Senator and Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor Mike Stack (D-Philadelphia) and former DEP Secretary John Hanger outlined new Marcellus Shale drilling legislation Tuesday they said will restore the trust in Pennsylvania’s environmental oversight and provide new revenue for schools and protection of natural resources.
Sen. Stack said he will introduce legislation that leans heavily on Hanger’s experience as a drilling regulator and environmentalist.
“I am honored to be here today with someone who knows both sides of this issue, someone who recognizes the people on both sides, but more importantly understands the facts behind the rhetoric,” Sen. Stack said. “John Hanger was Pennsylvania’s top environmental regulator when the gas drilling boom started and he brought to the job a wealth of experience in protecting the environment and working with state government in finding ways to preserve our natural resources while improving the economy.”
The legislation being drafted will focus on an extraction tax similar to West Virginia’s as well as more transparency between the industry and the public, including the creation of an ombudsman position to handle complaints.
“The people of Pennsylvania deserve a regulatory system that welcomes their input,” Hanger said. “The loss of trust between the environmental community and the gas drilling industry is the result of weak oversight by the public servants entrusted with that obligation.”
Sen. Stack said his legislation will contain a severance tax of 5 percent that will allow municipalities the flexibility to enact their own fees, similar to West Virginia law, pushing the effective rate to 7.2 percent. The severance tax will coincide with the existing impact fee.
“I hope and believe that if we pass your legislation we can make sure all Pennsylvanians are winners,” Hanger said. “Today, we’re not all winners. There are, in fact, some losers.”
Hanger praised the idea that revenue raised by the tax will be targeted at restoring education funding, protecting the environment and economic revitalization.
Sen. Stack said a report by Reuters recently estimated that Pennsylvania will lose more than $20 billion over the next two decades without a responsible extraction tax.
The legislation will also create Marcellus Shale ombudsman office that will be charged with investigating every complaint from landowners and other community members about problems with drilling operations.
“Regardless of the particulars of any dispute, it is clear that Pennsylvanians have lost faith in the system and feel like they’re not being heard. This office will be a vital tool in restoring the trust,” said Sen. Stack.
The legislation will also:
— Ban the dumping of any gas well wastewater that is not fully treated into open wastewater pits;
— Ban the dumping of any gas well wastewater that is not treated to Safe Drinking Water Standards into rivers and streams – from both Marcellus shale and conventional wells;
— Create a transparent, easy-to-use DEP website that discloses the chemicals used at gas well operations;
— Modernize and strengthen rules designed to prevent methane leakage;
— Require gas drillers to pay twice the property value if they contaminate a landowner’s private water well;
— Discourage drilling on our public lands by enacting a separate $3 million impact fee for gas wells drilled on state forestland or state parks and impose strict environmental restrictions;
— Dramatically cut air emissions by requiring the best available technology on compressor engines;
— Require world class maintenance and inspection of gas drilling equipment to prevent and identify methane leakage and gas leaks; and
— Sharply limit flaring of natural gas at wells.
