N.J. Admin. Code § 7:9D-1.8

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 9, May 6, 2024

Section 7:9D-1.8 - License application and licensing examination procedures

(a) An applicant for a well driller or pump installer license shall:

1. Submit a complete application on the form prescribed by the Department pursuant to (d) below;

2. Demonstrate that he or she has satisfied all terms and conditions of any final revocation or suspension of a previously issued license or resolved any outstanding final order or penalty pursuant to the Act;

3. Demonstrate that he or she has met the experience requirements by conducting activities in compliance with this chapter within the State of New Jersey, except as provided at (a)4 below, and has obtained a passing grade on the certification exams administered by an examination and CEP manager selected by the Department and required for the proper license class pursuant to Table 1 below. The New Jersey Regulations exam for the applicable license class shall have been taken no more than two years prior to submitting an application.

Table 1

Application for NJ Well Driller License Class		Required Proficiency as Demonstrated by Certification Exams	Required Experience
Master well driller	Licensed as a Journeyman well driller on or after January 2, 2018	General Drilling; Augering and Monitoring; Two of the following: Cable Tool, Air Rotary, Mud Rotary, or Reverse Rotary; Water Systems General Exam; Water Systems < 100 gpm; Water Systems < 100 gpm; NJ Regulations for Masters.	Five years experience, including two years as a Journeyman well driller; experience must include construction or decommissioning of five wells from Category 1, 2, or 3 within the preceding five years from the date of application.
Licensed as a Journeyman well driller before January 2, 2018	One of the following: Cable Tool, Air Rotary, Reverse Rotary; Water Systems > 100 gpm; NJ Regulations for Masters.	Five years experience, including two years as a Journeyman well driller; experience must include construction or decommissioning of five wells from Category 1, 2, or 3 within the preceding five years from the date of application.
Journeyman well driller	General Drilling; Augering and Monitoring; One of the following: Cable Tool, Air Rotary, Mud Rotary, or Reverse Rotary; Water Systems General Exam; One of the following: Water Systems < 100 gpm, or Water Systems > 100 gpm; NJ Regulations for Journeyman.	Three years experience under the supervision of an ERG, Journeyman (Class B), Journeyman, Master, or VCLG well driller; experience must include construction or decommissioning of five wells from Category 1, 2, or 3 within the preceding five years from the date of application.
Journeyman (Class B) well driller	General Drilling; One of the following: Cable Tool, Air Rotary, Mud Rotary, or Reverse Rotary; Water Systems General Exam; One of the following: Water Systems <100 gpm, or Water Systems > 100 gpm; NJ Regulations for Journeyman (Class B).	Three years experience under the supervision of an ERG, Journeyman (Class B), Journeyman, Master or VCLG well driller; experience must include construction or decommissioning of five wells from Category 1, 2, or 3 within the preceding five years from the date of application.
Environmental Resource and Geotechnical (ERG) well driller	General Drilling; Augering and Monitoring; NJ Regulations for ERG drilling.	Two years experience under the supervision of an ERG, Journeyman (Class B), Journeyman, Master or VCLG well driller; experience must include construction or decommissioning of five wells within the preceding five years years from the date of application.
Dewatering well driller	General Drilling; Jetting and Driving wells; NJ Regulations for Dewatering.	Two years experience under the supervision of a Dewatering, Journeyman (Class B), Journeyman, Master or ERG well driller; experience must include construction or decommissioning of five wells within the preceding five years from the date of application.
Vertical Closed Loop Geothermal (VCLG) well driller	General Drilling; Vertical Closed Loop Drilling; One of the following: Cable Tool, Air Rotary, Mud Rotary, or Reverse Rotary; NJ Regulations for VCLG drilling.	Two years experience under the supervision of a Dewatering, Journeyman (Class B), Journeyman, Master or ERG well driller; experience must include construction or decommissioning of five wells within the preceding five years from the date of application.
Elevator Borehole well driller	General Drilling; NJ Regulations for Elevator boreholes.	Two years experience drilling elevator boreholes; Effective JANUARY 2, 2020, the applicant must demonstrate that the experience has been obtained under the supervision of a Master, Journeyman, Journeyman (Class B), or Elevator Borehole well driller.
Pump Installer	Water Systems General Exam; One of the following: Water Systems <100 gpm, or Water Systems >100 gpm; NJ Regulations for Pump Installer.	Two years experience under the supervision of Pump Installer, Journeyman, Journeyman (Class B), or Master well driller.

4. Demonstrate that an applicant that does not possess the required experience in the State of New Jersey, shall pass the certifications set forth in (a)3 above and demonstrate the equivalent years of experience in any other state.

(b) In the event that a certification exam required pursuant to (a) above is no longer offered or is changed, the Board may approve an alternate certification exam. A list of these approved alternate certification exams will be published on the Department's website pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:9D-1.17.

(c) As of March 1, 2018:

1. The Department will no longer issue or renew monitoring well driller or soil borer licenses.

i. Any person licensed as a monitoring well driller pursuant to this chapter before March 1, 2018, may, in lieu of applying for a new license pursuant to (a) above, apply for renewal as an environmental resource and geotechnical well driller upon expiration of the monitoring well driller license;

ii. Any person licensed as a soil borer pursuant to this chapter before March 1, 2018, may, in lieu of applying for a new license pursuant to (a) above, successfully complete a Department-approved training course, to renew their license as an environmental resource and geotechnical well driller. Any licensee who fails to complete this training course shall no longer be licensed pursuant to this chapter; and

iii. A licensee in good standing may submit in writing to the Department a request for a waiver from the training requirements in (c)1ii above on the basis of active duty in the military or reserves, illness, disability, or other good cause.

2. Any person licensed as a journeyman (Class B) well driller may choose to qualify to be licensed as a journeyman well driller upon successful completion of a Department-approved training course.

3. Experience obtained under the supervision of a monitoring well driller or soil borer is considered equivalent to experience obtained under the supervision of an environmental resource and geotechnical well driller to meet the experience requirements of (a) above.

(d) Applications for a license under this section shall be submitted on a form prescribed by the Department signed by the applicant. The application requires an applicant to provide the following information including, but not limited to:

1. Name, e-mail and mailing address, age, and daytime or work telephone number;

2. The last four digits of the applicant's Social Security number;

3. Education;

4. Description of work experience, including documentation verifying experience requirements in Table 1 at (a) above, such as W-2 forms, well records, well decommissioning reports, tax records, invoices or a copy of an out-of-State license, and/or company registration;

5. Two professional references that verify work experience described in (d)4 above. For all in-State applicants, except master well drillers, one reference must be a well driller; and

6. A signed and notarized certification verifying the accuracy of the document.

(e) The Department shall review each application for a well driller or pump installer license for completeness of all the information required in (d) above and notify the applicant in writing of any deficiencies.

1. The Department will present the names and qualifications of eligible license applicants to the Board at the next scheduled Board meeting, provided that the application is complete and received by the Department no later than 10 working days before that meeting.

2. The Board shall review the list of candidates and their qualifications and recommend to the Commissioner through a Board resolution that a license be issued or denied pursuant to the procedures established at N.J.A.C. 7:9D-1.10.

(f) The Department shall notify all applicants of the Board's recommendation in writing.

(g) The Department shall, upon recommendation of the Board and payment of the required fee, issue new licenses to persons to engage in well drilling or pump installing.

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:9D-1.8

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

Amended by 53 N.J.R. 1489(a), effective 9/7/2021