PA DEP Claims it Reduced Permits Backlog by Half Since 2023
Permitting in Pennsylvania overseen by the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has been a hot mess for years. A Chapter 102 Erosion and Sedimentation permit sometimes takes two, three, or even six to eight months for approval — instead of the law-mandated 14 days. It got so bad that in the fall of 2019, PA State Sen. Gene Yaw introduced a bill to allow third-party reviews of these permits to speed up approvals (see PA Sen. Yaw Intros Bill to Allow 3rd Party Review of Erosion Permits). In early March of this year, the DEP said it was making progress in reducing turnaround times for permits, including Chapter 102 permits (see PA DEP Claims Progress in Reducing Out-of-Control Permit Backlog). In late April, the DEP launched yet another initiative to reduce the time required to issue new Chapter 102 permits (see PA DEP Makes Effort to Speed Up Approvals for Erosion Permits). The DEP now claims it has reduced its massive backlog of permit applications by 56% since the end of last year. Progress, no?
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Pennsylvania Democrat leftists face a conundrum. Do they listen to one set of environmentalist wackos, including the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, Environmental Defense Fund, Nature Conservancy, and Clean Air Task Force? Or do they listen to a different set (on the same ideological side of the aisle), including Better Path Coalition, 350 Pittsburgh, 412 Justice, the Center for Coalfield Justice, and the Clean Air Council? Two weeks ago, the first set of wackos threw their support behind PA Senate Bill (SB) 831, the Carbon Capture & Sequestration (CCS) Act (see 
As we mentioned in a companion post today, the Williams Transco Regional Energy Access Expansion (REAE) project recently received permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to begin operations for another segment of the REAE project, flowing an extra 130 MMcf/d of natural gas to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland (see FERC OKs Request to Place More of Regional Energy Access Online). However, yesterday, Williams suffered a minor legal setback related to the REAE project.
The U.S. national oil and gas rig count had been in a pattern of free-falling for over a month. Last week, the national combined Baker Hughes oil and gas rig count finally reversed course and added four rigs — now at 585. The Marcellus/Utica stayed the same last week, for the fifth week in a row, with a combined 36 active rigs. Pennsylvania continued to operate 21 rigs. Ohio remained steady with ten active rigs. And West Virginia kept five active rigs.
Pennsylvania’s Democrat Party is hellbent on driving the Marcellus Shale industry out of the state. They have been for years. That’s just a truthful observation and beyond dispute. One year ago, the Dems in the PA House passed a resolution by a single vote that directs the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee (LBFC) to “study” Pennsylvania’s revenue from the oil and gas industry, comparing it with the top five states for natural gas production in the U.S. (see 
Last week, MDN brought you the news that the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) is now distributing money raised by the shale impact fee (PA’s version of a severance tax) from 2023 to municipalities and government agencies (see 
A key issue has arisen with the rapid increase in carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects around the country, including here in the Marcellus/Utica region. Where does one store (sequester) all that carbon dioxide (CO2)? The answer is underground in a Class VI injection well. Class VI wells are a relatively new classification for injection wells, created by the federal EPA in 2010. In April, the Pennsylvania State Senate took the first step in establishing a framework that allows for the underground storage of CO2 in the Keystone State by passing Senate Bill (SB) 831 (see 
In March, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro traveled to Scranton, PA, to announce a proposal to “immediately pull Pennsylvania out of a multi-state carbon cap-and-trade program” (the so-called Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI) and instead enroll PA in its very own RGGI-like carbon tax program (see 
The radicals at the tax-exempt (extremely partisan) PennFuture organization have arrogantly proffered a report with policy recommendations for the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), lecturing DCED on how it should “reshape the Commonwealth’s strategic collaborations” with public and private partners. And what does this reshaping look like? Defund any efforts that benefit the oil and gas industry in the state (responsible for billions in revenue and hundreds of thousands of jobs) and instead invest in “clean energy” (unreliable wind and solar) and “energy efficiency” (tell PA citizens to turn the thermostat up in the summer, down in the winter, while trying to convince them they love it).
In 2019, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) began formulating new regulations for intrastate pipelines transporting gasoline, petroleum, crude oil, and natural gas liquids like ethane. In July 2021, the PUC finally published a draft of new regulations (see 
There’s no way to sugarcoat bad news. The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) predicted in January that money raised by the shale impact fee (PA’s version of a severance tax) would plummet this year (see 
As we report in a companion post today, Pennsylvania is currently dishing out close to $180 million in impact fees raised from 2023 shale activity — PA’s version of a severance tax (see PA PUC Distributes 2023 Impact Fee – Revenue Dropped $99M YOY). As the name implies, some 60% of the money raised goes to the counties and municipalities where drilling happens, those “impacted” by shale drilling. The other 40% goes to the black hole of Harrisburg for redistribution to various state agencies and the other counties with no shale drilling. Let’s look at how some counties and towns will spend the money coming their way.
Being reasonable and seeking compromise and the middle ground exited American politics about a decade ago. Maybe 20 years ago. What we have today, at least on the left of the political spectrum, is “my way or the highway.” Tyranny. It is the very definition of unreasonableness. Here is a perfect example: Yesterday, the Pennsylvania House Environmental Resources & Energy Committee, chaired by Democrat Rep. Greg Vitali (a Marcellus shale hater), held a hearing on Hydrogen Hubs and Climate Change. The name of the hearing says it all. Vitali paraded mind-numbed robots (“we hate fossil fuels, we hate fossil fuels”) from radicalized organizations like Earthjustice to testify before the hearing. The stupidity on display was breathtaking.