PRIOR PRINTER'S NOS. 1908, 1984 PRINTER'S NO. 2227
No. 1330 Session of 2008
INTRODUCED BY D. WHITE, WOZNIAK, KASUNIC, REGOLA, BROWNE,
GREENLEAF, ORIE, MUSTO, ROBBINS, M. WHITE, STOUT, MADIGAN,
BAKER AND FERLO, APRIL 3, 2008
SENATOR ARMSTRONG, APPROPRIATIONS, RE-REPORTED AS AMENDED,
JUNE 23, 2008
AN ACT
1 Establishing the Coal Methane Review Board to resolve disputes
2 between property owners over the location of coal bed methane
3 wells and access roads.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Short title.
7 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Coal Bed
8 Methane Well Dispute Resolution Act.
9 Section 2. Definitions.
10 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
11 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
12 context clearly indicates otherwise:
13 "Alternative dispute resolution." The procedure for dispute
14 resolution provided in this act.
15 "Board." The Coal Bed Methane Review Board established in
16 section 4.
17 "Coal bed methane." Gas which can be produced from a coal
1 seam, a mined-out area or a gob well.
2 "Coal bed methane well." A hole or well which is sunk,
3 drilled, bored or dug into the earth for the production of coal
4 bed methane from a coal seam, a mined-out area or a gob well for
5 consumption or sale. The term includes a horizontal borehole.
6 The term does not include any of the following:
7 (1) A shaft, hole or well which is sunk, drilled, bored
8 or dug into the earth for core drilling or production of coal
9 or water.
10 (2) A borehole drilled or being drilled for the purpose
11 of or to be used for degasifying coal seams if a condition in
12 one of the following subparagraphs is met:
13 (i) The borehole is:
14 (A) Used to vent methane to the outside
15 atmosphere from an operating coal mine.
16 (B) Regulated as part of the mining permit under
17 the act of June 22, 1937 (P.L.1987, No.394), known as
18 The Clean Streams Law, and the act of May 31, 1945
19 (P.L.1198, No.418), known as the Surface Mining
20 Conservation and Reclamation Act.
21 (C) Drilled by the operator of the operating
22 coal mine for the purpose of increased safety.
23 (ii) The borehole is used to vent methane to the
24 outside atmosphere under a federally funded or
25 Commonwealth-funded abandoned mine reclamation project.
26 (3) A well or borehole drilled in a coal seam from
27 within an underground coal mine for the production of coal
28 bed methane. This paragraph includes a well or borehole
29 connected to a well or borehole which is sunk, drilled or dug
30 from the surface.
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1 "Department." The Department of Environmental Protection of
2 the Commonwealth.
3 "Permit." A well permit issued pursuant to the act of
4 December 19, 1984 (P.L.1140, No.223), known as the Oil and Gas
5 Act.
6 "Secretary." The Secretary of Environmental Protection of
7 the Commonwealth.
8 "Surface owner." A person who owns any of the following
9 interests in the surface upon which a coal bed methane well or
10 associated access road may be constructed:
11 (1) A fee interest.
12 (2) An interest for life.
13 (3) A remainder interest.
14 The term does not include:
15 (1) The Federal or State government or any agency or
16 political subdivision thereof.
17 (2) A person who is entitled to royalties for removal or
18 recovery of coal bed methane.
19 (3) A person who owns a lease, easement, right-of-way,
20 license, privilege or other similar interest in the surface.
21 "Well operator." A person who has filed or who is required
22 to file for a permit under the act of December 19, 1984
23 (P.L.1140, No.223), known as the Oil and Gas Act.
24 Section 3. Legislative purpose and intent.
25 It is the purpose of this act to establish an alternative
26 procedure to court action for consideration and resolution of
27 objections to the location of certain coal bed methane wells or
28 roads associated with those wells to be constructed on surface
29 lands and to modify the procedure for review of permit
30 applications to the extent necessary to allow for the procedure
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1 for alternative dispute resolution.
2 Section 4. Coal Bed Methane Review Board.
3 (a) Establishment.--There is established the Coal Bed
4 Methane Review Board.
5 (b) Members.--The board shall consist of the following three <--
6 members:
7 (1) One member shall be appointed by the Pennsylvania
8 Farm Bureau.
9 (2) One member shall be appointed jointly by the
10 Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Association, the Independent Oil and
11 Gas Association of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Coal
12 Association.
13 (3) One member shall be an individual with expertise in
14 petroleum geology or petroleum engineering with at least
15 three years of experience in practice in Pennsylvania who is
16 appointed jointly by the deans of the College of Agricultural
17 Sciences and the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences of The
18 Pennsylvania State University.
19 (B) MEMBERS.--THE FOLLOWING SHALL APPLY: <--
20 (1) THE BOARD SHALL CONSIST OF THE FOLLOWING MEMBERS:
21 (I) ONE MEMBER APPOINTED BY THE GOVERNOR FROM A LIST
22 OF THREE INDIVIDUALS SUBMITTED BY THE PENNSYLVANIA FARM
23 BUREAU.
24 (II) ONE MEMBER APPOINTED BY THE GOVERNOR FROM A
25 LIST OF THREE INDIVIDUALS PREPARED JOINTLY BY THE
26 PENNSYLVANIA OIL AND GAS ASSOCIATION, THE INDEPENDENT OIL
27 AND GAS ASSOCIATION OF PENNSYLVANIA AND THE PENNSYLVANIA
28 COAL ASSOCIATION.
29 (III) ONE MEMBER APPOINTED BY THE GOVERNOR WHO IS AN
30 INDIVIDUAL WITH EXPERTISE IN PETROLEUM GEOLOGY OR
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1 PETROLEUM ENGINEERING WITH AT LEAST THREE YEARS OF
2 EXPERIENCE IN PRACTICE IN PENNSYLVANIA WHO IS APPOINTED
3 FROM A LIST OF THREE INDIVIDUALS PREPARED JOINTLY BY THE
4 DEANS OF THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND THE
5 COLLEGE OF EARTH AND MINERAL SCIENCES OF THE PENNSYLVANIA
6 STATE UNIVERSITY.
7 (2) THE LISTS REQUIRED BY PARAGRAPH (1) SHALL BE
8 SUBMITTED TO THE GOVERNOR WITHIN 30 DAYS OF THE EFFECTIVE
9 DATE OF THIS SECTION, AND THE GOVERNOR'S APPOINTMENTS SHALL
10 BE MADE WITHIN 90 DAYS OF THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SECTION.
11 (3) UPON OCCURRENCE OF A VACANCY, THE APPROPRIATE ENTITY
12 SHALL SUBMIT A NEW LIST WITHIN 30 DAYS OF THE VACANCY, AND
13 THE GOVERNOR SHALL MAKE AN APPOINTMENT WITHIN 30 DAYS OF
14 RECEIPT OF THE LIST.
15 (c) Terms.--The term of appointment of a board member shall
16 be three years or until a successor is duly appointed. A board
17 member may be appointed for successive terms.
18 (d) Support.--The department shall provide administrative
19 and clerical support to the board as requested.
20 (e) Purpose.--The purpose of the board shall be to consider
21 objections and attempt to reach agreement on or determine a
22 location for the coal bed methane well or access road.
23 (f) Compensation.--Members of the board shall be compensated
24 at the appropriate per diem rate based on the prevailing formula
25 administered by the Commonwealth, but not less than $150 per
26 day, plus all reasonable expenses incurred while performing
27 their official duties. Compensation shall be adjusted annually
28 by the secretary to account for inflation based on the rate of
29 inflation identified by the Consumer Price Index published by
30 the United States Department of Labor. The individual member may
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1 waive his right to all or part of the compensation set forth in
2 this subsection.
3 Section 5. Procedures.
4 (a) Notification.--A well operator who intends to drill a
5 coal bed methane well or construct an access road associated
6 with a coal bed methane well shall provide written notification
7 to the surface owner in the time and manner prescribed in <--
8 section 201(b) of the act of December 19, 1984 (P.L.1140,
9 No.223), known as the Oil and Gas Act. The notification shall
10 also include the following statement in at least ten-point ON A <--
11 FORM PROVIDED BY THE DEPARTMENT IN AT LEAST TWELVE-POINT print:
12 Right to Participate in Alternative Dispute Resolution
13 You have the right to have your objections to the well
14 operator's proposed location of the well or of the access
15 road associated with the well heard and decided by the
16 three-member Coal Bed Methane Review Board, created under
17 the act of , 2008 (P.L. , No. ), known as
18 the Coal Bed Methane Well Dispute Resolution Act. You may
19 participate with or without a lawyer in any conference
20 session the board may hold to hear your objections.
21 Important: To exercise this right, you must file your
22 objections in writing with the regional office of the <--
23 COAL BED METHANE REVIEW BOARD THROUGH THE Department of <--
24 Environmental Protection at:
25 (Address)
26 (City, State, Zip)
27 within fifteen (15) days of the date you received this
28 notification. Otherwise you will be considered to have
29 waived this right to resolve your objections through the
30 Coal Bed Methane Review Board. Your objection may be
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1 filed in person or by first-class CERTIFIED mail. <--
2 (b) Filing of written objections.--A surface owner who
3 intends to invoke alternative dispute resolution shall file
4 written objections to the well operator's proposed location for
5 coal bed methane well or access road with the department BOARD <--
6 within 15 days of the date of receipt of the written
7 notification and plat described in subsection (a). The written
8 objections may indicate an alternative location at which the
9 proposed coal bed methane well could be drilled or the access
10 road could be located to overcome the objections. If no
11 objections are filed in the time prescribed in this subsection,
12 the department shall ACCEPT AN APPLICATION FROM THE OPERATOR AND <--
13 proceed to issue or deny the permit, PROVIDED THE DEPARTMENT <--
14 SHALL NOT ACCEPT A PERMIT APPLICATION UNLESS THE APPLICANT
15 DEMONSTRATES THAT THE NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS OF SUBSECTION
16 (A) HAVE BEEN SATISFIED.
17 (c) Conference.--If objections are filed by a surface owner
18 pursuant to subsection (b), the department AN EMPLOYEE OF THE <--
19 DEPARTMENT RESPONSIBLE FOR RECEIVING SUCH OBJECTIONS ON BEHALF
20 OF THE BOARD shall, within two days, notify the operator and the
21 board of the objections, and the board shall fix a time and
22 place for holding the dispute resolution conference and shall
23 notify the surface owner and well operator of the time and place
24 where the conference will be held. The conference shall be
25 scheduled to commence not more than ten business days from the
26 date of service of the objections on the well operator,
27 provided, however, that if the board cannot be fully convened
28 for a conference within this time, the conference shall be
29 scheduled to commence on the earliest reasonable date in which
30 the board can be fully convened, but no later than 15 business
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1 days from the date of the service of the objections on the well
2 operator. For purposes of this section, the term "fully
3 convened" shall mean the participation of all three members of
4 the board. The conference shall be held at the applicable
5 regional or district office of the department closest to the
6 tract which is the subject of the objection. The board may use,
7 and the department shall provide, clerical assistance and the
8 use of regional or district offices for the board in conducting
9 conference sessions.
10 (d) Proceedings.--At the conference the well operator and
11 surface owner or owners as are present or represented shall
12 consider the objections and attempt to agree upon a location for
13 the coal bed methane well or access road. The board may hold
14 more than one conference session. The conference shall be
15 completed within ten BUSINESS days of the date that the <--
16 conference is originally commenced. However, the board, in its
17 sole discretion, may extend the time for completion of the
18 conference by an additional five business days, and the parties
19 to the conference may extend the time for completion of the
20 conference to a date mutually agreed upon. Any agreement reached
21 at the conference shall be consistent with the requirements of
22 the Oil and Gas Act and shall be reduced to writing by the board
23 and submitted to the department within ten business days of the
24 date that the conference is completed. Upon receipt of notice
25 that the board's conference resulted in a mutual agreement
26 between the operator and the surface owner, the department shall
27 ACCEPT AN APPLICATION WITH A PLAT SHOWING THE AGREED-UPON <--
28 LOCATION OF THE WELL FROM THE OPERATOR AND SHALL proceed to
29 issue or deny the permit. If the parties to the conference
30 before the board fail to agree upon a location of the coal bed
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1 methane well or access road or if only the party requesting
2 review participates in the conference, the board shall make a
3 determination in writing establishing a location of the coal bed
4 methane well or access road that, in the judgment of the
5 majority of the board, will cause only those surface impairments
6 that are reasonably necessary for purposes of extracting the
7 underlying coal bed methane. Issuance of the written
8 determination shall be made within ten business days of the date
9 of completion of the conference and shall be served on the date
10 of issuance by certified mail upon the surface owner, the well
11 operator and the department. Failure by the board to issue a
12 written determination within the prescribed period of ten
13 business days shall be deemed a final determination by the board
14 to affirm the location of the well or access road proposed by
15 the well operator. Within 15 business days of the date of
16 completion of the conference, the board shall issue a written
17 statement setting forth findings of fact and reasons in support
18 of its determination and shall serve copies of the written
19 statement by certified mail upon the surface owner, the well
20 operator and the department. Failure by the board to issue the
21 written statement of findings of fact and reasons in support of
22 its determination within the prescribed period of 15 business
23 days shall not preclude an aggrieved person from exercising the
24 right of appeal to a court of common pleas as provided under
25 subsection (f). If no appeal of the board's determination is
26 filed under subsection (f), the department shall ACCEPT AN <--
27 APPLICATION WITH A PLAT SHOWING THE LOCATION OF THE WELL AS
28 DETERMINED BY THE BOARD FROM THE OPERATOR AND SHALL proceed to
29 issue or deny the permit.
30 (e) Determination.--Any determination by the board, MADE <--
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1 PURSUANT TO SUBSECTION (D), shall be binding on the department.
2 THE BOARD'S DETERMINATION SHALL NOT LIMIT OR OTHERWISE AFFECT <--
3 THE DEPARTMENT'S REGULATORY AUTHORITY UNDER THE OIL AND GAS ACT,
4 THE ACT OF JUNE 22, 1937 (P.L.1987, NO.394), KNOWN AS THE CLEAN
5 STREAMS LAW, OR ANY OTHER APPLICABLE LAW ADMINISTERED BY THE
6 DEPARTMENT.
7 (f) Appeal.--Any person aggrieved by a determination of the
8 board issued under subsection (d) shall have the right, within
9 15 days of receipt of the written or final determination, to
10 appeal the determination to the court of common pleas in the
11 judicial district in which the affected property is located. A
12 copy of the appeal shall be served upon all the parties to the
13 conference. The board or the department shall not be a party to
14 the appeal. The court shall hold a hearing on the appeal within
15 30 days of filing of the appeal and shall render its decision in
16 the appeal within 60 days of filing of the appeal. In any
17 appeal, the only issue to be determined by the court is whether
18 the location of the disputed well or access road, as the case
19 may be, determined by the board, will cause only those surface
20 impairments that are reasonably necessary for purposes of
21 extracting the underlying coal bed methane. If the court agrees
22 that the board's determination meets this standard, it shall
23 affirm the board's determination. If the court determines that
24 the board's determination does not meet this standard, it shall
25 issue an order indicating the location of the disputed well or
26 access road, as the case may be, that, in the opinion of the
27 court, will cause only those surface impairments that are
28 reasonably necessary for purposes of extracting the underlying
29 coal bed methane. Upon issuance of an order by the court, the
30 department SHALL ACCEPT AN APPLICATION FROM THE OPERATOR AND <--
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1 shall proceed to issue or deny the permit.
2 Section 6. Ordinances and resolutions superseded.
3 This act supersedes the ordinances and resolutions of
4 political subdivisions dealing with material regulated by this
5 act.
6 Section 7. Enforcement actions.
7 The provisions of this act shall not be construed to affect,
8 limit or impair any enforcement action taken by the department
9 under the act of December 19, 1984 (P.L.1140, No.223), known as
10 the Oil and Gas Act, prior to the effective date of this act. <--
11 Section 8. Other remedies.
12 Nothing in this act precludes a person from seeking other
13 remedies allowed by statute, common law, deed or contract, nor
14 does this act diminish or alter rights previously established or
15 granted by statute, common law, deed or contract.
16 Section 9. Notification.
17 The department shall publish a notice in the Pennsylvania
18 Bulletin when all initial members of the board established in
19 section 4 have been appointed.
20 Section 10. Effective date.
21 This act shall take effect as follows:
22 (1) Section 5 shall take effect upon publication of the
23 initial notice under section 9.
24 (2) The remainder of this act shall take effect
25 immediately.
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