Conditions for granting permits for natural gas storage facilities.

(1) A natural gas storage facility permit shall authorize the construction and operation of a natural gas storage facility and must be issued for the life of the facility, subject to recertification every 10 years.

(2) Before issuing or recertifying a permit, the department shall require satisfactory evidence of the following:

(a) The applicant has implemented, or is in the process of implementing, programs for the control and mitigation of pollution related to oil, petroleum products or their byproducts, and other pollutants.

(b) The applicant or operator has acquired a lawful right to drill, explore, or develop a natural gas storage reservoir from owners of at least 75 percent of the storage rights within the natural gas storage reservoir; or the applicant or operator has obtained a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the natural gas storage reservoir from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission pursuant to the Natural Gas Act, 15 U.S.C. ss. 717 et seq.

(c) The applicant has used all reasonable means to identify known wells that have been drilled into or through the natural gas storage reservoir or the reservoir protective area to determine the status of the wells and whether inactive or abandoned wells have been properly plugged. For any well that has not been properly plugged, before conducting injection operations and after issuance of the permit, the applicant must plug or recondition the well to ensure the integrity of the storage reservoir or the reservoir protective area.

(d) The applicant has tested the quality of water produced by all water supply wells within the lateral boundary of the natural gas storage facility and complied with all requirements under s. 377.2432. The applicant shall provide to the department and the owner of the water supply well a written copy of the water quality data collected under this paragraph.

(e) A determination has been made whether native gas or oil will be severed from below the soil or water of this state in the recovery of injected gas. If native gas or oil will be severed, the applicant or operator must acquire a lawful right to develop the native gas or oil before injecting gas into the natural gas storage reservoir.

(3) The applicant shall maintain records of well pressures recorded monthly, and monthly volumes of gas injected into and withdrawn from the reservoir. These records shall be maintained at the natural gas storage facility and shall be made available for inspection by the department at any reasonable time.

(4)(a) The maximum storage pressure for a natural gas storage reservoir shall be the highest shut-in bottom hole pressure found to exist during the production history of the reservoir, unless a higher pressure is established by the department based on testing of caprock and pool containment. The methods used for determining the higher pressure must be approved by the department.

(b) If the shut-in bottom hole pressure of the original discovery or of the highest production is not known, or a higher pressure has not been established through a method approved by the department pursuant to paragraph (a), the maximum storage reservoir pressure must be limited to a freshwater hydrostatic gradient.

(5) A permit may not be issued for a natural gas storage facility that includes a natural gas storage reservoir located beneath an underground source of drinking water unless the applicant demonstrates that the injection, storage, or recovery of natural gas will not cause or allow natural gas to migrate into the underground source of drinking water; in any offshore location in the Gulf of America, the Straits of Florida, or the Atlantic Ocean; or in any solution-mined cavern within a salt formation.

(6) A natural gas storage facility permit issued by the department must contain a condition that requires the permittee to obtain the lawful right to develop a natural gas storage reservoir from the owners of 100 percent of the storage rights within the natural gas storage reservoir.