New Jersey officials have told the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) that the state might withhold its dues to the organization if it doesn’t enact rules governing hydraulic fracturing (fracking) within the Delaware River Basin by its next meeting in September.

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) spokesman Larry Ragonese confirmed that John Plonski — NJDEP’s assistant commissioner for water resources management and the state’s representative to the DRBC — had warned the organization at two previous meetings that New Jersey was reserving the right to review its quarterly payment to the DRBC if fracking regulations were not adopted by the Sept. 21 meeting.

“We’re not at war in any way with the DRBC,” Ragonese told NGI. “In fact, our dialogue with them is wide open and we have regular discussions with them on these issues. It’s kind of a push on our part. It’s not a flat out ultimatum; it’s just a little bit of an encouragement. We have been encouraging them to adopt rules that would protect the water supply and the environment in the Delaware River Basin.”

Ragonese said the NJDEP was still calling for the DRBC to implement what is essentially a fracking pilot program, where the DRBC would enact fracking rules and have ultimate oversight in the approval process for natural gas wells in the river basin. But the DRBC would permit no more than 30 wells pads and 300 wells within the first two years of the new rules.

The DRBC is led by the governors of Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ North Atlantic division is also a commission member.

According to the compact creating the DRBC, New Jersey and Pennsylvania are to each contribute 25% of the organization’s budget, which comes out to $893,000 apiece. New York is to contribute 17.5% ($626,000), Delaware 12.5% ($447,000) and the federal government the remaining 20% ($715,000).

DRBC spokeswoman Katherine O’Hara told NGI that the federal government has only paid its share once — in 2009 — since 1996, and the resulting shortfall now officially totals more than $8.5 million. She said New York has also decided to only contribute $355,000 — about 57% — of its share for the current fiscal year (FY). Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey have paid their dues in full.

The expense budget for the DRBC for FY 2012 totals $5,660,900.

Jeff Tittel, chapter director for the New Jersey Sierra Club, said New Jersey’s actions amounted to extortion.

“It’s a threat and it undercuts due process,” Tittel told NGI. “[The NJDEP] is more interested in appeasing the gas drillers in Pennsylvania than protecting the water supply for the people in New Jersey.”

Last year the DRBC voted to impose a moratorium on new well pad permits in the 13,539-square-mile basin, and in December proposed amending regulations over wastewater, well pad siting and water sources for natural gas development (see NGI, Dec. 13, 2010). The new rules being considered are expected to allow drilling to resume, but under more oversight.

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