Bills

Federal proposals to expand the definition of intrastate waters that can be regulated, along with a host of other energy issues, have the North Dakota state legislature working overtime. Up to 27 bills could impact the state Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), which regulates oil and natural gas activities.

In their first meeting of Pennsylvania’s 2015-2016 legislative session, members of the state Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee voted unanimously to advance a pair of bills that would give landowners more transparency and protection when making inquiries about their lease agreements.

More than a dozen bills related to natural gas and drilling practices were introduced in the first hours of the West Virginia Legislature’s 2014 session, which convened in Charleston Wednesday.

State legislatures actively pushed new natural gas legislation in 2013, but of 351 gas-related bills introduced, only 52 were enacted, an analysis indicated.

Proposed Pennsylvania legislation would make it more difficult to list and protect endangered species in the state, while making it potentially easier to site wells in the Marcellus Shale, but it also could force the “taking” of more than $27 million a year in federal funding for state fish and game commissions, according to officials.

Before leaving for a five-week recess Friday, the House of Representatives passed a series of Republican-sponsored bills aimed at restricting the ability of the federal government to impose what are viewed as costly regulations. However, the bills have little chance of clearing the Democratically controlled Senate. If they do President Obama has signaled that he will veto the measures.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett signed 29 bills into law last Tuesday, including SB 259, which the state’s chapter of the National Association of Royalty Owners (NARO) has derided as “a kissing cousin to forced pooling.”

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett signed 29 bills into law on Tuesday, including SB 259, which the state’s chapter of the National Association of Royalty Owners (NARO) has derided as “a kissing cousin to forced pooling.”

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant on Tuesday signed into law several energy bills that were passed by state lawmakers this spring, including one piece of legislation that should encourage more development in the emerging Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS), as well as other unconventional oil and natural gas formations.