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| THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
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| SENATE BILL |
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| INTRODUCED BY LEACH, FONTANA, BOSCOLA, ERICKSON, COSTA, RAFFERTY, BROWNE, GREENLEAF, FERLO, STACK AND BLAKE, FEBRUARY 7, 2011 |
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| REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, FEBRUARY 7, 2011 |
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| AN ACT |
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1 | Providing for a moratorium on leasing State forest lands for the |
2 | purposes of natural gas exploration, drilling or production; |
3 | imposing duties on the Department of Conservation and Natural |
4 | Resources; and providing for report contents and for |
5 | Legislative Budget and Finance Committee study. |
6 | The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
7 | hereby enacts as follows: |
8 | Section 1. Short title. |
9 | This act shall be known and may be cited as the State Forest |
10 | Natural Gas Lease Moratorium Act. |
11 | Section 2. Moratorium. |
12 | (a) Establishment.--Notwithstanding any other provision of |
13 | law, a moratorium is established during which State forest lands |
14 | may not be leased for the purposes of natural gas exploration, |
15 | drilling or production. |
16 | (b) Expiration.--The moratorium in subsection (a) shall |
17 | expire three years after this act takes effect. |
18 | Section 3. Duties of department. |
19 | (a) Monitor and assess.--The Department of Conservation and |
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1 | Natural Resources shall have a duty to monitor and assess the |
2 | impact of the leases granted for the purposes of natural gas |
3 | exploration, drilling or production on State forest lands that |
4 | took effect prior to and during the moratorium imposed in |
5 | section 2(a). The Department of Conservation and Natural |
6 | Resources shall continue to monitor and assess after the |
7 | moratorium expires under section 2(b). |
8 | (b) Comprehensive Environmental Impact Review.-- |
9 | (1) The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources |
10 | shall prepare a Comprehensive Environmental Impact Review |
11 | (CEIR) within two years after the start date of the |
12 | moratorium. The scope of the CEIR shall include the |
13 | following: |
14 | (i) An assessment of the potential impacts related |
15 | to development of Marcellus gas utilizing alternative |
16 | development projections. One of these projections shall |
17 | address the maximum possible development on State forest |
18 | lands of all current leased acreage and other State |
19 | forest lands where Marcellus gas is not owned by the |
20 | Commonwealth. The development projections shall include |
21 | the potential for shallow gas drilling. |
22 | (ii) An assessment of the potential impacts for each |
23 | development projection on the forest ecosystem, forest |
24 | uses and forest users. This shall include an |
25 | identification of possible problems that are associated |
26 | with noncompliance of environmental regulations, |
27 | nonconformance with lease requirements, accidents and |
28 | related problems. |
29 | (iii) The CEIR will identify and evaluate the |
30 | impacts for each development scenario related to |
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1 | exploration, pad development, drilling operations, road |
2 | and bridge development, collection and transmission |
3 | lines, compression facilities, treatment plants, waste |
4 | disposal, water withdrawals and other associated |
5 | development. The scope of this evaluation shall include |
6 | impacts on State forest lands and private landowners and |
7 | communities. |
8 | (iv) For those State forest lands where the |
9 | Marcellus gas is not owned by the Commonwealth, the CEIR |
10 | shall identify the specific controls in place to protect |
11 | these State forest lands and compare these with the |
12 | conservation provisions contained in the Department of |
13 | Conservation and Natural Resources' leases. |
14 | (v) The CEIR will identify those lands proximate to |
15 | State forest land where Marcellus development by other |
16 | entities has the potential to impact the State forest. |
17 | Potential impacts will be identified including vehicular |
18 | use and rights-of-way for roads, pipelines and related |
19 | development. |
20 | (vi) The CEIR shall identify the Department of |
21 | Conservation and Natural Resources workload associated |
22 | with administration and development of Marcellus gas for |
23 | each development scenario. A workload baseline shall be |
24 | established for fiscal year 2009-2010 that identifies the |
25 | workload allocation within the Bureau of Forestry and |
26 | shall include staffing assigned to existing |
27 | responsibilities such as forest fire protection, forest |
28 | health, timber management, recreation, water supply, deer |
29 | management and oil and gas development. Marcellus |
30 | staffing shall be addressed separately. |
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1 | (2) The Marcellus workload assessment shall project the |
2 | Marcellus workload over the next ten years and identify how |
3 | this workload will be carried out and staffing options which |
4 | include flat or reduced staffing levels. Each of these |
5 | options will be compared to the staffing baseline in |
6 | paragraph (1)(vi) and describe the likely impacts of the |
7 | Marcellus development scenarios on staffing levels related to |
8 | other State forest responsibilities. |
9 | (3) The Department of Environmental Protection will |
10 | provide to the Department of Conservation and Natural |
11 | Resources a workload analysis with projections regarding |
12 | inspection and enforcement staff time that will be allotted |
13 | to assure environmental compliance on State forest lands |
14 | under each of the Marcellus development scenarios. New |
15 | staffing needs will be identified. |
16 | (4) The proposed scope and content of the CEIR will be |
17 | subject to review and comment by the public for 60 days prior |
18 | to initiation of the work to prepare the report. |
19 | (c) Report.--Beginning in year three the Department of |
20 | Conservation and Natural Resources shall submit an annual report |
21 | to the General Assembly and the Governor regarding the effect of |
22 | natural gas exploration, drilling or production on State forest |
23 | lands. The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources |
24 | shall continue to submit the annual report after the moratorium |
25 | expires under section 2(b). |
26 | Section 4. Report contents. |
27 | The contents of the report required under section 3(c), shall |
28 | include, but not be limited to, the effect of natural gas |
29 | exploration, drilling or production on State forest lands on the |
30 | following: |
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1 | (1) Water and soil quality. |
2 | (2) Forest fragmentation. |
3 | (3) Plants, wildlife, habitats and invasive species. |
4 | (4) Air quality. |
5 | (5) Social fabric, including, but not limited to: |
6 | (i) Tourism. |
7 | (ii) Recreation. |
8 | (iii) Hunting. |
9 | (iv) Fishing. |
10 | (v) Community aesthetics. |
11 | (vi) Quality of life. |
12 | (6) The staffing needs of the Department of Conservation |
13 | and Natural Resources regarding the monitoring, assessment |
14 | and regulation of natural gas exploration, drilling or |
15 | production on State forest lands. |
16 | Section 5. Legislative Budget and Finance Committee study |
17 | relating to Marcellus gas development. |
18 | (a) General rule.--Three years after the moratorium set |
19 | forth above and following the completion of the Department of |
20 | Conservation and Natural Resources' Comprehensive Environmental |
21 | Impact Review (CEIR), the Legislative Budget and Finance |
22 | Committee shall conduct a study regarding the environmental, |
23 | economic and societal impacts of the leasing of State lands for |
24 | Marcellus development in this Commonwealth. The Legislative |
25 | Budget and Finance Committee shall use the CEIR as a basis for |
26 | its environmental study but may also conduct further |
27 | investigation and utilize other sources of data for its study. |
28 | (b) Contents of study.--The study shall, at a minimum, |
29 | analyze the following: |
30 | (1) The separate environmental, economic and societal |
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1 | impacts to both the Commonwealth and its citizens resulting |
2 | from Marcellus development on State lands. |
3 | (2) The overall cumulative impact on this Commonwealth |
4 | and its citizens resulting from the Marcellus development |
5 | that has already taken place on State lands. |
6 | (3) Based on the impacts of Marcellus development that |
7 | has taken place, a projection of the environmental, economic |
8 | and societal impacts that will result from Marcellus |
9 | development of all the existing leases of State land for |
10 | Marcellus development. |
11 | (4) The specific impacts on communities and citizens |
12 | living in close proximity to State land which has been |
13 | developed. |
14 | (5) The impact of Marcellus development on various State |
15 | land user communities such as hunters, fishers, hikers, |
16 | mountain bikers, campers, all terrain vehicle users, |
17 | snowmobilers, boaters, horse riders and general visitors. |
18 | (6) Whether the terms of the leases for State land |
19 | should be modified to mitigate any identified environmental |
20 | or societal impacts or maximize economic benefits to this |
21 | Commonwealth and its citizens. |
22 | (7) Whether the Department of Environmental Protection, |
23 | the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the |
24 | Game Commission, Fish and Boat Commission and other State |
25 | agencies have sufficient resources and personnel to |
26 | effectively oversee and regulate Marcellus development on |
27 | leased State land. |
28 | Section 6. Post-moratorium leasing. |
29 | The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources shall |
30 | not offer State forest land for lease for the purposes of |
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1 | natural gas exploration, drilling or production once the |
2 | moratorium expires unless it, in its sole discretion, determines |
3 | the State forest can be sustained in a balanced state that |
4 | preserves water and air quality, plant and animal habitats and |
5 | the multiple ecosystems, recreational, social and aesthetic |
6 | values of the forest with the proposed lease. |
7 | Section 20. Effective date. |
8 | This act shall take effect immediately. |
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