House Environmental Committee Meets April 19 On Environmental Benefits Of Conventional Oil & Gas Industry

The House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee is scheduled to hold an informational meeting April 19 on the “conventional oil and gas industry and the environmental benefits they provide.”

The tentative agenda for the meeting includes these presenters--

-- Tyler Martin, Cameron Energy Company, PA Grade Crude Oil Coalition

-- Dan Weaver, PA Independent Oil & Gas Association [conventional drillers]

-- David Hill, PA Independent Petroleum Producers [conventional drillers]

Background

Senate and House Republicans last week introduced House Bill 1144 (Causer-R- Cameron) and Senate Bill 534 (Hutchinson-R-Venango) which would not only roll back environmental protection standards for conventional oil and gas wells, but would also make road dumping of drilling wastewater legal again.  Read more here.

House Bill 1144 was referred to the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee for action.

Although Gov. Wolf vetoed similar legislation in November [Read more here], Senate and House Republicans introduced their original versions of the bills they had in last session.

These bills were introduced as a follow up to action by the General Assembly to kill DEP’s final updated conventional drilling regulations in 2016 because the industry thought they were too strict.

On September 14, the Department of Environmental Protection issued its 2019 Oil and Gas Annual Report showing conventional oil and gas wells had nearly twice the violations of shale gas-- unconventional-- wells in 2019.  Read more here.

DEP reported 1,783 conventional oil and gas well violations against 985 for unconventional wells based on fewer inspections of conventional wells-- 12,027 versus 18,970 for unconventional wells.

The number of violations did decrease from 2018-- 3,017 conventional and 1,043 for unconventional.

The meeting will be held in Room 60 East Wing starting at 11:00 a.m.  Click Here to watch live. 

Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) serves as Majority Chair of the House Environmental Committee and can be contacted by calling 717-783-1707 or sending email to: dmetcalf@pahousegop.com. Rep. Greg Vitali (D-Delaware) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by calling 717-787-7647 or sending email to: gvitali@pahouse.net. 

PA Grade Crude (Oil) Advisory Council Meets April 22

DCED’s PA Grade Crude (Oil) Development Advisory Council is scheduled to hold a virtual meeting on April 22 to continue its review of draft DEP regulations establishing environmental standards for conventional drilling and to hear an update on a Penn State study of road-dumping drilling wastewater.  Read more here.

NewsClip:

Ohio River Valley Institute: Repairing The Damage: From Hazardous Abandoned Oil & Gas Wells

Related Articles - Conventional Drilling:

-- DEP Reports Conventional Oil & Gas Wells Had Nearly Twice The Violations Of Shale Gas Wells; DEP To Develop New Conventional Drilling Regs

-- PA Grade Crude (Oil) Development Advisory Council Meets April 22 On Draft Conventional Drilling Rules; Update On Road-Dumping Of Drilling Wastewater Study

Related Articles This Week:

-- House Environmental Committee Meets April 20 To Consider Bills Killing Regulations By Doing Nothing; Shielding Law Violators; Mandating Private Review Of DEP Permit Applications 

-- House State Government Committee Meets On Bill Setting Up Office Of The Repealer To Recommend Repeal Of Existing Regulations ‘Defying A Common Sense Approach To Government’

-- House Consumer Affairs Committee Meets April 19 To Consider Bill Authorizing Solar Energy Subscriber Programs

House Republican 2021 Environmental & Energy Agenda

-- House Republicans Introduce Bills To Raid Dedicated Environmental Funds, Cripple Solar Energy, Shield Violators From Enforcement

-- Republican Bills Again Seek To Make Road Dumping Of Conventional Drilling Wastewater Legal

-- Republicans Introduce Bill Saying DEP Permit Applicants Are Always Right, Eliminates Public Comments; Add Other Bills To Their Environmental Agenda

-- House Republicans Reintroduce Bill To Kill Regulations By Doing Nothing 

-- House Republicans Want To Mandate Private Contractor Permit Application Reviews, Eliminating DEP’s Review On Behalf Of The Public 

-- Republicans On House Committee OK Letter Urging IRRC To Disapprove Reg. Reducing Carbon Pollution From Power Plants                          

-- House Budget Hearing Fails To Address A Single Critical Budget Issue Faced By DEP Or DCNR

-- Republicans On House Committee OK Letter Disapproving Of Proposed EQB Changes To Chapter 105 Regulations        

[Posted: April 16, 2021]   PA Environment Digest