On April 7, 2016, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) announced a public comment period for a package of draft general permits for oil and natural gas midstream compressor stations. Applicants seeking coverage under a general permit would be required to demonstrate that the facility meets the general permit eligibility criteria. A general permit establishes pre-defined permit terms, including requirements relating to equipment installation, operating standards, monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting. OEPA stated that the new general permits would authorize emissions from a wide variety of sources, including: natural gas-fired compressor engines; diesel engines; dehydrators; flares; compressors; equipment (pipes, pumps, etc.); liquid storage tanks; truck loading operations; and pigging operations. Comments are due May 18, 2016.
On September 29, 2015, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) issued a public notice regarding revisions to the Pennsylvania State Programmatic General Permit – 4 (PASPGP-4). In general, PASPGP-4 authorizes the discharge of dredged or fill materials and the placement of temporary or permanent structures that result in impacts to one acre or less of waters of the United States, including jurisdictional wetlands. The revisions announced by USACE are intended to “streamline the PASPGP-4 review process by adding Avoidance Measures (AMs) identified on a Pennsylvania Natural Diversity Inventory (PNDI) receipt for Federally listed threatened or endangered species as a Special Condition of the PASPGP-4 without the need for a [USACE] review of the application.” The revisions allow certain PASPGP-4 applications to proceed under Category I or Category II review. The changes are effective immediately.
Also on September 29, USACE released a separate public notice requesting comments on its plan to issue, for a five-year period, PASPGP-5. PASPGP-5 would replace PASPGP-4, which is set to expire on June 30, 2016. Comments regarding the proposed new version of the general permit are due on October 29, 2015.
On Saturday, November 15th, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) published proposed changes to its General Plan Approval and/or General Operating Permit (BAQ-GPA/GP-5 or General Permit) for Natural Gas Compression and/or Processing Facilities (known as “GP-5”) issued in February 2013. Operators may apply for coverage under GP-5 to authorize the construction, modification, and/or operation of a natural gas compression and/or a gas processing facility.
Among other proposed changes, DEP has deleted the applicability threshold requirement for greenhouse gases in response to the United States Supreme Court’s Utility Air Regulatory Group (UARG) v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decision issued on June 23, 2014. DEP also added a requirement to submit an annual compliance certification for GP-5; the annual certification would be due to DEP by March 1 each year. Public comments on the proposed revisions to GP-5 will be accepted by DEP until January 6, 2015.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has, for a second time, extended the public comment deadline associated with its proposed rule to redefine “waters of the United States” and related terms for purposes of various federal Clean Water Act programs. USEPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers initiated the joint rulemaking effort this past spring. Comments are now due on Friday, November 14, 2014. Additional information is available at http://www2.epa.gov/uswaters.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) recently extended the public comment deadlines associated with its proposed rulemaking to redefine “waters of the United States” for federal Clean Water Act programs and its request for information regarding a possible rulemaking for the disclosure of hydraulic fracturing chemicals. The new comment deadline for the Clean Water Act rulemaking is October 20, 2014. The new deadline to comment on the advance notice of proposed rulemaking regarding chemical disclosure is September 18, 2014.
On April 15, 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released five technical white papers for peer review, each one focusing on a possible source of methane and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions within the oil and natural gas sector. The papers describe estimated emissions and techniques for reducing emissions from the following: compressors; hydraulically fractured oil well completions and associated gas during production; leaks; liquids unloading; and pneumatic devices. The public has until June 16, 2014 to provide comments, which EPA will use in conjunction with the papers to develop a strategy to further reduce methane and VOC emissions pursuant to the Obama Administration’s Strategy to Reduce Methane Emissions revealed in March.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection announced on Monday that the public comment period for proposed policy changes would be extended from July 22nd to August 27th because of a printing error in the Pennsylvania Bulletin that provided the incorrect e-mail address for comments. The draft policy would impact the permit review process by proposing procedures for public hearings, and for receiving and responding to public comments. All permits that are published in Pennsylvania’s official information outlet, the Pennsylvania Bulletin, will be affected by this proposed policy change, including permits for oil and natural gas wells.
The fate of New York’s fracking moratorium remains uncertain. According to the Huffington Post, if the rules proposed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) are not finalized by February 27, 2013, the proposal will expire and create an opportunity for another round of public comment. Whether the new rules will be issued by the deadline remains uncertain. DEC Commissioner Joe Martens recently testified before state legislators that DEC “[does] not have a timetable” for completing the environmental impact review related to the regulations. Martens indicated that DEC’s completion of the rules is dependent upon a forthcoming report from the Department of Health. Martens added that completing the rules could take even longer if the Health report recommends modifications to the proposed rules. A coalition of New York state lawmakers has demanded that DEC provide an opportunity for the public to comment on the health aspects of the impact review. This could delay the completion of the rules even further. Based on a recent telephone poll of approximately 1,200 registered voters in New York, there is an even divide among New Yorkers on whether to lift the 4 ½ year-long moratorium.
The 30-day public comment period for the New York Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC’s) proposed regulations regarding hydraulic fracturing activities ended on Friday, January 11, 2013. The DEC rejected earlier calls to extend the comment period up to 90 days. The DEC currently faces a February 27, 2013 deadline to finalize the draft regulations or allow them to expire.