December 1, 2023
The Foundation Water Law Newsletter
(Lisa M. Bruderly, Mackenzie M. Moyer and Jessica Deyoe)
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s (PADEP) Policy Office presented at the September 21, 2023, Water Resources Advisory Committee (WRAC) meeting on PADEP’s proposed regulation setting notification requirements for unauthorized discharges to waters of the commonwealth under 25 Pa. Code ch. 91. See PowerPoint Presentation, PADEP, “Notification Requirements for Unauthorized Discharges to Waters of the Commonwealth—Draft Proposed Rulemaking” (Sept. 21, 2023). Currently, the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law requires PADEP to “determine when a discharge constitutes pollution” and to “establish standards whereby and wherefrom it can be ascertained and determined whether any such discharge does or does not constitute pollution.” 35 Pa. Stat. § 691.1. According to PADEP, the proposed amendments to chapter 91 are intended to enable the Department to meet its statutory obligation and set straightforward requirements for the public, the regulated community, and PADEP.
Under Pennsylvania’s Clean Water Program, the location and characteristics of authorized discharges—discharges permitted under a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Permit, for example—are known prior to discharge. Permits are designed to ensure that these discharges do not cause or contribute to pollution, but unauthorized discharges—spills, for example—are unknown and unplanned. Many site-specific factors could affect whether the unauthorized discharge will result in pollution. Thus, the responsible party makes the first determination as to whether a discharge will cause or contribute to pollution, then PADEP investigates and assesses whether the discharge did or did not constitute pollution. PADEP intends for the chapter 91 updates to provide clearer reporting guidance and more consistent reporting for unauthorized discharges.
The draft proposed amendments to 25 Pa. …
On February 17, 2021, the Biden Administration announced it will revoke amendments to the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP) filed during the last days of the Trump Administration. The DRECP was a collaborative, interagency planning effort finalized in 2016 that was intended to balance renewable energy development and desert conservation across nearly 11 million acres of public lands in the deserts of California. …
February 25, 2021
Renewables Law Blog
(By Ashleigh Krick)
On February 17, 2021, the Biden Administration announced it will revoke amendments to the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP) filed during the last days of the Trump Administration. The DRECP was a collaborative, interagency planning effort finalized in 2016 that was intended to balance renewable energy development and desert conservation across nearly 11 million acres of public lands in the deserts of California. The DRECP carves out certain areas of the deserts for renewable energy development, and makes other areas off limits for reasons including conservation and recreation. The Trump Administration’s amendments would have reduced the number of areas where renewable energy development was off limits, opening up an additional 800,000 acres for renewable energy development. In a statement from the Bureau of Land Management, it was unnecessary to reopen and reconsider the DRECP, which had been developed after years of collaboration and stakeholder input. Renewable energy development in the DRECP land area will continue on under the original plan.
Tags: Bureau of Land Management, Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, DRECP, renewable
On June 21, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming (“District Court”) set aside the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management’s (“BLM’s”) “Hydraulic Fracturing on Federal and Indian Lands” rule, finding that the rule exceeded BLM’s statutory authority. Challengers to the rule previously succeeded in obtaining a preliminary injunction in September 2015, pending a final decision on the merits of the case. …
Today the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced the release of a highly-anticipated final rule addressing hydraulic fracturing on millions of acres of Federal and Indian lands. According to BLM, there are more than 100,000 oil and gas wells on federally-managed lands, and more than 90 percent of wells currently being drilled use hydraulic fracturing. This rulemaking supplements existing BLM requirements for oil and gas operations and now requires, for example, the disclosure of hydraulic fracturing fluid information within 30 days of completing fracturing operations for each well. …
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) for review. The revised rule was published in the Federal Register in May 2013. During the subsequent public comment period, BLM received a large number of comments on the rule from both public interest organizations and industry groups. …
The Department of the Interior has released its Statement of Regulatory Priorities, a subsection of which highlights the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)’s priorities on energy issues including hydraulic fracturing. BLM’s stated highest regulatory priorities include revising antiquated hydraulic fracturing regulations, preventing waste of produced oil and gas, and ensuring a fair return to the American taxpayer for oil shale development. BLM’s stated priorities also address solar and wind energy projects and the management of waste mine methane. …
In order to fill vacancies at the Department of the Interior, President Obama recently nominated Janice Schneider as Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, a move welcomed by Secretary Sally Jewell. Currently an environment and energy lawyer in private practice in Washington, D.C., Schneider, if confirmed, will oversee all energy development activities on federal lands and supervise the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. …
The Bureau of Land Management’s revised proposal to regulate hydraulic fracturing on federal lands remains controversial, inviting more than 600,000 comments from 250 public interest groups calling for stricter regulations, as well as strong opposition from industry groups such as the American Petroleum Institute and the Western Energy Alliance. BLM released the revised proposal in May. The deadline for public comment, which was extended once, passed last Friday, August 23rd. …
Updating previous posts, the Western Energy Alliance (WEA) recently released an economic analysis in response to the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) latest version of its proposed fracking rules for wells on federal lands. Bloomberg BNA reports that WEA believes that although positive changes were made in the latest revised rules, BLM did not consider a number of factors, such as initial delay costs associated with implementing the rule in light of current staffing levels. …
On May 16, 2013, the U.S. Department of Interior announced the release of its updated draft rules for hydraulic fracturing on federal lands. The 30-day deadline for submitting comments on the new proposal will run from the date of publication of the draft rules in the Federal Register. Additional information on the development of the updated rules is available here.
The federal Bureau of Land Management’s proposal for regulating hydraulic fracturing on federal lands, which was submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review in January 2013, is expected to be released soon in the form of a new draft proposal. During a teleconference on April 30, 2013, U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Sally Jewell remarked that the agency will provide a new opportunity for public comment rather than finalizing the existing draft proposal. …
As we anticipated in a previous post, the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), has reportedly submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget its revised proposal for regulation of hydraulic fracturing on federal lands. The original proposal released in May 2012 prompted significant criticism from industry representatives, state regulators, and environmental groups alike. BLM expects to release its new proposal sometime in the first quarter of 2013.
The U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently announced that it will revise its draft proposal to regulate fracking on federal lands. According to BLM, approximately 90 percent of wells drilled on federal and Indian lands utilize hydraulic fracking. BLM is seeking to address concerns raised in over 170,000 comments it received in response to its May 2012 proposal. Revisions will reportedly be sent to the Office of Management and Budget next week for review. …