N.J. Admin. Code § 7:9D-1.11

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 21, November 4, 2024

Section 7:9D-1.11 - Well permits

(a) Except where the emergency procedures set forth in 7:9D-1.12 apply, the owner or authorized agent of the land on which the well drilling activity is conducted and the New Jersey licensed well driller of the proper class shall sign and obtain a valid New Jersey well permit from the Department prior to drilling, constructing, installing, physically altering, or redesignating the use of any well.

(b) The use of a well shall not be redesignated pursuant to (a) above unless the well driller is able to verify that the well to be redesignated satisfies all applicable construction standards established for the new use of the well.

(c) A site-wide permit may be obtained for 10 or more wells for the same use, where the borehole and any annular space remaining after the installation of equipment necessary for the intended use of the well are sealed during construction or where the wells are installed to function in a series as part of a system, such as dewatering wells and wellpoints, temperature probes, electrodes, injection wells used for bioremediation or chemical remediation, wick drain, soil boring, soil vapor extraction, air sparge, closed-loop geothermal, cathodic protection, vibrating wire piezometer, pneumatic piezometer, and borros anchor.

(d) Well permits are non-transferable and valid for a period of one year from the date of issuance, except for well permits issued for domestic use, which are valid for a period of two years.

1. If the well is not constructed within the appropriate period, a new well permit shall be obtained from the Department prior to the start of any well drilling activity.

(e) Except for general permits-by-rule established pursuant to (g) below, the well driller shall keep an electronic or paper copy of the State well permits and shall make the permits available onsite at all times for inspection by any State, county, or local official. The well driller shall provide the property owner with a copy of the permit in advance of drilling activity, which shall be made available for inspection upon request of any State, county, or local official.

(f) A State well permit shall be required prior to the construction of all wells as described in N.J.A.C. 7:9D-2, except for those wells described in (g) and (h) below. An applicant for a permit to drill, construct, install, physically alter, or redesignate the use shall submit an application as follows:

1. For each well requiring a permit, a well permit application shall be submitted via the Department's electronic permitting system, which requires the owner's name and address, name of facility, well driller's name and address, the proposed diameter, the proposed depth, the proposed pumping capacity, the type of well, the proposed location of well in relation to any building structure and the potential sources of contamination identified in N.J.A.C. 7:9D-2.7(a) through (c), the date of application, and the electronic certification of the well driller who has submitted the application form. For applications that cannot be accurately submitted via the Department's electronic permitting system or where applicants have no access to a computer, the Department requires the submission of an application on a paper form prescribed by the Department. In addition to the information listed in this paragraph, a completed paper application requires the signature of the property owner, the signature of the well driller, and the New Jersey registration number of the well driller submitting the paper application.

2. For applications for public community water supply wells, including supply and test wells for future potable use, the following additional information shall be required:

i. The permit application number of the Permit to Construct the public community water supply wells required pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:10-11; and

ii. All well permits submitted for public community water supply or test wells for future potable use shall include a copy of the schematic drawing of the proposed or existing well construction.

3. The proposed well location (horizontal data point), as well as the method used to obtain the proposed well location, shall be reported in all well applications according to (f)2i through iv below. Explanatory information and program contacts are provided on the Department's website at www.nj.gov/dep/watersupply or by contacting the Department pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:9D-1.17.

i. All well location coordinates shall be mapped within 100 feet of the actual proposed location. The mapping method used shall have horizontal accuracy of at least 30 meters.

ii. Horizontal data points shall be submitted in New Jersey State Plane coordinates using the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 1983), and shall conform to N.J.A.C. 7:1D Appendix A, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Geographic Information System Mapping and Digital Data Standards, incorporated herein by reference, as amended and supplemented. This can also be found electronically at: http://www.nj.gov/dep/rules/rules/njac7_1d.pdf.

iii. Well locational information shall be reported using one of the following methods:

(1) Global Positioning System (GPS). GPS data shall be obtained in accordance with Department standards set forth at N.J.A.C. 7:1D Appendix A. More information on GPS is available on the Department's Bureau of Geographic Information Systems' website at http://www.nj.gov/dep/gis. The GPS coordinates shall be collected by the well drillers as close as possible to the proposed well location;

(2) NJ-GeoWeb. Access to NJ-GeoWeb and a tutorial is available through the Department's Bureau of Geographic Information Systems' (BGIS) website at http://www.nj.gov/dep/gis; or

(3) Survey. All surveyed coordinate locations for a proposed well shall be established by a New Jersey licensed land surveyor.

(g) As provided by N.J.S.A. 58:4A-14a(2), the following activities are considered general permits-by-rule and may be conducted by a well driller without an individual permit issued by the Department:

1. The repair of any well to include redevelopment or in kind well screen replacements;

2. The installation of pitless well adapters;

i. Pitless well adapters may also be installed by licensed pump installers without an individual permit.

3. Soil borings and any Category 4 wells that are 50 feet or less in total depth and 8.5 inches or less in borehole diameter;

4. Cathodic protection wells which are 50 feet or less in total depth and six inches or less in borehole diameter; and

5. Dewatering wells or dewatering wellpoints that are 25 feet or less in total depth and six inches or less in borehole diameter; and

6. Elevator jackholes or boreholes requiring casing as per N.J.A.C. 7:9D-2.5(c) that are installed in a manner that is protective of groundwater in accordance with the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Division of Codes and Standards, Uniform Construction Code, N.J.A.C. 5:23 and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators at A17.1, which are incorporated herein by reference, as amended and supplemented.

(h) Any activity performed pursuant to (g) above shall be performed and completed by a well driller and any resulting well shall be constructed and decommissioned in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:9D-2 and 3, except that no well record or well decommissioning report shall be required.

(i) Where appropriate, the Department shall, as a condition of a well permit, require that a well driller comply with one or more of the following conditions:

1. Limit or modify the depth, screened interval or open hole interval, design, well location and/or specify special or alternative construction methods used;

2. Provide advanced notice of drilling in order to allow for the inspection of the well site by authorized representatives and/or provide for the taking of geophysical logs, geologic or water samples as necessary; and/or

3. Any requirement deemed necessary by the Department to protect public health and/or the subsurface and percolating waters of the State.

(j) The owner of the property on which a well is drilled shall be responsible for ensuring that all information provided to the well driller for the well permit application is true, accurate, and complete. The well driller shall be responsible for providing accurate information regarding the property, the property owner information, the well location, and proposed construction information on the well permit application in accordance with (f) above. In cases where the property owner has designated an authorized agent in writing, the agent shall assume the owner's responsibility for the information on the permit application.

(k) The well permit application shall be returned without review to the well driller if the Department determines that:

1. The application is incomplete, contains inaccurate information, lacks sufficient information, or is illegible; or

2. The application is not accompanied by the required fee.

(l) Any request for deviation from standards pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:9D-2.8 shall be submitted to the Department.

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:9D-1.11

Amended by 50 N.J.R. 171(a), effective 1/2/2018