2007 Minnesota Statutes

103I.005 DEFINITIONS.
    Subdivision 1. Applicability. The definitions in this chapter apply to this chapter.
    Subd. 2. Boring. "Boring" means a hole or excavation that is not used to extract water and
includes exploratory borings, environmental bore holes, vertical heat exchangers, and elevator
shafts.
    Subd. 2a. Certified representative. "Certified representative" means a person certified
by the commissioner to represent a well contractor, limited well/boring contractor, monitoring
well contractor, or elevator boring contractor.
    Subd. 3. Commissioner. "Commissioner" means the commissioner of health.
    Subd. 4. Department. "Department" means the Department of Health.
    Subd. 4a. Dewatering well. "Dewatering well" means a nonpotable well used to lower
groundwater levels to allow for construction or use of underground space. A dewatering well
does not include:
(1) an excavation 25 feet or less in depth for temporary dewatering during construction; or
(2) a well used to lower groundwater levels for control or removal of groundwater
contamination.
    Subd. 5. Drive point well. "Drive point well" means a well constructed by forcing a pointed
well screen, attached to sections of pipe, into the ground with the screen and casing forced or
driven into the ground with a hammer, maul, or weight.
    Subd. 6. Elevator boring. "Elevator boring" means a bore hole, jack hole, drilled hole, or
excavation constructed to install an elevator hydraulic cylinder.
    Subd. 7. Elevator boring contractor. "Elevator boring contractor" means a person with an
elevator boring contractor's license issued by the commissioner.
    Subd. 8. Environmental bore hole. "Environmental bore hole" means a hole or excavation
in the ground that penetrates a confining layer or is greater than 25 feet in depth and enters or goes
through a water bearing layer and is used to monitor or measure physical, chemical, radiological,
or biological parameters without extracting water. An environmental bore hole also includes bore
holes constructed for vapor recovery or venting systems. An environmental bore hole does not
include a well, elevator shaft, exploratory boring, or monitoring well.
    Subd. 9. Exploratory boring. "Exploratory boring" means a surface drilling done to explore
or prospect for oil, natural gas, apatite, diamonds, graphite, gemstones, kaolin clay, and metallic
minerals, including iron, copper, zinc, lead, gold, silver, titanium, vanadium, nickel, cadmium,
molybdenum, chromium, manganese, cobalt, zirconium, beryllium, thorium, uranium, aluminum,
platinum, palladium, radium, tantalum, tin, and niobium, and a drilling or boring for petroleum.
    Subd. 10. Explorer. "Explorer" means a person with an explorer's license issued by the
commissioner.
    Subd. 11. Groundwater thermal exchange device. "Groundwater thermal exchange device"
means a heating or cooling device that depends on extraction and reinjection of groundwater from
an independent aquifer to operate.
    Subd. 12. Limited well/boring contractor. "Limited well/boring contractor" means a person
with a limited well/boring contractor's license issued by the commissioner. Limited well/boring
contractor's licenses are issued for constructing, repairing, and sealing vertical heat exchangers;
installing, repairing, and modifying pitless units and pitless adaptors, well casings above the
pitless unit or pitless adaptor, well screens, or well diameters; constructing, repairing, and sealing
drive point wells or dug wells; constructing, repairing, and sealing dewatering wells; sealing
wells; and installing well pumps or pumping equipment.
    Subd. 13.[Repealed, 2005 c 106 s 68]
    Subd. 14. Monitoring well. "Monitoring well" means an excavation that is drilled, cored,
bored, washed, driven, dug, jetted, or otherwise constructed to extract groundwater for physical,
chemical, or biological testing. "Monitoring well" includes a groundwater quality sampling well.
    Subd. 15. Monitoring well contractor. "Monitoring well contractor" means a person who is
registered by the commissioner to construct monitoring wells.
    Subd. 16. Person. "Person" means an individual, firm, partnership, association, or
corporation or other entity including the United States government, any interstate body, the state,
and any agency, department, or political subdivision of the state.
    Subd. 17. Provisions of this chapter. "Provisions of this chapter" means the sections in this
chapter and rules adopted by the commissioner under this chapter.
    Subd. 18.[Repealed, 1991 c 199 art 2 s 29; 1991 c 355 s 54]
    Subd. 19.[Repealed, 1990 c 597 s 73]
    Subd. 20. Vertical heat exchanger. "Vertical heat exchanger" means an earth-coupled
heating or cooling device consisting of a sealed closed-loop piping system installed vertically in
the ground to transfer heat to or from the surrounding earth with no discharge.
    Subd. 20a. Water supply well. "Water supply well" means a well that is not a dewatering
well or monitoring well and includes wells used:
(1) for potable water supply;
(2) for irrigation;
(3) for agricultural, commercial, or industrial water supply;
(4) for heating or cooling;
(5) as a remedial well; and
(6) for testing water yield for irrigation, commercial or industrial uses, residential supply, or
public water supply.
    Subd. 21. Well. "Well" means an excavation that is drilled, cored, bored, washed, driven,
dug, jetted, or otherwise constructed if the excavation is intended for the location, diversion,
artificial recharge, or acquisition of groundwater. Well includes monitoring wells, drive point
wells, and dewatering wells. "Well" does not include:
(1) an excavation by backhoe, or otherwise for temporary dewatering of groundwater for
nonpotable use during construction, if the depth of the excavation is 25 feet or less;
(2) an excavation made to obtain or prospect for oil, natural gas, minerals, or products of
mining or quarrying;
(3) an excavation to insert media to repressure oil or natural gas bearing formations or to
store petroleum, natural gas, or other products;
(4) an excavation for nonpotable use for wildfire suppression activities; or
(5) borings.
    Subd. 22. Well disclosure certificate. "Well disclosure certificate" means a certificate
containing the requirements of section 103I.235, subdivision 1, paragraph (k).
    Subd. 23. Well contractor. "Well contractor" means a person with a well contractor's license.
    Subd. 23a. Well that is in use. A "well that is in use" means a well that operates on a daily,
regular, or seasonal basis. A well in use includes a well that operates for the purpose of irrigation,
fire protection, or emergency pumping.
    Subd. 24. Wellhead protection area. "Wellhead protection area" means the surface and
subsurface area surrounding a well or well field that supplies a public water system, through
which contaminants are likely to move toward and reach the well or well field.
History: 1989 c 326 art 3 s 2; 1990 c 597 s 16-20; 1991 c 355 s 6-8; 1999 c 153 s 1-3; 2000
c 260 s 15; 2005 c 106 s 9-15; 2006 c 281 art 3 s 16