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:
- 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)
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Scaled map showing the well location and surrounding survey lines.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
