Assembly

A proposal in the Pennsylvania General Assembly would establish a mandatory training and certification program for any worker on an unconventional well site in the state.

A California bill (SB 489) to increase access to various clean energy sources, including biogas was passed out of the lower house Assembly’s Appropriations Committee earlier in August on a 12-4 vote with a “do-pass” recommendation. The measure’s author, Sen. Lois Wolk said the bill is designed to remove current barriers in the way of small-scale renewable energy development, and specifically gives farmers and food processors in the agricultural sector the ability to cut their businesses’ energy bills through more combined heat-power systems. SB 489 would enable all eligible renewable energy technologies — including biomass and biogas — to use the state’s net energy metering program that allows customers to offset some of their power usage with on-site generation. This is aimed at greatly expanding the benefits net energy metering to a wider group of energy producer/users.

Lawmakers in the North Carolina General Assembly have ratified and sent to the governor a bill allowing offshore natural gas drilling and calling for the state to form the Governors’ Regional Interstate Offshore Energy Policy Compact with its neighbors, Virginia and South Carolina.

Lawmakers in the North Carolina General Assembly have ratified and sent to the governor a bill allowing offshore natural gas drilling and calling for the state to form the Governors’ Regional Interstate Offshore Energy Policy Compact with its neighbors, Virginia and South Carolina.

Lawmakers in the North Carolina General Assembly are close to giving final passage to a bill that would allow offshore natural gas drilling, create a compact with neighboring states and set up an state advisory board on energy matters.

A new bill introduced in the Pennsylvania General Assembly last week would give whistleblower protections to workers in the oil and gas industry. House Bill 1605, sponsored by state Rep. Dan Frankel, a Democrat from Pittsburgh, would extend the 1986 Whistleblower Law to include employees of drilling companies and oilfield services companies. “This bill provides greater protection for our communities without imposing any new regulation on drillers,” Frankel wrote to members of the state House of Representatives in late April, searching for co-sponsors. “It simply protects individuals who report wrongdoing or waste to their employer or governmental authority, or who participate in an investigation, hearing or court action when asked.”

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is proposing significant overhauls to the laws governing Marcellus Shale development in the state, including increased protection for water supplies and stricter permitting and operating requirements.

While the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) doesn’t know if any companies are still delivering Marcellus Shale wastewater to treatment facilities in the state, it won’t tolerate any “slackers,” Secretary Michael Krancer told an audience in Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett on Monday signed into law amendments to the state’s 1984 Coal and Gas Resource Coordination Act, which will require natural gas drillers to coordinate their activities with active coal mine operations.