Adopted

The Maryland House of Delegates passed a 7.5% state severance tax on natural gas production on Monday, which if adopted would become the highest severance tax rate for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale.

A coalition of landowners in Wayne County, PA says it has “run out of patience” with the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), and is urging the organization to either enact natural gas regulations or step aside and let the states do so.

The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) has adopted a rule for the disclosure of chemicals in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) fluids used to stimulate oil and gas wells in the state. Earlier this year state lawmakers passed legislation requiring such disclosure.

The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) agreed Thursday to a request by New York that any water withdrawal applications for natural gas development in the state be postponed until the Empire State completes its environmental review of hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

A proposal before the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to revise its water quality regulations and open the basin to Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling suffered a serious setback after Delaware Gov. Jack Markell said Thursday his state would vote against the plan.

In an almost unprecedented show of bipartisanship in the currently divided Congress, the House Energy and Commerce Committee last Wednesday unanimously adopted pipeline safety reauthorization legislation.

In an almost unprecedented show of bipartisanship in the currently divided Congress, the House Energy and Commerce Committee Wednesday unanimously adopted pipeline safety reauthorization legislation.

As the Pacific Northwest’s dominant energy player, the federal Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has adopted what it described as a landmark settlement on a residential exchange program that it hopes will end years of dispute over how BPA makes low-cost hydroelectric supplies available to small residential and farm customers of investor-owned utilities (IOU). Given the criticism of BPA for shunning natural gas and wind power generators in the face of abundant water supplies this spring and summer, the federal power behemoth is hoping it has a win-win, noting that the deal has the backing of six regional IOUs, three state regulatory commissions, and most public-sector utilities representing 88% of BPA’s customers and 93% of the power consumed in the region. Under the settlement, IOU customers are in line to get about $3.3 billion in payments during a 17-year period, beginning at $182.1 million in fiscal 2012 and increasing to $286.1 million by fiscal 2028.

A township in western Pennsylvania adopted a conditional use ordinance on Wednesday, the latest development in a kerfuffle with its dominant driller, Range Resources Corp.