By opinion of March 31, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania invalidated an ordinance adopted by Pennsylvania’s Grant Township. The Township’s “Community Bill of Rights Ordinance” prohibited corporations from “engaging in the depositing of waste from oil and gas extraction” and invalidated any “permit, license, privilege, charter or other authority issued…
Prior law in Maryland required its Department of the Environment to adopt a regulation by October 1, 2016 for the hydraulic fracturing of wells for exploration or production of natural gas, but provided they would not become effective until October 1, 2017. Further, the Department was prohibited from issuing fracking permits until October 2017.
A new bill passed by both the House and Senate of the…
According to the Nelson County Times, a trial court in Nelson County, Virginia has ruled that the Virginia statute authorizing natural gas companies to conduct surveys means what it says. The Virginia statute provides that:
Any firm, corporation, company, or partnership, organized for the bona fide purpose of operating as a natural gas company … may make such … surveys for its…
A little known federal agency in charge of pipeline safety has just issued a new regulation that represents a major change in its enforcement authority over regulated pipelines. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), an independent agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation, has announced an “Interim Final Rule” (IFR) on its website which will authorize it to…
On September 15, 2016 the Supreme Court of Ohio issued a decision resolving key issues involving the application of Ohio’s Dormant Mineral Act, R.C. § 5301.56. The Dormant Mineral Act was first enacted in 1989 to facilitate the termination of dormant mineral interests, but was amended in 2006 to require notice to the holder of a severed mineral interest and the recording of certain instruments…
The Sierra Club and its acolytes have openly derided those who advocate using gas as a “bridge fuel.” Now, the group seeks to slow the construction of both a new gas-fired power plant in Virginia and the Atlantic Coast Pipeline slated to provide fuel to the Plant. The Appalachian Mountain Advocates (“Appalmad”), who serve frequently as counsel to the Sierra Club, have bragged…
In 2009, Congress asked EPA to examine the relationship between hydraulic fracturing and drinking water resources. In June 2015, EPA released for external review a draft report entitled “Assessment of the Potential Impacts for Oil and Gas on Drinking Water Resources.” The Executive Summary observed that the Assessment “synthesizes available scientific literature and data to assess the…
The Natural Gas Act (“NGA”) of 1938 grants the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) exclusive authority to regulate sales and transportation of natural gas in interstate commerce. To that end, Section 7 of the NGA empowers FERC to authorize the construction and operation of interstate transportation facilities—i.e., pipelines. FERC does so by determining whether a project serves the…
The Sierra Club has sued Chesapeake Energy, Devon Energy and New Dominion in federal court in Oklahoma. The complaint alleges that waste injection by all three companies has contributed to an increase in the number and severity of earthquakes throughout Oklahoma and southern Kansas. Specifically, it claims that the number of earthquakes in Oklahoma has increased more than 300 fold, from a…
Fayette County, West Virginia is home to the New River Gorge. It is also home to the newest local ordinance affecting the oil and gas industry. On January 12, 2016, the County adopted an “Ordinance Banning the Storage, Disposal or Use of Oil and Natural Gas Waste in Fayette County, West Virginia.” Just days later, EQT Production Company sued the County Commissioners in federal court…
