Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett
On Monday Governor Tom Corbett announced his proposal for new laws for the Marcellus shale industry in Pennsylvania. The complete text of the 4-page outline form proposal can be viewed here.
The proposal has already come under fire from some enviro/public health groups for being weak. The Delaware RiverKeeper Network believes that the costs of fracking on water quality, public health and communities is too high at this time. That group advocates for a moratorium according to a story at CBS Philly.com.
A key element of the proposal is an impact fee on gas wells starting at $40,000 per well the first year, $30,000 the second year, $20,000 the third year and $10,000 for years 4 through year 10. That fee structure creates a ceiling of $160,000 per well. The majority of the impact fees (75%) would be distributed at a local level. The greatest portion of the remaining 25% would go to Penn DOT. A small percentage is earmarked for public health work. The proposal recommends that roughly 1% of the total impact fees go to Dept. of Health for collecting and disseminating information, preparing and conducting health care and citizen provider outreach andeducation, investigating health complaints and other activities associated with shale development (Cap at $2 million).
The proposal contains a section entitled “World Class Standards for Drilling”. Those provisions are itemized below:
- Increase well bonding from $2,000 up to $10,000
- Increase blanket bonds from $25,000 up to $250,000
- Triple well setback distance from 100 feet to 300 feet for streams, rivers, ponds andother water bodies
- Increase well setback distance from private water wells from 200 feet to 500 feet andto 1,000 feet for public drinking water systems
- Expand a gas operator’s “presumed liability” for impairing water quality from 1,000feet to 2,500 feet from a gas well, and extend the duration of presumed liability from6 months after well completion to 12 months
- Enable DEP to take action against bad actors in a more efficient manner
- Uniform and consistent statewide standards
In addition the proposal suggests that a well permit be conditioned based upon its impact on public resources like parks, wildlife areas, natural landmarks, special plant and species habitat and other resources.
Towards securing energy independence the proposal recommends development of green corridors in Pennsylvania for natural gas-fueled vehicles with convienent refueling stations.
I recommend the well-written The River Reporter story on this announcement for more details, or simply review the short proposal for complete information. It is encouraging to see the Pennsylvania leadership recognizing that regulation is desperately needed. Time will tell whether or not the the decision to allow the industry to work in a regulated environment will be a good decision or a risky gamble that fails in terminally polluted water supplies. But for now, certainly, a regulated industry is far better than an unregulated industry. Capitalism has its strengths and weaknesses; one of the principle functions of government is to protect its citizens from the excesses of the greed of capitalism.
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