New Oil & Gas Regulations In The Works For PA

State DEP moving closer to finalizing oil and gas rules

By Laura Legere (Times-Shamrock Writer)
Published: February 11, 2013
The Daily Review
State environmental regulators are moving closer to a major revision of Pennsylvania's oil and gas rules to address surface impacts caused by the development of pipelines, pits, impoundments and well sites.

The Department of Environmental Protection recently translated conceptual changes it outlined last year into much more precise draft rulemaking language that will be discussed at an advisory board meeting next week. The hope is to adopt the finalized rules by next winter.

The 73 pages of proposed rule changes largely turn several separate policies and last year's amendments to the Oil and Gas Act into a single set of regulations contained in Chapter 78 of the Pennsylvania Code.

They create new limits on how wastes can be stored and processed on well sites, stricter standards for containing and reporting spills, and the first rules for temporary pipelines that transport fresh and wastewater to and from wells. Read more...