of varying diameter and weight, which is installed into a well to maintain the structural integrity of that well.

8.Closure period shall mean that period from permanent cessation of carbon dioxide injection until the Board issues a certificate of project completion.

9.Confining zone shall mean a geologic formation, group of formations, or part of a formation stratigraphically overlying the injection zone that acts as a barrier to fluid movement.

10.Contaminant shall mean any physical, chemical, biological, or radiological substance or matter in water.

11.Corrective action shall mean the use of methods approved by the Board to ensure that wells within the area of review do not serve as conduits for the movement of fluids into underground sources of drinking water or damage natural resources.

12.Fault shall mean a zone of rock fracture along which there has been displacement.

13.Flowlines shall mean a pipeline that transports full well stream production from a well site to the production equipment where produced hydrocarbons are first separated, dehydrated, commingled with other production, or otherwise processed or to the point of custody transfer. Furthermore, pipelines transporting carbon dioxide from the carbon dioxide injection facilities to the wellhead.

14.Fluid shall mean any material or substance which flows or moves, whether in a semisolid, liquid, sludge, gaseous, or any other form or state.

15.Formation shall mean a body of rock characterized by a degree of lithologic homogeneity which is prevailingly, but not necessarily, tabular and is mappable on the earth's surface or traceable in the subsurface.

16.Formation fluid shall mean fluid present in a formation under natural conditions as opposed to introduced fluids.

17.Formation fracture pressure shall mean the pressure, measured in pounds per square inch, which, if applied to a subsurface formation, will cause that formation to fracture.

18.Geologic storage or sequestration shall mean the geologic storage of a gaseous, liquid, or supercritical carbon dioxide stream in a storage facility or reservoir. This term does not apply to carbon dioxide transportation. The terms "geologic storage" or "geologic sequestration" may be use synonymously.

19.Ground water shall mean water occurring beneath the surface of the ground that fills available openings in rock or soil materials such that they may be considered saturated.

20.Injection well shall mean a nonexperimental well used to inject carbon dioxide into or withdraw carbon dioxide from a reservoir.

21.Injection zone shall mean a geologic formation, group of formations, or part of a formation that is of sufficient areal extent, thickness, porosity, and permeability to receive carbon dioxide through a well or wells associated with a geologic sequestration project.

22.Mechanical integrity shall mean the absence of significant leakage within an injection well's tubing, casing, or packer (internal mechanical integrity), or outside of the casing (external mechanical integrity).

23.Minerals shall mean coal, oil, and natural gas.

24.Model shall mean a representation or simulation of a phenomenon or process that is difficult to observe directly or that occurs over long timeframes. Models that support geologic sequestration can predict the flow of carbon dioxide within the subsurface, accounting for the properties and fluid content of the subsurface formations and the effects of injection parameters.

25.Operational period shall mean the period during which injection occurs.

26.Packer shall mean a device lowered into a well, which can be expanded or compressed to produce a fluid-tight seal.

27.Person shall mean any natural person, firm, corporation, association, partnership, joint venture, receiver, trustee, guardian, executor, administrator, fiduciary, representative of any kind or any other group acting as a unit.

28.Plug or plugging shall mean the act or process of sealing the flow of fluid into or out of a formation through a borehole or "well" penetrating that formation.

29.Pore space shall mean the subsurface space that can be used for the geologic storage of sequestration of carbon dioxide and incidental substances that are part of the carbon dioxide capture, transportation, and storage process.

30.Post-closure period shall mean that period after the Board has issued a certificate of project completion.

31.Post-injection site care shall mean appropriate monitoring and other actions, including corrective action, needed following cessation of injection to ensure that underground sources of drinking water are not endangered. Post-injection site care may occur in the closure or post-closure periods.

32.Pressure shall mean the total load or force per unit area acting on a surface.

33.Pressure front shall mean the zone of elevated pressure and displaced fluids created by the injection of carbon dioxide into the subsurface. The pressure front of a carbon dioxide plume refers to a zone where there is a pressure differential sufficient to cause the movement of injected fluids or formation fluids into underground sources of drinking water.

34.Project completion shall mean the point in time, as determined by the Board at which the certificate of project completion is issued and the storage operator is released from all regulatory requirements associated with the storage facility.

35.Storage facility shall mean any underground reservoir used or to be used for the underground storage of carbon dioxide and all surface and subsurface rights and appurtenances necessary or useful in the operation of the facility for the underground storage of carbon dioxide, including any necessary or reasonable buffer zone as designated by the board for the purpose of ensuring the safe operation of the storage of carbon dioxide and to protect the storage facility against pollution, invasion, and escape or migration of carbon dioxide therefrom, together with any and all subsequent extensions thereof.

36.Storage facility area shall mean the area with designated boundaries on which the storage facility is located.

37.Storage facility Operator shall mean the person or entity designated by the Board to operate the storage facility.

38.Storage facility plan shall mean the detailed proposal addressing the operation of the storage facility.

39.Stratigraphic test well shall mean any hole or well drilled or bored into the subsurface for the purpose of obtaining cores or other geologic information and data.

40.Stratum shall mean a single sedimentary bed or layer, regardless of thickness, that consists of generally the same kind of rock material.

41.Subsurface observation well shall mean a well that is used to observe subsurface phenomena, including the presence of carbon dioxide, pressure fluctuations, fluid levels and flow, temperature, and in situ water chemistry.

42.Transmissive fault or fracture shall mean a fault or fracture that has sufficient permeability and vertical extent to allow fluids to move between formations.

43.Trapping shall mean the physical and geochemical processes by which injected carbon dioxide is sequestered in the subsurface. Physical trapping occurs when buoyant carbon dioxide rises in the formation until it reaches impermeable strata that inhibits further upward and lateral migration or is immobilized in pore spaces due to capillary forces. Geochemical trapping occurs when chemical reactions between the injected carbon dioxide and natural occurring minerals in the formation lead to the precipitation of solid carbonate minerals or dissolution in formation fluids.

44.Underground source of drinking water (USDW)

a. Shall mean any aquifer or its portion:

i. Which supplies any public water system; or

ii. Which contains a sufficient quantity of ground water to supply a public water system; and

a. Currently supplies drinking water for human consumption; or

b. Contains fewer than 10,000 mg/L total dissolved solids; and

b. Shall mean an aquifer or its portion which is not an exempted aquifer.

45.Well shall mean any oil or gas well, any well drilled or being drilled in search of oil and gas, any well defined as a class II injection well, any well defined as a class VI injection well, any well utilized for underground storage, or any well used for geologic storage.

Ala. Admin. Code r. 400-8-1-.01

Adopted by Alabama Administrative Monthly Volume XLIII, Issue No. 02, November 27, 2024, eff. 1/11/2025.

Author: S. Marvin Rogers

Statutory Authority: 9-17-150 et seq. of the Code of Alabama (1975)