Commercial Surface Waste Facilities

Commercial facilities may use pits to store or dispose of oil and gas wastes or they may landspread or landtreat oil and gas wastes or treat oil and gas wastes.  Statewide Rule 78 defines Commercial Facility as:

"A facility whose owner or operator receives compensation from others for the storage, reclamation, treatment, or disposal of oil field fluids or oil and gas wastes that are wholly or partially trucked or hauled to the facility and whose primary business purpose is to provide these services for compensation if:

• the facility is permitted under §3.8 of this title (related to Water Protection);
• the facility is permitted under §3.57 of this title (related to Reclaiming Tank Bottoms, Other Hydrocarbon Wastes, and Other Waste Materials);
• the facility is permitted under §3.9 of this title (related to Disposal Wells) and a collecting pit permitted under §3.8 is located at the facility; or
• the facility is permitted under §3.46 of this title (related to Fluid Injection into Productive Reservoirs) and a collecting pit permitted under §3.8 is located at the facility."

Commercial surface waste disposal and treatment facilities typically receive a variety of oil and gas wastes from a wide spectrum of sources. Commercial surface waste disposal and treatment facilities also typically process large volumes of oil and gas wastes. For these reasons, staff has applied more stringent monitoring requirements in the form of monitor wells and analytical testing than would otherwise be required for non-commercial facilities permitted under Statewide Rule 8.

In addition, Statewide  Rule 78 requires commercial facilities provide financial security in the form of a bond (Form CF-1) or letter of credit (Form CF-2) to ensure proper closure of commercial disposal and treatment facilities. The applicant must submit a Closure Cost Estimate for closing the facility. Guidance is found in the document Financial Security Requirements for Commercial Oil Field Waste Storage, Processing and Disposal Facilities in Accordance with Statewide Rule 78 .

Notice is required for all applications submitted under Texas Administrative Code, Title 16, Rule §3.8 (Statewide Rule 8), Rule §3.57 (Statewide Rule 57), and Chapter 4 Subchapter B. In addition, notice for commercial applications must be provided in accordance with §§ 91.116 and 91.117 of the Texas Natural Resources Code (HB 480). For specific notice requirements, see the individual permit pages and the Notice Instructions for Commercial Facilities page.

Permitting and monitoring requirements are tailored to the individual facility and site conditions. Permitting requirements might include geologic maps and cross sections, soil and rock permeability, and calculation of area and waste volume. Monitoring requirements might include monitoring wells, potentiometric maps of groundwater, and tables of ground water chemistry. See the Soil Boring and Groundwater Monitoring page for more information.

Professional Engineers and Geoscientists

Engineering and geologic work products must be prepared under seal of a registered engineer or geologist, respectively, as required by the Occupations Code Chapters 1001 and 1002.