Under current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules, small onshore oil producers are allowed to discharge produced water to surface waters with approval from state agencies; but small onshore gas producers, however, are prohibited from discharging produced water to surface waters. Most oil- and gas-producing states do not allow surface water discharges of produced water from onshore stripper wells even though the EPAs effluent limitation guidelines do not specifically prohibit such discharges. This report identifies six states that allow surface water discharges from small onshore oil operations and summarizes the types of permitting controls they use. In 1997, six states did issue NPDES or state discharge permits for onshore stripper wells. Those permits placed limits on different combinations of pollutants and also specified minimum treatment requirements. The report compares permit limits and requirements from these six states.
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