Definition(s)
Exploration and Production Waste (E&P Waste)
Exploration and Production Waste (E and P Waste)―drilling wastes, salt water, and other wastes associated with the exploration, development, or production of crude oil or natural gas wells and which is not regulated by the provisions of, and, therefore, exempt from the Louisiana Hazardous Waste Regulations and the Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, as amended. E and P Wastes include, but are not limited to the following.
Waste Type / E and P Waste Description
Waste Type 01 Salt water (produced brine or produced water), except for salt water whose intended and actual use is in drilling, workover or completion fluids or in enhanced mineral recovery operations, process fluids generated by approved salvage oil operators who only receive oil (BS&W) from oil and gas leases, and nonhazardous natural gas plant processing waste fluid which is or may be commingled with produced formation water.
Waste Type 02 Oil-base drilling wastes (mud, fluids and cuttings).
Waste Type 03 Water-base drilling wastes (mud, fluids and cuttings).
Waste Type 04 Completion workover and stimulation fluids.
Waste Type 05 Production pit sludges.
Waste Type 06 Storage tank sludge from production operations, onsite and commercial saltwater disposal facilities, DNR permitted salvage oil facilities (that only receive waste oil [B, S, & W] from oil and gas leases), and sludges generated by service company and commercial facility or transfer station wash water systems.
Waste Type 07 Produced oily sands and solids.
Waste Type 08 Produced formation fresh water.
Waste Type 09 Rainwater from firewalls, ring levees and pits at drilling and production facilities.
Waste Type 10 Washout water and residual solids generated from the cleaning of containers that transport E and P Waste and are not contaminated by hazardous waste or material; washout water and solids (E and P Waste Type 10) is or may be generated at a commercial facility or transfer station by the cleaning of a container holding a residual amount of E and P Waste.
Waste Type 11 Washout pit water and residual solids from oilfield related carriers and service companies that are not permitted to haul hazardous waste or material.
Waste Type 12 Nonhazardous Natural gas plant processing waste solids.
Waste Type 13 Reserved.
Waste Type 14 Pipeline test water which does not meet discharge limitations established by the appropriate state agency, or pipeline pigging waste, i.e. waste fluids/solids generated from the cleaning of a pipeline.
Waste Type 15 E and P Wastes that are transported from permitted commercial facilities and transfer stations to permitted commercial treatment and disposal facilities, except those E and P Wastes defined as Waste Types 01 and 06.
Waste Type 16 Crude oil spill clean-up waste.
Waste Type 50 Salvageable hydrocarbons bound for permitted salvage oil operators.
Waste Type 99 Other E and P Waste not described above (shipment to a commercial facility or transfer station must be pre-approved prior to transport).
Source: Natural Resources, Office of Conservation – General Operations, Louisiana Administrative Code, Title 43, Part XIX, March 2013. Regulations
Exploration and Production Waste (E&P Waste)
EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION WASTE (E&P WASTE) shall mean those wastes associated with operations to locate or remove oil or gas from the ground or to remove impurities from such substances and which are uniquely associated with and intrinsic to oil and gas exploration, development, or production operations that are exempt from regulation under Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), 42 USC Sections 6921, et seq. For natural gas, primary field operations include those production-related activities at or near the wellhead and at the gas plant (regardless of whether or not the gas plant is at or near the wellhead), but prior to transport of the natural gas from the gas plant to market. In addition, uniquely associated wastes derived from the production stream along the gas plant feeder pipelines are considered E&P wastes, even if a change of custody in the natural gas has occurred between the wellhead and the gas plant. In addition, wastes uniquely associated with the operations to recover natural gas from underground storage fields are considered to be E&P waste.
Source: Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, Practice and Procedure, Code of Colorado Regulations, 2 CCR 404-1, February 2013. Regulations