Energy and Environment Monitor

Pennsylvania Governor Asks Federal Government to Expedite Regulatory Action In Five Areas to Prevent Crude Oil Train Accidents

March 3, 2015

Pennsylvania Governor, Tom Wolf, recently sent a letter to President Obama asking for expedited federal oversight of rail transportation of crude oil.  Governor Wolf’s letter notes that there have been four train derailments since January 2014, including two within Philadelphia.  It notes also that every week approximately 60-70 trains carrying crude oil from North Dakota…

Gasland on Trial: Pennsylvania Court Rules Gas Drilling Not an Abnormally Dangerous or Ultrahazardous Activity

February 12, 2015

The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania entered summary judgment in favor of Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation on February 9 in a case arising in Dimock Township, Pennsylvania. Dimock Township is a rural political subdivision of Susquehanna County that is about 29.5 square miles in size and was made famous by the 2010 documentary Gasland. Gasland alleged that hydraulic…

Sixth Circuit Upholds Application of Clean Water Act’s “Permit Shield” Provision

February 11, 2015

On January 27, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in a 2-1 split decision, affirmed an opinion of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky that the Clean Water Act’s (CWA) “permit shield” defense applies to discharges of selenium at ICG Hazard’s Thunder Ridge Mine.  See opinion here.  The Sierra Club had argued that ICG’s discharges of selenium…

WV GOVERNOR SIGNS LEGISLATION ALLOWING WVDEP TO APPROVE WELL PAD PERMIT TRANSFERS

February 11, 2015

West Virginia Governor Tomblin has signed a bill allowing  horizontal well pad permit transfers under WV Code 22-6A-7.   The bill was signed by the Governor on February 4 and effective upon passage.    Prior to this amendment, WVDEP would not transfer well pad permits in an asset sale, and required the buyer to re-apply for new permits.  A link to the…

EPA Claims it will “Clarify” its Proposed Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rule

February 10, 2015

The EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers appeared before a rare joint hearing of House and Senate committees on February 4, 2015 to justify the rule the agencies proposed last year to define “waters of the United States.” Notwithstanding a previous justification of the rule as merely providing “clarity” over streams that EPA and the Corps already regulate, EPA Administrator McCarthy conceded that…

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…

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…