The following table contains detailed information about oil and gas extraction NPDES permits to discharge wastewater to waters of the U.S. for states in the U.S. where permits were found during a systematic search. It includes general (G) and individual (I) permits.
Note:
When searching for general permits, it was not clear which permits were specific to oil and gas extraction operations; therefore, the numbers available in the table are not conclusive.
For individual permits, an asterisk * was added to states where permits were not found due to procedural deficiencies or lack of transparency, thus it is possible that additional permits exist that were not found during this exploratory search. Finally, some permits found for coastal and offshore discharges were kept in the appendix even though the focus of the search was onshore discharges.
Alabama
Permiting agency
Number of permits found
- G 2 offshore
- I 0*
Alaska
Permiting agency
EPA issues NPDES permits for:
- Federally-owned facilities located in Denali National Park
- Facilities operating outside state waters (three miles offshore)
- Facilities that have been issued Clean Water Act Section 301(h) waivers
- All permits on tribal lands
- More information here
Remaining permits are issued by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Division of Water
Permits
General permits
Information on EPA issued can be found here
Information on State issued can be found here
- AKG315100 - Mobile Oil and Gas Exploration Facilities in State Waters in Cook Inlet GP
- AKG315200 - Cook Inlet Exploration, Production, and Development Facilities GP (Under Development - 09/06/2018)
- AKG2831000-Geotechnical Surveys in State Waters of the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas GP
Individual permits
Search function allows searching by several fields. Two individual permits were found searching with the word “oil” but there may be more. Unable to filter by SIC code.
- AK0053690-Sabre Oil and Gas Exploration Project
- AK0053309-OSPREY PLATFORM - Cook Inlet Energy
Number of permits found
- G 3
- I 2*
California
Permiting agency
- EPA’s Pacific Southwest (Region 9) issues NPDES permits for any discharges into federal ocean waters and tribal lands.
- California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA)
Permits
EPA issued permits can be found here.
General permits
- CAG280000
- No permits found for tribal lands.
- General permits can be found here.
- No general permits found
Employing the following filters:
- Region: All (left blank)
- Program: NPDES
- Related permit status: Active
- Facility type: Oil and gas extraction
- Waste type: drilling brine waters
2 offshore facilities were found
- CA0105996
- CA0106828
Number of permits found
-
G - 0
I- 0
Offshore - 2
Colorado
Permiting agency
- EPA issues all NPDES permits for federally-owned facilities and on tribal lands.
- Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
Permits
EPA issued permits can be found here.
- Not organized by industry. No oil and gas permits found.
State issued permits
- General permits can be found on this website.
- COG840000-Produced Water Treatment Facilities.
Individual permits
An excel with a full list of NPDES permits can be found here. The excel can be filtered by SIC code and then by type of permit, eliminating stormwater and treatment permits. Once permit numbers are obtained, they need to be searched one by one here with the quick search box on the left hand corner.
- CO0047767-Evergreen Natural Resources LLC
- CO0047776-Evergreen Natural Resources LLC
- CO0048003-Evergreen Natural Resources LLC
- CO0048054-Timber Creek Operating LLC
- CO0048062-Timber Creek Operating LLC
- COG900006-Evergreen Natural Resources LLC
Number of permits found
- G - 1
- I - 6
Florida
Permiting agency
- EPA issues permits offshore.
- Remaining permits are issued by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Permits
EPA issued permits
General Permits
- Offshore oil: GEG 460000
State issued permits
Individual permits- A search tool is available here but an option for NPDES- wastewater is not available.
Number of permits found
- G - 1 offshore
- I - 0*
Indiana
Permiting agency
Indiana Department of Environmental ManagementPermits
General permits are listed here.No oil and gas general permits were found
Individual permitsThere is an excel file with a list of all NPDES permits and it is organized by SIC codes here.
- IN0062758-JERICHO LLC - SULLIVAN COUNTY CBM FIELD
There is also a search site here. Look for Program: OWQ Wastewater, Document type: Permit, Alternate field: NPDES, ID # permit number.
Number of permits found
- G - 0
- I - 1
Lousiana
Permiting agency
- EPA issues NPDES permits on tribal lands.
- Louisiana Dept. of Environmental Quality
Permits
EPA issued permits
- GMG290000-New and existing sources and new dischargers in the offshore subcategory of the oil and gas extraction point source category for the western portion of the outer continental shelf of the Gulf of Mexico.
State issued permits
General permits can be found here for offshore category.
- LAG260000-Discharges from oil and gas exploration, development and production facilities located within territorial seas of Louisiana.
- LAG330000-Discharges from oil and gas exploration, development and production facilities located within coastal waters.
Individual permits. This website lists all LPDES permits issued by quarter in a PDF document. It is not possible to sort by industry type or SIC code. A document finder here appears to contain permits but cannot filter by wastewater or industry. A state employee stated that in order to obtain individual permits a public record request form needs to be submitted here.
Number of permits found
- G - 3 Offshore/coastal
- I - 0*
Montana
Permiting agency
- EPA issues all NPDES permits on tribal lands.
- Montana Department of Environmental Quality
Permits
No oil and gas wastewater permits found.
State issued permitsGeneral permits are listed here.
- MTG310000- Produced Water from Oil and Gas Production
Individual permits are listed here but cannot be filtered by industry. Email and call requests were not answered.
Number of permits found
- G -1
- I - 0*
New York
Permiting agency
- EPA issues NPDES permits on tribal lands and some federal facilities.
- New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation
Permits
EPA issued permits: No oil and gas permits are listed.
State issued permits:
The state is in the process of developing an electronic system to access permits. At the moment, permits are made available via dropbox and organized according to region, county, municipality and facility name. A state representative returned an excel with all permits corresponding to oil and gas extraction SIC codes through an internal search.
- NY0102067-PLANTS AND GOODWIN INC
- NY0102091-PLANTS AND GOODWIN INC
- NY0105945-THE RICHARDSON PETROLEUM CORPORATION
- NY0107310- CARL A MCCRACKEN, III
- NY0107352-ROGER KLEIN, JR
- NY0242845- CASE BROTHERS INC
- NY0243531-CASE BROTHERS INC
- NY0243566- SIMON OF BOLIVAR ENTERPRISES INC
- NY0269379-DAVID J ROOT
- NY0275336-NATHAN PETROLEUM CORP
Number of permits found
- G - 0
- I - 10
Utah
Permiting agency
- EPA issues NPDES permits on tribal lands.
- Utah Dept. of Environmental Quality
Permits
EPA issued permits in Navajo Nation:
- NN0020133: Nacogdoches Oil and Gas, Inc.
State issued permits:
- General permits are listed here. No general permits found.
Individual permits are listed here but cannot be sorted by industry or SIC code. Request by call was not returned.
Number of permits found
- G 1
- I 0*
Wyoming
Permiting agency
- EPA issues all NPDES permits on tribal lands.
- Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality
Permits
EPA issued permits are listed here.
Some permits found are:
- WY-0000779-Marathon Oil Company – Maverick Springs
- WY0000469-Wesco Operating, Inc. – Maverick Springs
- WY0020338- Eagle Oil and Gas Company – Sheldon Dome Field-
- WY-0024945 Phoenix Production Company – Rolf Lake Unit
State issued permits
General permits are found here. No oil and gas general permits found.
Individual permits are listed here but cannot be sorted by SIC or industry.
- Per state agent a request needs to be placed here.
- Request was placed
requesting current, in effect NPDES permits for oil and gas extraction facilities to discharge produced water to surface water for SIC codes 1311, 1321, 1381, 1382, 1309. Request returned an excel file with 645 permits in effect available on the request website. 149 of these permits are classified as Coal Bed Methane.
Some permits found are:
- WY0025011-Beartooth Oil & Gas Company
- WY0000299- Ranch Oil Company
- WY0095915-Bataa Oil, Inc.
- WY0025721 -Black Bear Oil Corporation
- WY0096296-BTA Oil Producers, LLC
- WY0036196-Burlington Resources Oil & Gas Company, Inc.
Number of permits found
- G - 0
- I - 649