Regulation

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Who Did & Didn’t Attend NYS Assembly Hearing on Fracking
January 11, 2013January 11, 2013

Today, Friday, Jan. 11, 2013, is the final day of a new 30-day comment period from the New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) required under law so the DEC would not have to restart the entire process of approving new drilling regulations, including regulations for hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Anti-drilling groups are trying to derail the inevitable approval of the new rules by a) dumping 200,000 new comments on the DEC, which we’re sure the DEC really appreciates, and b) by holding a joint hearing in the NYS Assembly yesterday.

The Assembly joint hearing, spearheaded by three anti-drilling Assembly Democrats (see NY Assemblyman Try to Stop the Clock on Fracking Comment Period), was supposed to hear from more than 50 people who signed up in advance to address the hearing. Almost all of the speakers signed up were anti-drilling, no surprise given who was hosting the hearing. But not all got to speak because one brave pro-drilling soul went on the hot seat for nearly two hours…

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY Energy Lawyer Tom West Says Latest DEC Revisions Go Too Far
January 11, 2013January 11, 2013

One item of note in the news generated around today’s deadline to provide comments to the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) about their latest revisions to proposed fracking regulations…

MDN picked up on the published comments from energy industry lawyer Tom West who said he was filing comments on behalf of landowners and drillers. His comments about this latest round of changes by the DEC of their proposed fracking rules were decidedly pessimistic:

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Taxation

Did PA DEP Undercount Act 13 Wells & Forfeit $303M in Revenue?
January 10, 2013January 24, 2013

Note: MDN’s headline originally stated “$100M” in revenue was forfeited. The study’s lead author, Joel Gehman, contacted MDN to correct that number. We misunderstood. They believe the DEP has forfeited two to three times that amount: $205-$303 million.

In an attempt to shame the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) into action to improve their data reporting for unconventional shale wells, researchers at the University of Alberta and McGill University (both in Canada) have published a paper in the journal Environmental Practice claiming the DEP undercounted the number of natural gas wells used for assessing the new Act 13 impact fee, thereby denying the state an extra ~~$100~~ $205-$303 million they could have received in tax revenue (see article below).

The article/study is titled “An Analysis of Unconventional Gas Well Reporting Under Pennsylvania’s Act 13 of 2012” and is peer reviewed, which supposedly blesses it as being accurate. However, the PA DEP strongly objected to the methodology used by the researchers and has said, point blank, they misunderstand the Act 13 requirements for what constitutes an unconventional well under the Act 13 law. DEP says there is no missing tax revenue due to an undercount. The researchers glibly reply the purpose of the article is to needle the DEP into “fixing” their data problem.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Out-of-Towners Show up at NY State of State Address to Oppose Fracking
January 10, 2013January 10, 2013

Unfortunately MDN editor Jim Willis could not attend the Albany, NY rally yesterday to show support for fracking. Both sides of the debate were out with placards and signs in the state capital in a show of support (or opposition) for the benefit of a single person: Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who delivered his State of the State address. On his way to the Capitol, Cuomo got to see signs and shouts of support/opposition from both sides. What did he see?

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

Rumor Mill: Who Will Obama Choose to Run EPA?
January 9, 2013January 9, 2013

With the resignation of Lisa Jackson as Administrator of the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—good riddance!—the speculation now turns to who her replacement will be, and whether or not that replacement will continue her legacy of trying to screw up fossil fuel energy in this country. The rumor mill has begun in earnest over who Obama will select.

Here’s a short list of possible replacements, picked up from a Bloomberg article, along with MDN’s own pick:

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Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY | Uncategorized

NY Assemblyman Try to Stop the Clock on Fracking Comment Period
January 9, 2013January 9, 2013

Three anti-fracking New York Assembly Democrats—all three chairmen of important Assembly committees—sent a letter on Monday (full copy embedded below) to Gov. Andrew Cuomo asking, or rather demanding, that the state Dept. of Environmental Conservation stop the clock on the current 30-day public comment period. Their rationale? An old internal DEC report produced and never released to the public says fracking won’t harm public health. “Wrong answer” is their response—and they intend to make noise about it until they get the “right answer”—which of course (for them) is that fracking does harm public health.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY Landowners Converge on Albany in Show of Support for Fracking
January 9, 2013January 9, 2013

Hundreds of New York State landowners are expected to show up today, Wednesday, Jan. 9, in Albany, NY in a show of support for fracking and shale drilling to Gov. Andrew Cuomo as he delivers his State of the State address. Anti-drillers are expected to make a showing as well.

The 77,000-member Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY) released this statement ahead of their rally today:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY Politicians Renew Request for Longer Fracking Comment Period
January 8, 2013January 8, 2013

Different day, same old broken tune from Mayors Matt Ryan (Binghamton), Sue Skidmore (Elmira) and an assortment of lefty elected officials, holding offices from mayor to dog catcher, who want to ban fracking.

Yesterday the group Elected Officials to Protect New York (see their website so you know whom to vote against in the next election) issued yet another tiresome nag request at a press conference in Binghamton to Gov. Andrew Cuomo asking him to extend the public comment period on the latest minor revisions to proposed fracking rules from 30 days to 90 days, knowing full well that if he does, it will kill fracking in New York. Thankfully the governor is ignoring the group.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Regulation | Statewide MD

MD Commission Finally Makes Recommendations on Shale Drilling
January 8, 2013January 8, 2013

The Maryland Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission, appointed by MD Gov. Martin O’Malley in 2011 to study natural gas drilling and produce a set of best practices for hydraulic fracturing has finally made a series of recommendations for how to regulate shale gas drilling in the state. It took the Commission 15 months to cast their first vote (see MD Fracking Commission Casts First Vote – in 15 Months!), so let’s just say the Commission isn’t setting any speed records for activity.

The recommendations agreed to today are a first pass and leave out some key provisions. The recommendations, such as they are, will be forwarded to the Maryland state legislature which meets for 90 days each year starting in January.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY DEC Com. Joe Martens Sends Letter to NY Landowner Group
January 7, 2013January 7, 2013

Dan Fitzsimmons, president of the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY), received a letter from NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens last week (see a copy embedded below). It seems Gov. Andrew Cuomo personally asked Martens to respond, in writing, to the JLCNY’s concerns about the latest delay in the release of new fracking regulations—the delay to allow for a public health review. The latest number on the NY moratorium clock (on the right) shows New York’s ban on high volume hydraulic fracturing is 4 years, 5 months and 15 days old—so far. The patience of New York’s landowners is wearing thin.

According to the letter, Gov. Cuomo and Martens want the JLCNY to know, well, nothing new that we don’t already know! It’s the gesture itself that’s important—the fact that Cuomo and Martens took the time to write. Martens’ gesture in sending the letter gives the JLCNY reason to be “cautiously optimistic that the DEC will soon complete the SGEIS and regulations,” according to an email MDN received from Fitzsimmons.

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Industrywide Issues | Jefferson County (OH) | Jobs | Ohio | Regulation

Jefferson County, OH Forces Shale Companies to Use Union Labor
January 7, 2013January 7, 2013

From now on, Jefferson County, OH commissioners will force companies drilling Utica Shale wells in the county or companies building natural gas pipelines in the county that need to construct or repair public roadways, to use higher-priced laborers. Jefferson County commissioners are bowing to pressure from the Laborers International Union.

New road use agreements, which are required for constructing new wells and pipelines, must have a “prevailing wage requirement” according to the Jefferson County engineer, who says it’s a mandate from the state Attorney General’s office:

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Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation

Town of Chenango, NY Rejects Fracking Ban in Close Vote
January 4, 2013January 4, 2013

In a major victory for landowners in the Town of Chenango (Broome County), NY, the town board voted 3-2 Wednesday night to reject a moratorium on shale gas drilling and fracking. If it had passed, it would have been the first township in the Southern Tier area of New York, an area thought to hold major quantities of Marcellus and Utica Shale gas, to do so.

One of the main reasons board members voted to reject the moratorium? They didn’t want to pay for expensive lawsuits which were sure to follow a vote to ban:

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Chenango County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation

Oxford, NY Moves Closer to a Moratorium (and Lawsuit) on Drilling
January 4, 2013January 4, 2013

It seems the Village of Oxford (Chenango County), NY is still flirting around with Park Foundation funded “pro bono” attorney David Slottje—who’s trying his hardest to get Oxford (in a prime Marcellus/Utica drilling location) to introduce language into their zoning ordinances that would result in a de facto moratorium on fracking and natural gas drilling. Slottje and the Village Planning Board were at it again last weekend in a Saturday meeting.

Wednesday night the village board voted to move forward with another public hearing (later this month) before adopting new zoning language which would, in clear violation of current New York State law, slap tight restrictions and prohibitions on natural gas drilling and related activities:

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Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY 2012 Fracking Health Assessment Continues to Reverberate
January 4, 2013

Yesterday’s revelation that early last year the NY State Health Department and the NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) had drawn up a draft 8-page assessment which said fracking is safe for public health in New York continues to reverberate around the state.

There were predictable reactions from both sides of the debate, jockeying to frame the drilling issue before a final final final public health impact review is released sometime later this month (or in February)…

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Air Quality | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA DEP to Release Marcellus Drilling Air Emissions Data Soon
January 4, 2013January 4, 2013

In the next few weeks, data on air emissions from Marcellus Shale drilling operations will be made public via the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) website. The data, required by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, has sparked a new idea at the PA DEP.

The DEP intends to also require emissions filings from compressor plants on conventional (non-shale) gas pipelines starting in March…

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Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

2012 NY Assessment – New Fracking Regs Will Protect Public Health
January 3, 2013January 3, 2013

A draft assessment written in early 2012 by the New York State Dept. of Health, at the request of the Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC), offers us insight into the state’s thinking about potential public health impacts from fracking. The opinion expressed by the health department (and the DEC), at least at that time? If the DEC’s proposed new fracking regulations are adopted, shale drilling would be safe and public health would be protected.

The New York Times and Gannett recently obtained a copy of the previously unpublished assessment. When asked about it, the DEC was quick to distance itself from the “old” and “outdated” assessment:

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