Bill Text: PA SB540 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Providing for a moratorium on leasing State forest lands for the purposes of natural gas exploration, drilling or production; imposing duties on the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources; and providing for report contents and for Legislative Budget and Finance Committee study.
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 11-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-02-21 - Referred to ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY [SB540 Detail]
Download: Pennsylvania-2013-SB540-Introduced.html
| PRINTER'S NO. 504 |
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No. | 540 | Session of 2013 |
INTRODUCED BY LEACH, GREENLEAF, FONTANA, TEPLITZ, HUGHES, WASHINGTON, FERLO AND TARTAGLIONE, FEBRUARY 21, 2013
REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013
AN ACT
1Providing for a moratorium on leasing State forest lands for the
2purposes of natural gas exploration, drilling or production;
3imposing duties on the Department of Conservation and Natural
4Resources; and providing for report contents and for
5Legislative Budget and Finance Committee study.
6The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
7hereby enacts as follows:
8Section 1. Short title.
9This act shall be known and may be cited as the State Forest
10Natural Gas Lease Moratorium Act.
11Section 2. Moratorium.
12(a) Establishment.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
13law, a moratorium is established during which State forest lands
14may not be leased for the purposes of natural gas exploration,
15drilling or production.
16(b) Expiration.--The moratorium in subsection (a) shall
17expire three years after this act takes effect.
18Section 3. Duties of department.
19(a) Monitor and assess.--The Department of Conservation and
1Natural Resources shall monitor and assess the impact of the
2leases granted for the purposes of natural gas exploration,
3drilling or production on State forest lands that took effect
4prior to and during the moratorium imposed in section 2(a). The
5Department of Conservation and Natural Resources shall continue
6to monitor and assess after the moratorium expires under section
72(b).
8(b) Comprehensive Environmental Impact Review.--
9(1) The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
10shall prepare a Comprehensive Environmental Impact Review
11(CEIR) within two years after the start date of the
12moratorium. The scope of the CEIR shall include the
13following:
14(i) An assessment of the potential impacts related
15to development of Marcellus gas utilizing alternative
16development projections. One of these projections shall
17address the maximum possible development on State forest
18lands of all current leased acreage and other State
19forest lands where Marcellus gas is not owned by the
20Commonwealth. The development projections shall include
21the potential for shallow gas drilling.
22(ii) An assessment of the potential impacts for each
23development projection on the forest ecosystem, forest
24uses and forest users. This assessment shall include an
25identification of possible problems that are associated
26with noncompliance of environmental regulations,
27nonconformance with lease requirements, accidents and
28related problems.
29(iii) The CEIR shall identify and evaluate the
30impacts for each development scenario related to
1exploration, pad development, drilling operations, road
2and bridge development, collection and transmission
3lines, compression facilities, treatment plants, waste
4disposal, water withdrawals and other associated
5development. The scope of this evaluation shall include
6impacts on State forest lands and private landowners and
7communities.
8(iv) For those State forest lands where the
9Marcellus gas is not owned by the Commonwealth, the CEIR
10shall identify the specific controls in place to protect
11these State forest lands and compare these with the
12conservation provisions contained in the Department of
13Conservation and Natural Resources' leases.
14(v) The CEIR will identify those lands proximate to
15State forest land where Marcellus gas development by
16other entities has the potential to impact the State
17forest. Potential impacts will be identified including
18vehicular use and rights-of-way for roads, pipelines and
19related development.
20(vi) The CEIR shall identify the Department of
21Conservation and Natural Resources workload associated
22with administration and development of Marcellus gas for
23each development scenario. A workload baseline shall be
24established for fiscal year 2009-2010 that identifies the
25workload allocation within the Bureau of Forestry and
26shall include staffing assigned to existing
27responsibilities such as forest fire protection, forest
28health, timber management, recreation, water supply, deer
29management and oil and gas development. Marcellus
30staffing shall be addressed separately.
1(2) The Marcellus workload assessment shall project the
2Marcellus workload over the next ten years and identify how
3this workload will be carried out and staffing options, which
4include flat or reduced staffing levels. Each of these
5options will be compared to the staffing baseline in
6paragraph (1)(vi) and describe the likely impacts of the
7Marcellus development scenarios on staffing levels related to
8other State forest responsibilities.
9(3) The Department of Environmental Protection shall
10provide to the Department of Conservation and Natural
11Resources a workload analysis with projections regarding
12inspection and enforcement staff time that will be allotted
13to assure environmental compliance on State forest lands
14under each of the Marcellus development scenarios. New
15staffing needs will be identified.
16(4) The proposed scope and content of the CEIR will be
17subject to review and comment by the public for 60 days prior
18to initiation of the work to prepare the report.
19(c) Report.--Beginning two years after the effective date of
20this act, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
21shall submit an annual report to the General Assembly and the
22Governor regarding the effect of natural gas exploration,
23drilling or production on State forest lands. The Department of
24Conservation and Natural Resources shall continue to submit the
25annual report after the moratorium expires under section 2(b).
26Section 4. Report contents.
27The contents of the report required under section 3(c), shall
28include, but not be limited to, the effect of natural gas
29exploration, drilling or production on State forest lands on the
30following:
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
13and Natural Resources regarding the monitoring, assessment
14and regulation of natural gas exploration, drilling or
15production on State forest lands.
16Section 5. Legislative Budget and Finance Committee study
17relating to Marcellus gas development.
18(a) General rule.--Three years after the effective date of
19this act and following the completion of the Department of
20Conservation and Natural Resources' Comprehensive Environmental
21Impact Review (CEIR), the Legislative Budget and Finance
22Committee shall conduct a study regarding the environmental,
23economic and societal impacts of the leasing of State lands for
24Marcellus development in this Commonwealth. The Legislative
25Budget and Finance Committee shall use the CEIR as a basis for
26its environmental study but may also conduct further
27investigation and utilize other sources of data for its study.
28(b) Contents of study.--The study shall, at a minimum,
29analyze the following:
30(1) The separate environmental, economic and societal
1impacts to both the Commonwealth and its citizens resulting
2from Marcellus development on State lands.
3(2) The overall cumulative impact on this Commonwealth
4and its citizens resulting from the Marcellus development
5that has already taken place on State lands.
6(3) Based on the impacts of Marcellus development that
7has taken place, a projection of the environmental, economic
8and societal impacts that will result from Marcellus
9development of all the existing leases of State land for
10Marcellus development.
11(4) The specific impacts on communities and citizens
12living in close proximity to State land that has been
13developed.
14(5) The impact of Marcellus development on various State
15land user communities such as hunters, fishers, hikers,
16mountain bikers, campers, all terrain vehicle users,
17snowmobilers, boaters, horse riders and general visitors.
18(6) Whether the terms of the leases for State land
19should be modified to mitigate any identified environmental
20or societal impacts or maximize economic benefits to this
21Commonwealth and its citizens.
22(7) Whether the Department of Environmental Protection,
23the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the
24Game Commission, Fish and Boat Commission and other State
25agencies have sufficient resources and personnel to
26effectively oversee and regulate Marcellus development on
27leased State land.
28Section 6. Post-moratorium leasing.
29The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources may not
30offer State forest land for lease for the purposes of natural
1gas exploration, drilling or production once the moratorium
2expires unless it, in its sole discretion, determines the State
3forest can be sustained in a balanced state that preserves water
4and air quality, plant and animal habitats and the multiple
5ecosystems, recreational, social and aesthetic values of the
6forest with the proposed lease.
7Section 20. Effective date.
8This act shall take effect immediately.
