Public

A top official from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on Tuesday told hundreds of members from one of the state’s largest oil and gas trade associations that it could be two years before a comprehensive package of new environmental regulations is implemented. It was not what they wanted to hear.

After nearly three years of working to update aspects of the state’s oil and gas regulations, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has taken what it’s calling an “unprecedented” step to extend the public comment period on several proposals for another 30 days.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) continues to move forward slowly with a set of proposed regulatory updates for the state’s oil and gas drillers with a series of public hearings scheduled throughout this month.

Two state agencies have filed a motion with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court asking it to reconsider a landmark decision made on Dec. 19 that struck down key provisions of the state’s most comprehensive oil and gas law.

A West Virginia county has changed course and will now pay overtime to employees in the county clerk’s office for extended hours to allow increased access to public records for Marcellus Shale development.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) planned to open a 60-day public comment period Saturday (Dec. 14) for proposed regulations regarding surface activities related to oil and gas well development. The regulations would be added to Act 13, the state’s omnibus Marcellus Shale law.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has added natural gas and petroleum time-series data to its application programming interface (API), a tool the agency said “is ideal for software developers working in government, research, or the energy sector who are looking to design applications for the web or for mobile and tablet devices.” The API is currently released as a beta product.

A report by the United Kingdom’s University of Nottingham indicates that public opinion in the country is beginning to shift in favor of unconventional natural gas development, which uses hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

With strong state legislative support, the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) on Tuesday approved new commercial natural gas vehicle (NGV) programs for three Chesapeake Utilities Corp. companies operating in the state.