The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), a bureau in the U.S. Department of the Interior, has jurisdiction over onshore leasing, exploration, development, and production of oil and gas on federal lands. In addition, the BLM approves and supervises most oil and gas operations on American Indian lands.

The BLM is not the only federal agency with onshore oil and gas leasing authority. The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and the General Services Administration (GSA) also have such authority. USPS can lease postal service lands for oil and gas development. GSA can lease lands that have been acquired by a federal agency and later declared "excess" to the acquiring agency's needs.

• Bureau of Land Management
  Mailing Address: 1849 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20240
  Street Address: 1620 L Street NW, Washington, DC 20036
  (The BLM Directory home page offers individual phone and fax numbers.)

BLM State Offices

• Alaska
• Arizona
• California
• Colorado
• Eastern States (including Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Minnesota, and all states east of the Mississippi River)
• Idaho
• Montana (including North Dakota and South Dakota)
• Nevada
• New Mexico (including Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas)
• Oregon (including Washington)
• Utah
• Wyoming (including Nebraska)

Other BLM Offices

• National Science & Technology Center (NSTC)
• National Training Center
• Environmental Education in the BLM
• National Business Center, National Acquisitions Division
• Soil Biological Communities Workgroup

Produced Water Management Practices and Applicable Regulations
The BLM regulations governing onshore oil and gas operations are codified at 43 CFR Part 3160 (Onshore Oil and Gas Operations). General requirements for operating rights of owners and operators include compliance with applicable laws and regulations, the lease terms, Onshore Oil and Gas Orders, Notices to Lessees and Operators (NTLs), and other orders and instructions of the authorized officer. Onshore oil and gas orders (OOGOs) implement and supplement the regulations found at 43 CFR Part 3160 for conducting oil and gas operations on federal or Indian lands (43 CFR § 3164.1). Notices to lessees (NTLs) implement and supplement the OOGOs and the regulations (43 CFR § 3164.2). Disposal of produced water is governed by Onshore Oil and Gas Order (OOGO) No. 7, published in the Federal Register on November 2, 1993, at 58 FR 58506. A summary of the highlights of OOGO No. 7 follows this paragraph. The full text of OOGO No. 7 is available at, or through, most BLM State Office websites.

• Scope — OOGO No. 7 applies to disposal of produced water from completed wells on federal and Indian (except Osage) oil and gas leases. It does not apply to approval of disposal facilities on lands other than federal or Indian lands. Separate approval under the OOGO is not required if the disposal method has been covered under an enhanced recovery project approved by the authorized officer.
  
• Approval Requirement — Operators of onshore federal and Indian oil and gas leases may not dispose of produced water unless and until approval is obtained from the authorized officer.
• Disposal Methods — All produced water from federal and Indian leases must be disposed of (1) by injection into the subsurface; (2) into lined or unlined pits; or (3) by other acceptable methods approved by the authorized officer, including surface discharge under National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. Injection is generally the preferred method of disposal.
  
• On-lease and Off-lease Disposal Operations — Operators shall submit a Sundry Notice, Form 3160-5 when they request approval for on-lease disposal of produced water in injection wells and in lined or unlined pits. When requesting approval for removal of water and off-lease disposal on leased or unleased federal and Indian lands in a pit, operators shall submit a Sundry Notice, Form 3160-5. If the water is to be disposed of in injection wells, operators must also submit a copy of the Underground Injection Control (UIC) permit (unless the well is authorized by rule). Off-lease disposal on state and privately owned lands requires submission of a Sundry Notice Form 3160-5, along with a copy of the UIC permit for injection wells or pit permit, as required.
  
• Other Requirements — In addition, OOGO No. 7 identifies informational requirements for injection wells and pits; requirements governing pit design, construction, maintenance, abandonment, and reclamation; requirements for other disposal methods; and reporting requirements for disposal facilities. Operators may request variances from the standards of the OOGO.  

Additional Orders and NTLs

• Order No. 1: Approval of Operations
• NTL 3A: Reporting of Undesirable Events
• NTL-MSO-1-92: Reporting of Undesirable Event