The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Environmental Quality Board (EQB) Tuesday voted to impose increased permit fees for Marcellus Shale drilling operators that would raise the base permit cost to $900 from $100 and require additional fees for deeper wells.

The proposed permit increases still require approval by the state’s general regulatory review board, but if approved, they would take effect in the spring. It is the first time since 1984 that the EQB has voted to increase permit fees.

Pennsylvania’s oil and natural gas drilling permits now cost a flat $100/well. The new fee structure sets a base permit cost of $900 for all Marcellus Shale wells up to 1,500 feet deep, and imposes an additional cost of $100 for every 500 feet of depth past 1,500 feet.

The new fee structure would help ensure adequate funding to cover program expenses for permit reviews and well site inspections, the EQB said. The fee increase also would allow the department to hire additional staff to take care of increased permitting requests in the Pennsylvania communities of Meadville, Pittsburgh and Williamsport.

“Due to technological advances in drilling and rising natural gas prices, gas exploration in the commonwealth has increased significantly with 40,000 new drilling permits anticipated during the next three years,” Environmental Protection acting Secretary John Hanger said. “Despite this substantial increase in workload, including permit review and inspection of oil and gas well sites, the department has not increased the $100 permit fee for oil and gas well permits since 1984.

“These permit fee increases will allow us immediately to hire additional staff to properly review Marcellus Shale permit applications and monitor drilling activities to ensure that our regulations are being enforced and our natural resources are being protected.”

Permit applications for Marcellus Shale gas wells have to be evaluated before a permit may be issued, EQB noted. Extracting natural gas from the Marcellus Shale formation requires “significant amounts of water to hydraulically fracture the shale formation.” The department requires permit applicants to submit water management plans that outline how and where the water will be gathered, how it will be stored at the site and how waste water will be processed and treated.

“With nearly 8,000 drilling permits issued so far this year and drilling taking place in areas of the state outside our traditional oil and gas region, we need to make sure that we have sufficient personnel to properly manage development of Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale natural gas reserves,” Hanger said.

For more information visit www.depweb.state.pa.us and select “Public Participation.”

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