Enforce

A spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to fine an energy company for a 2010 fire could be the first time federal and state regulators have levied fines for the same incident in the Marcellus Shale.

Although Pennsylvania could eventually lease additional state forest land for natural gas drilling, it will likely be in small doses, according to the state’s top land manager.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is working to “more consistently” enforce natural gas drilling regulations in various regions of the state, DEP Secretary Mike Krancer said Thursday.

An appellate court decision in Wyoming, reversing a lower court, will allow the federal government to enforce the Clinton era’s “roadless rule,” which places restrictions on energy exploration and production, logging and other commercial activities on more than 58 million acres of forest lands.

Attorneys for the oil and gas industry in Pennsylvania are asking U.S. District Judge Sean McLaughlin to find the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) in contempt for refusing to follow his 2009 order to process oil and gas development proposals in the Allegheny National Forest.

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu said Monday the Obama administration was looking for the “best practices” to move forward with hydraulic fracturing (fracking) of shale gas.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Tuesday granted California a waiver to enforce a state greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standard for new motor vehicles, beginning with the current model year. Environmentalists and state officials immediately lauded the much-anticipated move by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson (see Daily GPI, April 20).

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), an independent interstate compact agency, has notified natural gas producers of its intent to enforce stricter regulations with respect to the use of water to develop wells in the Marcellus, Utica and other shale formations in the Susquehanna watershed in Pennsylvania and New York. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) also has gotten tougher, requiring producers to submit water management plans as part of their applications for drilling permits.

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), an independent interstate compact agency, has notified natural gas producers of its intent to enforce stricter regulations with respect to the use of water to develop wells in the Marcellus, Utica and other shale formations in the Susquehanna watershed in Pennsylvania and New York.