(a) Definitions. The following words and terms, when used in this section, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
  (1) Affected person--A person who, as a result of the activity sought to be permitted, has suffered or may suffer actual injury or economic damage other than as a member of the general public.
  (2) Brine mining facility or facility--The brine mining injection well, and the pits, tanks, fresh water wells, pumps, and other structures and equipment that are or will be used in conjunction with the brine mining injection well.
  (3) Brine mining injection well--A well used to inject fluid for the purpose of extracting brine by the solution of a subsurface salt formation. The term "brine mining injection well" does not include a well used to inject fluid for the purpose of leaching a cavern for the underground storage of hydrocarbons or the disposal of waste, or a well used to inject fluid for the purpose of extracting sulphur by the thermofluid mining process.
  (4) Commission--The Railroad Commission of Texas.
  (5) Director--The director of the Oil and Gas Division or a staff delegate designated in writing by the director of the Oil and Gas Division or the commission.
  (6) Existing brine mining injection well--A brine mining injection well in which injection operations began prior to the effective date of this section.
  (7) Fresh water--Water having bacteriological, physical, and chemical properties that make it suitable and feasible for beneficial use for any lawful purpose.
  (8) New brine mining injection well--A brine mining injection well in which injection operations begin on or after the effective date of this section.
  (9) Permit--A written authorization issued by the commission under this section for the operation of a brine mining injection well.
  (10) Person--A natural person, corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust partnership, association, or any other legal entity.
  (11) Pollution--The alteration of the physical, chemical, or biological quality of, or the contamination of, water that makes it harmful, detrimental, or injurious to humans, animal life, vegetation or property or to public health, safety, or welfare, or impairs the usefulness or the public enjoyment of the water for any lawful or reasonable purpose.
(b) Prohibitions.
  (1) Unauthorized injection. No person may operate a brine mining injection well without obtaining a permit from the commission under this section. No person may begin constructing a new brine mining injection well until the commission has issued a permit to operate the well under this section and a permit to drill, deepen, plug back, or reenter the well under §3.5 of this title (relating to Application to Drill, Deepen, Reenter, or Plug Back) (Statewide Rule 5).
  (2) Fluid migration. No person may operate a brine mining injection well in a manner that allow fluids to escape from the permitted injection zone. If fluids are migrating from the permitted injection zone, the operator shall immediately cease injection operations.
  (3) Falsifying documents and tampering with gauges. No person may knowingly make any false statement, representation, or certification in any application, report, record, or other document submitted or required to be maintained under this section or under any permit issued pursuant to this section, or falsify, tamper with, or knowingly render inaccurate any monitoring device or method required to be maintained under this section or under any permit issued pursuant to this section.
(c) Standards for permit issuance. A permit may be issued only if the commission determines that the operation of the brine mining injection well will not result in the pollution of fresh water. All permits issued under this section will contain the conditions required by subsections (f) and (g) of this section, and all other conditions reasonably necessary to prevent the pollution of fresh water.
(d) Permit application.
  (1) Duty to apply. Any person who operates or proposes to operate a brine mining injection well shall file a permit application with the commission in Austin within the time provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection. The applicant shall mail or deliver a copy of the application to the appropriate district office on the same day the application is mailed or delivered to the commission in Austin. A permit application will be considered filed with the commission on the date it is received by the commission in Austin.
  (2) Time to apply.
    (A) Any person who proposes to operate a new brine mining injection well shall file a permit application at least 180 days before the date on which injection is to begin, unless a later date has been authorized by the director.
    (B) Any person who is operating an existing brine injection well shall file a permit application within 90 days of the effective date of this section.
    (C) Any person who has obtained a permit under this section and who wishes to continue to operate the brine mining injection well after the permit expires shall file an application for new permit at least 180 days before the existing permit expires, unless a later date has been authorized by the director.
  (3) Who applies. When a brine mining facility is owned by one person but is operated by another person, it is the operator's duty to file an application for a permit.
  (4) Application requirements for all applicants. All applicants shall submit the following information, using application forms supplied by the commission:
    (A) name, mailing address, and location of the brine mining facility for which the application is submitted;
    (B) the operator's name, mailing address, telephone number, and status as federal, state, private, public, or other entity, and a statement indicating whether the operator is the owner of the facility;
    (C) the proposed uses for the brine mined at the facility;
    (D) a listing of all permits or construction approvals for the facility received or applied for under federal or state environmental programs;
    (E) a topographic map, or other map if the topographic map is unavailable, extending one mile beyond the property boundaries of the facility, depicting the facility and those springs, other surface water bodies, drinking water wells, and other wells listed in public records or otherwise known to the applicant within 1/4 mile of the facility property boundary;
    (F) a plat showing the oil and gas operators of the tract on which the facility is located and the tracts adjacent to the tract on which the facility is located. On the plat or on a separate sheet attached to the plat, the applicant shall list the names and addresses of the oil and gas operators;
    (G) a plat showing the surface ownership of the tract on which the facility is located and the tracts adjacent to the tract on which the facility is located. On the plat or on a separate sheet attached to the plat, the applicant shall list the names and addresses of the surface owners, as determined from the current county tax rolls or other reliable sources, and shall identify the source of the list. If the director determines that, after diligent efforts, the applicant has been unable to ascertain the name and address of one or more surface owners, the director may waive the requirements of this subparagraph with respect to those surface owners;
    (H) a map with surveys marked showing the type, location, and depth of all wells of public record within a 1/4 mile radius of the brine mining injection well that penetrate the salt formation. The applicant shall attach the following information to the map:
      (i) a tabulation of the wells showing the dates the wells were drilled and the present status of the wells; and
      (ii) plugging records for plugged and abandoned wells and completion records for other wells;
    (I) a letter from the Groundwater Advisory Unit of the Oil and Gas Division stating the depth to which fresh water strata should be protected;
    (J) a complete electric log of the brine mining injection well or a nearby well. On the log, the applicant shall identify the geologic formations between the land surface and the top of the salt formation and the depths at which they occur;
    (K) a drawing of the surface and subsurface construction details of the brine mining injection well;
    (L) the proposed maximum daily injection rate and maximum injection pressure;
    (M) the proposed injection procedure;
    (N) the proposed mechanical integrity testing procedure;
    (O) the source of mining water to be used at the facility. If the source is groundwater, the following information must be included:
Cont'd...