Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program

Utah's Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program for Class I, III, IV and V wells is run by the Division of Water Quality (DWQ) of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). DWQ says its predecessor, the Utah Bureau of Water Pollution Control, received primacy from EPA on February 10, 1983 to run this part of the program under section 1422 of the Safe Drinking Water Act. Class II wells fall under a separate program, run by the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining under section 1425 of the act.

In a Phase I ESA

ASTM E1527-21 does not name injection well records among its standard record sources. A Class V well can be as ordinary as a floor drain in a service bay, which is why this record bears on a Phase I.

Four Utah details shape the search.

• Motor vehicle waste disposal wells are banned. DWQ classes a motor vehicle waste disposal well (MVWD), a kind of Class V well, by what it receives: fluids from vehicle repair or maintenance, whatever the construction of the system. It is usually a floor drain or sink in a service area that drains to a septic system or drywell. DWQ says new ones have been banned nationwide since April 5, 2000, and that existing ones are banned across Utah under R317-7-6.5(C) and must be closed, unless DWQ grants a waiver through a Class V operating permit, which the page says the owner may apply for. The program may also allow up to a year more to close a well while a sewer hookup is arranged. The businesses it names as possibly having one include service stations, car dealers, body, muffler and transmission shops, truck stops, boat yards, rental agencies and railroad maintenance facilities.
• Closing one leaves a paper trail. The owner or operator tells the UIC program of the planned closure at least 30 days ahead and may not start until the program sends a letter approving the closure plan. The well is then plugged or otherwise closed in a way the program accepts, and any soil, gravel, sludge or liquid taken out is handled under the rules that apply. For a former vehicle service property, ask whether the file holds the closure notice and the program's letter.
• Every Class V well is to be inventoried. DWQ says owners and operators of all Class V wells, old or new, must submit inventory information, and that from July 1, 2021 the program would charge a one-time $220 inventory fee for each subclass of Class V well at each location. DWQ also says large-capacity cesspools are banned.
• Permitted by rule. DWQ says facilities under its program are permitted by rule under Utah's Ground Water Quality Protection Program (R317-6-6.2(A)(8)), and that no such facility may cause ground water to exceed the standards in Table I of R317-6 or the total dissolved solids limits of its ground water class.

Where to look a site up

• DWQ's Current Permits page has tables of current underground injection control permits and current ground water discharge permits, giving each permittee, the permitted facility or operation, and the permit number. This handbook did not find a list of Class V inventory submissions on the pages read.
• DWQ takes reports of releases that may affect waters of the state at (801) 536-4300.
• DWQ's UIC page refers questions on Class II wells to Division of Oil, Gas and Mining staff. This handbook did not read that division's pages.

Getting the file

DWQ takes records requests on DEQ's GRAMA request form at wqgrama@utah.gov or (801) 536 4300. The routes are on the GRAMA requests page.

Sources

Utah Department of Environmental Quality pages, read October 13, 2026:

• Utah Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program, last modified April 16, 2026.
• Motor Vehicle Waste Disposal Wells: Utah UIC Program, last modified April 16, 2026.
• Utah Current Ground Water Permits, last modified September 10, 2026.
• Report an Environmental Incident, last modified April 16, 2026.
• Environmental Quality Records Request (GRAMA), last modified April 21, 2026.