PUC Commissioner Pamela Witmer briefed members of DEP’s Citizens Advisory Council Tuesday on Marcellus Shale drilling fee revenues collected and disbursed by the Public Utility Commission over the last two fee cycles.

Commissioner Witmer said her agency collected over $204 million in the first year of the program and expects to collect about $200 million for calendar year 2012.  She noted of the over 5,500 completed wells, there are disputes over whether a very small percentage-- 84 wells in all-- need to pay the 2012 fee.

She said a new interactive website created by the Commission offers details on how much of the fees were distributed to local governments and state programs.  That information is complete for 2011 and will be added for 2012 once the disbursements are complete in July.

Commissioner Witmer also said local governments had to submit reports on what they spend the drilling fees on last year by April 15.  That information will also be added, but may take some time since it has to added manually this year.

Vince Brisini, DEP Deputy Secretary for Waste, Air, Radiation and Remediation, gave Council an update on the TENORM study of radioactivity in the production and distribution of natural gas in both conventional and Marcellus Shale wells. 

He noted sampling is already underway and the results will be available and posted on DEP’s TENORM webpage.  He said the study should last from 12 to 14 months.

Brisini said the results of the study will help guide DEP in updating its drilling wastewater, waste and other regulations covering natural gas operations.

Brisini also updated Council on proposed air quality permitting requirements DEP proposed in February to cover natural gas compressor stations.  He said DEP received over 650 comments from the public on the rule and will be reviewing those comments shortly.  Brisini said he hopes to have a final version of the requirements out in the next three months or so.

Holly Cairns, Acting Director of DEP’s Office of Environmental Advocate, said the revised Public Participation Policy covering Permit Reviews should be published for public comments on May 4.

Cairns said the comments provided by CAC’s Public Participation Committee on a proposed webinar to be held after the release of the permit review policy were helpful.

She noted the Environmental Justice Public Participation Policy is still undergoing internal agency review.

Asked again about appointments by the Governor to fill vacancies on the Council, Cairns said she could not say when they might be forthcoming.

Cairns presentation was supplemented by DEP’s written Monthly Report to Council.

Committee Reports

-- Legislative: Cynthia Carrow said members of the Legislative Committee will be setting up meetings with the four Chairs of the Senate and House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee when the Strategic Issues Committee finishes work on Council priorities.  She noted the House Environmental Committee was holding a hearing this week on House Bill 343 (Miller-R-York) setting construction standards for drinking water wells; an issue Council has address in the past.

-- Strategic Priorities: Burt Waite said the Committee has been working to boil down the list of potential issues suggested by Council members.  He noted several categories so far--

            -- Required actions by Council-- Air Pollution Plans, Act 54 Longwall Mining Report;

            -- The impact of staffing, budget cuts on the ability of DEP to do its job;

            -- DEP accountability to public, public participation, regional consistency;

            -- Drinking Water Well Standards;

            -- Sustainable water infrastructure; and

            -- Shifting environmental mandates to the local level.

Members of Council offered other suggestions, including preparing a mini-transition report for whoever will be the next DEP Secretary identifying priorities he or she should address.  Michael Krancer stepped down as Secretary on April 15 and Chris Abruzzo became Acting Secretary.  A search is underway by the Governor’s Office to name a new Secretary.

-- Public Participation: David Hess reported the Committee gave comments to DEP on its draft webinar outline on public participation in the permit review process and is looking forward to reviewing the draft policy when it becomes available.  He noted Council has received suggestions from a half dozen or so members of the public on ways to improve public participation in the regulation and policy development process, but more are expected by the April 26 deadline.

-- EQB Meeting Report: Burt Waite reported the Environmental Quality Board approved updated water quality standards Tuesday, but without standards for molybdenum, chlorides, sulfates and 1-4 dioxane which have been controversial. The Board did vote to require DEP to come back within a year for an update on the science behind setting accurate standards.

The Board also approved-- Proposed Medical and Chemotherapeutic Waste Regulations and a Rulemaking Petition on Cranberry Creek, Monroe County.

-- Annual Report: The 2012 Annual Report of CAC activities has been posted online.

Public Comments

In the public comment portion of the meeting, Jeff Schmidt of the Sierra Club said there were still a number of outstanding questions DEP has not answered about how DEP shares the results of water testing with homeowners where contamination is suspected from Marcellus Shale gas wells.   Marge Hughes, Executive Director of the CAC, said the Council just received a copy of a response to some of the questions Schmidt asked dated April 12 and shared a copy with him.

Stephen Kuntz, Schmid & Company, noted a recent report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that only 17 percent of the streams in the eastern part of the United States MEET water quality standards and expressed concern about the cause of these problems.

It was noted that a report finalized by DEP to EPA last year found that about 20 percent of Pennsylvania’s streams do NOT meet water quality standards.  No one could reconcile the two reports.

Kuntz also encouraged Council to keep working to make DEP’s Act 54 report on the impact of longwall mining more complete.

Next Meeting

The next meeting of Council will be May 22 starting at 11:00 a.m. in Room 105 of the Rachel Carson Building.

Council Chair John Walliser suggested and Council agreed to move the election of new officers to the May meeting due to a number of expected absences at the June meeting.

It was also suggested Council set aside time at the meeting for a review of how information on threatened and endangered species and the PA Natural Diversity Inventory is used in the permit review process.  It was noted DEP last November proposed changes to its PNDI review policy.

For more information, visit the DEP Citizens Advisory Council webpage.

4/22/2013