HB 2154 Weakens Crucial Pollution Standards for the Conventional Oil and Gas Industry
In Harrisburg today, the Pennsylvania House Environmental Resources & Energy (ERE) Committee approved a radical piece of legislation, House Bill (HB) 2154, that would unravel protections that apply to Pennsylvania’s conventional oil and gas industry. Despite bipartisan opposition in committee, Republicans got enough votes to send HB 2154 to the House floor, where it is scheduled to move quickly this week. This bill would roll back protections established with the bipartisan enactment of Act 13 in 2012. If HB 2154 becomes law, conventional oil and gas operators in Pennsylvania would only have to comply with the standards that existed under the 1984 Oil and Gas Act. As if that was not alarming enough, HB 2154 actually goes further and removes some of the requirements that existed under that Act, resulting in legislation with even weaker protections than existed in 1984. Pennsylvania’s current operating standards are widely accepted by the industry – as well as by other oil and gas producing states. Pennsylvania would become the only state that has acted to significantly reduce its environmental protections on oil and gas development in modern times.
Pennsylvania is currently the nation’s second-largest natural gas producing state, and much of the development over the past decade has come from growth in the unconventional oil and gas sector. Nonetheless, the conventional oil and gas industry still contributes a great deal to Pennsylvania’s air pollution problems. Although conventional operators do not have to report their emissions data to the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), independent peer-reviewed analysis has shown that the conventional industry actually emits more methane pollution per year than the unconventional industry. For example, the most recent estimates for 2015 show the conventional industry emitted nearly 270,000 tons of methane into Pennsylvania’s air that year.
Also, consider the decades-old requirements from the 1984 Oil and Gas Act that HB 2154 would remove: (1) the requirement that DEP analyze potential impacts to Public Resources; (2) the requirement that operators disclose the chemicals used during fracturing; and (3) containment, as well as spill and leak prevention and reporting, requirements. HB 2154 would also weaken protections for impacted drinking water supplies, failing to require that replacement supplies meet the standards of the Safe Drinking Water Act in all instances. It would also weaken well integrity standards, which are critical for groundwater protection, and would exempt certain wastewater treatment facilities from state water protection requirements. All told, this legislation would represent a wholesale weakening of critical safety standards that have existed in Pennsylvania – and have been common practice in the industry – for years.
DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell sent a letter to all members of the House ERE Committee last week expressing his agency’s opposition to this bill, and Governor Wolf has also made clear he opposes this radical approach. When it comes to Pennsylvania’s public health and environment, HB 2154 would be a disaster. We need Pennsylvania to keep moving forward with its environmental protections, not backward.
Legislators are expected to vote on this bill on May 1. Please take action now by contacting your representative and raising your concerns about the bill.
