Post by Logan on Jun 9, 2016 0:38:19 GMT -6
Pennsylvania House Republicans and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf are working to end years of debate over an update of environmental rules for oil and gas drilling that two regulatory boards approved this spring.
Lawmakers are poised to allow a batch of the so-called Chapter 78 rules for shale gas drillers to become law while directing regulators to start over on writing a companion set of criteria for smaller conventional oil and gas operations. Opponents said the rules were improperly written and too onerous for the smaller operations.
The House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee on Wednesday approved amendments to Senate Bill 279 that prohibit the state Department of Environmental Protection from implementing the rules for conventional wells — the shallow operations that produce less oil and gas than the unconventional wells tapping the Marcellus and Utica shales through hydraulic fracturing.
Drillers and some Republican lawmakers said the DEP did not follow the intent of a 2014 law that directed regulators to separate the rulemaking process for conventional and unconventional wells.
Read more: triblive.com/business/headlines/10601481-74/rules-drilling-gas
Lawmakers are poised to allow a batch of the so-called Chapter 78 rules for shale gas drillers to become law while directing regulators to start over on writing a companion set of criteria for smaller conventional oil and gas operations. Opponents said the rules were improperly written and too onerous for the smaller operations.
The House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee on Wednesday approved amendments to Senate Bill 279 that prohibit the state Department of Environmental Protection from implementing the rules for conventional wells — the shallow operations that produce less oil and gas than the unconventional wells tapping the Marcellus and Utica shales through hydraulic fracturing.
Drillers and some Republican lawmakers said the DEP did not follow the intent of a 2014 law that directed regulators to separate the rulemaking process for conventional and unconventional wells.
Read more: triblive.com/business/headlines/10601481-74/rules-drilling-gas