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DEQ.utah.gov - Utah Department of Environmental Quality

 

Utah Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program

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Class IV Injection Wells

Class IV injection wells are:

  1. Wells used by generators of hazardous waste or of radioactive waste, by owners or operators of hazardous waste management facilities, or by owners or operators of radioactive waste disposal sites to dispose of hazardous waste or radioactive waste into a formation which, within two miles of the well, contains an underground source of drinking water;
  2. Wells used by generators of hazardous waste or of radioactive waste, by owners or operators of hazardous waste management facilities, or by owners or operators of radioactive waste disposal sites to dispose of hazardous waste or radioactive waste above a formation which, within two miles of the well, contains an underground source of drinking water;
  3. Wells used by generators of hazardous waste, by owners or operators of hazardous waste management facilities, to dispose of hazardous waste which cannot be classified as a Class I Hazardous Waste Injection Well under R317-7-3.1(A) of the Utah Adminstrative Rules for the Underground Injection Control Program OR as Class IV injection wells under R317-7-3.4(A) and (B) (Items 1 and 2 above). This category of Class IV injection wells includes wells used to dispose of hazardous wastes into or above a formation which contains an aquifer which has been exempted.

Class IV injection wells are prohibited EXCEPT ...

as specified in: 40 CFR 144.13 (c) and 40 CFR 144.23 (c) PDF file

According to these sections of the CFR, Class IV injection wells used to inject contaminated ground water that has been treated and is being re-injected into the same formation from which it was drawn are not prohibited by these sections and are authorized by rule for the life of the well if such subsurface emplacement of fluids (injection) is approved by EPA, or a State, pursuant to provisions for a clean up of releases under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) or pursuant to requirements and provisions under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA)

On 27 December 1989, the EPA Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) prepared a memorandum ( OSWER Directive #9234.1-06 ) explaining the rationale for the Class IV injection well RCRA Section 3020(b) PDF file exemption and detailing the qualifying criteria for the exemption.

Since issuance of OSWER Directive #9234.1-06, EPA has received inquiries PDF file regarding the applicability of the RCRA Section 3020(b) exemption to remedial activities involving re-injection of treated, contaminated ground water to promote in-situ bioremediation or other in-situ remediation processes. In response to these inquiries, on 27 December 2000, OSWER prepared another guidance memorandum clarifying that re-injection of treated ground water to promote in-situ remediation is allowed under RCRA Section 3020(b) if certain conditions are met.

This page last updated on: 23 May 2005

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