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APR
UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PR O TE C TION AGENCY

1 1982

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REG I O N .... 1
120 1 EL M STREET
DALLAS. T E XA S 75270

Ma rch 29 . 1982

Jerry Mullican
Di rector of Underground Inject ion Control
Texa s Railroad Commission
0;1 and Gas Di vision
P. O. Drawer 12967. Capitol Sta t ion
Aust in, Texa s 787 11
Dear Mr. Mull i ca n:
Thank you fo r meeting with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA ) Headquarters and Regional staff in Hashington, D.C. on March 26, 1982, to discuss the Texas Railroad Commission's (TRe) applicat ion for the Underground
Injection Cont rol (UrC) program under secti on 1425 of the Safe Drinking
Wa te r Act. As a re sult of thi s meeting. it is my understanding that the
fo l l owing pract i ce s will be impl emented rega rding aquifer exemptions:
(1 ) EPA will recogn i ze and approve aquifer exemptions for all existing
production zones with the initial program approval. As stated in your
letter of March 21. 1982. you will supply maps of the productive zones .
( 2)

If any expan sion of current production zones necessitates the extension

of an ex.empted aqu; fer in the same hor ; zan. the TRe wi 11 send the permit appl icat ion for any proposed injection into thi s extended area t o
EPA Regi on 6 for concurrence prior to issuance of th e permit .

(3) EPA will take action on any application submitted under item 12 above
within f ive working days.
( 4)

Extension of aquifer exemptions for production zones will not be

granted if t he area proposed for exemption. is currently being used as
a drinki ng water source. This will be examined in the area of review
for any proposed injection well in the area proposed for exemption.

( 5)

Aquifer exemptions for any new production fields, or for any nonproducing zones, will be submitted for EPA concurrence as outlined in
40 CFR 122.35 (b ).

'.

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Pl ease in f onn me immedi ately of your concurrence or nonconcurrence with

t he above points. Yo ur l etters of March 10, and March 21, 1982, sat i sfied
al l other conce rns, and your concurrence with the above pOi nts wil l enable
us t o move forward with fu l l approval of your program.

-.

Si ncerely yours,

~~
J;
Did Whittington: P. E.

Regi onal ~dm i nstrator

cc :

Alan levi n, WH-550

NONCONCUR:,_ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ Date: _ _ _ _ _ _ __

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