On September 21, 2016, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking/Notice of Public Hearings in the Federal Register. The proposed regulations would affect application requirements for project approval and(…)
On April 21, 2016, the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) approved the Environmental Quality Board’s Chapter 78 (conventional wells) and Chapter 78a (unconventional wells) regulations by a vote of 3-2. Vice Chairman Mizner, in making a m(…)
On March 17, 2016, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a pre-publication version of its long-awaited notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for gas transmission and gathering line(…)
On February 3, 2016, the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board (EQB) adopted significant revisions to the Commonwealth’s oil and natural gas regulations by a vote of 15 to 4. EQB’s vote formally splits current Chapter 78 (Oil and Gas Wells) into n(…)
Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it will host three public hearings in September regarding proposed Clean Air Act rulemaking actions that will affect the oil and gas industry. Two hearings will be held in Denver and(…)
Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) formally announced its highly-anticipated proposal to regulate methane emissions from the oil and natural gas sector. Specifically, EPA is proposing to amend the New Source Performance Standards (N(…)
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently announced the draft final revisions to the “Environmental Protection Performance Standards at Oil and Gas Well Sites” rulemaking (Chapters 78 and 78a). Following the most recent r(…)
On July 9, 2015, Governor Tomblin announced the formation and appointment of members to the West Virginia Commission on Oil and Natural Gas Industry Safety. Publicized during Governor Tomblin’s State of the State address in early 2015, the Commission(…)
This week the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent a highly-anticipated proposed rule to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for interagency review that would address methane emissions in the oil and natural gas sector. E(…)
Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a proposed rule under the Clean Water Act that would prohibit the discharge of unconventional oil and gas extraction wastewaters to publicly owned treatment works (POTWs). The rule would(…)
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has, for a second time, extended the public comment deadline associated with its proposed rule to redefine “waters of the United States” and related terms for purposes of various federal Clean Water Act(…)
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has opened the comment period on its draft rules for the construction of horizontal well sites. All interested parties may submit comments in writing by the close-of-business on Monday, October 06, 2014 to dogr(…)
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) has released a draft “Interpretative Rule” to implement certain inspection, certification, and spill prevention – response plan provisions of the Aboveground Storage Tank Act (AST Act) e(…)
On September 9, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass a bill introduced in response to the ‘Waters of the United States’ Proposed Rule that was prepared jointly by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and U.S. Environmental Protection Ag(…)
The federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has taken another step towards finalizing updated regulations for hydraulic fracturing on federal and Indian lands, by sending a revised final rule to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) fo(…)
Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) published proposed amendments to federal air regulations at 40 C.F.R. 60, Subpart OOOO (Standards of Performance for Crude Oil and Natural Gas Production, Transmission and Distribution). Subpart(…)
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) recently extended the public comment deadlines associated with its proposed rulemaking to redefine “waters of the United States” for federal Clean Water Act programs and its request for information rega(…)
Proposed regulatory amendments published on April 19, 2014 are likely to affect hundreds of facilities in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) has estimated that 141 sources will need to install additional pol(…)
On April 21, 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published in the Federal Register its proposed rule to define “waters of the United States” and related key terms for purposes of determining the extent of federal agency jurisdiction under t(…)
This week the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a proposal to amend Subpart W of the greenhouse gas reporting program rules, which affects the Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems source category. According to EPA’s fact sheet, “[t]he(…)
Today, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued a press release to announce the opening of the public comment period for its long-awaited proposal to revise the oil and gas regulations at 25 Pa. Code Chapter 78 (environment(…)
Environmental groups and industry organizations are at an impasse over regulations proposed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) that would lift the state’s 40-year ban on the construction and operation of liquefied nat(…)
On August 16, 2013, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register that contained a package of periodic updates to the vol(…)
The State Journal reports that West Virginia lawmakers introduced 60 energy-related bills in the first two days of the 2013 regular West Virginia legislative session. Twenty four of the bills concern natural gas, while 16 address a broad range of coa(…)