New PA Regs Affect All But Oil and Gas Industry

Narrowsburg, NY River Reporter
2 December 2010
By Sandy Long

PENNSYLVANIA — “It’s creating quite an uproar,” said Wayne Conservation District (WCD) resource conservationist Robert Grover as he explained new regulations regarding earth disturbance in Pennsylvania to district directors at their monthly meeting in November. And while the regs apply to those disturbing an acre or more of land, they do not apply to the gas and oil industry.

On November 19, the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) released the new Chapter 102 Erosion and Sediment Control (E&S) regulations.

According to WCD staff, the changes are not intended to be overly restrictive, but to mitigate sediment, the state’s top water pollutant.

The new regs will affect all citizens of the Commonwealth who plan to disturb at least one or more acres of land, whether to build a home or to plant a large garden.

That disturbance will now require a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, which has increased from $500 to $1,500, plus $100 per disturbed acre.

Projects within special protection waters—which applies to 95% of Wayne County waters—that require an NPDES permit and have a stream, creek, pond, or reservoir, must include 150 feet of riparian buffers in project plans.

WCD strongly recommends that the new regs be understood by all municipal officials, real estate professionals, developers, contractors, engineers, planners, landscapers, stone harvesters, loggers and farmers.

According to Grover, if a project is required to have an NPDES permit, then local municipalities can’t issue other permits, such as sewage and building permits, until the NPDES permit has been issued. “Townships can be found liable,” said Grover.

“The mandate from EPA is one acre and above, for any reason,” explained WCD resource conservationist David Mitchell. “In our rural county, in a single-family residential house site, you can easily disturb one acre by putting in a long driveway, house, septic, well and large lawn. The driveway and lawn usually kicks you up over one acre, because it’s all added together. People will have to plan their sites differently.”

“We’re going to coach folks to limit their disturbance to avoid this,” added Grover. “The program’s ramifications are money and time. Before any ground is broken, you’re in for two grand if you’ve got a five-acre site, plus the cost of preparing the plan.”

“The average individual can’t prepare his own plan,” added Mitchell. “You need an engineer for parts of the plan, which can be around $5,000 or more.”

“We will work with people to try to get them under that one-acre threshold so that they don’t have to incur these costs,” said Grover.

Among other changes, pre-construction meetings will now be required and all critical stages and their timeframes will be identified at the meeting. The upside, according to Grover, will be better quality sites, reviews, submittals and site-inspection compliance.

By contrast, oil and gas (O&G) activities that disturb less than five acres are only required to have an E&S plan. Projects disturbing five or more acres need only an E&S permit, not an NPDES permit. According to DEP information specialist Jamie Legenos, “Activities from 5,000 square feet to under five acres need to have an E&S plan, while those five acres and above must have an Erosion and Sedimentation Control General Permit for Oil and Gas Activities (ESCGP-1).

“The ESCGP-1 is a state permit designed to manage environmental impacts from E&S activities related to oil and gas activities,” explained Legenos. “E&S discharges from oil and gas activities are exempt at the federal level, meaning that no NPDES permit is required for those activities. O&G would need to have an NPDES permit if they were constructing a building that disturbed more than one acre and they need to have an NPDES permit for the treatment and discharge of fluids (generally not done on site), but, again, are exempt from E&S NPDES permits.”

The disparity disturbs Grover. “O&G has been given a pat on the back, a kiss on the forehead,” he said.

Grover and Mitchell are proposing to attend each Wayne County township’s monthly meeting to offer the Powerpoint presentation they developed to inform the public about the changes.

Chapter 105 (general permitting) regulations will be changing in the future, too, with new fees for general permits ranging from $50 to $500. The changes will be published in the PA Bulletin and will have a designated public comment period.

In other matters, WCD directors also learned that PPL will conduct a large drawdown of Lake Wallenpaupack in fall 2011. The lake will be drained to six feet below normal depth, allowing for dredging and shoreline work. WCD staff are available to assist landowners in obtaining the proper permits and paperwork to accomplish this.

For more information, WCD encourages all interested parties to visit their website at www.wayneconservation.org or call 570/253-0930 for further assistance. Visit http://www.depweb.state.pa.us or call the DEP at 570/826-2511 for more information.