Georgia Underground Injection Control (UIC)

Underground Injection Control (UIC) permits in Georgia are issued by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD), through the Wastewater Regulatory Program of its Watershed Protection Branch. EPD says anyone who injects, or intends to inject, fluid into the subsurface through an injection well must obtain a UIC permit from it.

In a Phase I ESA

ASTM E1527-21 does not name injection well records among its standard record sources. In Georgia the record is narrower than the five well classes suggest, and it can point to a cleanup.

• Only Class V wells are permitted so far. EPD says injection wells are divided into five classes, and that Georgia has not issued any permits for Class I through IV wells at this time.
• A remediation injection needs a permit. EPD's examples of Class V wells are non-domestic septic system wells, remediation wells and non-contact cooling water return wells. So a UIC permit at a property can be the trace of a groundwater cleanup. The application must come with a corrective action plan, or an equivalent report prepared by a Georgia registered professional geologist or professional engineer, that completely describes the site hydrogeology, the nature and extent of the groundwater impact of the proposed injection, and the injection itself. The UIC file can therefore hold a corrective action plan for the site.
• A pilot test leaves a notice, not a permit. To gather field data for a corrective action plan, or to test whether an injected fluid suits the remediation, a facility files a Pilot Test Notification Form. EPD says pilot testing may be done before a permit is obtained, with notification at least 30 days before the test.
• Non-domestic septic systems are in the program. A non-domestic septic system permit applies to non-residential septic system wells that inject waste or effluent from what EPD describes as a multiple dwelling business establishment, community, or regional business establishment septic system. EPD sends single family residences, and non-residential systems used solely for sanitary waste with the capacity to serve fewer than 20 people a day, to the county health department.

EPD cites State Rule 391-3-6-.13 for the fuller list of Class V injection wells.

What the record shows

A permit application includes the application form, a checklist, and the corrective action plan or equivalent report. EPD says the report must show the site on a 7.5 minute topographic map and include a site map with the monitoring wells, the hydrologic gradient inferred from them, and the locations and areas of influence of the injection and monitoring wells. Once a permit is effective, the facility must comply with all of its requirements, and EPD says applications must be submitted at least 90 days before the permit expires.

Where to look a site up

• The pages read do not link a public list of UIC permits. EPD's Underground Injection Control (UIC) page describes the program and links the application forms.
• Underground Injection Control applications have gone through GEOS, the Georgia EPD Online System, since October 1, 2018.
• The Wastewater Regulatory Program is at 470-607-3078, and the Watershed Protection Branch at 404-463-1511.

Getting the file

These are Watershed Protection Branch records, not Land Protection Branch records. EPD says a Georgia Open Records Act request to the Watershed Protection Branch goes through its Open Records Request Portal. Where the injection was part of a cleanup, the cleanup program's file is the other place to look.

Sources

Georgia Environmental Protection Division pages, read October 7, 2026:

• Underground Injection Control (UIC), last modified September 26, 2024.
• Wastewater, last modified May 11, 2022.
• Watershed Protection Branch, no modified date in the saved page.
• GEOS Training and Technical Assistance, last modified October 5, 2026.
• Contact Us, last modified June 18, 2026.