The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(1) "Abandoned well" means a well that is unmaintained or is in such disrepair that it is unusable or is a risk to public health and welfare.
(2) "Constructing a well" or "construct a well" means:
(a) Boring, digging, drilling, or excavating a well;
(b) Installing casing, sheeting, lining, or well screens, in a well;
(c) Drilling a geotechnical soil boring; or
(d) Installing an environmental investigation well.
"Constructing a well" or "construct a well" includes the alteration of an existing well.
(3) "Decommission" means to fill or plug a well so that it will not produce water, serve as a channel for movement of water or pollution, or allow the entry of pollutants into the well or aquifers.
(4) "Department" means the department of ecology.
(5) "Dewatering well" means a cased or lined excavation or boring that is intended to withdraw or divert groundwater for the purpose of facilitating construction, stabilizing a landslide, or protecting an aquifer.
(6) "Director" means the director of the department of ecology.
(7) "Environmental investigation well" means a cased hole intended or used to extract a sample or samples of groundwater, vapor, or soil from an underground formation and which is decommissioned immediately after the sample or samples are obtained. An environmental investigation well is typically installed using direct push technology or auger boring and uses the probe, stem, auger, or rod as casing. An environmental investigation well is not a geotechnical soil boring.
(8) "Geotechnical soil boring" or "boring" means a well drilled for the purpose of obtaining soil samples or information to ascertain structural properties of the subsurface.
(9) "Ground source heat pump boring" means a vertical boring constructed for the purpose of installing a closed loop heat exchange system for a ground source heat pump.
(10) "Grounding well" means a grounding electrode installed in the earth by the use of drilling equipment to prevent buildup of voltages that may result in undue hazards to persons or equipment. Examples are anode and cathode protection wells.
(11) "Groundwater" means and includes groundwaters as defined in RCW 90.44.035 .
(12) "Instrumentation well" means a well in which pneumatic or electric geotechnical or hydrological instrumentation is permanently or periodically installed to measure or monitor subsurface strength and movement. Instrumentation well includes borehole extensometers, slope indicators, pneumatic or electric pore pressure transducers, and load cells.
(13) "Monitoring well" means a well designed to obtain a representative groundwater sample or designed to measure the water level elevation in either clean or contaminated water or soil.
(14) "Observation well" means a well designed to measure the depth to the water level elevation in either clean or contaminated water or soil.
(15) "Operator" means a person who (a) is employed by a well contractor; (b) is licensed under this chapter; or (c) who controls, supervises, or oversees the construction of a well or who operates well construction equipment.
(16) "Owner" or "well owner" means the person, firm, partnership, copartnership, corporation, association, other entity, or any combination of these, who owns the property on which the well is or will be constructed or has the right to the well by means of an easement, covenant, or other enforceable legal instrument for the purpose of benefiting from the well.
(17) "Pollution" and "contamination" have the meanings provided in RCW 90.48.020 .
(18) "Remediation well" means a well intended or used to withdraw groundwater or inject water, air (for air sparging), or other solutions into the subsurface for the purpose of remediating, cleaning up, or controlling potential or actual groundwater contamination.
(19) "Resource protection well" means a cased boring intended or used to collect subsurface information or to determine the existence or migration of pollutants within an underground formation. Resource protection wells include monitoring wells, observation wells, piezometers, spill response wells, remediation wells, environmental investigation wells, vapor extraction wells, ground source heat pump boring, grounding wells, and instrumentation wells.
(20) "Resource protection well contractor" means any person, firm, partnership, copartnership, corporation, association, or other entity, licensed and bonded under chapter 18.27 RCW, engaged in the business of constructing resource protection wells or geotechnical soil borings.
(21) "Water well" means any excavation that is constructed when the intended use of the well is for the location, diversion, artificial recharge, observation, monitoring, dewatering, or withdrawal of groundwater. "Water wells" include ground source heat pump borings and grounding wells.
(22) "Water well contractor" means any person, firm, partnership, copartnership, corporation, association, or other entity, licensed and bonded under chapter 18.27 RCW, engaged in the business of constructing water wells.
(23)(a) "Well" means water wells, resource protection wells, dewatering wells, and geotechnical soil borings.
(b) Well does not mean an excavation made for the purpose of:
(i) Obtaining or prospecting for oil, natural gas, geothermal resources, minerals, or products of mining, or quarrying, or for inserting media to repressure oil or natural gas bearing formations, or for storing petroleum, natural gas, or other products;
(ii) Siting and constructing an on-site sewage disposal system as defined in RCW 70A.105.020 or a large on-site sewage system as defined in RCW 70A.115.010 ; or
(iii) Inserting any device or instrument less than ten feet in depth into the soil for the sole purpose of performing soil or water testing or analysis or establishing soil moisture content as long as there is no withdrawal of water in any quantity other than as necessary to perform the intended testing or analysis.
(24) "Well contractor" means a resource protection well contractor and a water well contractor licensed and bonded under chapter 18.27 RCW.
Explanatory statement — 2021 c 65: See note following RCW 53.54.030 .