DEP’s Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board will meet on April 23 to consider a new draft of the Chapter 78 drilling regulation changes required by Act 13 of last year and a new proposal to change the drilling permit fees proposed by the department.

The new draft of the Chapter 78 regulation changes is dated April 2 which supercedes the January 22 draft the Board had been working to review.

The draft changes in drilling permit fees would eliminate calculating the permit fee by the depth of the well and replaces it with a flat fee of $4,200 for a vertical unconventional (Marcellus)  well and $5,000 for a nonvertical Marcellus Shale well.  Under the old fee calculation, the highest fee for wells of up to 12,000 feet in depth would have been $3,000, plus $100 for every 500 feet after that.

DEP has estimated the new fee structure for unconventional (Marcellus) wells will bring in about $14 million in FY 2014-15.  This compares to a projected $7.3 million in FY 2014-15 for existing fees.  These numbers assume about 2,600 new permits annually.

DEP prepared a special permit fee and program cost analysis report for the Board to review.

The meeting will be held in Room 105 Rachel Carson Building starting at 10:00.

For more information and available handouts, visit DEP’s Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board webpage.

4/22/2013