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Overview
(Frequently Asked Questions)
The Underground Injection Control (UIC) program is authorized
by the Safe
Drinking Water Act. The Act requires the EPA Administrator
to develop and implement a national regulatory program to
protect underground
sources of drinking water (USDW) from contamination by
injection. Further, the Act offers the states and tribes primary
responsibility (primacy) for implementing the program upon
approval by EPA. Initial regulatory development, which divided
all injection into five
well classes, was accomplished in the early 80's. The
majority of state program approvals were granted shortly thereafter.
No Tribes have formally applied for primacy in this Region.
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State UIC Programs
In Region 6, which includes Texas,
Louisiana, Arkansas,
Oklahoma, and New
Mexico, each State has received EPA's approval and directly
implements the program in their respective jurisdictions. In each
State except Louisiana, implementation of the UIC program is split
between two state agencies. To see the contact information for any
of these state agencies and the portion of the program it administers,
click on the state link above. Region 6 retains an oversight capacity
on these state programs.
Direct Implementation (Tribes)
EPA retains the authority to implement the UIC program on certain
tribal lands
within each state in the Region. Currently, only two States have
active tribal programs, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Although inactive,
should injection be proposed within the appropriate tribal jurisdictions
in Texas, Louisiana, or Arkansas, EPA will administer the program.
In Oklahoma, EPA administers the UIC program for the Osage
Mineral Reserve and all other Tribes except for the oil and
gas related injection wells of the Five
Civilized Tribes  which
are regulated by the State. The UIC program for the Ute Mountain
Ute and other tribes in New Mexico administered by EPA Region 6
consists of a portion of the Ute Mountain Indian Reservation (107,520
acres) located in northern San Juan County New Mexico and the tribal
lands of many other tribes.
This program operates under the authority of the Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act (RCRA). In 1984 the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments
(HSWA) to RCRA added significant new restrictions on the disposal
of hazardous waste. Under these amendments, land disposal of hazardous
wastes, which includes Class I hazardous waste injection wells,
is prohibited unless:
a) the waste has been treated to
become nonhazardous or;
b) the disposer can demonstrate that
the waste will remain where it has been placed for as long as it
remains hazardous, which has been defined as 10,000 years by
regulation.
Restrictions on specific hazardous wastes have been phased in over
time: for some wastes they became effective as early as August 8,
1988; other hazardous wastes are still being added to the list.
Drinking Water Ground
Water
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