Tennessee
Underground Injection Control (UIC)
Tennessee Underground Injection Control (UIC)
Underground Injection Control (UIC) in Tennessee is run by the Division of Water Resources of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC). TDEC says Tennessee permits all well types with the exception of Class VI wells, and that anyone who discharges industrial or commercial wastewater or stormwater into a subsurface system is required to submit a UIC application.
In a Phase I ESA
ASTM E1527-21 does not name injection well records among its standard record sources. TDEC says the program grew from the realization that subsurface waste disposal could contaminate ground water, and that it was designed to prevent contamination of underground sources of drinking water by injection wells.
- Class V is the catch-all class. TDEC describes Class V as wells not included in the other classes, which generally inject nonhazardous fluid into or above an underground source of drinking water. It says the practices range from simple cesspools to geothermal re-injection wells thousands of feet deep.
- Stormwater and karst are in it. The Class V form is an application to operate a Class V well, or a storm water discharge to the subsurface, or a modification of a karst feature. A drain that sends water underground can therefore be a regulated injection.
- Class V is usually authorized by rule. TDEC says Class V wells generally are authorized by reference in the Tennessee Rules for Underground Injection Control, and that it issues a permit instead when the project is complex. Class II wells are authorized by individual permit, with public notice. Do not expect an individual permit for every Class V well.
- A home septic system is not a UIC record. TDEC says the operation of a single family domestic waste disposal system requires a construction permit from the Division but does not require a UIC permit.
The classes
| Class | TDEC's permit page | TDEC's program page |
|---|---|---|
| I | Deep well industrial | Injects hazardous wastes or disposes of industrial and municipal fluids beneath the lowermost underground source of drinking water |
| II | Oil field brine | Injects fluids associated with the production of oil and natural gas, or used for enhanced hydrocarbon recovery |
| III | Mineral extraction | Injects fluids for the extraction of minerals |
| IV | Hazardous waste | Disposes of hazardous or radioactive wastes into or above an underground source of drinking water. TDEC marks the class as banned. |
| V | Shallow, non-hazardous | Wells not included in the other classes |
| VI | Geo-sequestration of carbon dioxide | Not described on the program page. The permit page says Tennessee permits all well types except Class VI. |
What the record shows
A Class V application asks about the injection well, the injection zone, the injected fluid, and the area within and below a one-mile radius of the well. Attachments may include a chemical analysis of the injection fluid and schematic diagrams of the well. For Class II wells TDEC lists further forms, among them a plugging and abandonment plan, an annual monitoring report and a well rework report. Permit holders must meet operating and monitoring requirements that include quarterly monitoring reports.
TDEC says the Division has the right to inspect a facility annually or as deemed necessary. TDEC cites Rule Chapter 0400-45-06, Underground Injection Control, and the Water Quality Control Act of 1977, Tennessee Code section 69-3-101 and following.
Where to look a site up
The UIC pages read name no list of injection wells. TDEC's Water Resources Data & Map Viewers page links the Division's permit viewer, and defines five status words, among them these three: an active permit is one in effect; inactive means tracking is not necessary, such as when the permitted activity is suspended; a terminated permit was ended for cause by the Division. The pages read do not say whether injection well authorizations appear in that viewer, so ask the Division.
Getting the file
TDEC says applications and information come from the Division of Water Resources, Underground Injection Control Program. TDEC's contact page gives the Division of Water Resources at (615) 532-0625. TDEC's Public Records Request page carries the department's records request route.
Sources
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation pages, read October 7, 2026:
- Underground Injection Control (UIC), last modified July 9, 2026.
- Underground Injection Control Permit, last modified May 11, 2026.
- Water Resources Data Map Viewers, last modified September 2, 2026.
- Contact, last modified August 17, 2026.
- Public Records Request, last modified November 3, 2025.