Hearings set on shale gas drilling air pollution rules

The state Department of Environmental Protection has scheduled three public hearings this month on proposed regulations to reduce air pollution from existing shale gas drilling, processing and pipelines.

The draft regulation, aimed at reining in emissions of volatile organic compounds and climate changing greenhouse gases, would require additional emissions controls at all of the approximately 11,500 existing unconventional natural gas well sites and connecting infrastructure, including compressor stations.

In addition to limiting VOCs, the regulations would, according to the DEP, have a “co-benefit of reducing methane emissions.”

The virtual hearings are scheduled for June 23 at 6 p.m., June 24 at 2 p.m. and June 25 at 6 p.m.

The DEP will accept additional comments through July 27.

“This regulation is part of Gov. Wolf’s Methane Reduction Strategy, which is an important part of fighting climate change in Pennsylvania,” said DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell, in a

news release. “By utilizing reasonable pollution controls we can reduce air pollution from gas wells and related infrastructure and improve air quality.”

The proposed regulation would reduce air pollution by 4,404 tons per year of VOCs and 75,603 tons per year of methane.

VOCs can cause groundlevel ozone to rise to unhealthy levels in the air during warm summer months. And methane, the primary component of natural gas, is a greenhouse gas that is 84 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere over the next two decades after its release. Climate scientists say imposing controls is critical.

The Wolf administration has targeted climate change as a critical global threat and in 2019 established a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050.

In April, the DEP released its “2020 Pennsylvania Climate Impacts Assessment Update,” prepared by Penn State University’s Environment and Natural Resources Institute, which shows the state has experienced a 2-degree Fahrenheit increase in average temperature since 1901 and will likely get warmer.

Still, the proposed regulation, adopted at the December 2019 meeting of the Environmental Quality Board, has been controversial, drawing fire from both industry and environmentalists.

In a statement released following that EQB approval, David Spigelmyer, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, a drilling industry trade organization, said that while the group was wary of the potential costs of implementing the new regulations, he also urged the DEP to delay its rulemaking until new federal regulations are finalized.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sent its new regulations, which will roll back federal oversight of methane emissions, to the White House Office of Management and Budget on May 29, according to a notice filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The EPA stated it wants to finalize the new rules by the end of July.

In response to questions Wednesday, Mr. Spigelmyer said the industry remains committed to ensuring methane and other emissions are effectively and safely managed. He said the coalition is reviewing the draft regulations and will provide indepth comments during the 60-day public comment period.

“Through new technologies and best practices — such as robust leak detection and repair programs and vapor recovery systems — operators continue to make significant progress to ensure natural gas reaches market, resulting in meaningful air quality progress,” he said in the statement.

Eight environmental organizations issued a joint news release in May after the draft regulations were published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, all urging the administration to adopt tougher controls and close a “loophole” that excludes low-producing wells from the controls.

“Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry has a problem with methane and associated toxic air pollution, and Earthworks’ field investigations show that no part of the industry is immune,” Earthworks’ Pennsylvania and Ohio field advocate Leann Leiter stated in the release. “If this new rule is to be successful Gov. Wolf and the DEP must ensure its enforcement so that polluters are no longer given a free pass to hurt health and climate.”

Joseph Minott, executive director and chief counsel for the Clean Air Council, an environmental organization in Pennsylvania and the midAtlantic region, said the hearings are an opportunity to advocate for strengthening the draft regulations.

“The draft existing source oil and gas methane rule is critical for meeting Gov. Wolf’s climate goals,” Mr. Minott said in a release. “Unfortunately, the draft rule includes a loophole for low-producing wells that are responsible for about half of all emissions that contribute to Pennsylvania’s million ton methane problem.”

According to a May analysis by the Environmental Defense Fund, natural gas operations in the state emitted more than 1.1 million tons of methane into the air in 2017 — 16 times the amount the industry reported to the state, with more than half of that total coming from almost 73,000 older, vertical, or “conventional” gas wells.

The EDF report also noted oil and gas operations emitted more than 63,000 tons of VOCs. Those compounds can form ozone, the primary component of unhealthy smog, and exposure can cause heart disease and exacerbate respiratory diseases, such as asthma and emphysema.

To view the regulation or submit written comments, visit DEP’s eComment system at www.ahs.dep.pa.gov/ eComment/, where there is information on who is eligible to submit comments and how to do so.

Anyone who wants to observe a public hearing without providing testimony can also access the hearings through the EQB webpage.