American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2016 - 133

more than $200 million a year. We support
the impact tax because the bulk of its revenue addresses the needs of local governments in areas where the industry is active
instead of going to Harrisburg.
PIOGA has been working closely with
a coalition of business and industry interests
to hammer home the message that our industry is one of the commonwealth's most
important economic drivers, that we do,
indeed, pay our fair share and that now is
the worst possible time to consider additional
taxes on natural gas producers. We are
pleased that a majority of the general assembly has gotten the message. As part of
seemingly endless budget wrangling (as I
write this, the state has gone five months
without a budget for the current fiscal
year), lawmakers have twice denied the
governor's severance tax demands.
The general assembly leadership's
focus on the budget has put consideration
of many bills on hold, but we are monitoring
several so-called landowners' rights bills,
legislation that would end the exemption
for low-pressure gathering lines from
mandatory participation in the Pennsylvania
One Call System or intensify regulation
of gathering and midstream lines, and several other bills that would place unnecessary
new burdens on our industry.
On the regulatory front, PIOGA's
Environmental Committee expends tremendous time and effort addressing a staggering
array of state and federal initiatives. Emissions, endangered species, water and
wastewater, radiation, erosion and sedimentation, methane migration-you name
it and the committee and its subcommittees
have people actively drafting comments,
collaborating with other industry groups,
and meeting with agency representatives
to try to ensure regulations make sense.
One of the committee's biggest, most
time-consuming challenges has been addressing the Department of Environmental
Protection's massive rewrite of the Chapter
78 regulations governing oil and gas surface operations. The process has taken
more than four years, and the department
is bent on simply completing the rule
making regardless of red flags about the
necessity, cost and legality of not only
the proposed changes, but the very process.
As we continue to grapple with this
set of rules-which have generated a record
25,000 public comments-DEP is preparing
for a similar rewrite of the Chapter 78
regulations for the subsurface aspects of
oil and gas operations. Our work is far
from done.
In the courts, we are active in several
cases defending the rights of our members
and broader industry. We have mounted
a legal challenge to DEP's insistence on
trying to enforce "public resource" protection provisions of Act 13, which were

enjoined by the Pennsylvania Supreme
Court in the Robinson Township case,
and we are intervening in a challenge to
a so-called community bill of rights ordinance that is designed to bar lawful oil
and gas activity.
On the latter, a federal court has
struck down the Grant Township, Indiana
County, ordinance banning wastewater
injection wells, and we anticipate the
case will be resolved soon.
We also are intervening in a member's
fight against the Pennsylvania Public
Utility Commission's improper implementation of the impact fee with regard
to unconventional marginal wells.
Education
PIOGA recognizes that much of the
opposition to our industry originates in a
lack of a proper understanding about
where oil and gas come from and the
processes they go through to become indispensable parts of our lives. To help
counter the misinformation, we have created the Pennsylvania Energy Education
Program, which educates teachers about
energy and provides them with a curriculum for their students. The program
has reached an estimated 16,000 students
and all the responses have been positive.
Similarly, we are active in educating
citizens, community leaders, legislators
and others about our industry's positive
impact on local and state economies and
on state tax revenue. We are seeing oil
and gas opponents shift their opposition
from drilling to pipeline projects, and it
is crucial that we not only turn out in
support of such projects, but also explain
to communities why pipelines, compressor
stations, processing plants and other parts
of the puzzle are necessary to maintain
our way of life.
Like most of our members, PIOGA is
paring back expenses and likely some of
our less-essential services to weather the
industry's contraction. I firmly believe,
however, that for our members, continuing
to belong to PIOGA is an expense they
cannot do without. The value of membership exceeds the cost, thanks to the
synergy of us all working collectively
for our industry's betterment.
❒

Coming In February
How data analytics technologies
can optimize production operations
in unconventional plays, and how
equipping multiwell pads with advanced intelligent platforms and digital automation capabilities can
improve bottom-line profitability.

Support
Energy Education
The American Oil & Gas
Historical Society seeks
your help building new
partnerships with community museums, teacher
workshop practioners, and
other energy educators.
This Society, a 501(c)-3 nonprofit organization established
in 2003, needs immediate
financial support to continue
making a difference in public
education. Our "Petroleum
Age" newsletter and network
of community oil and gas
museums serve as frontline
energy educators. Together we
explain the many historic
achievements of today's energy
business. The public gains a
new appreciation for geology,
petroleum engineering and
chemistry. Funding remains the
constant challenge for accomplishing this outreach. Now
more than ever, America needs
an educated public making
informed decisions about energy.
Please make a tax-deductible
donation today.
American Oil & Gas
Historical Society
1201 15th Street, NW, Ste. 300
Washington, DC 20005
Ph: 202-857-4785 F: 202-857-4799

www.aoghs.org
JANUARY 2016 133

American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2016

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