The Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission adopted many recommendations to better protect public health and environment. The commission consists of drilling industry representatives, Corbett administration officials, business groups, environmental group leaders and local government associations.
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Nine of the members are directly linked to the natural gas industry, and this grouping has not gone down well with the environmentalists.
There were 43 proposals in all which were discussed. They call for the Department of Health to establish a registry and track how drilling impacts the lives of people who live near the area.
There were numerous recommendations on how to reduce the environmental impact of drilling, such as increased setbacks from water suppliers, bigger fines, public posting of activities of industries and tracking waste. These proposals were passed unanimously by the industry.
Ray Walker, who represents the Marcellus Shale Coalition, says that the details on the recommendations will be worked out when the proposals go through the legislative and regulatory procedures.
There has been a building up of consensus among different parties in the different environmental and industry groups on as much as 45% of the recommendations in the report that is presented.
The Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission had voted to recommend the levying of a generic local impact fee, but it is up to the other state government branches to work out the finer details. The Commission, consisting of 30 members, offered almost 100 recommendations to govern drilling for natural gas in the deep shale deposits of Pennsylvania. These recommendations will be further addressed by Gov. Tom Corbett, the Legislature and relevant state agencies in the coming months.
The recommendations are not about a specific amount for the impact fee, but rather more along the lines of how to use the fee revenue, such as community projects that will protect and restore wildlife, land, water resources, emergency response, court costs, housing needs and outdoor recreation opportunities.
The recommendations also call for updating the energy conservation state law that has been long standing. The law currently addresses shallow gas drilling and a revision would cover deep gas formations as well.
Last fall, the industry had pushed for pooling of land tracts for gas drilling even if the property owner objects, but it did not sit well with property rights advocates as well as the lawmakers. Pooling is said to be beneficial because it spurs industry growth by minimizing wasteful strands of gas deposits. Pooling may be an issue that needs to be looked into more closely, according to Ronald Ramsey, an official with the Nature Conservancy Pennsylvania Chapter and commission member.
The commission supported the recommendation to minimize surface forest land disruption through future drilling. The commission chairman, Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley, urged that members keep the recommendations in concept only and avoid detailing the proposals, which are better left to be sorted out when regulators and lawmakers start debating on the issues.
The recommendations will be submitted to Corbett in the form of a final report by July 22. The final report, which will be more than 130 pages, will contain 96 policy recommendations and a section on the history and science of the Marcellus.
The documents that contain the recommendations made by the working group were not revealed to the public. The commission had come under sharp criticism for this oversight. Jan Jarrett, the president of environmental group PennFuture, said that the public could have provided comments that could benefit the process. According to Cawley, the initial recommendations will be made public after the report is presented to the Governor.
The industry trade group, Marcellus Shale Coalition, called for consistency when it comes to local zoning ordinances that regulate drilling.
Some of the approved recommendations are as follows:
- National gas fueling stations to be set along highways at recommended distances.
- Evaluation of railroad reconnection to spur industry growth.
- Training of the Marcellus work force.
- Firefighter training to be provided under the state fire commissioner’s office.
- All well pads to have a 911 address.
- Expedition of the gas pipeline permitting process by having a one-stop agencPresumptive liability for water loss or pollution on the well operator to be extended to 2,500 feet from the present 1,000 feet.
- Oil and Gas Act violations to have increased penalties.
- Provide better access and support to documents on endangered species.
Creation of a public health registry to keep track of the health of those who live close to the wells.
The two proposals that were not approved were:
- Recommendation to amend the Oil & Gas Act to protect exceptional-value wetlands and wild trout streams. The proposal was voted down by the majority because the protections were covered in other recommendations.
- The recommendation that no more drilling must take place on the state forest lands was also shot down.
The work on the recommendations will begin only after the governor gives the go ahead.
