The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that Allegheny County Health Department Air Quality Program subcommittee may conduct a preliminary vote today on whether to require developers to notify them at certain stages of drilling to allow the county to conduct air monitoring. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association both submitted comments to the proposal and questioned the Health Department’s plan. Although Allegheny County has special jurisdiction over air quality within its limits, but it is uncertain whether it would allow the county to regulate drilling activities in light of Act 13, which the state enacted last year.
UPDATE: The Tribune-Review reports that the Air Quality Program Regulation subcommittee gave preliminary approval to the proposed rules yesterday.
After taking his oath as the 51st Auditor General of Pennsylvania on January 15, 2013, Eugene DePasquale announced that one of his “first official duties as auditor general will be to initiate a performance audit of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to make sure our constitutional right to pure water is not being compromised by natural gas drilling.” The following day, Mr. DePasquale called and sent a letter to DEP Secretary Michael Krancer to inform him of the performance audit of the years 2009 through 2012 for the DEP’s water programs related to the “adequacy and effectiveness of DEP’s monitoring of water quality as potentially impacted by shale gas development activities, including but not limited to systems and procedures for testing, screening, reporting and response to adverse impact such as contamination.” Mr. DePasquale’s letter also indicated that the performance audit will review the “adequacy and effectiveness of DEP’s monitoring of the handling, treatment, and disposal of waste” from shale gas development activities. The Post-Gazette has more.
On January 9, 2012, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection released a final White Paper regarding the use of “mine-influenced water” in oil and natural gas operations. According to the White Paper, mine-influenced water “may include water contained in a mine pool or a surface discharge of water caused by mining activities that pollutes, or may create a threat of pollution to, waters of the Commonwealth,” and it “may also include surface waters that have been impacted by pollutional mine drainage.” The White Paper outlines (1) the process for DEP review and evaluation of proposals for use of mine-influenced water, (2) the storage options (impoundments, pits, tanks, etc.) for mine-influenced water prior to use by the oil and gas industry for natural gas well development, and (3) the DEP’s “potential solutions” to long-term liability issues related to the use of mine-influenced water. The DEP has set up a webpage on its Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation website regarding the White Paper, including a searchable database of mine-influenced water discharges in Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection recently published three important notices in the Pennsylvania Bulletin affecting the oil and gas industry. They are:
- The final Erosion and Sediment Control General Permit-2 (ESCGP-2) for Earth Disturbance Associated with Oil and Gas Exploration, Production, Processing or Treatment Operations or Transmission Facilities, which includes several supporting documents and a policy document.
- A final technical guidance document regarding the Department’s “Policy for NPDES Permits for Stormwater Discharges Associated with Construction Activities at Oil and Gas Wells (Document No. 550-2100-008)”).
- A notification regarding “Emissions and Source Reporting Requirements for Natural Gas Operations” pursuant to the Pennsylvania Air Pollution Control Act.
The ESCGP-2 notice includes detailed information regarding the DEP’s plan for the proposed transition from the current ESCGP-1 (which expires on April 12, 2013) to the new ESCGP-2. In the notice regarding emissions and source reporting requirements for unconventional natural gas operations, the DEP identified sources subject to reporting, which include: “compressor stations; dehydration units; drill rigs; fugitives, such as connectors, flanges, pump lines, pump seals and valves; heaters; pneumatic controllers and pumps; stationary engines; tanks, pressurized vessels and impoundments; venting and blow down systems; well heads; and well completions.” Complete source reports are due by March 1, 2013, and annually on March 1 thereafter.