37-43-102. Definitions. Unless the context requires otherwise, in this chapter the following definitions apply:

(1) "Apprentice water well driller" means an individual who is learning the trade of water well drilling and performs labor and services for a licensed water well contractor and whose duties are directly related to well drilling or drilling rig operation.

(2) "Board" means the board of water well contractors provided for in 2-15-3307.

(3) "Department" means the department of natural resources and conservation provided for in Title 2, chapter 15, part 33.

(4) "Geotechnical boring" means a hole intended solely to determine the composition, stability, density, movement, pressure, stratigraphy, or other physical properties of soil or rock.

(5) (a) "Monitoring well" means a well that is used for pollutant recovery or monitoring ground water quality, ground water levels, or flow direction, but whose primary purpose is not the withdrawal or acquisition of ground water.

(b) The term does not include geotechnical borings, perk test holes, and ground water exploration holes that are used to determine suitability of onsite sewage disposal by septic tank drain fields or lagoons.

(6) "Monitoring well constructor" means a natural person who installs monitoring wells.

(7) (a) "Water well" means an excavation that is drilled, cored, bored, washed, driven, dug, jetted, or otherwise constructed and intended for the location, diversion, artificial recharge, or acquisition of ground water.

(b) The term does not include:

(i) spring development or excavations, by backhoe or otherwise, for recovery and use of surface waters or for the purpose of stock watering or irrigation when the depth is 25 feet or less; or

(ii) an excavation made for the purpose of obtaining or prospecting for oil, natural gas, minerals, or products of mining or quarrying or for inserting media to repressure oil- or natural-gas-bearing formations or for storing petroleum, natural gas, or other products.

(8) "Water well contractor" or "contractor" means a natural person who contracts on behalf of a firm, corporation, partnership, or other business entity to construct, alter, or rehabilitate a water well on lands other than the person's own for compensation.

(9) "Water well driller" or "driller" means any person, other than an apprentice, at a drilling site causing a water well to be drilled, altered, or rehabilitated.

History: En. 66-2602.1 by Sec. 251, Ch. 350, L. 1974; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 232, L. 1974; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 268, L. 1975; R.C.M. 1947, 66-2602.1(part); amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 274, L. 1981; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 728, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 538, L. 1987; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 516, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 1402, Ch. 56, L. 2009.