§300h–1 State Primary Enforcement Responsibility

Summary

The Administrator must, within 180 days after December 16, 1974, list each State that might need a State underground injection control program to protect drinking water. A State on that list must, within 270 days after a related regulation is issued (or within 270 days after it is first listed, whichever is later), send an application showing it has adopted and will run a program that meets the rules and will keep records and reports the Administrator requires. The Administrator can extend that deadline by up to another 270 days for good cause. If a regulation is later changed, the State has 270 days to notify the Administrator that it meets the new rules. Within 90 days after getting a State’s application or notice, and after the public has a chance to speak, the Administrator will approve, disapprove, or partly approve the State program. If approved, the State has the primary enforcement role until the Administrator finds it no longer meets the requirements. The Administrator must offer a public hearing before making such approval or disapproval rules. If the Administrator disapproves a State program, finds a State no longer meets the requirements, or a State misses the deadlines, the Administrator must create a program for that State within 90 days. That federal program cannot block oil or gas production or storage injections, or injections used for secondary or tertiary oil or gas recovery, unless those limits are needed to protect drinking water. “Applicable underground injection control program” means either the State program the Administrator approved or the program the Administrator put in place. An Indian Tribe may take on the primary enforcement role under the Administrator’s rules and does not have to be listed or meet the 270-day filing deadline. If no program exists for a Tribe, the Administrator must set one up within 270 days after June 19, 1986, unless the Tribe first gets approval to take over.