22 Miss. Code. R. 23-08-110
Oil and Gas Exploration and Production
110.01 Directional drilling from existing
sites, canals, bayous, deeper bay waters, or non-marsh locations must be used
in preference to temporary roads. Temporary roadbeds (preferably plank roads)
to provide access from land must be used in preference to dredging canals for
access to well sites.
110.02
Proposed road alignments must use upland or previously disturbed marsh areas.
110.03 All streams must be bridged
or provided with culverts to prevent alterations to tidal influence and natural
drainage patterns.
110.04 Culverts
or similar structures must be installed under the road at appropriate intervals
(never more than two hundred and fifty (250) feet apart) to prevent blockage of
surface drainage or tidal flow, with all culvert openings being subsequently
maintained.
110.05 No hydrocarbons,
hydrocarbon containing substances, drilling muds, drill cuttings, or toxic
substances are allowed to flow into coastal wetlands or other wetlands adjacent
to coastal wetlands.
110.06 Upon
completion or abandonment of wells in coastal wetlands or other wetlands
adjacent to coastal wetlands, all unnecessary equipment must be removed; the
well site, levees, roads, and work areas must be restored to the conditions
that supported the type of wetland that existed prior to development.
110.07 Existing navigable waters must be used
for access to oil and gas extraction sites in preference to new dredging or
excavation.
110.08 Sensitive
coastal wetlands and other productive shallow water areas must be avoided when
siting extraction facilities. Directional drilling must be employed when the
shorelines of barrier islands or beaches, small fishing banks, hard banks, or
reefs would otherwise be disturbed.
110.09 No discharge into coastal wetlands or
other wetlands adjacent to coastal wetlands of cuttings, drilling fluids,
produced waters, sanitary wastes, contaminated deck drainage, or any other
materials that are associated with oil and gas operations in the coastal
wetlands of Mississippi, except that non-contact cooling waters when permitted
for discharge under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program
is allowed.
110.10 To maintain the
integrity of small fishing banks, (generally five hundred (500) acres or less)
and their accessibility by sport and commercial fishermen, no structures are
authorized to be placed either temporarily or permanently on the top of these
banks.
110.11 For exploration and
production activities in close proximity to sensitive coastal wetlands or
fishing areas, uncontaminated drill cuttings must be shunted away from
sensitive areas and discharged at or near the bottom, or must be transported to
shore or to less sensitive offshore locations.
110.12 Drilling and production structures,
and oil pipelines must not be placed within one (1) mile of the bases of live
reefs.
110.13 All facilities,
obstructions, or debris that could impair recreational or commercial fishing
must be removed or terminated beneath the water bottom. Whenever this is not
practicable, a lighted buoy must mark them to prevent fouling of fishing gear.
110.14 All pipelines placed in
coastal wetlands must be buried.
110.15 See also Requirements for Dredging and
Excavation (Chapter 08, 117).
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.