Rep. George: New Bill Would Provide Safeguards For Surface Owners Where Drilling Occurs

Rep. Camille George (D-Clearfield), Majority Chair of the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, announced the introduction this week of legislation to provide basic safeguards to surface owners of properties where oil and gas drilling is proposed.

 

“The Surface Owners Protection Act would provide surface owners information about proposed wells and drillings and establish an extraction agreement framework,” said Rep. George. “The legislation strives to ease friction among surface owners and the owners of the oil and gas rights as drilling intensifies in Pennsylvania, especially in the Marcellus Shale deposit.”

 

Rep. George’s House Bill 1155 would:

 

-- Require drillers to notify surface owners at least 15 days before a driller enters the tract and at least 45 days before drilling begins;

 

-- Provide surface owners with basic information, including planned operations, the drilling operator and protection of water sources;

 

-- Establish a basic surface use and compensation agreement governing operations, including drilling facilities, operations, water impoundments, drainage changes and other surface impacts, nuisance controls, liability and reclamation responsibilities and compensation for damages.

 

“The legislation is designed to clarify the rights and responsibilities of both the surface owner and the owner of the oil and gas rights,” Rep. George said. “Should the parties not reach agreement after 45 days, the owner of the gas and oil rights may file for needed permits after establishing the appropriate bonds, deposits and insurance.”

 

House Bill 1155 also would establish procedures for surface owners to recover damages, water-replacement provisions, protections for water supplies and enable landowners and water suppliers to request an investigation of the drilling operation by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

 

Rep. George said he has introduced separate legislation – House Bill 1156– dealing with methane gas extraction, which has been complicated by an almost 30-year-old court decision that links the methane gas rights to the mineral rights for coal.