THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

INTRODUCED BY LEACH, FONTANA, BOSCOLA, ERICKSON, COSTA, RAFFERTY, BROWNE, GREENLEAF, FERLO, STACK AND BLAKE, FEBRUARY 7, 2011

REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, FEBRUARY 7, 2011  

AN ACT

Providing for a moratorium on leasing State forest lands for the

purposes of natural gas exploration, drilling or production;

imposing duties on the Department of Conservation and Natural

Resources; and providing for report contents and for

Legislative Budget and Finance Committee study.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Short title.

This act shall be known and may be cited as the State Forest

Natural Gas Lease Moratorium Act.

Section 2.  Moratorium.

(a)  Establishment.--Notwithstanding any other provision of

law, a moratorium is established during which State forest lands

may not be leased for the purposes of natural gas exploration,

drilling or production.

(b)  Expiration.--The moratorium in subsection (a) shall

expire three years after this act takes effect.

Section 3.  Duties of department.

(a)  Monitor and assess.--The Department of Conservation and

Natural Resources shall have a duty to monitor and assess the

impact of the leases granted for the purposes of natural gas

exploration, drilling or production on State forest lands that

took effect prior to and during the moratorium imposed in

section 2(a). The Department of Conservation and Natural

Resources shall continue to monitor and assess after the

moratorium expires under section 2(b).

(b)  Comprehensive Environmental Impact Review.--

(1)  The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

shall prepare a Comprehensive Environmental Impact Review

(CEIR) within two years after the start date of the

moratorium. The scope of the CEIR shall include the

following:

(i)  An assessment of the potential impacts related

to development of Marcellus gas utilizing alternative

development projections. One of these projections shall

address the maximum possible development on State forest

lands of all current leased acreage and other State

forest lands where Marcellus gas is not owned by the

Commonwealth. The development projections shall include

the potential for shallow gas drilling.

(ii)  An assessment of the potential impacts for each

development projection on the forest ecosystem, forest

uses and forest users. This shall include an

identification of possible problems that are associated

with noncompliance of environmental regulations,

nonconformance with lease requirements, accidents and

related problems.

(iii)  The CEIR will identify and evaluate the

impacts for each development scenario related to

exploration, pad development, drilling operations, road

and bridge development, collection and transmission

lines, compression facilities, treatment plants, waste

disposal, water withdrawals and other associated

development. The scope of this evaluation shall include

impacts on State forest lands and private landowners and

communities.

(iv)  For those State forest lands where the

Marcellus gas is not owned by the Commonwealth, the CEIR

shall identify the specific controls in place to protect

these State forest lands and compare these with the

conservation provisions contained in the Department of

Conservation and Natural Resources' leases.

(v)  The CEIR will identify those lands proximate to

State forest land where Marcellus development by other

entities has the potential to impact the State forest.

Potential impacts will be identified including vehicular

use and rights-of-way for roads, pipelines and related

development.

(vi)  The CEIR shall identify the Department of

Conservation and Natural Resources workload associated

with administration and development of Marcellus gas for

each development scenario. A workload baseline shall be

established for fiscal year 2009-2010 that identifies the

workload allocation within the Bureau of Forestry and

shall include staffing assigned to existing

responsibilities such as forest fire protection, forest

health, timber management, recreation, water supply, deer

management and oil and gas development. Marcellus

staffing shall be addressed separately.

(2)  The Marcellus workload assessment shall project the

Marcellus workload over the next ten years and identify how

this workload will be carried out and staffing options which

include flat or reduced staffing levels. Each of these

options will be compared to the staffing baseline in

paragraph (1)(vi) and describe the likely impacts of the

Marcellus development scenarios on staffing levels related to

other State forest responsibilities.

(3)  The Department of Environmental Protection will

provide to the Department of Conservation and Natural

Resources a workload analysis with projections regarding

inspection and enforcement staff time that will be allotted

to assure environmental compliance on State forest lands

under each of the Marcellus development scenarios. New

staffing needs will be identified.

(4)  The proposed scope and content of the CEIR will be

subject to review and comment by the public for 60 days prior

to initiation of the work to prepare the report.

(c)  Report.--Beginning in year three the Department of

Conservation and Natural Resources shall submit an annual report

to the General Assembly and the Governor regarding the effect of

natural gas exploration, drilling or production on State forest

lands. The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

shall continue to submit the annual report after the moratorium

expires under section 2(b).

Section 4.  Report contents.

The contents of the report required under section 3(c), shall

include, but not be limited to, the effect of natural gas

exploration, drilling or production on State forest lands on the

following:

(1)  Water and soil quality.

(2)  Forest fragmentation.

(3)  Plants, wildlife, habitats and invasive species.

(4)  Air quality.

(5)  Social fabric, including, but not limited to:

(i)  Tourism.

(ii)  Recreation.

(iii)  Hunting.

(iv)  Fishing.

(v)  Community aesthetics.

(vi)  Quality of life.

(6)  The staffing needs of the Department of Conservation

and Natural Resources regarding the monitoring, assessment

and regulation of natural gas exploration, drilling or

production on State forest lands.

Section 5.  Legislative Budget and Finance Committee study

relating to Marcellus gas development.

(a)  General rule.--Three years after the moratorium set

forth above and following the completion of the Department of

Conservation and Natural Resources' Comprehensive Environmental

Impact Review (CEIR), the Legislative Budget and Finance

Committee shall conduct a study regarding the environmental,

economic and societal impacts of the leasing of State lands for

Marcellus development in this Commonwealth. The Legislative

Budget and Finance Committee shall use the CEIR as a basis for

its environmental study but may also conduct further

investigation and utilize other sources of data for its study.

(b)  Contents of study.--The study shall, at a minimum,

analyze the following:

(1)  The separate environmental, economic and societal

impacts to both the Commonwealth and its citizens resulting

from Marcellus development on State lands.

(2)  The overall cumulative impact on this Commonwealth

and its citizens resulting from the Marcellus development

that has already taken place on State lands.

(3)  Based on the impacts of Marcellus development that

has taken place, a projection of the environmental, economic

and societal impacts that will result from Marcellus

development of all the existing leases of State land for

Marcellus development.

(4)  The specific impacts on communities and citizens

living in close proximity to State land which has been

developed.

(5)  The impact of Marcellus development on various State

land user communities such as hunters, fishers, hikers,

mountain bikers, campers, all terrain vehicle users,

snowmobilers, boaters, horse riders and general visitors.

(6)  Whether the terms of the leases for State land

should be modified to mitigate any identified environmental

or societal impacts or maximize economic benefits to this

Commonwealth and its citizens.

(7)  Whether the Department of Environmental Protection,

the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the

Game Commission, Fish and Boat Commission and other State

agencies have sufficient resources and personnel to

effectively oversee and regulate Marcellus development on

leased State land.

Section 6.  Post-moratorium leasing.

The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources shall

not offer State forest land for lease for the purposes of

natural gas exploration, drilling or production once the

moratorium expires unless it, in its sole discretion, determines

the State forest can be sustained in a balanced state that

preserves water and air quality, plant and animal habitats and

the multiple ecosystems, recreational, social and aesthetic

values of the forest with the proposed lease.

Section 20.  Effective date.

This act shall take effect immediately.