Restrictive

A federal judge in Wyoming has overturned water quality rules that gas producers and the state had alleged were too restrictive and not based on complete consideration of related science by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The rules were intended to protect cropland in Montana from the downstream discharge of water from Powder River Basin coalbed methane (CBM) production.

A federal judge in Wyoming has overturned water quality rules that gas producers and the state had alleged were too restrictive and not based on complete consideration of related science by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The rules were intended to protect cropland in Montana from the downstream discharge of water from Powder River Basin coalbed methane (CBM) production.

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) proposed Roan Plateau resource management plan (RMP) released Thursday appears to be overly restrictive in requiring only one oil and gas development company to be the operator for all the leases on top of the plateau itself, which represents about 50% of the planning area in the Piceance Basin of western Colorado, said Greg Schnacke, executive vice present of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association. Schnacke said the idea of having one company do all the development is unprecedented and will probably backfire on the agency.

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) proposed Roan Plateau resource management plan (RMP) released Thursday appears to be overly restrictive in requiring only one oil and gas development company to be the operator for all the leases on top of the plateau itself, which represents about 50% of the total western Colorado planning area in the Piceance Basin, said Greg Schnacke, executive vice present of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association. Schnacke said the idea of having one company do all the development is unprecedented and will probably backfire on the agency.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has appealed a decision by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to allow oil and gas drilling on the state’s Otero Mesa desert, which he said would impact groundwater and grassland. If the plan is not scrubbed, he said the state will consider legal action.

The proposed rulemaking calling for a relaxation of FERC’srestrictive policy for off-the-record communications is “essentialto providing timely and adequate information” for the Commissionstaff to conduct environmental reviews of proposed pipelineprojects, the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA)said last week.

The proposed rulemaking calling for a relaxation of FERC’srestrictive policy for off-the-record communications is “essentialto providing timely and adequate information” for the Commissionstaff to conduct environmental reviews of proposed pipelineprojects, the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA)said last week.

FERC last week proposed changes that would lead in certaininstances to a less restrictive policy for off-the-recordcommunications between the agency and those outside of it,particularly with respect to staff communications while conductingenvironmental investigations.