DEP Publishes Final Guidance On Area Of Review For Unconventional Oil & Gas Drilling Permits

The Department of Environmental Protection published notice in the September 4 PA Bulletin final technical guidance is now available on Implementing the Area of Review Regulatory Requirement for Unconventional Well Permitting.  [DEP ID: 800-0810-001]

The Department developed this final guidance to facilitate appropriate risk mitigation for unconventional well operators. 

The final TGD includes a risk-based classification scheme for offset well locations and commensurate levels of monitoring; communication incident management, reporting and resolution; and operational alternatives and technical considerations for different anticipated incident scenarios. 

This final guidance also provides an overview of the Department's well adoption permitting process.

Based on the approximately 55 comments from 10 commenters received during the 60-day comment period on this technical guidance, the Department made several editorial and substantive changes to the guidelines. 

These changes included clarifying the ability for operators to survey an area that extends beyond the prescriptive area of review regulatory language, removing language assigning responsibility for recently plugged offset wells to the operator who had completed the plugging, relocating language pertaining to briefing the hydraulic fracturing operations team about adjacent operator coordination, updating incident reporting language and modifying operator coordination with Department field inspection staff ahead of hydraulic fracturing.

Click Here for a copy of the final guidance.  Questions should be directed to Seth Pelepko at mipelepko@pa.gov or 717-772-2199.

[Posted: September 3, 3021]  PA Environment Digest