§300h–1 State primary enforcement responsibility

Summary

The Administrator must publish, within 180 days after December 16, 1974, a list of States that might need a program to keep underground injection from harming drinking water. The list can be changed later. Any State on that list must, within 270 days after a new federal rule is made or after the State is first listed (whichever is later), apply to the Administrator. The application must show the State held notice and public hearings, has adopted and will run an underground injection control program that follows the federal rules, and will keep required records and reports. If the federal rules change, a listed State has 270 days to tell the Administrator its program meets the new rules. The Administrator has 90 days after getting an application or notice (and after a chance for people to give their views) to approve, disapprove, or partly approve the State’s program. If approved, the State is mainly responsible for enforcing the program until the Administrator finds it no longer meets the requirements. The Administrator must offer a public hearing before making those decisions. If the Administrator disapproves a program, finds a State no longer meets the rules, or a State misses the deadline, the Administrator must set a federal program for that State within 90 days. That federal program cannot stop injections tied to oil and natural gas production, storage, or secondary/tertiary recovery. An “applicable underground injection control program” means either the State program that was approved or the federal program the Administrator set. An Indian Tribe may take over primary enforcement under the Administrator’s rules. A Tribe does not have to be on the original list or meet the 270-day deadline. Until a Tribe takes over, the current program stays in place. If no program exists for a Tribe, the Administrator must set one within 270 days after June 19, 1986, unless the Tribe first gets approval to assume enforcement.