THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

INTRODUCED BY BAKER, ERICKSON, FARNESE, FOLMER, MUSTO, O'PAKE, RAFFERTY, WASHINGTON, D. WHITE, DINNIMAN, TOMLINSON AND BOSCOLA, JULY 30, 2010

REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, JULY 30, 2010  

AN ACT

Amending the act of December 19, 1984 (P.L.1140, No.223),

entitled "An act relating to the development of oil and gas

and coal; imposing duties and powers on the Department of

Environmental Resources; imposing notification requirements

to protect landowners; and providing for definitions, for

various requirements to regulate the drilling and operation

of oil and gas wells, for gas storage reservoirs, for various

reporting requirements, including certain requirements

concerning the operation of coal mines, for well permits, for

well registration, for distance requirements, for well casing

requirements, for safety device requirements, for storage

reservoir obligations, for well bonding requirements, for a

Well Plugging Restricted Revenue Account to enforce oil and

gas well plugging requirements, for the creation of an Oil

and Gas Technical Advisory Board, for oil and gas well

inspections, for enforcement and for penalties," further

providing for well permits, for well location restrictions

and for protection of fresh groundwater and casing

requirements.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Section 201(b) of the act of December 19, 1984

(P.L.1140, No.223), known as the Oil and Gas Act, is amended and

the section is amended by adding a subsection to read:

Section 201.  Well permits.

* * *

(b)  (1)  The permit application shall be accompanied by a

plat prepared by a competent engineer or a competent

surveyor, on forms to be furnished by the department, showing

the political subdivision and county in which the tract of

land upon which the well to be drilled is located, the name

of the surface landowner of record and lessor, the name of

all surface landowners or water purveyors whose water

supplies are within [1,000] 5,500 feet of the proposed well

location, the name of the owner of record or operator of all

known underlying workable coal seams, if any, the acreage in

the tract to be drilled, the proposed location of the well

determined by survey, the courses and distances of such

location from two or more permanent identifiable points or

landmarks on said tract boundary corners, the proposed angle

and direction of such well, if the well is to be deviated

substantially from a vertical course, the number or other

identification to be given the well, the workable coal seams,

if any, underlying the tract of land upon which the well is

to be drilled or altered, which are to be cased off in

accordance with section 207, and such information needed by

the department to administer this act.

(2)  The applicant shall forward, by certified mail, a

copy of said plat to the surface landowner, all surface

landowners or water purveyors whose water supplies are within

[1,000] 5,500 feet of the proposed well location, the owner

and lessee, if any, of such coal seams, and every coal

operator required to be identified on the well permit

application and shall submit proof of such notification with

the well permit application. With respect to surface owners,

notification shall be accomplished under this section by

sending notice to the persons to whom the tax notices for

said surface property are sent, as indicated in the

assessment books in the county in which the property is

located. With respect to surface landowners or water

purveyors whose water supplies are within [1,000] 5,500 feet

of the proposed well location, notification shall be made on

forms and in a manner prescribed by the department sufficient

to identify, for such persons, the rights afforded them under

section 208 and the advisability of taking their own

predrilling or prealteration survey.

(3)  If the applicant submits to the department written

approval of the proposed well location by the surface

landowner and the coal operator, lessee or owner, if any, of

the coal underlying the proposed well location and no

objections are raised by the department within 15 days of

filing or if no such approval has been submitted and no

objections are made to such proposed well location within 15

days from receipt of such notice by the surface landowner and

the coal operator, lessee or owner, if any, or by the

department, the same shall be filed and become a permanent

record of such location, subject to inspection at any time by

any interested person.

(4)  The permit application shall also be accompanied by

information regarding the zone of influence on groundwater

and an analysis that provides an estimate on the time of

travel that a potential release of hydraulic fracking fluid

or other liquid substances from the drilling operation may

take to reach the nearest waterway. The permit application

shall also be accompanied by a preparedness, prevention and

contingency plan. The plan shall include, but not be limited

to: the resources available at the well site to contain a

release of any fluids and to prevent an accidental blowout; a

listing of organizations that can respond within two hours of

notification to provide remediation of any environmental

contamination; a process to provide notification to all

downstream water users of any environmental remediation

activity within one hour of the commencement of that

activity.

* * *

(d.1)  Within ten days of the receipt of a permit

application, the department shall notify all public drinking

water system operators within the watershed in which the well is

to be located that a permit application has been received. The

department shall, within 25 days of the receipt of the permit

application, convene a meeting between the well operator and the

public water supply operator to review in detail the permit

application. If the department believes that the proposed well

site location may have the potential to contaminate a public

drinking water supply, the department shall publish in the

Pennsylvania Bulletin a notice that it has received a permit

application from a well operator and that the proposed well site

location may have the potential to affect a public drinking

water supply. This notice shall provide for a 30-day public

comment period.

* * *

Section 2.  Section 205 of the act is amended to read:

Section 205.  Well location restrictions.

(a)  Wells may not be drilled within [200] 1,000 feet

measured horizontally from any existing building or existing

water well without the written consent of the owner thereof.

Where the distance restriction would deprive the owner of the

oil and gas rights of the right to produce or share in the oil

or gas underlying said surface tract, the well operator may be

granted a variance from said distance restriction upon

submission of a plan which shall identify the additional

measures, facilities or practices to be employed during well

site construction, drilling and operations. The variance, if

granted, shall include such additional terms and conditions as

the department shall require to insure the safety and protection

of affected persons and property. The provisions may include

insurance, bonding and indemnification, as well as technical

requirements.

(b)  No well site may be prepared or well drilled within

[100] 3,000 feet measured horizontally from any stream, spring

or body of water as identified on the most current 7 1/2 minute

topographic quadrangle map of the United States Geological

Survey or within [100] 1,000 feet of any wetlands greater than

one acre in size. The department may waive such distance

restrictions upon submission of a plan which shall identify the

additional measures, facilities or practices to be employed

during well site construction, drilling and operations. Such

waiver, if granted, shall impose such permit conditions as are

necessary to protect the waters of the Commonwealth.

(b.1)  No well site may be prepared or well drilled using

hydraulic fracturing or horizontal drilling within 3,000 feet of

a reservoir that serves as a water source for a community water

system as defined in section 3 of the act of May 1, 1984

(P.L.206, No.43), known as the Pennsylvania Safe Drinking Water

Act. The department shall not permit horizontal drilling to

occur directly under a reservoir which is utilized as a public

drinking water source for a community water system as defined in

section 3 of the Pennsylvania Safe Drinking Water Act.

(c)  The department shall, on making a determination on a

well permit, consider the impact of the proposed well on public

resources to include, but not be limited to, the following:

(1)  Publicly owned parks, forests, gamelands and

wildlife areas.

(2)  National or State scenic rivers.

(3)  National natural landmarks.

(4)  Habitats of rare and endangered flora and fauna and

other critical communities.

(5)  Historical and archaeological sites listed on the

Federal or State list of historic places.

(6)  Sources used for public drinking water supplies.

Section 3.  Section 207 of the act is amended by adding a

subsection to read:

Section 207.  Protection of fresh groundwater; casing

requirements.

* * *

(e)  Groundwater monitoring and sampling plan.--The

department shall institute a groundwater monitoring and sampling

plan at each permitted well in any formation using hydraulic

fracturing and horizontal drilling to identify significant

changes in aquifer quality. The following shall apply:

(1)  The plan shall include groundwater elevation

monitoring, field parameter measurement, including pH,

turbidity, specific conductivity, dissolved oxygen and

temperature, and sampling for dissolved methane, ethane and

sulfates and any other standards as deemed necessary by the

department.

(2)  The plan shall be conducted at six specific drilling

intervals, including:

(i)  Prior to commencement of drilling for baseline

measurement.

(ii)  Between the top of bedrock 60 feet and 100 feet

below ground surface.

(iii)  Between 100 feet and 300 feet below ground

surface.

(iv)  Between 300 feet and 800 feet below ground

surface.

(v)  At the completion of drilling.

(vi)  Six months after drilling completion.

(3)  The permittee may not proceed to the next phase of

the drilling operation until an inspection by the department

has been performed. The department shall allocate an

appropriate portion of the well permit fees to fund the

inspection.

Section 4.  This act shall take effect in 60 days.