Conventional oil and gas well owners who intend to apply for federally-funded grants to plug wells to reduce methane emissions must first be in compliance with Pennsylvania's environmental laws and regulations, according to the Department of Environmental Protection.

This also includes compliance with the submission of annual well production, waste generation and disposal and mechanical integrity assessment reporting.

DEP provided an update on this program at the June 13 Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board and on its website.

"If you are interested in obtaining this funding and are currently not in compliance with these requirements, you should submit this information to DEP as soon as possible,” says a notice on DEP’s website.

"Failure to submit these reports subject operators to enforcement by DEP that includes civil penalty liability."

DEP reported in April that during 2023-- 89% of conventional oil and gas well owners do not comply with the requirement to submit annual well integrity reports covering 34,455 wells.  Read more here.

DEP also reported that during 2023-- 86% of conventional oil and gas well owners to not comply with the annual reporting for production and waste generation and disposal covering 33,505 wells.  Read more here.

Visit DEP's Methane Emissions Reduction Grant Program webpage for a specific notice on this for conventional oil and gas well owners.

Grant Program Outline

In May, DEP received $44.4 million from the US Department of Energy under the federal Methane Emissions Reduction Program to plug marginally-producing wells which in Pennsylvania means conventional oil and gas wells.  Read more here.

DEP told the Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board they plan to create two grant programs-- one specifically for operators of 10 or fewer conventional oil and gas wells and another for operators with 11 or more wells.

DEP would make available $20,000 grants on a reimbursement basis for wells of 3,000 feet or less in depth and $35,000 for a well of greater than 3,000 feet in depth.

DEP plans to open a grant application window for 60 days, but did not say when that would occur.

DEP said they anticipate this will be a very competitive grant program for well owners who may not have the financial resources to plug their wells.

Visit DEP's Methane Emissions Reduction Grant Program webpage for updates on this program.  Questions should be directed to: RA-epOilandGas@pa.gov.

For more information on environmental programs in Pennsylvania, visit DEP’s website, Report Emergencies, Submit Environmental Complaints; Click Here to sign up for DEP’s newsletter; sign up for DEP’s eNotice; visit DEP’s Blog,  Like DEP on Facebook, Follow DEP on Twitter and visit DEP’s YouTube Channel.

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - June 8 to 14 - Abandoned Conventional Well Violations Now Top 512, Equaling All Of 2023  [PaEN]

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

-- DEP’s June 7 Weekly Workload Report: Zero Shale Gas Wells Drilled In PA, 2 New Permits Issued, Only 1 New Shale Gas Application Received, Only 1 Under Review  [Gas Industry Cutting Back To Raise Prices]

-- DEP Posted 74 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In June 15 PA Bulletin  [PaEN]

Related Articles This Week:

-- House Committee Reports Out Bills To Ban Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater; Prohibit Use Of PFAS 'Forever Chemicals’ In Consumer Products  [PaEN]

-- DEP: Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners Must Be In Compliance With PA Environmental Laws & Regulations To Be Eligible For New Federally-Funded Well Plugging Grants  [PaEN]

-- House Hearing: Shapiro Administration Supports Bill Banning Road Dumping Oil & Gas Wastewater, Prohibiting Its Use As Coproduct Under Residual Waste Regulations  [PaEN]

-- House Hearing: Penn State Expert Says ‘Pennsylvania Should Ban Road Spreading Of Oil & Gas Wastewater;’  Contaminants Exceed Health, Environmental Standards  [PaEN]

-- House Hearing: Penn State Center For Dirt & Gravel Road Studies Says Road Spreading Oil & Gas Wastewater Is Not An Effective Dust Suppressant, Does Not Meet Environmental Testing Standards  [PaEN]

-- House Hearing: A First-Hand Account Of How Repeated, Unlimited Road Dumping Of Oil & Gas Drilling Wastewater Is Tearing Apart Dirt Roads And Creating Multiple Environmental Hazards  [PaEN]

-- House Hearing: Protect PT - Road Dumping Oil & Gas Wastewater ‘Is Disproportionately Responsible For Negative Impacts On Human Health,’ Especially From Radioactive Radium  [PaEN] 

-- House Hearing: On Road Dumping Oil & Gas Wastewater - ‘We Studied This For Nearly 30 Years And The Conclusions Are The Same - The Wastewater Contains Harmful Contaminants’  [PaEN] 

-- House Hearing: PA State Assn. Of Township Supervisors Opposes Ban On Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Saying It’s Only Affordable Option For Dust Suppression [Plain Water Works Just As Well]  [PaEN]

-- House Hearing: Conventional Oil & Gas Industry Trade Groups Oppose Bill Banning The Road Dumping Their Wastewater Saying It’s ‘Effective And Safe’  [PaEN] 

-- PA Environmental Council Supports Bill To Ban Road Dumping Oil & Gas Wastewater  [PaEN]

NewsClips This Week:

-- Warren Times Guest Essay: DEP Has Been Chronically Understaffed For Years, Unable To Fulfill Its Basic Mission - By Rep. Greg Vitali (D-Delaware)

-- StateImpactPA - Rachel McDevitt: PA House Effort Seeks To Ban Spreading Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater On Roads

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: Road Dumping Oil & Gas Wastewater For Dust Suppression Called Into Question

-- Bradford Era: Rural Road Dust Suppression Technique Using Oil & Gas Wastewater Called Into Question

-- The Guardian: Rare Cancers, Full-Body Rashes, Death: Did Fracking Make Their Kids Sick?  [Pennsylvania]

-- Marcellus Drilling News: Update On PA Oil & Gas Subsurface Trespass Cases, Good News For Mineral Rights Owners

-- Public Source: There Is Something Wrong Under New Freeport, Greene County After EQT Shale Gas Fracking

-- Public Source: DEP Takes Measured Approach To Private Water Supply Complaints Related To Oil & Gas Drilling

-- The Energy Age Blog: EQT Gives Act 14 Notices In Washington County For 8 More Wells In Union Township

-- Marcellus Drilling News: Update On PA Oil & Gas Subsurface Trespass Cases, Good News For Mineral Rights Owners

-- Marcellus Drilling News: PA DEP Customer Service Advisory Council Has No Customers On It

-- Baker Hughes: PA Natural Gas Drilling Rigs - No Change From Last Week: 21

-- PUC Approves 69% Rate Increase For Small Natural Gas Distribution Utility In Jefferson County

-- Bloomberg: LNG Gas Markets Brace For Price Spikes During Turbulent Summer

-- Reuters: Europe's Natural Gas  Surplus Narrows As LNG Gas Shipments Redirected To Asia, China

-- Bloomberg: China’s Binge On US Oil, Natural Gas Liquids Biggest Demand Driver, IEA Says

-- TribLive Guest Essay: Federal Rules Put PA’s Hydrogen Future At Risk - By PA Chamber Of Business & Industry

-- Beaver County Times Guest Essay: Why RiverWise Did Not Pursue Shell Mitigation Penalty Funds - By Daniel Rossi-Keen

-- The Allegheny Front: Safety, Health Doubts Linger As Mountain Valley Gas Pipeline Gets Approval To Start Service

-- WESA/AP: FERC OKs Operation Of Mountain Valley Natural Gas Pipeline

-- Bloomberg: Pipeline Operators’ Brawl Slows $2 Billion Worth Of Pipeline Construction, Not Litigation From Environmentalists

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: With ARCH2 Hydrogen Hub Planned For Western PA, Some Decisions Are Malleable, Others Are Already Made

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: Hydrogen Hub Boosters Promise Major Jobs, Opponents, Demand More Transparency

-- TribLive Guest Essay: Federal Rules Put PA’s Hydrogen Future At Risk - By PA Chamber Of Business & Industry

[Posted: June 13, 2024]

6/17/2024