(1) (a) Repealed.

(b) Effective July 1, 2006, prior to constructing a geothermal resource exploration, production, or reinjection well, a permit shall be obtained from the state engineer. The state engineer shall adopt such rules as are necessary to protect the public health, safety, and welfare and the environment and to prevent the waste of any geothermal resource. The state engineer shall also adopt rules for the assessment of reasonable fees for the processing and granting of a permit under this section.

(2) The state engineer shall notify the Colorado water quality control commission of all applications for a reinjection permit under this section and shall consider its comments in deciding whether to issue a permit. The state engineer may incorporate such comments as conditions to a permit. The water quality control commission shall respond to the notice required by this subsection (2) within sixty days.

(3) Where the maintenance of underground pressures, the prevention of subsidence, or the disposal of brines is necessary, reinjection of geothermal fluid may be required by the state engineer.

(4) The state engineer shall notify the Colorado oil and gas conservation commission of all applications for a permit to construct a geothermal well which expects to encounter geothermal fluids having a temperature in excess of 212 degrees Fahrenheit or will be in excess of two thousand five hundred feet in depth. The state engineer shall consider the Colorado oil and gas conservation commission comments in deciding whether to issue a permit. The state engineer may incorporate such comments as conditions to a permit. The Colorado oil and gas conservation commission shall respond to the notice required by this subsection (4) within sixty days.