Hydraulic Fracturing Archives - RKR Hess

The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) has extended the period for written comment on proposed regulations regarding hydraulic fracturing activities in the Basin from Feb. 28 to March 30, 2018. Two additional public hearings also have been scheduled in February and March.

The commissioners extended the period in response to requests for more public input opportunities and opportunities for government officials to study the proposed regulations. Those interested in commenting are encouraged to review the full text of the draft rules, related materials, and information on the public input procedures on the commission’s website at www.drbc.net.

To supplement the four previously announced public hearings—two on Jan. 23 in Waymart, Pa., and two on Jan. 25 in Philadelphia—the Commission is adding the following two hearings:

1. Feb. 22, 2018, 3 p.m. to as late as 7 p.m. at the Lisa Scheller-Wayne Woodman Community Services Center, Lehigh Carbon Community College, 4525 Education Park Dr., Schnecksville, Pa. Register in advance to attend at http://bit.ly/2qI1tBC or register onsite. Persons who have registered to attend by 5 p.m. January 26, 2018, will be contacted by the DRBC prior to the hearing date and provided with an early opportunity to request speaking time. Registrants may also sign up to speak at the hearing and will be heard if time allows. Elected government officials and their staff will have the opportunity to identify themselves when registering.

1. March 6, 2018, 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.  The Commission will host a moderated public hearing by telephone. Members of the public are encouraged to listen by calling 1-866-831-8713 and asking the operator to connect them to the DRBC call. Those wishing to address the Commission at this hearing can register for an opportunity to speak at http://bit.ly/2pdqxQ9.

Seating is still available at all four of the public hearings scheduled in January. Those who would like to attend are encouraged to register online through 5 p.m. on the day preceding each hearing.  Onsite registration for each hearing will also be available. Those who have not registered in advance should check capacity through the online system before traveling to attend a hearing.

In December 2010, the DRBC drafted and published environmental protection regulations for the watershed that were open for public comment until April 15, 2011. After reviewing these comments, the DRBC then published a revised version on November 8, 2011; however, the special meeting to consider adoption of the revised regulations was postponed until now. The 2011 revised draft rules applied to all “natural gas development projects” regardless of whether or not hydraulic fracturing was planned, and contemplated authorizing water use for not more than 300 natural gas wells under certain circumstances and conditions.

In September 2017, the commissioners directed the Executive Director to prepare and publish for public comment a revised set of draft regulations to include:

• Prohibitions relating to the production of natural gas using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing within the Basin, and specifically prohibiting the use of “high volume hydraulic fracturing” within the Basin.
• Provisions intended to ensure the safe and protective storage, treatment, disposal, and/or discharge within the Basin of wastewater associated with horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing for the production of natural gas, where permitted.
• Regulation of the inter-basin transfer of water and wastewater for purposes of natural gas development, where permitted.

A full text of the draft rules, related materials, and information on the public input procedures can be viewed on the Commission’s website here.

The DRBC has not set a timeline for voting on final regulations. Until the Commission approves the regulations, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) will not issue drilling permits.

Written comments on the draft regulations, which will receive the same consideration as oral comments, will be accepted until 5 p.m. on March 30.  Written comments will not be accepted through other methods, such as email, fax, or hand delivery unless an express exception has been granted based on lack of access to the web-based system. Requests for exceptions may be addressed to: Commission Secretary, DRBC, PO Box 7360, West Trenton, NJ 08628.

The DRBC is a regional body with the goal to oversee management of the Delaware River system across state boundaries. It was created in 1961 as an interstate compact in response to a 1954 Supreme Court decision to settle water use disputes among Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York and New Jersey. The DRBC consists of governors from the four states and the Division Engineer of the North Atlantic Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The DRBC employs a staff of engineers, biologists, geologists, and other specialists.

To learn more about the commission, please visit www.drbc.net or follow DRBC on Twitter at @DRBC1961.

The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) announced in September that it will release a revised set of draft regulations for public comment, addressing natural gas development activities within the Delaware River Basin.

In December 2010, the DRBC drafted and published environmental protection regulations for the watershed that were open for public comment until April 15, 2011. After reviewing these comments, the DRBC then published a revised version on November 8, 2011; however, the special meeting to consider adoption of the revised regulations was postponed until now.

Last year, a group of Pennsylvania Senators filed suit to life the moratorium on drilling in the Delaware River Basin, questioning whether the DRBC has the authority to prevent hydraulic fracturing in the basin. In January, a judge denied their right to participate in the suit.

While no new regulations were finalized at a Sept. 13 meeting, the decision to publish the draft by Nov. 30 pushed the rulemaking into a new phase. The DRBC has not set a timeline for voting on final regulations. Until the DRBC approves the regulations, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) will not issue permits for drilling.

According to a DRBC news release, the draft will include prohibitions on horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing within the river basin as well as guidelines to ensure safe storage, treatment, disposal and discharge of related waste.

A full public comment period, including opportunities for written comment, will open after the revised draft is released. Details about that period will be available on Nov. 30.

The DRBC is a regional body with the goal to oversee management of the Delaware River system across state boundaries. It was created in 1961 as an interstate compact in response to a 1954 Supreme Court decision to settle water use disputes among Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York and New Jersey. The DRBC consists of the governors from the four states and the Division Engineer of the North Atlantic Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The DRBC employs a staff of engineers, biologists, geologists, and other specialists.

Updated information can be found at the DRBC website.

A group of Pennsylvania senators is joining in an ongoing lawsuit that questions the authority of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to place a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in the river basin.

Senators Lisa Baker, Joseph Scarnati and Gene Yaw have filed to join a lawsuit brought by a landowners’ group called the Wayne Land and Mineral Group, LLC (WLMG), according to The River Reporter. The original lawsuit by the landowners sought to reverse a decision by the DRBC not to issue a permit for an exploratory well.

The senators’ motion to intervene questions whether the DRBC has the authority to prevent hydraulic fracturing in the basin. In a motion to join the suit, the senators claim the DRBC has worked around existing Pennsylvania state laws (specifically Act 13), according to the Pocono Record.

The DRBC is a regional body with the goal to oversee management of the Delaware River system across state boundaries. It was created in 1961 as an interstate compact in response to a 1954 Supreme Court decision to settle water use disputes among Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York and New Jersey. The DRBC consists of the governors from the four states and the Division Engineer of the North Atlantic Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The DRBC employs a staff of engineers, biologists, geologists, and other specialists.

In 2010, the DRBC voted to postpone well drilling in the basin until the commission could adopt further regulations.  Proposed regulations were released in 2010, and revisions were published in 2011; however, the DRBC has not voted on final regulations and has not set a timeline for doing so. Until the DRBC approves the regulations, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) will not issue permits for drilling.  Earlier this year, the commission announced that it would hold public hearings in response to public safety concerns surrounding construction of a pipeline that would potentially carry natural gas from the Marcellus Shale formation to interconnects near Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and Mercer County, New Jersey.

The Delaware Riverkeeper Network (DRN) also filed to join the landowners’ lawsuit, citing a need to ensure that health and safety issues surrounding hydraulic fracturing would be addressed. The DRN is a nonprofit organization created to protect rights to “pure water, clean air and a healthy environment,” according to its website.

The suit is entering the discovery stage, according to the Pocono Record, but a timeline for the process has not been published.

The Environmental Protection Agency is holding a public teleconference, run by the Science Advisory Board’s Hydraulic Fracturing Research Advisory Panel, to discuss the first draft of the peer review report of the Hydraulic Fracturing Drinking Water Assessment.

The “Draft Assessment of the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing for Oil and Gas on Drinking Water Resources” investigates the potential impacts on human health and the environment hydraulic fracturing may have on the quality of drinking water at each stage of the hydraulic fracturing water cycle. The draft estimates 25,000-30,000 new wells were drilled annually between 2011 and 2014. Most of these wells were drilled in Texas; Pennsylvania ranked third in number of wells drilled during the period covered.

Between the years 2000 and 2013, the report estimated 9.4 million people lived within one mile of a hydraulically fractured well. In addition, approximately 6,800 drinking water sources for public water systems were within one mile of at least one hydraulically fractured well between 2000 and 2013.

Find out more in about the assessment in a previous RKR Hess blog post.

The EPA will take into account the comments from the advisory board in conjunction with comments from the public in its evaluation of the peer review report.

The public teleconference will take place on Monday, Feb. 1 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. To participate, visit the Science Advisory Board website.

The Environmental Protection Agency is looking for public comment and peer review on the recently released Draft Assessment of the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing for Oil and Gas on Drinking Water Resources (Executive Summary, Full Report, Appendices). As a part of the peer review process, the draft report must be presented to and reviewed by a Research Advisory Panel.

Public meetings and teleconferences will be held by the Science Advisory Board (SAB) with the intention of informing the panel and the public about the EPA findings, reviewing compliance with the SAB’s charge for this research, and collecting questions through a panel discussion. A public review of the agency draft report will be conducted at a face-to-face meeting in October.

The “Draft Assessment of the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing for Oil and Gas on Drinking Water Resource” investigates the potential impacts on human health and the environment hydraulic fracturing may have on the quality of drinking water at each stage of the hydraulic fracturing water cycle. The draft estimates 25,000-30,000 new wells were drilled annually between 2011 and 2014. Most of these wells were drilled in Texas; Pennsylvania ranked third in number of wells drilled during the period covered.

Between the years 2000 and 2013, the report estimated 9.4 million people lived within one mile of a hydraulically fractured well. In addition, approximately 6,800 drinking water sources for public water systems were within one mile of at least one hydraulically fractured well between 2000 and 2013.

The report evaluated both above-ground and below-ground mechanisms whereby hydraulic fracturing activities could potentially impact drinking water resources. No evidence of widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources was identified in the assessment, although several specific instances where one or more of these mechanisms led to drinking water resource impacts were identified. The relatively small number of cases of identified impacts, when compared to the large number of hydraulically fractured wells, could reflect the rarity of effects on drinking water. However, the study found that there is frequently insufficient data on the quality of drinking water resources both pre- and post-hydraulic fracturing to accurately determine the true frequency of impacts.

The public teleconferences will be held from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. (Eastern Time) on the following dates:

• Wednesday Sept.30
• Thursday Oct. 1 (if necessary)
• Monday Oct. 19 (if necessary)

The public face-to-face meeting will be at the Washington Plaza Hotel in Washington, D.C. on:

• Wednesday Oct. 28, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
• Thursday October 29, 2015 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
• Friday October 30, 2015 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

A teleconference line will be made available for those who cannot attend the advisory panel in person.

Comments on the draft advisory assessment are due Aug. 28, 2015 using the e-Government Regulations website. More information, including relevant contacts, can be found by visiting the Federal Register.

On May 9, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) soliciting comment from stakeholders and the general public regarding obtaining information on chemical substances and mixtures used in hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas exploration and development.  Read more