1. A. The contractor who drills or constructs a well or hole on or after November 1, 1985 shall be responsible for registering that well or hole by submitting to the department a completed water well registration Form within 30 calendar days after completing such well or hole. Registration requirements shall apply to all water wells, regardless of yield or use, including but not limited to, public supply, domestic, irrigation/agriculture, power generation, rig-supply, observation, dewatering, monitoring, and heat pump supply wells, as well as test holes, abandoned pilot holes, and heat pump holes. For glossary of terms, refer to §113 of this Chapter.

2. B. Exemption from Registration. The following wells and holes shall be exempt from registration requirements:

   1. 1. wells producing saline water in connection with oil or gas production;
   2. 2. driven wells or wells dug by use of hand auger;
   3. 3. geotechnical boreholes.

3. C. Water Well Registration Long Form (DNR-GW-1). The Water Well Registration Long Form (DNR-GW-1) shall be used to register the following types of wells and holes:

   1. 1. community public supply wells;
   2. 2. noncommunity public supply wells;
   3. 3. industrial wells;
   4. 4. irrigation/agricultural wells;
   5. 5. power generation wells;
   6. 6. observation wells;
   7. 7. dewatering wells;

   8. 8. test holes.

      For long form instructions see §117.

4. D. Water Well Registration Short Form (DNR-GW-1S). The Water Well Registration Short Form (DNR-GW-1S) shall be used to register the following types of wells and holes:

   1. 1. domestic wells;
   2. 2. rig-supply wells;
   3. 3. monitoring wells;
   4. 4. heat pump supply wells;
   5. 5. heat pump holes (closed loop system);

   6. 6. abandoned pilot holes.

      For short form instructions see §119.

5. E. Submission of Water Well Registration Forms

   1. 1. The contractor who drills a well or hole shall complete and submit to the department the original copy of the Water Well Registration Form within 30 calendar days after each well or hole has been completed. The owner's copy shall be sent to the owner immediately after completion of the work and the contractor shall retain the contractor's copy for his files.
   2. 2. For registration purposes only, the department considers a well or hole completed when it is accepted by the owner or when the contractor has moved his equipment from the site, whichever comes first. Acceptance by the owner or removal of equipment from the site by the contractor does not imply, in any way, acceptance or approval by the state of Louisiana. The department, after reviewing applicable records and/or inspection of the well site, can cause the owner and/or the contractor to do whatever additional work is necessary to bring the well or hole up to standards. The expense for the additional work shall be borne by the owner or the contractor, as the case may be.
   3. 3. For the purpose of registering heat pump holes only, one form (DNR-GW-1S) Short Form per project (site) will suffice. Under item marked "remarks," materials and method used to seal the holes shall be indicated. Driller’s log description of cuttings should be the typical formations encountered at the site.
   4. 4. Registration forms may be submitted to the department on a monthly basis as long as the 30-day limitation is not exceeded. Forms that are illegible, have incomplete items, lack a sketch or directions to the well, do not include latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates or have not been signed and dated will be rejected by the department and will be returned to the contractor for correction and resubmittal. It is the responsibility of the contractor to see to it that the submitted registration forms are actually received by the department.
   5. 5. Each registration form shall be personally signed and dated by the contractor who is responsible for drilling the well or hole. For convenience of the contractor, affidavits filed by the contractor to authorize office personnel to sign forms on his behalf will be accepted by the department.
   6. 6. Upon receipt of the registration forms, the department will review and process each form, including field inspection, if necessary, and will assign an identification number to each well after which the well is considered registered. The well data will then be entered into the computerized data file and, upon request, the owner and/or the contractor will be informed of the fact of registration and of the assigned identification number.

6. F. Copies of Available Data Which Shall Be Attached to Registration Forms. The water well contractor who is responsible for drilling a public supply, industrial or power generation water well or test hole, shall attach to the registration form copies of the following items (if available for transmittal) to the department:

   1. 1. electrical log or other borehole geophysical log;
   2. 2. mechanical analysis of the drill cuttings;
   3. 3. chemical analysis of the water;
   4. 4. aquifer test results.

7. G. Registration of Reworked Water Wells

   1. 1. Registered wells that are reworked (e.g., removing and replacing the screen; redeveloping the well) need not be registered a second time unless the screen setting is altered or a liner is installed inside the original casing. If the registered well, after reworking, obtains water from an aquifer different from that reported on the original registration form, another registration form shall be submitted by the contractor within 30 calendar days after completion of the work.
8. 2. If an unregistered well is reworked, deepened or changed in any manner or if screen setting is altered, the proper registration form (DNR-GW-1 or DNR-GW-1S) shall be submitted to the department by the contractor no later than 30 calendar days after the work has been completed. Failure to file the proper registration form may result in enforcement actions including the assessment of civil penalties in accordance with the authority of the commissioner of conservation.

9. H. Registration of Subcontracted Water Wells. When a water well contractor agrees to construct a water well for a customer but subcontracts the work to another water well contractor, the following registration procedure shall govern:

   1. 1. the subcontractor who drills the well shall keep an accurate record of the pertinent data to be used in completing the registration form; however, the name and license number of the original contractor must be shown on the upper right-hand corner of the registration form, and it is the original contractor who is responsible for signing and transmitting the form to the department in accordance with the procedures outlined in §105.E. The subcontractor may write his or his company's name and license number at the space designated for "remarks."

10. I. Registration of Rig-Supply Water Wells

    1. 1. In order to register a rig-supply water well, each registration form must be accompanied by a copy of the "registered" permit plat reflecting the section, township, range and the distances from the section lines to the location of the well (oil, gas, injection, etc.). The plat will be used by the department to verify the latitude and longitude of the well. The water well contractor who drilled the water well shall obtain a copy of the plat from the company in charge of the drilling of the oil or gas well (lessee) or from the operator of the oil or gas drilling rig and shall attach it to the registration form for transmittal to the department. Alternatively, the water well contractor may send the registration form to the lessee with appropriate instructions for them to attach the plat to the registration form and transmit it to the department.
    2. 2. The lessee or the operator shall furnish the water well contractor with the required plat in a timely manner so that the 30-day limitation for water well registration is not exceeded.
11. J. Registration of Monitoring Wells. Although construction of monitoring wells for facilities regulated by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) requires approval from DEQ prior to construction, they shall be registered with the Office of Conservation, like all other water wells, as part of the state's effort to catalog well sites and to collect and provide data on the geohydrological system. In order to register a monitoring well, the drilling contractor, in addition to completing all items on the Water Well Registration Short Form (DNR-GW-1S), must also complete the spaces provided for the latitude and longitude of the well location, as well as the section, township and range.

Authority Note

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 38:3091-38:3098.8.

Historical Note

HISTORICAL NOTE: Promulgated by the Department of Transportation and Development, Office of Public Works, LR 1:249 (May 1975), amended LR 11:950 (October 1985), repromulgated by the Department of Transportation and Development, Office of Public Works, LR 31:942 (April 2005), amended by the Department of Natural Resources, Office of Conservation, LR 37:906 (March 2011), LR 37:3527 (December 2011).