UIC Holmes PAL 164-00-0014

Summary

SCH Number
2021050425
Public Agency
California Department of Conservation (DOC)
Document Title
UIC Holmes PAL 164-00-0014
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
5/19/2021
Document Description
The proposed project is a conversion of existing or previously permitted wells to a new UIC project to Steamflood the Lower Tulare oil sands on the Leutholtz lease in the Midway-Sunset oil field. The Leutholtz lease is a split estate with private surface rights and Federal mineral rights. The primary purpose of the UIC project is for Holmes Western Oil Corporation (Holmes) to construct and operate a new Steamflood project to enhance the recovery of heavy oil by steam injection. A combination of produced and municipal water will be used to generate steam. The steam will be pipelined to the lease using an existing steam line. Existing production facilities and steam generation equipment are sized appropriately to handle the project needs. The project will be implemented in three to five separate phases over a period of approximately five years. The proposed project is comprised of the following: •Convert three existing Lower Tulare producers to Class II steam injection wells. •Drill and complete 11 new Lower Tulare wells as Class II steam injection wells. •Convert four existing cyclic steam producing wells to Temperature Observation wells. •Drill remaining infill producers and injectors to complete injection patterns. Holmes acquired permits for all proposed new wells from Kern County, BLM, and CalGEM. Holmes acquired permits from Kern County and BLM to install well pads and install necessary infrastructure. Holmes will request permits for well conversions from BLM, CalGEM, and Kern County (as appropriate). NEPA documents provided to CalGEM for review include an Environmental Assessment (EA), Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI, ), and Decision Record (DR) prepared by the United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management (BLM), a Sensitive Species Review form for APD’s (Applications for Permit to Drill) and Sundry Notices, a BLM Oil and Gas Programmatic Biological Opinion, and signed Kern County job cards issued prior to March 25, 2020. The BLM FONSI approves 34 APDs to drill 34 new production wells which include constructing 18 new well pads, grading existing well pads, and installing pipelines and power lines on Federal mineral lease CALA34993A. The NEPA documents C060-2020-0087-EA) are available here: https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/eplanning/nepa/nepa_register.do Details on Underground Injection Control can be found on CalGEM’s website at: http://www.conservation.ca.gov/calgem/Pages/Undergroundinjectioncontrol.aspx

Contact Information

Name
Larry Kleinecke
Agency Name
California Department of Conservation
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency

Location

Counties
Kern
Township
11N
Range
23W
Section
22
Base
SB B&M

Notice of Exemption

Exempt Status
Categorical Exemption
Type, Section or Code
15301
Reasons for Exemption
Class 1 – Existing Facility: The project is categorically exempt from CEQA under the “Class 1” (14 CCR §15301) exemption per the CEQA Guidelines and CalGEM’s regulations (14 CCR §1684.1) because the project consists of permitting or minor alteration of existing private structures involving negligible or no expansion of existing or former use. The existing facilities exemption is applicable because each well proposed for the new UIC project application has a valid CalGEM permit or is an existing well. Each of those permits was evaluated and determined to be exempt from CEQA with Notices of Exemption filed with the state Clearinghouse. Further, each well was permitted by BLM and Kern County. Holmes also acquired permits from Kern County and approval from BLM to install well pads, and necessary infrastructure.

Attachments

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