Pennsylvania Interfaith Power and Light released a position paper on Marcellus Shale drilling Sunday, outlining changes that need to be made before drilling could be viewed as acceptable through a moral compass. The organization said it would support shale drilling if it replaced coal and other fossil fuels quickly, if the state enacted a drilling tax and if overall community and environmental impacts were reduced. A copy of the document is available at www.paipl.org.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has scheduled three public hearings in September on the agency’s proposed air pollution standards — specifically cuts to volatile organic compound emissions — for oil and gas drilling operations (see Shale Daily, July 29). The hearings will be held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh on Sept. 27; the Colorado Convention Center in Denver on Sept. 28, and the Arlington Municipal Building in Arlington, TX, on Sept. 29. All of the hearings will begin at 9 a.m. local time and conclude at 8 p.m. Persons interested in speaking are asked to call Joan Rogers at (919) 541-4487 or email rogers.joanc@epa.gov. The EPA is under a consent decree and must issue a final rule by Feb. 28, 2012.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) has scheduled four public hearings in October over separate proposals by Peregrine Keystone Gas Pipeline LLC and Pentex Pipeline Co. to become public utilities (see Shale Daily, Sept. 14). For the application by Peregrine, the PUC will conduct hearings at 1 p.m. Oct. 26 at the Fayette County Court House in Uniontown, PA, and at 6 p.m. Oct. 26 at Waynesburg University’s Alumni Hall in Waynesburg, PA. The Pentex application will be discussed at hearings at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Oct. 7 at the Wyalusing Valley Volunteer Fire Department in Wyalusing, PA.