020-18 Wyo. Code R. § 18-1
(a) "Abandoned well" means a well whose use has been permanently discontinued or which is in a state of disrepair such that it cannot be used for its intended purpose or for observation purposes.
(b) "Affected Land or Affected Area" means as defined in W.S. § 35-11-103(e)(xvi).
(c) "Annular Space" means the space between the well casing and the borehole or the space between two or more strings of well casing.
(d) "Area Permit" means that, for the purposes of this Chapter, the Administrator may issue a permit on an area basis, rather than for each well individually, provided that the permit is for UIC Class III Wells:
(e) "Baseline" means the constituents or parameters and the concentrations or measurements which describe water quality and water quality variability prior to the injection of recovery fluid.
(f) "Best Practicable Technology" means as defined in W.S. § 35-11-103(f)(i).
(g) "Catastrophic collapse" means the sudden and utter failure of overlying strata caused by removal of underlying materials. This can occur in salt solution mining and other processes that remove reservoir material to recover product.
(h) "Class III well" means a well used for in situ mining which injects for extraction of minerals, or products, or recovers recovery fluids, minerals or products, including a well used in:
(i) "Compliance schedule" means a schedule of remedial activities included in a permit, including an enforceable sequence of interim requirements (for example, actions, operations, or milestone events) leading to compliance with the applicable statues and regulations.
(j) "Confining zone" means a geological formation, group of formation, or part of a formation that is capable of significantly limiting fluid movement above or below an injection zone.
(k) "Contaminant" means any unwanted or unauthorized physical, chemical, biological, or radiological substance or matter in water.
(l) "Excursion" means as defined in W.S. § 35-11-103(f)(ii).
(m) "Excursion detection" means the detection of any migrating injection or recovery fluids at or beyond the immediate in situ mining area. Excursion detection could include, but is not limited to:
(n) "Exempted aquifer" means an aquifer or its portion that meets the criteria in the definition of "Underground Source of Water" but which has been exempted according to the procedures of Section 11 of this Chapter.
(o) "Flow rate" means the volume per time unit given to flow of gases or other fluid substance which emerges from an orifice, pump, turbine, or passes along a conduit or channel.
(p) "Fluid" means material or substance which flows or moves whether in a semisolid, liquid, sludge, gas or any other form or state.
(q) "Formation" means 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.
(r) "Formation fluid" means a "fluid" present in a "formation" under natural conditions as opposed to introduced fluids.
(s) "Groundwater restoration" means as defined in W.S. § 35-11-103(f)(iii).
(t) "Injection well" means a well or conduit through which recovery fluid is introduced into the subsurface. If a well is used for both injection and recovery, it is considered an injection well for the purposes of this Chapter until the operator has adequately demonstrated to the Administrator that the well has been converted to a use other than injection, per the requirements of Section 10 of this Chapter.
(u) "In situ mining" means as defined in W.S. § 35-11-103(f)(iv).
(v) "License area" means, with respect to an In Situ Research and Development License, an area described in the license application within which all affected land and water is contained.
(w) "Mechanical integrity" means an injection well, a production well, or a monitor well where there is no significant leak in the casing, tubing, or packer, and there is no significant fluid movement into an unauthorized zone through vertical channels adjacent to the injection or recovery well bore.
(x) "Mechanical Integrity Testing (MIT)" means the demonstrations that there are no significant leaks or fluid movement and is based on the results of the mechanical integrity testing required in Section 9 of this Chapter. A schedule and methods for Mechanical Integrity Testing shall be approved by the Administrator and included in the permit or Research and Development Testing License application (per Section 5(c)(vii) of this Chapter) and shall constitute requirements of the permit.
(y) "Mining permit or permit" means as defined in W.S. § 35-11-103(c)(xi).
(z) "Monitor well" means as defined in Chapter 1, Section 2(cj).
(aa) "Monitor Well Ring" means the series of monitor wells surrounding a wellfield used to assess possible chemical and physical changes in groundwater due to in-situ mining.
(ab) "Production Well or Recovery Well" means a well through which a recovery fluid or soluble mineral is produced or recovered from the subsurface. If a well is used for both injection and recovery, it is considered an injection well for the purposes of this chapter, until the operator adequately demonstrates to the Department that the well has been converted to use(s), other than injection, per requirements of Chapter 10 of this Chapter.
(ac) "Production Zone" means as defined in W.S. § 35-11-103(f)(v).
(ad) "Public water supply" means as defined in W.S. § 35-11-103(c)(viii).
(ae) "Receiving strata" means the geologic unit within which the production zone is contained.
(af) "Recovery fluid" means any material which flows or moves, whether semi-solid, liquid, sludge, gas or other form or state, used to dissolve, leach, gasify or extract a mineral. This may also include restoration fluid.
(ag) "Research and Development License" means the permitting vehicle issued by the Administrator, per W.S. § 35-11-431 et seq., approving research and development testing as defined in W.S. § 35-11-103(f)(viii).
(ah) "Sealing" means the operation whereby a cement slurry or other approved material is pumped into a drilled hole and/or forced into a well's annulus between the borehole and casing. "Sealant materials" are materials that are stable, have very low to no permeability and possesses minimum shrinking properties such that they are optimal sealing materials for well plugging and drill hole abandonment.
(ai) "Target Restoration Values" means the numerical groundwater protection standards, developed on a parameter-by-parameter basis for water quality constituents, used to assess the success of groundwater restoration within the production zone.
(aj) "The Division" means the Land Quality Division of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality.
(ak) "Topsoil" means as defined in W.S. § 35-11-103(e)(xiv).
(al) "Underground Injection Control (UIC)" program under Part C of the Safe Drinking Water Act ( 42 USC 300h et seq.), including an "approved State program".
(am) "Underground Source of Water (USW)" means:
(an) "Upper Control Limit (UCL)" means a value greater than the maximum value of a chemical or physical parameter that can be attributed to natural fluctuations and sampling and agree upon by the Administrator and the operator prior to initiation of mining. UCLs are used to determine when there is movement of recovery fluid out of authorized areas or unapproved changes to a chemical or physical parameter. For certain parameters, such as pH, a UCL may be defined as an acceptable range of values.
(ao) "Waters of the State" means as defined in W.S. 35-11-103(c)(vi).
(ap) "Well" means a bored, drilled, or driven shaft whose depth is greater than the largest surface dimension; or, a dug hole whose depth is greater than the largest surface dimension; or an improved sinkhole, or a subsurface fluid distribution system, as codified in 40 CFR 144.3.
(aq) "Well field area" means the surface area overlying the injection and recovery zones. This area may be all or a portion of the entire area proposed for the injection and production of recovery fluid throughout the life of the mine.
020-18 Wyo. Code R. § 18-1
Amended, Eff. 11/13/2018.