Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Pennsylvania Governor Signs Law Addressing the Use of Treated Mine Water for Oil and Gas Development

On October 8, 2015, Governor Tom Wolf signed into law Senate Bill 875 providing liability protection for mine operators using treated mine water in oil and gas operations. SB 875 (Act 47) is entitled “An Act providing for the use of treated mine water for oil and gas development.”

The Act stipulates that “a mine operator who provides treated mine water from a permitted mining activity site shall be immune from liability for any cost, injury or damage arising out of the use of the treated mine water” under certain conditions. It also specify that an oil and gas operator “who acquires treated mine water from a mine operator for use in oil and gas well development shall be immune from liability for the treatment or abatement of the mine drainage or mine pool water as a result of acquiring or using treated mine water.”

The Act will become effective in December 2015.

This is an update of an original post dated from June 24, 2015.

Written by Chloe Marie - Research Fellow
10/21/2015

No comments:

Post a Comment