00 SENATE CS FOR CS FOR SS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 128(RES) 01 "An Act relating to the disposal of wastes; giving the Alaska Oil and Gas 02 Conservation Commission authority to regulate disposal in the annular space of 03 an oil or gas well, or in the annular space of a water well associated with 04 exploration and production of oil or gas, of drilling mud, cuttings, and 05 nonhazardous drilling operation wastes, and exempting that disposal from the 06 requirement of a waste disposal permit issued by the Department of 07 Environmental Conservation; and establishing an exemption from the requirement 08 of obtaining a waste disposal permit from the Department of Environmental 09 Conservation for certain activities that yield solid and liquid waste material 10 discharges and cooling water discharges." 11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 12 * Section 1. AS 31.05.030(e) is amended to read: 13 (e) The commission may regulate 14 (1) [,] for conservation purposes 01 (A) [(1)] the drilling, producing, and plugging of wells; 02 (B) [(2)] the shooting and chemical treatment of wells; 03 (C) [(3)] the spacing of wells; 04 (D) [(4)] the disposal of salt water, nonpotable water, and oil 05 field wastes; 06 (E) [(5)] the contamination or waste of underground water; 07 (F) [(6)] the quantity and rate of the production of oil and gas 08 from a well or property; this authority shall also apply to a well or property in 09 a voluntary cooperative or unit plan of development or operation entered into 10 in accordance with AS 38.05.180(p); 11 (2) the disposal of drilling mud, cuttings, and nonhazardous drilling 12 operation wastes in the annular space of an oil or gas well or in the annular space 13 of a water well associated with oil or gas exploration and production; in this 14 paragraph, a "nonhazardous drilling operation waste" means a waste, other than 15 a hazardous waste identified by the Environmental Protection Agency in 40 16 C.F.R., Part 261, its regulation identifying and listing hazardous wastes, associated 17 with the act of drilling an oil or gas well for exploratory or production purposes. 18 * Sec. 2. AS 46.03.100(d) is amended to read: 19 (d) This section does not apply to 20 (1) disposals subject to regulation under AS 31.05.030(e)(2); or 21 (2) injection projects permitted under AS 31.05.030(h). 22 * Sec. 3. AS 46.03.100 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 23 (f) This section does not apply to discharges of solid or liquid waste material 24 or water discharges from the following activities if the discharge is incidental to the 25 activity and the activity does not produce a discharge from a point source, as that term 26 is defined in regulations adopted under this chapter, directly into any surface water of 27 the state: 28 (1) mineral drilling, trenching, ditching, and similar activities; 29 (2) landscaping; 30 (3) water well drilling, geophysical drilling, or coal bed methane 31 drilling; or 01 (4) drilling, ditching, trenching, and similar activities associated with 02 facility construction and maintenance or with road or other transportation facility 03 construction and maintenance; however, the exemption provided by this paragraph does 04 not relieve a person from obtaining a permit under (a) of this section if 05 (A) the drilling, ditching, trenching, or similar activity will 06 involve the removal of the groundwater, stormwater, or wastewater runoff that 07 has accumulated and is present at an excavation site for facility, road, or other 08 transportation construction or maintenance; and 09 (B) a permit is otherwise required by (a) of this section. 10 (g) This section does not apply to 11 (1) bilge pumping, unless the bilge product pumped may be expected 12 to yield an oily sludge, emulsion, or sheen on the surface of any water of the state; or 13 (2) cooling water discharges from a boat or vessel into any surface 14 water of the state.