Oregon Revised Statutes Mineral Resources § 522.019

(2) The State Department of Geology and Mineral Industries shall adopt rules governing the disposal by reinjection or other means of geothermal fluids derived from geothermal resources from wells of 250 or more degrees Fahrenheit bottom hole temperature or wells 2,000 or more feet deep. The rules shall include standards whereby contamination may be determined, construction standards for reinjection wells, testing procedures for identifying aquifers, standards and procedures for determining whether adjacent aquifers are being degraded by the reinjection process, guidelines for conservation of the resource, criteria for evaluating reservoirs or zones for geothermal fluid disposal and requirements for prior approval of all geothermal fluid reinjection proposals.

(3) In addition to the permit required by ORS 522.115, an operator of a geothermal well must obtain a water quality permit from the Department of Environmental Quality under ORS 468B.050 or under rules authorized by ORS 468B.195 before injection of any fluid, except well drilling fluids. Nothing in this chapter limits the authority of the Department of Environmental Quality to regulate the subsurface injection of fluids pursuant to ORS 468B.195, 468B.196 and 468B.197.