Post by Logan on Jun 16, 2016 23:45:42 GMT -6
Pa. Legislature puts its stamp on oil and gas regulations; Wolf expected to sign
The state House and Senate gave quick and final approval Wednesday to a bill that lets long-awaited regulations for deep gas and oil drillers take effect, but keeps current rules in place for so-called conventional drillers.
The bill, Senate Bill 279, is the latest in a set of compromises between the Republican-dominated General Assembly and Gov. Tom Wolf designed to limit the issues battlefield in the upcoming state budget talks.
It resolves a spat in which oil and gas producers, and their pro-business allies in the legislature, accused the Department of Environmental Protection of forcing them into a much-tougher, one-size-fits-all set of rules primarily designed to safeguard against fracking-related problems.
Rep. Kathy Rapp, a Republican from Warren County, said those rules would be an overreach for oil and gas drilling that has been a feature of Pennsylvania's northern tier for 150 years now, adding "I would put the quality of our environment against any other location in the state."
Read more: www.pennlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/06/pa_house_votes_up_conventional.html
The state House and Senate gave quick and final approval Wednesday to a bill that lets long-awaited regulations for deep gas and oil drillers take effect, but keeps current rules in place for so-called conventional drillers.
The bill, Senate Bill 279, is the latest in a set of compromises between the Republican-dominated General Assembly and Gov. Tom Wolf designed to limit the issues battlefield in the upcoming state budget talks.
It resolves a spat in which oil and gas producers, and their pro-business allies in the legislature, accused the Department of Environmental Protection of forcing them into a much-tougher, one-size-fits-all set of rules primarily designed to safeguard against fracking-related problems.
Rep. Kathy Rapp, a Republican from Warren County, said those rules would be an overreach for oil and gas drilling that has been a feature of Pennsylvania's northern tier for 150 years now, adding "I would put the quality of our environment against any other location in the state."
Read more: www.pennlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/06/pa_house_votes_up_conventional.html