U.S. EPA recently revised its oil spill prevention, control, and countermeasure (SPCC) program guidance to help promote consistency in the way SPCC rules are administered by different EPA regions. The SPCC rules mandate the implementation of professionally-developed, facility-wide spill prevention plans, and apply to facilities that meet all of the following: (1) store, transfer, use or consume oil or oil products; (2) store more than 1,320 gallons in above-ground containers or more than 42,000 gallons in buried containers; and (3) have a reasonable potential to discharge oil or oil products to waterbodies or adjoining shorelines. EPA revised the program guidance in response to criticism from EPA’s inspector general. Earlier this year, the inspector general found that EPA regions lacked guidance or direction on coordinating regional responses to oil spills. The regulated community may comment on the revised guidance. Additional information is available here.
As Pam Kasey explains in her May 2, 2013 article in the print edition of the West Virginia State Journal, the industry has voluntarily come together to be “good actors” in mineral development by incorporating input from oil and gas industry leaders, environmental groups and philanthropic organizations to design a certification program for gas producers in Appalachia, including West Virginia and Pennsylvania, under a new organization called the Center for Sustainable Shale Development based in Pittsburgh. This two year CCSD certification, while voluntary, examines 15 of the most critical areas in natural gas production to ensure producers are following the highest standards and comply with efforts to make production of natural gas in Appalachia as ‘green’ as possible.
According to StateImpact and the Pike County Courier, on March 22, 2013, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit to Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company (TGPC) for wetland, stream, and river crossings associated with its Northeast Upgrade Project. Despite opposition from environmental groups and local citizens, regulators at the Army Corps’ Philadelphia District determined that the proposed work is not contrary to the public interest.
The Project aims to increase the capacity on TGPC’s Line 300 by constructing 40 miles of new pipeline in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and modifying four compressor stations. As indicated in a March 2011 Economic Report by Rutgers University, the Project will create 1,100 job years, $37.8M in income for local labor, and $51.4M in GDP in Pennsylvania, as well as $12.2M in federal tax revenues, $1.9M in state tax revenues, and $2.1M in local tax revenues. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the Project in May 2012. FERC is the lead federal agency for the Project.
The University of Pittsburgh’s Institute on Politics has reportedly assembled a group of natural gas industry representatives, public interest organizations, and regulators under the name “Shale Gas Roundtable.” Members of the Roundtable have been quietly meeting for over a year to develop recommendations addressing various aspects of shale development. One of the Roundtable’s chief goals is to prompt a long-term study of shale gas development and its effect on the environment. The Roundtable expects to publicly release its recommendations in June.