GAU Oil & Gas Waste Disposal Well Letter

Required Documents

To request a Groundwater Advisory Unit (GAU) Oil and Gas Waste Disposal Well Letter (No Harm Letter), submit a copy of the following documents:

1. Completed Form W-14, "Application to Dispose of Oil and Gas Waste by Injection Into a Formation not Productive of Oil and Gas" 

Instructions for Form W-14 are located here.
(You must fill out items 1-19, items 33-35, items 40-44 and the signature block. Items 9, 11, 17 and 18 may be left blank if the application is for a new well that has not been drilled yet)

2. Scaled map showing the well location and surrounding survey lines.

3. Current Groundwater Protection Determination (Form GW-2) for the well. If you do not have Groundwater Protection Determination or it is older than five years, you must get a current Form GW-2 by following the process outlined on the GAU Home Page.

4. Electric log(s) that includes the log header and the interval from the land surface through the injection zone for the existing well; or for a nearby analogous well, if you are drilling a new well.

Required GW-2 Letter

A fee is not required for the Oil and Gas Waste Disposal Well Letter. However, a fee is required to get a current Groundwater Protection Determination (Form GW-2), which may be part of the application.

• If you do not have a Groundwater Protection Determination for surface casing, submit the required documents as an attachment to the RRC Online System Groundwater Application (Form GW-1). For more information for GW-1 application filing, go to the page “Instructions of Completing the Form GW-1” by clicking the link in the upper right of the page.

• If you do have a Groundwater Protection Determination, submit the required documents to the Railroad Commission of Texas via email to gau@rrc.texas.gov, US Mail, or an overnight express service.

Expected Processing Time Frame

Once all required information is received and determined to be administratively complete, the estimated processing time for a Saltwater Disposal letter is seven (7) business days. If a Groundwater Protection Determination application is submitted with a SWD letter application, both letters will normally be issued together within seven (7) business days.

• If an application is returned to the operator by Admin/Geologist for additional information or corrections, the estimated processing time starts over.

Guidelines for Disposal Well Letters

• BUQW, USDW, No Harm for all Class II Disposal (W-14, H-1 Disposal)
  • TWC § 27.033 (Disposal Well, H-1 & W-14)
• BUQW, USDW, No Harm for Class VI
  • TWC § 27.046 (Class VI CCS)
• BUQW, USDW, SWR 46 (H-1 EOR)
• BUQW, USDW SWR 81 Class III (H-2)
  • 16 TAC § 3.81 (d)(4)(I) a letter from the Groundwater Advisory Unit of the Oil and Gas Division stating the depth to which fresh water strata should be protected;
• BUQW, USDW, No Harm SWR 82 Brine Production (Lithium) Class V
  • (L) The application shall include a letter from the Geologic Advisory Unit of the Commission's Oil and Gas Division stating that the use of the brine field for the injection of spent brine will not endanger usable quality water or USDWs.
• BUQW, USDW SWR 95, 97 (H-4)
  • SWR 13 see below.
• BUQW SWR 13 Casing and Cementing
  • 16 TAC § 3.13 (b)(1)(B)(i) An operator shall set and cement sufficient surface casing to protect all usable-quality water strata, as defined by the Groundwater Advisory Unit of the Oil and Gas Division. Before drilling any well, an operator shall obtain a letter from the Groundwater Advisory Unit of the Oil and Gas Division stating the protection depth. In no case, however, is surface casing to be set deeper than 200 feet below the specified depth without prior approval.