North Carolina
Underground Injection Control (UIC) Well Program
The Underground Injection Control (UIC) Well Program of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) sits in the Groundwater Resources part of its Division of Water Resources. It guards groundwater by preventing illegal waste disposal and by regulating how wells are built and run that inject approved substances, for example to clean up contaminated groundwater or to recharge an aquifer. DEQ says Class V is the only class of UIC well that may be installed in the state. The well construction rules are 15A NCAC 02C.
In a Phase I ESA
ASTM E1527-21 does not name injection well records among its standard record sources. The program still matters on a property with a cleanup history, because DEQ says the most common injection wells in the state include wells for treating groundwater in place, closed-loop groundwater remediation wells, aquifer storage and recovery, geothermal heating and cooling, and stormwater infiltration (since May 1, 2012).
Three North Carolina details shape the search.
- Small cleanups may leave only a notice. DEQ says many smaller projects that inject substances to break down or help remove contaminants are deemed permitted by rule and need only a notification form, while larger projects need a permit application and an individual permit before any injection or well construction. Air sparging needs no injection permit but must be notified two weeks before injection, with well construction and abandonment forms due within 30 days. Ask for notifications as well as permits.
- Additives are listed. DEQ keeps a list of additives approved for injection in remediation; a substance not on it needs a risk assessment form with the permit application or notification, and any new substance needs review by the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Section of the Division of Public Health, in the Department of Health and Human Services, which DEQ says may take two to three months or more.
- Large septic systems sit with another agency. DEQ says EPA's definition of an injection well takes in septic systems able to serve more than 20 people a day and septic systems that dispose of industrial process wastewater, and that in North Carolina the Department of Health and Human Services' Onsite Water Protection Section, working with county health departments, regulates such large-capacity systems. This handbook does not read that agency's pages.
Where to look a site up
- DEQ links its current statewide UIC Well Inventory, which this handbook did not open. DEQ says it accepts no liability for the inventory's accuracy or completeness, because its data are entered or reported by government agencies, the public, industry and other third parties.
- The Division of Water Resources links a search of well construction records in its Laserfiche library, which this handbook did not open.
- The program page gives 919-707-3668 for UIC Program staff on other injection well types, and links a staff contacts page this handbook did not open.
Getting the file
The pages read give no records route for the program of its own. DEQ's online request form asks you to pick the DEQ division the request concerns, or all divisions if you are unsure, and its Online Public Records page links the division's Laserfiche library; see Requesting Public Records.
Sources
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality pages, read October 13, 2026, no modified date shown: