Klaber

The Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) should announce a new CEO by the middle of the month, according to the industry group’s chairman.

Top industry executives from Colorado, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Texas on Wednesday told a crowd at the Shale Insight 2013 conference in Philadelphia that states and not the federal government should continue to be the primary oil and natural gas enforcers.

Capping off a string of regulatory actions that have been favorable to the oil and natural gas industry — and somewhat embarrassing to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — the regulator has said it will delay the release of final air pollution standards for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) for two weeks.

The Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) has hired three full-time senior staff members to advance the organization’s communications, outreach, education and policy objectives. Steve Forde, the new policy and communications director, was senior director of corporate communications for Education Management Corp. He previously was deputy communications director for House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and also served as communications director for the House Education and Workforce Committee. Christopher Heck, who will lead membership services, joins the MSC after serving as vice president and relationship manager at Fifth Third Bank. Heck is current chair of the Enterprise Forum Pittsburgh. The new conference director, Helen Goodman, founded Pittsburgh-based Event Resources 20 years ago to provide services to corporate, nonprofit and public-sector organizations. She also worked for the Pittsburgh Technology Council. “Having our membership more than double over the past year, we’re continuing to grow our core team of experts with our focus remaining on effectively conveying our industry’s long-term commitment to the environment, safety, and a cleaner, more competitive energy economy,” said MSC President Kathryn Klaber.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell signed into law Wednesday legislation reducing the amount of roll-back tax that owners of farmland must pay when leasing land and mineral rights for natural gas development.