Underground Injection Control Well Regulations

State and Territory Statutes and Regulations

The Safe Drinking Water Act provides that States and territories of the United States have the possibility to primarily enforce the UIC program requirements and provisions and, in doing so, must be granted primary authority by U.S. EPA for all or part of the UIC program. The U.S. EPA requires primacy applicants to meet the agency’s requirements for UIC programs and establish that their standards are sufficient to protect underground sources of drinking water.

For Class I, III, IV, V and VI wells, Section 1422 of the Safe Drinking Water Act requires primacy applicants to adopt statutes and regulations that are at least as stringent as the Federal regulations, as set out in 40 CFR Part 145, before receiving approval from the EPA.

For Class II wells, Section 1425 of the Safe Drinking Water Act requires primacy applicants to demonstrate that the program is effective in protecting drinking water supplies. If a state decides not to assume such responsibility, the interested EPA Regional Office will implement the applicable UIC program directly, which is the case for example in Pennsylvania where EPA Region 3 Office manages and enforces the UIC program for the state.

The following links provide information regarding EPA Regional Offices’ UIC Program authorities:

Underground Injection Control in EPA Region 1 (serving Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and 10 tribal nations);

Underground Injection Control in EPA Region 2 (serving New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and eight tribal nations);

Underground Injection Control in EPA Region 3 (serving Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia);

Underground Injection Control in EPA Region 4 (serving Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and six tribes);

Underground Injection Control in EPA Region 5 (serving Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin and 35 tribes);

Underground Injection Control in EPA Region 6 (serving Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and 66 tribes);

Underground Injection Control in EPA Region 7 (serving Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and nine tribal nations);

Underground Injection Control in EPA Region 8 (serving Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, and 27 tribal nations);

Underground Injection Control in EPA Region 9 (serving Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Pacific Islands, and 148 tribal nations)

Underground Injection Control in EPA Region 10 (serving Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington).