Sen. Yaw To Introduce Bill To Punish Counties That Seek To Protect Their Residents From Impacts Of Natural Gas Thru Lawsuits
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Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming) is circulating a cosponsor memo announcing he plans to introduce legislation to prohibit the distribution of Act 13 Impact Fees to any county “that is actively suing over fossil fuel use.”

“It is only fitting that those counties which choose to support the safe and responsible development of our domestic energy resources [natural gas] benefit from those Impact Fee and Legacy funds,” said Sen. Yaw.

“Revenue that is currently allocated through Impact Fees to a county that is in on-going litigation shall be redirected to housing assistance,” Sen. Yaw said.

Sen. Yaw is Republican Chair of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

Marcellus Drilling News reported the legislation is being introduced at the request of “Big Oil” as a result of an announcement by Bucks County it initiated a climate change-related lawsuit against the oil industry.

The county sued several oil companies and the American Petroleum Institute alleging they intentionally deceived the public about the role fossil fuels play in worsening climate change.  Read more here.

MDN said the Center for Climate Integrity made a similar pitch to have Allegheny County file a similar lawsuit.

No Stranger To Trying To Punish Counties For Gas Industry

In 2022, Sen. Yaw introduced Senate Bill 1331 that would have denied Act 13 Impact Fees to counties that ban natural gas development on county-owned land.

The gas industry-- via Sen. Yaw-- was upset that Allegheny County banned gas development on county-owned park land which makes up less than 1% of the land in the county.

Over 99% of the land remaining in the County could be leased for shale gas drilling, but that wasn’t enough apparently.  Read more here.

The bill made it out of Sen. Yaw’s Environmental Committee on nearly a party-line vote, but died on the Senate Calendar.

Punish States That Impede Gas Pipeline Development

In 2019, Sen. Yaw announced in a speech at the UpStreamPA Natural Gas Conference in State College his plans to introduce legislation to ban the sale or transport of Pennsylvania natural gas to states that impede the development of natural gas pipelines.  Read more here.

Sen. Yaw said those states include New York, New Jersey and Maryland.

Bill Reducing Shale Gas Impacts ‘Stupid’

Sen. Yaw has also reacted to legislation-- House Bill 170-- increasing safety zone setbacks around shale gas drilling pads and other gas infrastructure by calling it “stupid.”

His comment came after the House Environmental Committee held a hearing on the bill last October.  The Committee has yet to actually take a vote on the legislation.  Read more here.

“Earlier today, the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee held a public hearing on House Bill 170, which would expand setback requirements for natural gas wells in Pennsylvania to between 2,500 – 5,000 feet,” said Sen. Yaw in a press release.

“It is often said that we cannot legislate against stupidity. That is true but we can stop stupid legislation from becoming law.”  Read more here.

Let Barbers Review Permits For Large-Scale Energy Projects

On May 1, Republicans in the Senate passed legislation--- Senate Bill 832-- sponsored by Sen. Yaw that would take away the ability for any state agency to issue permits for a large-scale energy and give it to a state authority.  Read more here

The bill would also eliminate any public review, waiving any regulation needed for the project and provide immunity from prosecution for waived regulations.

The legislation would also authorize the authority to hire any state licensed professional to be the technical reviewer of any permit applications.

“State licensed professionals” could mean an engineer, but also a land surveyor, landscape architect or any of 29 “licensed professionals,” including barbers.  Read more here

[Note: We’re guessing he didn’t really mean the bill language to allow hiring barbers to review hazardous waste permits, but it does.]

Gas Advocate Of The Year

Just a few weeks after the “stupid” statement, Sen. Yaw announced he received the Marcellus Shale Gas Coalition’s 2023 Shale Gas Advocate of the Year Award.  Read more here.

NewsClip:

-- The Guardian: Vermont Poised To Become First US State To Charge Big Oil For Climate Damage; Modeled On Federal Superfund Cleanup Program

Special Link:

-- We’re Heard This Before: ‘We’re Providing Jobs - Stopping Pollution Threatens Jobs’ - A Brief Review Of Pennsylvania’s Conservation History  [PaEN]

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - May 4 to 10 - 32 More Abandoned Conventional Well Violations; Failure To Cleanup Spills; Failure To Get Permits [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - May 11 [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 80 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In May 11 PA Bulletin  [PaEN]

Related Articles This Week:

-- Hundreds Of Residents Warn Against Impacts Of Shale Gas Development In Cecil Township, Washington County  [PaEN]

-- Two Months: Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Continues To Surround The Home Of A Senate Witness Who Opposes The Illegal Practice  [PaEN]

-- Moody & Associates Study Finds Discharge Of Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater To The Ground Surface ‘Not A Viable Management Practice'; Supports Ban On Road Dumping; Onsite Disposal  [PaEN]

-- DEP To Propose Changes To Coproduct Determination Process In Residual Waste Regulations; Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners Tried To Use This Process To Legalize Road Dumping Their Wastewater  [PaEN]

-- Sen. Yaw To Introduce Bill To Punish Counties That Seek To Protect Their Residents From Impacts Of Natural Gas Thru Lawsuits  [PaEN]

-- PUC Approves Settlement In Peoples Gas Pipeline Over-Pressurization Failure That Damaged Hundreds Of Furnaces, Water Heaters  [PaEN] 

-- Sen. Comitta, Sen. Santarsiero, Rep. Friel-Otten, Rep. Abney Introduce Gov. Shapiro's Clean Energy/Climate Plan Bills  [PaEN]

-- PJM Interconnection: Concerns Remain On Grid Reliability With Final EPA Rule Setting Tougher Air Pollution Standards On New Gas, Existing Coal-fired Power Plants  [PaEN]

NewsClips:

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells Are Everywhere In PA; An Influx Of Funding Gives DEP New Urgency To Find, Plug Them

-- Post-Gazette Editorial: When A Current Conventional Oil & Gas Operator Buys Wells They Assume All The Liabilities, While Not Passing Costs Of Plugging To Taxpayers; State Could Pay Some Of Costs

-- PA Capital-Star/Capital & Main: Oil/Gas Companies Must Set Aside More Money To Plug Wells On Federal Land Rule Says, But It Won’t Be Enough

-- StateImpactPA - Rachel McDevitt: PA Senate Passes Bill To Change Permit Review For Energy Projects

-- WHYY: Plan To Move LNG Gas By Tanker Truck From PA To Proposed NJ Export Facility Moving Forward

-- WTAE: Concerns Over Fracking In Cecil Township, Washington County

-- KDKA: Cecil Township Residents Raise Concerns About Potential Fracking Plans

-- Cleveland.com: Oil And Gas Wastewater Injection Wells Owned By Ohio Senator Are Leaking; State Paid $1.3 Million To Clean It Up

-- Marcellus Drilling News: Mountain Valley Gas Pipeline Ruptures In Water Pressure Test Near Roanoke, Virginia

-- The Guardian: Vermont Poised To Become First US State To Charge Big Oil For Climate Damage; Modeled On Federal Superfund Cleanup Program

-- Reuters: US Natural Gas Output To Decline In 2024 As Producers Cut Drilling Activities, While Demand Rises To Record High - EIA 

-- Bloomberg: Europe Braces For Billions In Writedowns In Stranded Gas Assets As Fossil Fuels Are Phased Out

-- Bloomberg: Build Out Of Approved US LNG Gas Export Terminals Delayed By Construction ‘Hiccups’

-- Reuters: Chinese Look To Buy Stake In Canadian LNG Gas Export Facility

[Posted: May 8, 2024]


5/13/2024

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