Groundwater and Water Well (General Matters) Regulation

Groundwater and Water Well (General Matters) Regulation, M.R. 214/2015 The Groundwater and Water Well Act , C.C.S.M. c. G110 Regulation 214/2015 Registered December 21, 2015 bilingual version (HTML) Table of Contents Section 1 Definitions 2 Horizontal closed loop geothermal systems — Act does not apply 3 Well drilling contractor licences — classes 4 Licence and renewal fees 5 Liability insurance 6 Classes of licences — authorized activities 7 Renewal of licence 8 Emergency response telephone number 9 When sections 31 and 32 of the Act do not apply 10 Application for a permit 11 Well construction and well sealing reports 12 Exceptions — certain wells and test holes 13 Retaining copy of report 14 Well construction and well sealing reports — public availability 15 Repeal 16 Coming into force Schedule A Well Drilling Contractors — Authorized Activities B Well Construction Report C Well Sealing Report DEFINITIONS AND APPLICATION Definitions 1(1) The following definitions apply in this regulation. "Act" means The Groundwater and Water Well Act . («  Loi  ») "environmental well" means a monitoring well used for the purpose of obtaining information on soil or groundwater contamination, or for remediation of contaminated groundwater. The term "environmental test hole" has a corresponding meaning. (« puits environnemental ») "well construction report" means a report prepared under section 50 of the Act at the time of constructing a well or test hole. (« rapport sur la construction d'un puits ») "well sealing report" means a report prepared under section 50 of the Act at the time of sealing a well or test hole. (« rapport sur le scellement d'un puits ») Saline water — prescribed criteria 1(2) For the purpose of the definition "saline water" in section 1 of the Act, "saline water" means, in relation to the sealing of a well or test hole, water that has (a) a concentration of total dissolved solids in excess of 3,500 mg/l; or (b) an equivalent electrical conductivity in excess of 5,000 micro-Siemens/cm. Horizontal closed loop geothermal systems — Act does not apply 2 For the purpose of clause 5(c) of the Act, the Act does not apply to horizontal closed loop geothermal systems. WELL DRILLING CONTRACTOR LICENSES Well drilling contractor licences — classes 3(1) The following classes of well drilling contractor licences are hereby established: (a) Class 1: water well drilling licence; (b) Class 2: closed loop geothermal well drilling licence; (c) Class 3: well digging licence; (d) Class 4: other well construction licence. Licence may be for one or more classes 3(2) A licence issued to a well drilling contractor may be a licence for one or more of the classes listed in subsection (1). Licence and renewal fees 4 For the purpose of clause 9(2)⁠(d) of the Act, the amount of the licence fee and licence renewal fee for each class of well drilling contractor licence is as follows: (a) Class 1 (water well drilling licence): $100; (b) Class 2 (closed loop geothermal well drilling licence): $100; (c) Class 3 (well digging licence): $50; (d) Class 4 (other well construction licence): $50. Liability insurance 5 For the purpose of clause 10(c) of the Act, the applicant must possess liability insurance with a coverage limit, at a minimum, of $2 million per claim. Classes of licences — authorized activities 6(1) Each licence is deemed to contain a term that a well drilling contractor is authorized to engage in, or hold himself or herself out as being engaged in, the business of constructing wells of the type set out — and using a method or the equipment, if any, set out — in the table in Schedule A adjacent to the class or classes of licence that the contractor holds. Other terms or conditions 6(2) Subsection (1) is subject to any conditions or other terms contained in the Act or in a license. Test holes are also authorized 6(3) If a well drilling contractor has authority under this section to engage in the business of constructing a type of well, the contractor has similar authority to construct a test hole in relation to the same type of well. Contractor must be authorized 6(4) A well drilling contractor must not engage in, or hold himself or herself out as being engaged in, the business of constructing wells or test holes other than as authorized under this section. Renewal of licence 7(1) For the purpose of clause 10(d) of the Act, the additional requirements for renewal of a well drilling contractor licence are as follows: (a) the applicant provides satisfactory evidence that the requirements of clauses 10(a) to (c) of the Act are still met; (b) the applicant declares that he or she has not been convicted of an offence, within the calendar year immediately preceding the year for which renewal is sought, that may be relevant to the applicant's suitability to engage in the business of constructing wells or test holes. Renewal refused or subject to terms and conditions 7(2) If an applicant for renewal does not meet the requirements for renewal, the director may refuse to renew the licence, or renew it subject to terms and conditions. CONTAMINATION FOUND DURING CONSTRUCTION OR SEALING Emergency response telephone number 8 For the purpose of subsections 31(1) and 32(1) of the Act, the emergency response telephone number is 204-944-4888. When sections 31 and 32 of the Act do not apply 9 For the purpose of subsections 31(4) and 32(4) of the Act, (a) section 31 of the Act does not apply in relation to the construction of an environmental well or environmental test hole; and (b) section 32 of the Act does not apply in relation to the sealing of an environmental well or environmental test hole. PERMITS Application for a permit 10 For the purpose of section 37 of the Act, an application for a permit must be made in writing to the director, in a form satisfactory to and containing the information required by the director. WELL CONSTRUCTION AND WELL SEALING REPORTS Well construction and well sealing reports 11(1) For the purpose of subsection 50(1) of the Act, (a) a well construction report must be in the form set out in Schedule B; (b) a well sealing report, including a report about the partial sealing of a well, must be in the form set out in Schedule C; and (c) the time within which a copy of the report must be provided to the director and the owner of the land is 45 days after the completion of the construction or sealing. Reports must be complete and legible 11(2) If a person provides a report to the director (a) that does not contain all the required information; or (b) that is, in the director's opinion, illegible in whole or in part; the director may refuse to accept the report and require the person to provide a corrected report. Exceptions — certain wells and test holes 12 Despite subsection 50(1) of the Act, a well construction report or a well sealing report need not be prepared or submitted in relation to the construction or sealing of (a) a closed loop geothermal well or test hole; or (b) an environmental well or test hole, or a geotechnical well or test hole, unless (i) the well or test hole intersects an aquifer, (ii) the depth of the well or test hole exceeds 30 m (98.4 ft), or (iii) the well or test hole encounters bedrock. Retaining copy of report 13 A person required to prepare a report under section 50 of the Act must retain a paper or electronic copy of it for at least six years after providing the report to the director. AVAILABILITY OF GROUNDWATER INFORMATION Well construction and well sealing reports — public availability 14(1) In accordance with section 81 of the Act, the director may make the following information available to the public, including in electronic form: (a) information from reports provided to the director under section 50 of the Act; (b) information from reports that were provided to the director under section 7 of the former regulation, subject to section 9 of that regulation; (c) well construction or sealing reports, well logs, or any other information relating to a well, a test hole or groundwater that was obtained by the director other than under clause (a) or (b). Information made available to the public under this section may include information respecting the location or ownership of a well or test hole. Meaning of "former regulation" 14(2) In this section, the "former regulation " means the Well Drilling Regulation , Manitoba Regulation 228/88 R, as it read immediately before the coming into force of this regulation. REPEAL AND COMING INTO FORCE Repeal 15 The Well Drilling Regulation , Manitoba Regulation 228/88 R, is repealed. Coming into force 16 This regulation comes into force on the same day that section 8 of The Groundwater and Water Well and Related Amendments Act , S.M. 2012, c. 27, comes into force. SCHEDULE A (Subsection 6(1)) WELL DRILLING CONTRACTORS — AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES Row Class of licence Authorized activities 1 Class 1 (water well) construct — using well drilling equipment — the following types of wells (unless otherwise specified in the licence): test wells monitoring wells production wells dewatering wells open loop geothermal wells closed loop geothermal wells flowing artesian wells geotechnical wells injection wells sand point wells 2 Class 2 (closed loop geothermal) construct closed loop geothermal wells 3 Class 3 (well digging) construct — by means of digging with non-powered equipment, a backhoe or a power shovel — the following types of wells (unless otherwise specified in the licence): test wells monitoring wells production wells dewatering wells geotechnical wells 4 Class 4 (other well construction) construct a type of well described in the licence, by the methods or with the equipment specified in the licence SCHEDULE B Form Well Construction Report SCHEDULE C Form Well Sealing Report