Energy and Environment Monitor

WVDEP Division of Air Quality’s Draft General Permit G80A for Natural Gas Facilities Is Now Available for Public Comment

February 6, 2015

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Air Quality (DAQ) has made the draft of its new General Permit G80-A available for public comment. The permit will regulate “Prevention and Control of Air Pollution in regard to the Construction, Modification, Relocation, Administrative Update and Operation of Natural Gas Production, Compressor and/or Dehydration Facilities,”…

President Obama Set To Expand Drilling On Atlantic Coast, But Limit Arctic Drilling

January 30, 2015

In a press release on January 27, 2015, the Interior Department and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (“BOEM”) announced their draft strategy for an offshore oil and gas leasing program that will be finalized from 2017 to 2022.   The draft plan is a work in progress, however; it is still subject to public comment and to date has been informed by more than 500,000 comments.

According to…

Ohio Appeals Court Declines to Rule that Preclusive Effect of Oil & Gas Program Extends to Storage of Debris Used for Well Access Road

January 30, 2015

An oil and gas operator maintains a well on a vacant parcel near I-90 in Lake County.  Access to the well site is by a private roadway that needs constant repairs.  To facilitate repairs, the site owner and the well operator maintain piles of concrete and asphalt debris on the site.

Leroy Township advised the site owner and operator that its zoning resolution prohibits the on-site…

Sierra Club Declares Clean Water Act War on the Coal Industry By Suing EPA in Kentucky and West Virginia

January 27, 2015

The Sierra Club and other anti-coal groups filed THREE lawsuits against USEPA on January 7, 2015 in federal courts in Kentucky and West Virginia. 

Two of the actions, one in each state, allege that EPA has not acted on petitions submitted by the Plaintiffs several years ago to withdraw EPA approval of the State NPDES programs.  See Kentuckians for the Commonwealth v. McCarthy, No.…

Southern Indiana Gets an Interstate – to Bloomington

January 26, 2015

The U.S. District Court in Indianapolis closed a chapter in a long-running environmental case on January 15 when it refused to reconsider its grant of summary judgment issued last March in favor of the Federal Highway Administration and the Indiana Department of Transportation’s approval of the I–69 expansion project. The expansion of the existing I-69 across southwest Indiana is intended to…

Fish & Wildlife Service Considers Listing Northern Long-Eared Bat as “Threatened” Rather than “Endangered”

January 26, 2015

“Threatened” Listing Would Create Fewer Burdens for Maintaining Existing Pipelines and Utility Lines           

Northern long-eared bats live throughout the Eastern and Midwestern United States. The bat’s population has declined in many areas due to the fungal disease white-nose syndrome (“WNS”). On October 2, 2013, the Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) proposed to list the northern long-eared bat as…

Beyond Baudoinia compniacensis:

January 21, 2015

Federal Clean Air Act Does Not Preempt State Common Law in Kentucky’s Latest Whiskey Case[i]

In November 2014, the Kentucky Court of Appeals addressed whether the federal Clean Air Act preempts state common law nuisance claims based on emissions of airborne pollutants. Brown-Forman Corporation and Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc. operate whiskey distilleries in Kentucky.  The whiskey production…

OBAMA ANNOUNCES NEW RULES ON OIL & GAS INDUSTRY’S METHANE EMISSIONS

January 16, 2015

On Wednesday, January 14, 2015, the Obama administration announced plans to propose new regulations to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. The new rules will set standards for methane and volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions from new and modified oil and gas production sources (under section 111(b) of the Clean Air Act), and natural gas process and transmission sources.…

PENNSYLVANIA DEP RELEASES FOURTH IN SERIES OF REPORTS ON EFFECTS OF SURFACE SUBSIDENCE FROM UNDERGROUND MINING

January 12, 2015

PADEP has announced the release of the fourth in a series of ongoing reports detailing the effects of surface subsidence caused by underground mining in Pennsylvania.  The report, prepared by the University of Pittsburgh, addresses the effects of mining in Armstrong, Beaver, Cambria, Clearfield, Elk, Greene, Indiana, Jefferson, Somerset and Washington counties.   The report,…

PADEP ANNOUNCES FINAL TECHNICAL GUIDANCE DOCUMENT FOR COORDINATING IMMEDIATE RESPONSES AND FINAL REMEDIATION OF RELEASES OF REGULATED SUBSTANCES”

January 12, 2015

On January 3, 2015, PADEP announced that it has issued a final technical guidance document summarizing how the department will oversee immediate responses and final remediation of releases of regulated substances.  According to the notice, additional information may be obtained by contacting Randy Roush at 717-787-1566 or raroush@pa.gov.  The guidance will eventually be posted with…