PA Environment Digest Blog: DEP Citizens Advisory Council To Hear Updates From Oil & Gas, Abandoned Mine Reclamation Programs Feb. 14

The DEP Citizens Advisory Council is scheduled to meet on February 14 to hear updates from the Oil and Gas and Abandoned Mine Reclamation Programs.

Also on the agenda for discussion are a draft Transition Paper to the new Shapiro Administration and comments on DEP’s Act 54 Report on impacts of underground coal mining on streams and structures.

DEP’s written report to Council on agency activities and actions is also available.

Oil & Gas

There are a host of issues that could be discussed related to this program--

-- Status of federal conventional oil & gas well plugging program. Read more here;

-- Conventional Oil & Gas Compliance Report issued in December. Read more here;

-- Conventional Industry challenge to the final VOC/Methane regs. Read more here;

-- Status of updating conventional drilling regulations; and

-- Natural gas industry effort to reform permitting, limit public comments. Read more here.

Abandoned Mine Reclamation

The status of the federal program to speed up state mine reclamation efforts will no doubt be at the top of the list of issues discussed for this program. Read more here.

On February 11, DEP announced it will begin accepting the next round of federally-funded Mine Reclamation Grant applications for locally-sponsored projects on March 6. Read more here.

Act 54 Report

Every five years Act 54 requires DEP to release a report on the effects of subsidence from underground bituminous coal mining on streams and surface structures.

On December 19, 2019 the Department of Environmental Protection released the 2013-2018 Act 54 Assessment Report, the fifth in a series of reports required by Act 54 documenting the impacts of underground coal mining on surface structures, water supplies, streams, land damage, groundwater and wetlands. Read more here.

The report, like others in this series, was prepared under contract with the University of Pittsburgh.

Of the 86 miles of streams undermined by deep coal mining, 59 miles or 40 percent experienced multiple impacts such as loss of flow or pooling and on average their Total Biological Score declined significantly.

DEP’s Citizens Advisory Council is required to review the report and offer comments on the report.

The Council will be discussing their comments on the 2013-2018 report at this meeting.

DEP is now in the process of putting together the next report. At a January 12 meeting of the Mining and Reclamation Advisory Board, DEP said, for the first time in recent years, they are doing the report in-house and without contractor support.

DEP said it won’t look anything like the reports were put out before.

For a number of years, Sen. Camera Bartolotta (R-Washington) introduced legislation to make the Act 54 report optional, at the request of the coal industry. DEP would still have to collect the data on impacts, but not actually compile a report and make it available to the public or submit it to anyone. Read more here.

Public Comments

Individuals interested in providing public comments during the meeting must sign up prior to the start of the meeting by contacting Keith Salador at ksalador@pa.gov or (717) 787-8171.

The meeting will be held in Room 105 of the Rachel Carson Building in Harrisburg starting at 12:30 p.m. The meeting will also be available remotely via Microsoft Teams Meeting ID: 211 588 789 494 Passcode: wiyTBE or by telephone: +1 267-332-8737, Phone Conference ID: 636 208 365#.

Visit the DEP Citizens Advisory Council webpage for more information. Questions should be directed to Keith Salador at ksalador@pa.gov or (717) 787-8171.

PA DEP Public Notice Dashboards:

-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Feb. 4 to Feb. 10 - 12 NOVs For Abandoning Wells Without Plugging Them [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - Feb. 11 [PaEN]

-- DEP Posts 57 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In Feb. 11 PA Bulletin [PaEN]

PA Oil & Gas Industry Compliance Reports:

-- DEP Report Finds: Conventional Oil & Gas Drillers Routinely Abandon Wells; Fail To Report How Millions Of Gallons Of Waste Is Disposed; And Non-Compliance Is An ‘Acceptable Norm’ [PaEN]

-- DEP 2021 Oil & Gas Program Annual Report Shows Conventional Oil & Gas Operators Received A Record 610 Notices Of Violation For Abandoning Wells Without Plugging Them [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industry Has Record Year: Cost, Criminal Convictions Up; $3.1 Million In Penalties Collected; Record Number Of Violations Issued; Major Compliance Issues Uncovered; Evidence Of Health Impacts Mounts [PaEN]

-- Feature: 60 Years Of Fracking, 20 Years Of Shale Gas: Pennsylvania’s Oil & Gas Industrial Infrastructure Is Hiding In Plain Sight [PaEN]

-- EDF: Conventional Gas Wells In Allegheny National Forest Leaked Over 6 Billion Cubic Feet Of Natural Gas In 2019; Conventional Operators Seek To Block Methane Limits [PaEN]