DEP Reschedules Environmental Quality Board Meetings June Thru October

The Department of Environmental Protection announced the meetings of the Environmental Quality Board from June through October will be one week earlier than originally scheduled.

The new schedule is--

-- June 14, from June 21

-- July 12, from July 19

-- August 9, from August 16

-- September 13, from September 20

-- October 12, from October 18

-- November 15 - same

-- December 20 - same

Methane Regulation

On May 6, Laura Legere of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported the Department of Environmental Protection is re-evaluating the final regulation to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas operations over a 2016 law requiring separate regulations for conventional oil and gas operations.

DEP said it pulled the regulation from the Independent Regulatory Review Commission May 19 meeting agenda as a result of a House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee letter opposing the regulation based on the 2016 law (Act 52).  Read more here.

DEP said delaying finalization of the regulation beyond a June 16 [now July 16] federal deadline would mean Pennsylvania could face sanctions from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, including loss of federal highway funds.

Legere reported-- “This delay caused by the disapproval resolution would jeopardize billions of dollars in federal highway funds,” [Neil Shader, a spokesperson for DEP] said. “DEP believes that re-evaluating the regulation and resubmitting to [the Environmental Quality Board] could avoid or minimize sanctions from the federal government.”

Speculation: Changing the EQB meeting dates would allow DEP to make any revisions it was planning to make in the final regulation to reduce methane emissions, give the Independent Regulatory Review Commission time to review the regulation [it meets June 16, July 21 August 18, September 15, October 20, right after the EQB] and more easily meet the July 16 EPA deadline.

The next scheduled meeting of the EQB is on May 18.

For more information and available handouts, visit the Environmental Quality Board webpage.  Questions should be directed to Laura Griffin, Regulatory Coordinator,  laurgriffi@pa.gov , 717-772-3277.

Related Article:

-- Post-Gazette: DEP Evaluating Whether To Resubmit Oil & Gas Methane Rule To EQB To Address Concerns About A Separate Conventional Oil & Gas Rule

[Posted: May 10, 2022]  PA Environment Digest