§ 15-76-302 - Definitions.
15-76-302. Definitions.
As used in this subchapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) "Aquifer" means any subsurface geological interval in which brine may lie or from which brine is being produced and saved or sold for the primary purpose of extracting chemical substances contained therein;
(2) "Brine" means salt water, whether contained in or removed from an aquifer, and all other chemical substances produced with or extracted from such salt water except for commercial production of oil and gas. Brine produced as an incident to the production of oil and gas, unless the brine is saved or sold for the purpose of extracting the chemical substances therein, shall not be considered brine for purposes of this subchapter;
(3) "Brine production unit" or "unit" means each separate composite area of land so designated by order of the commission for the production of brine and the injection of effluent;
(4) "Commission" means the Oil and Gas Commission;
(5) "Director" means the Director of Production and Conservation of the commission;
(6) "Effluent" means the liquid remaining after extraction of any chemical substances from brine and any other material or chemicals in solution therein or associated therewith;
(7) "Injection well" means a well utilized for injecting effluent or other substances into an aquifer for disposal purposes;
(8) "Just and equitable share of brine" of an owner in a developed unit is that part of the actual production of brine from the unit which is in the same proportion to the total production of brine from the unit as the interest of the owner in the brine of the unit expressed in surface acres is to the total surface acreage of the unit;
(9) "Owner" means the person who has the right to drill into and to produce brine from an aquifer and to appropriate the production either for himself or for himself and another or others;
(10) "Person" means any natural person, corporation, association, partnership, receiver, trustee, guardian, executor, administrator, fiduciary, or representative of any kind;
(11) "Producer" means the owner of an existing well or wells capable of producing brine, as well as any owner or owners who are capable and willing to incur the capital investment required for purposes of drilling, completing, and equipping the proposed well or wells within any existing or proposed brine production unit; and
(12) "Waste" in addition to its ordinary meaning shall include:
(A) Inefficient, excessive, or improper use or dissipation of energy or alteration of fluid levels contained within an aquifer; and the location, spacing, drilling, or operating of any producing or injection well or wells in a manner which results in a significant reduction in the economic recoverability of brine from an aquifer or the chemical substances contained therein;
(B) Abuse of the correlative rights and opportunities of each owner of brine in an aquifer due to nonuniform and disproportionate withdrawals causing undue drainage between units;
(C) Injecting effluent or other wastes in a manner as to cause unnecessary water channeling or undue forced migration of brine between units;
(D) The undue drowning with effluent of any stratum or part thereof containing commercial quantities of oil or gas; or
(E) The employment of any practice with respect to brine in an aquifer which results or tends to result in a significant reduction in the economic recoverability of such brine or the chemical substances contained therein.