Water Well Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/543740
California Well Logs Are Now Publicly Available California Governor Jerry Brown made another subtle yet historic change on June 24 to California's groundwater law and policy: Well logs are now pub- licly available. It is not yet clear how and when the California Department of Water Resources will be ready to respond to requests from the public for well logs. Besides eliminating well log confi- dentiality, SB83 contains many other provisions including: • Requires aquifer exemptions pro- posed under the Class 2 Underground Injection Control (UIC) program be reviewed by the State Water Re- source Control Board and Regional Water Quality Control Boards, and if approved by water boards, proposed aquifer exemptions to be submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency • Requires the California Department of Conservation to report to the legis- lature every six months on the UIC program. SB88 is a budget trailer bill signed by Brown that includes: • Recycled water projects California Environmental Quality Act exemp- tion • Well ordinances California Environ- mental Quality Act exemption • Drought water system consolidation. Confined Spaces Rule Takes Effect in August The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's rules for construction workers in confined spaces takes effect on August 3. "Unlike most general industry work sites, construction sites are continually evolving, with the number and charac- teristics of confined spaces changing as work progresses," says OSHA's Assis- tant Secretary of Labor David Michaels. "This rule emphasizes training, continu- ous work site evaluation, and communi- cation requirements to further protect workers' safety and health." Confined spaces—such as manholes, crawl spaces, and tanks—are not de- signed for continuous occupancy and are difficult to exit in the event of an emergency. People working in confined spaces face life-threatening hazards in- cluding toxic substances, electrocution, explosion, and asphyxiation. The OSHA webpage on this subject (www.osha.gov/confinedspaces/index .html) contains information on the new regulation, compliance assistance docu- ments, and other resources OSHA has to help employers and workers understand the rule. OSHA will continue to publish new guidance products in the coming months and will post them online on the webpage. Senate Appropriations Bill Could Modify Silica Rulemaking D uring a mark-up of the U.S. Senate's appropriations bill provid- ing funding for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Senator John Hoeven (R-North Dakota) intro- duced an amendment that would require OSHA to conduct a small business re- view and commission an independent study to further examine industry costs of compliance with a final silica rule. NEWS from page 12 waterwelljournal.com 14 August 2015 WWJ the DR can drill without fluids the DR can drill without fluids el, glacial till, and boulder v a gra e bee v t DR drills ha emos or F w er in lo er in lo t a t w t w ec ec t o de o de y t y t s the abilit s, the abilit es the li thod minimiz he DR me s. T r edly in some of th t epea en re v o en pro ed ed. v o tions is impr tions is impro orma orma w f w f -flo flo w tion and aqu cula s circ elihood of los k erb v ed o t onsolida t unc oughes he t tion. Because tamina on s-c os er cro uif tions, including sand orma den f bur e d, o drill. Canada ( 1.9190 .66 1.800 or call fo , visit e o learn mor To y t a er w t t be ti oduc o the pro tributions t on c s Dual ' t emos or , F 9 7 e 19 Sinc s orldwi (W 5.5800 3.29 1.40 .S.A.) a/U DR ca/ t. emos or or t a y of opera ofitabilit y and pr ivit ed on the ere e deliv v otary drills ha R y , wing numbe Engineer DE ) de o or a gro . F orldwide w . e ormanc er perf t t omise of be e pro p s simply no try e indus c esour or the r ed solutions f ineer ESIGN. BUILD. PERFORM. e' ther s, or t ac tra on er of c e significan o make tinue t on y c he T o . y . t