N.M. Admin. Code § 19.15.17.7 - DEFINITIONS
A. "Alluvium" means
detrital material that water or other erosional forces have transported and
deposited at points along a watercourse's flood plain. It typically is composed
of sands, silts and gravels; exhibits high porosity and permeability; and
generally carries fresh water.
B.
"Below-grade tank" means a vessel with greater than a five barrel capacity,
excluding sumps and pressurized pipeline drip traps, installed within an
excavation or buried below the surrounding ground surface's elevation.
Below-grade tank does not include an above-ground storage tank that is located
above or at the surrounding ground surface's elevation and is surrounded by
berms.
C. "Closed-loop system" means
a system that uses above ground steel tanks for the management of drilling
fluids.
D. "Continuously flowing
watercourse" means a river, stream or creek that is named or delineated by a
solid blue line on a USGS quadrangle map having a scale factor of 1:24,000, or
an irrigation channel, or a water course that typically has water flowing
during the majority of the days of the year. This does not include ephemeral
washes, arroyos, and similar depressions that do not have flowing water during
the majority of the days of the year.
E. "Division-approved facility" means a
division-permitted surface waste management or injection facility, a facility
permitted pursuant to 20.6.2 NMAC, a facility approved pursuant to
19.15.35.8 NMAC or other facility
that the division specifically approves for the particular purpose. The
division shall not approve any facility not otherwise permitted unless it finds
that the facility's use for the specified purpose will protect fresh water,
public health and the environment and comply with other applicable federal or
state statutes, federal regulations, state rules and local
ordinances.
F. "Emergency pit" means
a pit that is constructed during an emergency to contain a spill in the event
of a release.
G. "Exception" means
authorization from the division's Santa Fe office to depart from the
requirements of 19.15.17 NMAC.
H.
"Floodplain" means US army corps of engineers or FEMA documented 100-year
floodplain.
I. "Life-form ratio"
means the relative percentage of regionally native plant species in each of the
following classifications: shrubs, forbs, and grasses.
J. "Low chloride fluids" means water-based
fluids that contain less than 15,000 mg/liter of chlorides as determined by
field or laboratory analysis.
K.
"Measureable" means a layer of oil, the thickness of which is discernible by
color cutting or other acceptable method.
L. "Multi-well fluid management pit" means a
pit used for the storage, treatment and recycling of stimulation fluids and
flow-back water during the drilling and completion of multiple wells.
Multi-well fluid management pits may not be used for the disposal of drilling,
completion or other waste. Multi-well fluid management pits may be located
either onsite or offsite of a well drilling location and may remain in use
until all wells with approved application for permit to drill that are
identified in the pit permit are completed. Any addition of wells or extensions
for permits to drill identified in the pit permit shall go to hearing. Any
containment structure such as a pond, pit, or other impoundment that holds only
fresh water that has not been treated for oil field purposes, is not a
multi-well fluid management pit.
M.
"Onsite" means within the boundaries of a single lease where exploration and
production waste is generated.
N.
"Permanent pit" means a pit used for collection, retention or storage of
produced water or brine that is constructed with the conditions and for the
duration provided in its permit, and is not a temporary pit.
O. "Restore" means to return a site to its
former condition, in the manner and to the extent required by applicable
provisions of 19.15.17 NMAC.
P.
"Significant watercourse" means a watercourse with a defined bed and bank
either named or identified by a dashed blue line on a USGS 7.5 minute
quadrangle map or the next lower order tributary with a defined bed and bank of
such watercourse.
Q. "Sump" means a
subgrade impermeable vessel that is partially buried in the ground, is in
contact with the ground surface, or is a collection device incorporated within
a secondary containment system, which remains predominantly empty, serves as a
drain or receptacle for de minimis releases on an intermittent basis and is not
used to store, treat, dispose of or evaporate products or wastes. Buckets,
pails, drip pans or similar vessels that are not in contact with the ground
surface are not sumps.
R. "Temporary
pit" means a pit, including a drilling or workover pit, which is constructed
with the intent that the pit will hold liquids and mineral solids. Temporary
pits may be used for one or more wells and must be located at one of the
associated permitted well drilling locations. Temporary pits must be closed
within six months from the date the operator releases the drilling or workover
rig from the first well using the pit. Any containment structure such as a
pond, pit, or other impoundment that holds only fresh water that has not been
treated for oil field purposes, is not a temporary pit.
S. "Variance" means authorization from the
appropriate division district office to depart from the requirements of
19.15.17 NMAC. A variance may not be obtained where exceptions are required by
a provision of 19.15.17 NMAC.
T.
"Visible" when used with respect to oil on the surface of a pit means any
amount of oil whether measurable or a sheen on the pit's liquid
surface.
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