With thousands of coalbed methane (CBM) wells covering the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and hundreds of drilling permits still to be reviewed, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has been working overtime and short staffed to review the huge backlog of permits, and contend with complex out-of-date regulations at the same time.

DEQ personnel now are hopeful that the situation is close to being changed — if not fixed entirely. With a slew of proposed amendments and revisions, now scheduled for a public hearing in mid-January, DEQ’s revamp would bring the state into compliance with federal regulations, giving the state more authority and more specific language for permit applications.

Whatever transpires this month, one thing is clear: DEQ will be closely watched by two strong stakeholder groups. On one side is Wyoming’s vibrant environmental lobby, supported by disgruntled cattle ranchers concerned about their herds’ water sources, communities concerned about the disappearing water table and traditional groups criticizing the state’s land-use policies. On the other side is the state’s most important industry, oil and gas, which has to do what is required by the rules, but must consider the cost to produce North American energy.

DEQ regulates the effluent limits on the permits, allowing only so much water to be pumped out of the CBM wells and discharged without treatment. Other state and federal agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management and the Environmental Protection Agency, also have authority over drilling sites in the state.

Now, Wyoming’s DEQ personnel use the state’s hodgepodge of water rules that have been enacted since 1974 — with few amendments to remain in compliance with federal law. Each application now is mostly on a permit-by-permit basis, with requirements altered on a well-by-well basis in some cases. DEQ would bring consistency across the water discharge portion of the permits, amending the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) rules, found in chapters 2, 7, 10 and 18. It also wants to revise the extensive groundwater rules, found in chapters 8 and 12.

This month, it’s getting-down-to-business time. The NPDES revisions would basically bring Wyoming rules into compliance with federal rules. Currently, Wyoming requires operators to restore effluent to the minimum pre-discharge background concentrations. DEQ proposes rewritng the rules to require “an operator employ best practical technology to achieve restoration to conditions better than minimum class of use,” similar to the state’s Land Quality Division rules, and consistent with federal permitting and court decisions.

In any case, the stakes are high for Wyoming’s oil and gas industry, one of the top employers in the state. In 2001, Wyoming produced 1.6 Tcf — and 39% (623 Bcf) was CBM. Also in 2001, nearly 3,000 CBM gas wells were drilled and completed. According to a 2002 report by the Wyoming Geological Survey, current gas reserves stand at 97.8 Tcf, and potential gas resources are estimated to exceed 4,000 Tcf. On average last year, the DEQ received about 400 new permit applications a month; it approved an average of 350-500 permits that had already been submitted.

The first public hearing on the groundwater proposals are scheduled for Jan. 17 before the DEQ’s Environmental Quality Council, and the turn out is expected to be large — and loud — on both sides. To learn more about the council agenda, visit the web site at www.wogcc.state.wy.us.

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