On July 11, DEP gave a presentation to the Citizens Advisory Council on the draft final Chapter 105 Environmental Assessment Alternatives Analysis technical guidance.

Click Here for the draft final version of the Guidance.  Click Here for DEP presentation.

Chapter 105 regulations require applicants encroaching on waters of the Commonwealth, including wetlands to avoid and minimize impacts to those water resources.  The application must include “a detailed analysis of alternatives to the proposed action, including alternative locations, routings or designs to avoid or minimize adverse environmental impacts” (25 Pa Code Section 105.13(e)(1(viii)).

The environmental assessment and the alternatives analysis is especially important to the decision making process for projects to be constructed in High Quality and Exceptional Value special protection watersheds.

Background - Chapter 105

Development of updated technical guidance on Chapter 105 Encroachment and Waterways Alternatives Analysis began in 2018 as a result of an appeal brought by the Clean Air Council, Delaware RiverKeeper Network and the Mountain Watershed Association involving the Mariner East Natural Gas Liquids Pipeline construction.  Read more here.  

After consultation with a variety of agency advisory committees, DEP proposed a draft technical guidance document for public comment in September of 2021.  Read more here.

DEP said it received four comment letters on the proposal, including comments from the Marcellus Shale Coalition representing the shale gas industry and joint comments from the Clean Air Council, Delaware RiverKeeper Network, PennFuture and Mountain Watershed Association.

DEP has prepared a comment/response document and will be presenting its draft final Chapter 105 technical guidance to advisory committees in July.  Read more here.

DEP hopes to publish a final version of the Alternative Analysis Guidance sometime in the third quarter of 2023.  Read more here.

Background - Trenchless Pipeline Construction

DEP has been developing a related technical guidance-- also since 2018-- on Trenchless Pipeline Construction to outline policies, procedures and best practices for prevention of adverse environmental impacts from horizontal drilling techniques.

A proposed guidance was published for comment in March of 2022.  Read more here.

DEP hopes to publish a final version of this guidance sometime in the fourth quarter of 2023 or early 2024.  Read more here.

Ag Advisory Board Meeting

DEP will discuss the draft final guidance again with the Agriculture Advisory Board at a special meeting on July 18 in Room 105 Rachel Carson Building starting at 9:00 a.m.

Click Here for the agenda and instructions for joining the meeting remotely.

For available handouts and more, visit the DEP Citizens Advisory Council meeting. Questions should be directed to: Max Schultz maxschultz@pa.gov or Glenda Davidson at gldavidson@pa.gov or 717-783-4759.

NewsClips:

-- Public News Service: Report: Oil And Gas Air Pollution Effects On Health Of Pennsylvanians 

-- TribLive: Protect PT Seeks Support For Proposed Ordinance Regulating Shale Gas Wells In Penn Twp., Westmoreland County; Meeting July 13

-- Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund: The Law Did Not Save Grant Township’s Water From PA General Energy Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Well, The People Of Grant Did

-- StateImpactPA - Susan Phillips: New Sinkhole Forms [Again] Along Mariner East Natural Gas Liquids Pipeline In Chester County

-- Independent Fiscal Office Reports PA Natural Gas Production Peaked In 4th Quarter 2021 [PaEN]

-- US Energy Information Administration: 2022 Appalachian Natural Gas Production Flat With Productivity Declines In Key Counties In PA

-- Bloomberg: Sweet Spot For Building New US LNG Natural Gas Projects Is Fading

-- Bloomberg: European Natural Gas Prices Have Biggest Weekly Loss Of The Year

-- Bloomberg: European Power Prices Fall Below Zero This Weekend With Green Power Boom 

PA Oil & Gas Public Notice Dashboards:

-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - July 8 to 14; Failed Shale Gas, Conventional Well Plugging; Leaking Conventional Wells  [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - July 15  [PaEN]

-- DEP: Risk Assessment Did Not Prove Chemicals Polluting Soil & Groundwater At American Refinery Group’s Bradford Petroleum Refinery Met Safe Environmental Cleanup Standards  [PaEN]

-- DEP Invites Comments On CNX Midstream Project To Expose Natural Gas, Water/Wastewater Pipelines To Prevent Longwall Coal Mining Damage In Greene County  [PaEN] 

-- DEP Posted 60 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In July 15 PA Bulletin  [PaEN]

Related Articles This Week:

-- DEP Secretary Negrin To Citizen Activists: ‘We Don’t Represent Chevron, We Don’t Represent Shell And I’ve Made That Absolutely Clear-- We’re Holding Those Leaders Accountable’  [PaEN]

-- Marcellus Drilling News: Do Oil & Gas Drillers Owe Taxpayers Royalties For Oil & Gas Under Roads, Streets, Bridges And Other Taxpayer-Owned Land?  [PaEN]

-- EQB No Longer Has Statutory Authority To Change Conventional Oil & Gas Well Bonding Amounts To Help Prevent 400 to 600 New Well Abandonments A Year; Adopts Proposed Changes To Water Quality Standards For Comment  [PaEN]

-- PA Eligible To Apply For $76.4 Million In Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Funding To Plug Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells; Conventional Operators Still Abandoning Wells  [PaEN]

-- DEP Posts Draft Final Chapter 105 Environmental Assessment Alternatives Analysis; Will Discuss At Agricultural Advisory Board Meeting July 18  [PaEN]

-- DEP Announces July 13 Local Steering Committee Meeting For $5 Million Shell Petrochemical Plant Community Fund  [PaEN]

-- DEP Reminder Of July 25 Hearing On Proposed Oil & Gas Waste Injection Well In Clara Twp., Potter County

-- MethaneSAT-EDF Successfully Test Methane Detection Technology To Be Used To Document Methane Emissions From Onshore Natural Gas Production In North America  [PaEN]

-- DEP Blog: Do You Know What’s Below? Gasoline Stations And Aging Underground Storage Tanks In Pennsylvania [PaEN]

[Posted: July 12, 2023]

7/17/2023