On August 11, 2015, Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) released the draft
final revisions to the “Environmental Protection
Performance Standards at Oil and Gas Well Sites” rulemaking. The final rule
will amend Chapter 78 of the Pennsylvania Code, Title 25, by providing for
further consideration of potential environmental impacts from oil and gas field
activities.
According
to DEP, these amendments are aimed at improving the protection of water
supplies and public safety while addressing public resource considerations and
landowner concerns. DEP also emphasized the importance of transparency and
improvement of data management.
In August 2013, the
Environmental Quality Board (EQB) adopted DEP’s proposed amendments imposing
environmental performance standards for oil and gas surface activities. Subsequently,
Act
126 of 2014 was passed requiring EQB to “promulgate proposed regulations .
. . relating to conventional oil and gas wells separately from proposed
regulations . . . relating to unconventional gas wells. All regulations under
58 Pa.C.S. shall differentiate between conventional oil and gas wells and
unconventional gas wells.”
As a consequence, DEP
made some adjustments to the proposed amendments. The proposed regulations
applicable to conventional wells were retained in the existing Chapter 78 and a
new Chapter 78a was created for new unconventional well provisions. In March
2015, DEP published revised amendments upon which they accepted public comments
until May 19, 2015.
As stated on the DEP
website, the draft final revisions will be discussed between DEP, the Oil and
Gas Technical Advisory Board and the Conventional Oil and Gas Advisory
Committee throughout 2015.
Further information is
available at
Written by Chloe Marie - Research Fellow
08/14/2015
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