PA Environment Digest Blog: State Budget Brief: DEP Oil & Gas Program Enforcement & Permitting Staff Has Been Frozen For Last 10 Years, Meanwhile Drilled Shale Gas Wells Increased By Nearly 50%

Just two numbers clearly describe the challenges DEP’s Oil and Gas Program faces in enforcing laws and regulations covering the conventional oil and gas and unconventional shale gas industry in Pennsylvania--

--190 -- The number of enforcement & permit review positions frozen since December 2016

-- 49.5% -- The increase in new shale gas wells drilled since 2016-- 5,014-- from 10,228 to 15,242. The number of permits issued increased from 18,060 to 24,632 (36.3%).

Enforcement staff make regular inspections of well sites, respond to complaints from citizens, investigate spills and water well contamination and monitor cleanups, review well transfers, enforce orders and consent agreements and see that regular reporting of production, waste generation and well integrity is done, along with many other tasks.

Each new well increases the number of inspections and actions DEP potentially needs to take.

As the number of shale gas wells increases-- 500 to 600 a year-- simple math tells us the same number of inspectors can’t physically inspect wells as frequently.

More work for the same number of staff also means choices have to be made in other program priorities.

For example, DEP told the Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board on April 30 it has delayed updating conventional oil and gas well regulations that haven’t been updated in 39 years and other updates to shale gas regulations and requirements because it is doing other higher priority work. Read more here.

Federal Well Plugging Expansion

DEP did add 46 positions to the Oil and Gas Program over the last three years, but it is not for enforcement, it was to implement the new federally-funded abandoned conventional oil and gas well plugging program.

Now nearly 19.5 % of DEP’s Oil and Gas Program staff are devoted to plugging abandoned and orphan conventional wells.

These positions are federally funded and responsible for surveying abandoned and orphan wells to include in the program, contracting for plugging, inspecting wells being plugged and assisting contractors through the process.

The PA Environment Digest’s weekly review of oil and gas inspection reports shows these staff get to between 100 and 200 conventional wells a week as part of the federal well plugging program.

Total Positions

DEP now has a total of 236 positions in the Oil and Gas Program, according to information submitted to the House Appropriations Committee in February. Read more here.

In 2015, DEP’s Oil and Gas Program had an approved complement of 228, before the federal plugging program, all devoted to enforcement, permitting and a few emergency well plugging contracts a year. Read more here.

Funding

The Governor’s FY 2026-27 state budget request includes $16 million in General Fund money to plug the hole in DEP’s Oil and Gas Program funding because fees charged for each new oil and gas permit received have not brought in the revenue needed to support the enforcement and permitting program.

In the current FY 2025-2026 budget, DEP received $15 million in General Fund support and in FY2024-2025 received another $5 million to pay enforcement and permitting staff and program costs.

DEP has a draft regulation to increase permit fees list on its regulatory agenda, but DEP told the Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board in April it was on hold pending the outcome of state budget negotiations.

Resource Links:

-- Major Challenges Faced By DEP’s Oil And Gas Enforcement Program In 2026 [PaEN]

-- DEP Receives Federal Funding To Study Human Health Impacts Of Leaking, Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells; Conventional Regulation Updates Delayed; Reports On Setback Petition By End Of 2026 [PaEN]

-- DCED Conventional Oil & Gas Industry Advisory Board Meets April 16 On Wastewater Disposal; Methane Emissions Reduction; Injection Well Regulation; Gas Storage Area Regs [PaEN]

-- DEP House Budget Hearing: Democrat Rep. Vitali Raises Concerns About Whether DEP Has The Resources To Fulfill Its Mission When Workloads Have Increased Dramatically [PaEN]

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

--PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - June 6 to 12: AG Files Criminal Changes; Shale Gas Impacted Water Wells; 587 Days Of. Continuing Spills; Failure to Restore Impounds For Nearly 9 Years; 15 More Abandoned Conventional Wells [PaEN]

-- PennLive: Attorney General Sunday Files Criminal Charges Against Eureka Resources For Oil & Gas Wastewater Leaks From Its Now Closed Standing Stone Facility In Wysox Twp., Bradford County [PaEN]

-- DEP Investigation Finds CNX Gas Company LLC Shale Gas Facilities Caused The ‘Diminution’ Of 2 Private Water Supplies In Bell Twp., Westmoreland County [PaEN]

-- DEP: Frontier Natural Resources Shale Gas Driller Failed To Restore 4 Multimillion Gallon Water Impoundments, 4 Well Pads For 3,252 Days In Clinton County [PaEN]

-- DEP: Day 587 And Counting: Seneca Resources Continues To Release Wastewater, Frack New Shale Gas Wells At Taft Well Pad In Middlebury Twp., Tioga County [PaEN]

--DEP Inspection Finds Continued Failure To Comply With E&S, Stream, Wetland Crossing Permit Requirements At Expand Operating Shale Gas Water Pipeline Construction Site In Bradford County [PaEN]