FNREL Mineral and Energy Law Newsletter
Pennsylvania – Oil & Gas
(By Joseph K. Reinhart, Sean M. McGovern, Matthew C. Wood and Gina N. Falaschi)
On March 15, 2022, the Environmental Quality Board approved final regulations establishing reasonably available control technology (RACT) requirements for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other pollutants from existing oil and natural gas production facilities, compressor stations, processing plants, and transmission stations. The regulation will be submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for approval as part of the commonwealth’s state implementation plan under the Clean Air Act. As reported in more detail in Vol. 39, No. 1 (2022) and Vol. XXXVII, No. 3 (2020) of this Newsletter, under the new regulation, oil and natural gas operators with facilities that exceed VOC emission thresholds would be required to do more frequent leak detection and repair monitoring on certain equipment at their facilities.
The rulemaking had advanced to the Pennsylvania House and Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committees and the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) for consideration. After the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee issued a disapproval letter for the rulemaking on April 26, 2022, however, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) withdrew the rule from consideration by the IRRC to reevaluate the rulemaking. The Committee’s disapproval letter alleges that PADEP failed to comply with Act 52 of 2016, which requires that any rulemaking concerning conventional oil and gas wells be undertaken separately and independently from those concerning unconventional oil and gas wells or other subjects. PADEP has stated that it needs to finalize the rule by June 16, 2022, to avoid sanctions by the EPA under the Clean Air Act. Documents related to the rule can be found on PADEP’s website at https://www.dep.pa.gov/ Pub-licParticipation/EnvironmentalQuality/Pages/2022-Meetings. aspx.
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