| (1) |
An applicant or holder must, prior to conducting hydraulic fracturing, assess the risk of potential hydraulic fracturing related seismicity and submit a risk assessment report and the proposed mitigation measures to the designated agency for approval and recommendation by the Council for Geoscience and the risk assessment report must, as a minimum, identify— |
| (a) |
stressed faults which must be avoided in the fracturing process; |
| (b) |
fracture behaviour of targeted formations; and |
| (c) |
the site-specific seismic monitoring to be undertaken pre-fracturing, during operation and post fracturing including the monitoring and reporting frequency. |
| (2) |
An applicant or holder must carry out site-specific surveys prior to hydraulic fracturing to characterise local stress regimes and identify proximal faults and the site characterisations must at least include— |
| (a) |
desktop studies of existing geological maps; |
| (b) |
seismic reflection and refraction data where available; |
| (c) |
available background seismicity data; |
| (d) |
stress data from proximal boreholes where available; and |
| (e) |
other relevant available geophysical data, such as gravity. |
| (3) |
The risk assessment report contemplated in subregulation (1) and the site-specific surveys contemplated in sub-regulation (2) must be submitted to the competent authority, for consideration, as part of the application for Environmental Authorisation. |
| (4) |
The assessment of the orientation and slip tendency of faults and bedding planes may be done once faults have been identified and geological stress regimes characterised. |
| (5) |
The holder must mitigate risks of fault movement by identifying stressed faults by preventing fracturing fluids from entering stressed faults. |
| (6) |
The holder must test fracture a targeted formation in a given well by using small pre- fracturing injection tests with micro-seismic monitoring. |
| (7) |
A holder must, following pre-fracturing injection tests contemplated in subregulation (6), investigate whether seismic activity occurs and then modify subsequent hydraulic fracturing operations. |
| (8) |
The holder must undertake seismic monitoring at the site for a period of 3 years after hydraulic fracturing activities have ceased and include the results of the seismic monitoring in the monitoring report contemplated in subregulation (1)(c). |
[Regulation 89 inserted by section 2 of Notice No. R. 466 dated 3 June 2015]
Special Investigating Units and Special Tribunals Act, 1996
