§49.4166. Monitoring requirements. — Inbound Citations

(a) Sections 49.4161 through 49.4168 establish legally and practicably enforceable requirements to control and reduce VOC emissions from well completion operations, well recompletion operations, production operations, and storage operations at existing, new and modified oil and natural gas production facilities.

(a) As used in §§ 49.4161 through 49.4168, all terms not defined herein shall have the meaning given them in the Act, in subpart A and subpart OOOO of 40 CFR part 60, in the Prevention of Significant Deterioration regulations at 40 CFR 52.21, or in the Federal Minor New Source Review Program in Indian Country at 40 CFR 49.151. The following terms shall have the specific meanings given them.

(1) Bakken Pool means Oil produced from the Bakken, Three Forks, and Sanish Formations.

(2) Breathing losses means natural gas emissions from fixed roof tanks resulting from evaporative losses during storage.

(3) Casinghead natural gas means the associated natural gas that naturally dissolves out of reservoir fluids during well completion operations and recompletion operations due to the pressure relief that occurs as the reservoir fluids travel up the well casinghead.

(4) Closed vent system means a system that is not open to the atmosphere and that is composed of hard-piping, ductwork, connections, and, if necessary, flow-inducing devices that transport natural gas from a piece or pieces of equipment to a control device or back to a process.

(5) Enclosed combustor means a thermal oxidation system with an enclosed combustion chamber that maintains a limited constant temperature by controlling fuel and combustion air.

(6) Existing facility means an oil and natural gas production facility that begins actual construction prior to the effective date of the “Federal Implementation Plan for Oil and Natural Gas Well Production Facilities; Fort Berthold Indian Reservation (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation), North Dakota”.

(7) Flashing losses means natural gas emissions resulting from the presence of dissolved natural gas in the produced oil and the produced water, both of which are under high pressure, that occurs as the produced oil and produced water is transferred to storage tanks or other vessels that are at atmospheric pressure.

(8) Modified facility means a facility which has undergone the addition, completion, or recompletion of one or more oil and natural gas wells, and/or the addition of any associated equipment necessary for production and storage operations at an existing facility.

(9) New facility means an oil and natural gas production facility that begins actual construction after the effective date of the “Federal Implementation Plan for Oil and Natural Gas Well Production Facilities; Fort Berthold Indian Reservation (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation), North Dakota”.

(10) Oil means hydrocarbon liquids.

(11) Oil and natural gas production facility means all of the air pollution emitting units and activities located on or integrally connected to one or more oil and natural gas wells that are necessary for production operations and storage operations.

(12) Oil and natural gas well means a single well that extracts subsurface reservoir fluids containing a mixture of oil, natural gas, and water.

(13) Owner or operator means any person who owns, leases, operates, controls, or supervises an oil and natural gas production facility.

(14) Permit to construct or construction permit means a permit issued by the Regional Administrator pursuant to 40 CFR 49.151, 52.10 or 52.21, or a permit issued by a tribe pursuant to a program approved by the Administrator under 40 CFR part 51, subpart I, authorizing the construction or modification of a stationary source.

(15) Permit to operate or operating permit means a permit issued by the Regional Administrator pursuant to 40 CFR part 71, or by a tribe pursuant to a program approved by the Administrator under 40 CFR part 51 or 40 CFR part 70, authorizing the operation of a stationary source.

(16) Pit flare means an ignition device, installed horizontally or vertically and used in oil and natural gas production operations to combust produced natural gas and natural gas emissions.

(17) Produced natural gas means natural gas that is separated from extracted reservoir fluids during production operations.

(18) Produced oil means oil that is separated from extracted reservoir fluids during production operations.

(19) Produced oil storage tank means a unit that is constructed primarily of non-earthen materials (such as steel, fiberglass, or plastic) which provides structural support and is designed to contain an accumulation of produced oil.

(20) Produced water means water that is separated from extracted reservoir fluids during production operations.

(21) Produced water storage tank means a unit that is constructed primarily of non-earthen materials (such as steel, fiberglass, or plastic) which provides structural support and is designed to contain an accumulation of produced water.

(22) Production operations means the extraction and separation of reservoir fluids from an oil and natural gas well, using separators and heater-treater systems. A separator is a pressurized vessel designed to separate reservoir fluids into their constituent components of oil, natural gas and water. A heater-treater is a unit that heats the reservoir fluid to break oil/water emulsions and to reduce the oil viscosity. The water is then typically removed by using gravity to allow the water to separate from the oil.

(23) Regional Administrator means the Regional Administrator of EPA Region 8 or an authorized representative of the Regional Administrator.

(24) Standing losses means natural gas emissions from fixed roof tanks as a result of evaporative losses during storage.

(25) Storage operations means the transfer of produced oil and produced water to storage tanks, the filling of the storage tanks, the storage of the produced oil and produced water in the storage tanks, and the draining of the produced oil and produced water from the storage tanks.

(26) generally refers to industrial control computer systems that monitor and control industrial infrastructure or facility-based processes.

(27) Utility flare means thermal oxidation system using an open (without enclosure) flame. An enclosed combustor as defined in §§ 49.4161 through 49.4168 is not considered a flare.

(28) Visible Smoke emissions means a pollutant generated by thermal oxidation in a flare or enclosed combustor and occurring immediately downstream of the flame. Visible smoke occurring within, but not downstream of, the flame, is not considered to constitute visible smoke emissions.

(29) Well completion means the process that allows for the flowback of oil and natural gas from newly drilled wells to expel drilling and reservoir fluids and tests the reservoir flow characteristics, which may vent produced hydrocarbons to the atmosphere via an open pit or tank.

(30) Well completion operation means any oil and natural gas well completion using hydraulic fracturing occurring at an oil and natural gas production facility.

(31) Well recompletion operation means any oil and natural gas well completion using hydraulic refracturing occurring at an oil and natural gas production facility.

(32) Working losses means natural gas emissions from fixed roof tanks resulting from evaporative losses during filling and emptying operations.

(b) During all oil and natural gas well completion operations or recompletion operations at an oil and natural gas production facility and prior to the first date of production of each oil and natural gas well, each owner or operator must, at a minimum, route all casinghead natural gas to a utility flare or a pit flare capable of reducing the mass content of VOC in the natural gas emissions vented to it by at least 90.0 percent or greater and operated as specified in §§ 49.4165 and 49.4166.

(i) A model demonstrated by a manufacturer to the meet the VOC destruction efficiency requirements of §§ 49.4161 through 49.4168 using the procedure specified in 40 CFR part 60, subpart OOOO at § 60.5413(d) by the due date of the first annual report as specified in § 49.4168(b); or

(h) Where sufficient to meet the monitoring and recordkeeping requirements in §§ 49.4166 and 49.4167, the owner or operator may use a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system to monitor and record the required data in §§ 49.4161 through 49.4168.

(b) Each owner and operator must submit an annual report containing the information specified in paragraphs (b)(1) through (4) of this section. Each annual report is due August 15th every year and must cover all information for the previous calendar year. The initial report must cover the cumulative information for that year. If you own or operate more than one oil and natural gas production facility, you may submit one report for multiple oil and natural gas production facilities provided the report contains all of the information required as specified in paragraphs (b)(1) through (4) of this section. Annual reports may coincide with title V reports as long as all the required elements of the annual report are included. The EPA may approve a common schedule on which reports required by §§ 49.4161 through 49.4168 may be submitted as long as the schedule does not extend the reporting period.

(4) For each oil and natural gas production facility, the information in paragraphs (b)(4)(i) through (iv) of this section.

(i) A summary of all required records identifying each oil and natural gas well completion or recompletion operation for each oil and natural gas production facility conducted during the reporting period;

(ii) An identification of the first date of production for each oil and natural gas well at each oil and natural gas production facility that commenced production during the reporting period; and

(iii) A summary of cases where construction or operation was not performed in compliance with the requirements specified in § 49.4164, § 49.4165, or § 49.4166 for each oil and natural gas well at each oil and natural gas production facility, and the corrective measures taken.

(iv) This certification shall state that, based on information and belief formed after reasonable inquiry, the statements and information in the document are true, accurate and complete.

(8) Documentation of all produced oil storage tank and produced water storage tank inspections required in § 49.4166(e) and (f). All inspection records must include, at a minimum, the following information:

(i) The date of the inspection;

(ii) The findings of the inspection;

(iii) Any adjustments or repairs made as a result of the inspections, and the date of the adjustment or repair; and

(8) Documentation of all produced oil storage tank and produced water storage tank inspections required in § 49.4166(e) and (f). All inspection records must include, at a minimum, the following information:

(i) The date of the inspection;

(ii) The findings of the inspection;

(iii) Any adjustments or repairs made as a result of the inspections, and the date of the adjustment or repair; and