
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 42USC300h-3]

 
                 TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
 
                    CHAPTER 6A--PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE
 
             SUBCHAPTER XII--SAFETY OF PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS
 
       Part C--Protection of Underground Sources of Drinking Water
 
Sec. 300h-3. Interim regulation of underground injections


(a) Necessity for well operation permit; designation of one aquifer 
        areas

    (1) Any person may petition the Administrator to have an area of a 
State (or States) designated as an area in which no new underground 
injection well may be operated during the period beginning on the date 
of the designation and ending on the date on which the applicable 
underground injection control program covering such area takes effect 
unless a permit for the operation of such well has been issued by the 
Administrator under subsection (b) of this section. The Administrator 
may so designate an area within a State if he finds that the area has 
one aquifer which is the sole or principal drinking water source for the 
area and which, if contaminated, would create a significant hazard to 
public health.
    (2) Upon receipt of a petition under paragraph (1) of this 
subsection, the Administrator shall publish it in the Federal Register 
and shall provide an opportunity to interested persons to submit written 
data, views, or arguments thereon. Not later than the 30th day following 
the date of the publication of a petition under this paragraph in the 
Federal Register, the Administrator shall either make the designation 
for which the petition is submitted or deny the petition.

(b) Well operation permits; publication in Federal Register; notice and 
        hearing; issuance or denial; conditions for issuance

    (1) During the period beginning on the date an area is designated 
under subsection (a) of this section and ending on the date the 
applicable underground injection control program covering such area 
takes effect, no new underground injection well may be operated in such 
area unless the Administrator has issued a permit for such operation.
    (2) Any person may petition the Administrator for the issuance of a 
permit for the operation of such a well in such an area. A petition 
submitted under this paragraph shall be submitted in such manner and 
contain such information as the Administrator may require by regulation. 
Upon receipt of such a petition, the Administrator shall publish it in 
the Federal Register. The Administrator shall give notice of any 
proceeding on a petition and shall provide opportunity for agency 
hearing. The Administrator shall act upon such petition on the record of 
any hearing held pursuant to the preceding sentence respecting such 
petition. Within 120 days of the publication in the Federal Register of 
a petition submitted under this paragraph, the Administrator shall 
either issue the permit for which the petition was submitted or shall 
deny its issuance.
    (3) The Administrator may issue a permit for the operation of a new 
underground injection well in an area designated under subsection (a) of 
this section only, if he finds that the operation of such well will not 
cause contamination of the aquifer of such area so as to create a 
significant hazard to public health. The Administrator may condition the 
issuance of such a permit upon the use of such control measures in 
connection with the operation of such well, for which the permit is to 
be issued, as he deems necessary to assure that the operation of the 
well will not contaminate the aquifer of the designated area in which 
the well is located so as to create a significant hazard to public 
health.

(c) Civil penalties; separate violations; penalties for willful 
        violations; temporary restraining order or injunction

    Any person who operates a new underground injection well in 
violation of subsection (b) of this section, (1) shall be subject to a 
civil penalty of not more than $5,000 for each day in which such 
violation occurs, or (2) if such violation is willful, such person may, 
in lieu of the civil penalty authorized by clause (1), be fined not more 
than $10,000 for each day in which such violation occurs. If the 
Administrator has reason to believe that any person is violating or will 
violate subsection (b) of this section, he may petition the United 
States district court to issue a temporary restraining order or 
injunction (including a mandatory injunction) to enforce such 
subsection.

(d) ``New underground injection well'' defined

    For purposes of this section, the term ``new underground injection 
well'' means an underground injection well whose operation was not 
approved by appropriate State and Federal agencies before December 16, 
1974.

(e) Areas with one aquifer; publication in Federal Register; commitments 
        for Federal financial assistance

    If the Administrator determines, on his own initiative or upon 
petition, that an area has an aquifer which is the sole or principal 
drinking water source for the area and which, if contaminated, would 
create a significant hazard to public health, he shall publish notice of 
that determination in the Federal Register. After the publication of any 
such notice, no commitment for Federal financial assistance (through a 
grant, contract, loan guarantee, or otherwise) may be entered into for 
any project which the Administrator determines may contaminate such 
aquifer through a recharge zone so as to create a significant hazard to 
public health, but a commitment for Federal financial assistance may, if 
authorized under another provision of law, be entered into to plan or 
design the project to assure that it will not so contaminate the 
aquifer.

(July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title XIV, Sec. 1424, as added Pub. L. 93-523, 
Sec. 2(a), Dec. 16, 1974, 88 Stat. 1678.)

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 300h-2, 300h-6 of this 
title.
