THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

INTRODUCED BY M. WHITE, SCARNATI, YUDICHAK, YAW, D. WHITE, FOLMER, SOLOBAY, EARLL, KASUNIC AND MENSCH, JANUARY 26, 2011

REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, JANUARY 26, 2011  

AN ACT

Amending the act of December 18, 1984 (P.L.1069, No.214),

entitled "An act requiring coordination of coal mine and gas

well operators; authorizing Department of Environmental

Resources enforcement powers; and providing penalties,"

further providing for definitions, for permits, for permit

application, for minimum distance between gas wells, for well

class designation and for coordination of gas well drilling

through active coal mines; providing for a pillar support

study; and further providing for plugging gas wells

penetrating workable coal seams, for penalties and for

validity of other laws.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  The definitions of "active coal mine,"

"department," "Gas Operations Well-Drilling Petroleum and Coal

Mining Act," "operating coal mine," "permittee" and "workable

coal seam" in section 2 of the act of December 18, 1984

(P.L.1069, No.214), known as the Coal and Gas Resource

Coordination Act, are amended and the section is amended by

adding a definition to read:

Section 2.  Definitions.

The following words and phrases when used in this act shall

have the meanings given to them in this section unless the

context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Active coal mine."  [Any operating coal mine or coal mine

already projected and permitted, but not yet being operated, or

within 1,000 linear feet beyond such boundaries.] That portion

of a workable coal seam which is shown on the five-year timing

map prepared by the mine operator and provided to the Department

of Environmental Protection upon issuance of a new permit, an

amendment to an existing permit adding additional area to be

mined, or renewal of an existing permit, and which is contiguous

to the permit area of any operating coal mine. For purposes of

this act:

(1)  A five-year timing map shall include the area of the

workable coal seam which may reasonably be expected to be

mined and permitted for mining by the operator during the

five-year period beyond the projected completion of the

mining of the currently permitted area.

(2)  All five-year timing maps shall be considered

confidential by the department, provided, however that the

department shall provide a copy of the timing map upon

request to any person who currently either operates one or

more oil or gas wells, or holds a valid permit to drill an

oil or gas well in this Commonwealth, and who can document a

valid existing right to develop the oil or gas under any

portion of the timing map. The party obtaining access to the

map shall treat the timing map and the information contained

therein as confidential.

(3)  In the case of currently permitted mines, the mine

operator shall provide the current five-year timing map to

the department within 30 days of the effective date of this

paragraph.

"Department."  The Department of Environmental [Resources]

Protection.

* * *

["Gas Operations Well-Drilling Petroleum and Coal Mining

Act." The act of November 30, 1955 (P.L.756, No.225), known as

the Gas Operations Well-Drilling Petroleum and Coal Mining Act.]

* * *

"Oil and Gas Act."  The act of December 19, 1984 (P.L.1140,

No.223), known as the Oil and Gas Act.

* * *

"Operating coal mine."  [A coal mine which is producing coal

or has been in production of coal at any time during the 12

months immediately preceding the date its status is put in

question under this act and any worked out or abandoned coal

mine connected underground with or contiguous to such operating

coal mine and any coal mine to be established or reestablished

as an operating coal mine within one year.] That portion of a

workable coal seam which is covered by an underground mining

permit issued by the Department of Environmental Protection.

* * *

"Permittee."  The well operator who has received a drilling

permit in accordance with the [Gas Operations Well-Drilling

Petroleum and Coal Mining] act of December 19, 1984 (P.L.1140,

No.223), known as the Oil and Gas Act.

* * *

"Workable coal seam."  [A coal seam identified by the

Topographical and Geological Survey of the Department of

Environmental Resources as capable of being mined by underground

methods.] Includes:

(1)  A coal seam in fact being mined in the area in

question under this act by underground methods.

(2)  A coal seam which, in the judgment of the Department

of Environmental Protection, can reasonably be expected to be

mined by underground methods.

Section 2.  Sections 5 and 6 of the act are amended to read:

Section 5.  Permits.

No person shall be issued a permit pursuant to the [Gas

Operations Well-Drilling Petroleum and Coal Mining] Oil and Gas 

Act to drill a new gas well unless the provisions of this act

are met.

Section 6.  Permit application and well completion.

(a)  All permit applications made pursuant to the [Gas

Operations Well-Drilling Petroleum and Coal Mining] Oil and Gas 

Act for a gas well covered by this act shall include a

certification that the gas well will be located so that it will

comply with the minimum distance requirements set forth in

section 7, including any exception granted by the department

pursuant to section 7(b), (c) and (d).

(b)  All permit applications made pursuant to the [Gas

Operations Well-Drilling Petroleum and Coal Mining] Oil and Gas 

Act for a gas well covered by this act shall be processed by the

department in the order in which they are received. No such

permit application shall be deemed complete unless all

information necessary to process the permit in compliance with

this act has been received by the department, including all

information necessary to act on any exception requested pursuant

to section 7(b), (c) and (d).

(c)  In any case where two or more permits have been applied

for or issued by the department, pursuant to the [Gas Operations

Well-Drilling Petroleum and Coal Mining] Oil and Gas Act, for

gas wells covered by this act, and gas wells covered by the

permits or applications cannot be drilled without violating the

provisions of section 7, the department shall notify each

affected permit applicant or permittee.

(d)  (1)  In any case where two or more permits have been

applied for or issued by the department, pursuant to the [Gas

Operations Well-Drilling Petroleum and Coal Mining] Oil and

Gas Act for gas wells covered by this act, and all gas wells

covered by the permits or permit applications cannot be

drilled without violating the provisions of section 7, the

first permitted gas well for which drilling is commenced

shall determine compliance of the remaining proposed gas

wells with section 7.

(2)  Drilling shall be deemed to have commenced for the

purposes of this subsection when the permittee has begun

actually drilling with the intent of continuing the drilling

in a workmanlike manner to a formation capable of producing

enough gas to make it economically feasible to complete the

well.

(e)  Within 60 days of completion of drilling operations of a

well, the operator shall supply to the coal owner a copy of the

portion of any well bore deviation survey obtained in the

subject well between the surface and to a point below the

deepest known coal seam encountered during the drilling

operation.

(f)  All permit applications made pursuant to the Oil and Gas

Act, which will penetrate an operating coal mine shall be

accompanied by the written consent of the operator of such coal

mine to the proposed location of the well.

(g)  Any person applying for a permit under the Oil and Gas

Act shall forward, by certified mail, a copy of the plat

required under section 201(b) of the Oil and Gas Act to the coal

owner if coal rights have been severed from the surface where

the well is to be drilled or altered, regardless of whether the

coal seam is workable.

Section 3.  Section 7(a) and (b) of the act, amended November

29, 2004 (P.L.1341, No.171), are amended and the section is

amended by adding subsections to read:

Section 7.  Minimum distance between gas wells.

(a)  No permit for a gas well covered by this act may be

issued to drill a new gas well, or reopen a gas well which has

been plugged in accordance with the [Gas Operations Well-

Drilling Petroleum and Coal Mining] Oil and Gas Act, unless the

proposed gas well is located not less than 1,000 feet from any

other well. For the purpose of this section, "other well" shall

not include any:

(1)  Oil or gas well or injection well which does not

penetrate a workable coal seam.

(2)  Oil or gas well or injection well which has been

plugged in accordance with this act or any other act of this

Commonwealth which would meet State and Federal requirements

for the safe mining through of a gas well.

(3)  Nonproducing oil or gas well which was drilled and

abandoned prior to November 30, 1955.

(4)  Storage well.

(b)  The department shall, upon request of the permit

applicant or the owner of the workable coal seam which underlies

the proposed gas well, grant an exception from the minimum 1,000

feet distance requirement of subsection (a), where the permit

applicant and the owner of the workable coal seam consent in

writing. [In no case shall the minimum distance between the

proposed gas well and any other well be less than 900 feet

pursuant to this subsection.]

* * *

(d)  Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, no

permit for a gas well covered by this act which is intended to

be part of a well cluster shall be issued unless the well

cluster is located not less than 2,000 feet from the nearest

well cluster as measured from the center of the well bore of the

nearest well, unless the permit applicant and the owner of the

workable coal seam consent in writing to spacing the well

clusters closer than 2,000 feet. The well location limitations

imposed in subsection (a) shall not be applicable between and

among wells located within the same well cluster.

(e)  The Environmental Quality Board may promulgate

regulations modifying the maximum area of a well cluster based

upon the study required under section 12.1. In the event the

permit applicant and the owner of the workable coal seam cannot

agree on the spacing of well clusters, either party may invoke

the procedures of section 12(c), (d), (e) and (f) in order to

reach an agreement. When a well cluster will penetrate a

workable coal seam which is not part of an active mine, the

applicant for the gas well shall provide the owner of the coal

seam with a copy of the plat, and the owner of the coal seam

shall have 15 days from receipt of the plat to provide

recommendations to the applicant for the gas well on the

location of the well cluster.

(f)  For purposes of this section, a "well cluster" shall

mean an area within a well pad intended to host multiple

horizontal wells and which comprises an area no greater than

5,000 square feet.

Section 4.  Sections 10(a) and 12(a), (e) and (g) of the act

are amended to read:

Section 10.  Well class designation.

(a)  Within one year of the effective date of this act, the

department shall serve written notice on the permittee of record

of all gas wells permitted under the [Gas Operations Well-

Drilling Petroleum and Coal Mining] Oil and Gas Act and which

penetrate a workable coal seam that the permittee must designate

his gas well as nonproducing, inoperative or producing as those

terms are defined in this act.

* * *

Section 12.  Coordination of gas well drilling through active

coal mines.

(a)  When a proposed gas well or well cluster is located

above an active coal mine, then the owner of the coal mine may,

within ten days from the receipt by the department of the plat

and notice required by the [Gas Operations Well-Drilling

Petroleum and Coal Mining] Oil and Gas Act, file objections, in

writing, to such proposed drilling with the department, setting

out in detail the ground or grounds upon which the objections

are based.

* * *

(e)  The panel shall make its recommendation within ten days

of the close of the meeting and shall immediately submit it to

the department, to the collective bargaining representative of

the employees of the coal operator and to the parties to this

proceeding. Within 20 days from receipt of a panel's

recommendation, the department shall proceed to issue a permit

with the location of the gas well as recommended by the panel

unless the department, pursuant to its authority under the [Gas

Operations Well-Drilling Petroleum and Coal Mining] Oil and Gas 

Act, has determined that the well cannot be safely drilled at

such location. When such a determination is made by the

department, it shall so notify the panel, stating its reasons

for the rejection, and direct the panel to submit another

recommendation within ten days for an alternate location of the

gas well on such tract of land. Upon issuance of the permit, the

location as determined by the department shall be indicated on

the plat on file with the department, and the distance and

direction of the new location, if any, from the original

location shall be shown and the plat shall be filed and become a

permanent record.

* * *

[(g)  This section shall not apply to any operating coal mine

when a gas well is proposed to be drilled through the mine.]

Section 5.  The act is amended by adding a section to read:

Section 12.1.  Pillar support study.

(a)  The purpose of this section is to conduct a

comprehensive evaluation and update of the Joint Coal and Gas

Committee Gas Well Pillar Study commissioned in 1956 by the

Department of Mines and Mineral Industries.

(b)  Within 60 days of the effective date of this section,

the department shall commission an independent study to conduct

an assessment of the following:

(1)  The appropriate pillar size around an active well,

an inactive well, a well cluster, an inactive well cluster, a

plugged well cluster or a plugged well necessary to ensure

the integrity of the well, to furnish adequate protection to

the workable coal seam, and to ensure the safety and

protection of coal miners.

(2)  Any additional criteria or standards that should be

considered by the department when considering the approval of

pillars around an oil or gas well which penetrates a workable

coal seam.

(c)  The independent expert shall solicit input,

recommendations, data and other relevant information from

representatives of the department, the coal industry and the gas

industry as part of its assessment.

(d)  The assessment required under subsection (b) shall be

submitted to the department within 240 days of the effective

date of this section and published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

Section 6.  Sections 13(a) introductory paragraph, 15(c) and

17 of the act are amended to read:

Section 13.  Plugging gas wells penetrating workable coal seams.

(a)  The owner or permittee of any gas well which is required

to be plugged pursuant to the [Gas Operations Well-Drilling

Petroleum and Coal Mining] Oil and Gas Act, which penetrates a

workable coal seam and which has not already been plugged as

required by Pennsylvania law, shall securely plug the well using

any one of the following techniques, except as provided in

subsection (b) and depending on whether the coal-protection

string of casing has been circulated and cemented into the

surface:

* * *

Section 15.  Penalties.

* * *

(c)  Except as provided in subsections (a) and (b), any

person violating any provision of this act shall be subject to

the penalty provisions provided by [section 504 of the Gas

Operations Well-Drilling Petroleum and Coal Mining] Chapter 5 of

the Oil and Gas Act.

Section 17.  Validity of other laws.

This act shall not be construed to repeal or otherwise

invalidate any provision of the [Gas Operations Well-Drilling

Petroleum and Coal Mining] Oil and Gas Act, except those

provisions enumerated in section 13.

Section 7.  This act shall take effect immediately.