The Department of Environmental Protection Monday extended the comment period to 45 days and scheduled three public hearings on proposed final Chapter 78 (conventional) and Chapter 78A (unconventional) drilling performance standard regulations.
Just Saturday, DEP published notice of a 30 day comment period without hearings.
The locations and times for the public hearings were not announced, but two will be in the northern tier and one will be in the southwest.
“This oil and gas rulemaking will have a lasting impact on Pennsylvania’s people, environment, and energy economy,” Acting DEP Secretary John Quigley said. “It is imperative that DEP goes the extra mile, takes that extra step, and puts in this additional work to modernize and strengthen these regulations. We are committed to protecting public health and the environment, while promoting responsible drilling.”
Development of this rulemaking began in 2011 to update existing regulations to reflect advances in technology. In 2012, Act 13 significantly revised the Commonwealth’s oil and gas laws and directed DEP to promulgate regulations to implement its environmental enhancements.
On August 27, 2013, the Environmental Quality Board adopted DEP’s proposed rulemaking, which was published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin for public comment on December 14, 2013. That opened a 90-day public comment period that included nine public hearings, and generated more than 24,000 comments.
Continuing DEP’s commitment to providing the public with a significant meaningful opportunity to comment, DEP most recently opted to create this additional public comment through the voluntary extra step of an Advance Notice of Final Rulemaking.
ANFR allows DEP to solicit comments on the changes made from the proposed rulemaking to draft final rulemaking in a structured, transparent and efficient manner.
“Even before we opened this latest comment period on April 4, we heard requests for more time from the General Assembly, the public and the regulated community,” Quigley said. “Our goal is to help the industry succeed while protecting our environment and communities, and we believe that the additional time and hearings will do that in a transparent way.”
The draft final amendments provide separate chapters related to conventional and unconventional development. The amendments are offered to improve protection of water resources, add public resources considerations, protect public safety, address landowner concerns, and enhance transparency and improve data management.
The Department will prepare responses to the comments received as part of the continued development of the final rulemaking. DEP expects to return to the two relevant advisory councils, the Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board and the Conventional Oil and Gas Advisory Committee, in the fall with a final rulemaking.
DEP also published notice in the April 4 PA Bulletin of three additional meetings of the Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board on April 23, August 25 and October 27 to consider the revised, final Chapter 78A regulations.
The Conventional Oil and Gas Advisory Committee will consider the changes to Chapter 78 dealing with conventional drilling operations, although no additional meetings of this Committee have been scheduled at this time.
DEP anticipates that the rules will become effective in spring 2016.
For more information, visit DEP’s Oil and Gas Regulations webpage.
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