PRINTER'S NO. 1908
No. 1330 Session of 2008
INTRODUCED BY D. WHITE, WOZNIAK, KASUNIC, REGOLA, BROWNE,
GREENLEAF, ORIE, MUSTO, ROBBINS, M. WHITE, STOUT AND MADIGAN,
APRIL 3, 2008
REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, APRIL 3, 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
18 seam, a mined-out area or a gob well.
1 "Coal bed methane well." A hole or well which is sunk,
2 drilled, bored or dug into the earth for the production of coal
3 bed methane from a coal seam, a mined-out area or a gob well for
4 consumption or sale. The term includes a horizontal borehole.
5 The term does not include any of the following:
6 (1) A shaft, hole or well which is sunk, drilled, bored
7 or dug into the earth for core drilling or production of coal
8 or water.
9 (2) A borehole drilled or being drilled for the purpose
10 of or to be used for degasifying coal seams if a condition in
11 one of the following subparagraphs is met:
12 (i) The borehole is:
13 (A) Used to vent methane to the outside
14 atmosphere from an operating coal mine.
15 (B) Regulated as part of the mining permit under
16 the act of June 22, 1937 (P.L.1987, No.394), known as
17 The Clean Streams Law, and the act of May 31, 1945
18 (P.L.1198, No.418), known as the Surface Mining
19 Conservation and Reclamation Act.
20 (C) Drilled by the operator of the operating
21 coal mine for the purpose of increased safety.
22 (ii) The borehole is used to vent methane to the
23 outside atmosphere under a federally funded or
24 Commonwealth-funded abandoned mine reclamation project.
25 (3) A well or borehole drilled in a coal seam from
26 within an underground coal mine for the production of coal
27 bed methane. This paragraph includes a well or borehole
28 connected to a well or borehole which is sunk, drilled or dug
29 from the surface.
30 "Department." The Department of Environmental Protection of
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1 the Commonwealth.
2 "Permit." A well permit issued pursuant to the act of
3 December 19, 1984 (P.L.1140, No.223), known as the Oil and Gas
4 Act.
5 "Secretary." The Secretary of Environmental Protection of
6 the Commonwealth.
7 "Surface owner." A person who owns any of the following
8 interests in the surface upon which a coal bed methane well or
9 associated access road may be constructed:
10 (1) A fee interest.
11 (2) An interest for life.
12 (3) A remainder interest.
13 The term does not include:
14 (1) The Federal or State government or any agency or
15 political subdivision thereof.
16 (2) A person who is entitled to royalties for removal or
17 recovery of coal bed methane.
18 (3) A person who owns a lease, easement, right-of-way,
19 license, privilege or other similar interest in the surface.
20 "Well operator." A person who has filed or who is required
21 to file for a permit under the act of December 19, 1984
22 (P.L.1140, No.223), known as the Oil and Gas Act.
23 Section 3. Legislative purpose and intent.
24 It is the purpose of this act to establish an alternative
25 procedure to court action for consideration and resolution of
26 objections to the location of certain coal bed methane wells or
27 roads associated with those wells to be constructed on surface
28 lands and to modify the procedure for review of permit
29 applications to the extent necessary to allow for the procedure
30 for alternative dispute resolution.
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1 Section 4. Coal Bed Methane Review Board.
2 (a) Establishment.--There is established the Coal Bed
3 Methane Review Board.
4 (b) Members.--The board shall consist of the following three
5 members:
6 (1) One member shall be appointed by the Pennsylvania
7 Farm Bureau.
8 (2) One member shall be appointed jointly by the
9 Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Association, the Independent Oil and
10 Gas Association of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Coal
11 Association.
12 (3) One member shall be an individual with expertise in
13 petroleum geology or petroleum engineering with at least
14 three years of experience in practice in Pennsylvania who is
15 selected jointly by the deans of the College of Agricultural
16 Sciences and the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences of The
17 Pennsylvania State University.
18 (c) Terms.--The term of appointment of a board member shall
19 be three years or until a successor is duly appointed. A board
20 member may be appointed for successive terms.
21 (d) Support.--The department shall provide administrative
22 and clerical support to the board as requested.
23 (e) Purpose.--The purpose of the board shall be to consider
24 objections and attempt to reach agreement on or determine a
25 location for the coal bed methane well or access road.
26 (f) Compensation.--Members of the board shall be compensated
27 at the appropriate per diem rate based on the prevailing formula
28 administered by the Commonwealth, but not less than $150 per
29 day, plus all reasonable expenses incurred while performing
30 their official duties. Compensation shall be adjusted annually
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1 by the secretary to account for inflation based on the rate of
2 inflation identified by the Consumer Price Index published by
3 the United States Department of Labor. The individual member may
4 waive his right to all or part of the compensation set forth in
5 this subsection.
6 Section 5. Procedures.
7 (a) Notification.--A well operator who intends to drill a
8 coal bed methane well or construct an access road associated
9 with a coal bed methane well shall provide written notification
10 to the surface owner in the time and manner prescribed in
11 section 201(b) of the act of December 19, 1984 (P.L.1140,
12 No.223), known as the Oil and Gas Act. The notification shall
13 also include the following statement in at least ten-point
14 print:
15 Right to Participate in Alternative Dispute Resolution
16 You have the right to have your objections to the well
17 operator's proposed location of the well or of the access
18 road associated with the well heard and decided by the
19 three-member Coal Bed Methane Review Board, created under
20 the act of , 2008 (P.L. , No. ), known as
21 the Coal Bed Methane Well Dispute Resolution Act. You may
22 participate with or without a lawyer in any conference
23 session the board may hold to hear your objections.
24 Important: To exercise this right, you must file your
25 objections in writing with the regional office of the
26 Department of Environmental Protection at:
27 (Address)
28 (City, State, Zip)
29 within fifteen (15) days of the date you received this
30 notification. Otherwise you will be considered to have
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1 waived this right to resolve your objections through the
2 Coal Bed Methane Review Board. Your objection may be
3 filed in person or by first-class mail.
4 (b) Filing of written objections.--A surface owner who
5 intends to invoke alternative dispute resolution shall file
6 written objections to the well operator's proposed location for
7 coal bed methane well or access road with the department within
8 15 days of the date of receipt of the written notification and
9 plat described in subsection (a). The written objections may
10 indicate an alternative location at which the proposed coal bed
11 methane well could be drilled or the access road could be
12 located to overcome the objections. If no objections are filed
13 in the time prescribed in this subsection, the department shall
14 proceed to issue or deny the permit.
15 (c) Conference.--If objections are filed by a surface owner
16 pursuant to subsection (b), the department shall, within two
17 days, notify the operator and the board of the objections, and
18 the board shall fix a time and place for holding the dispute
19 resolution conference and shall notify the surface owner and
20 well operator of the time and place where the conference will be
21 held. The conference shall be scheduled to commence not more
22 than ten business days from the date of service of the
23 objections on the well operator, provided, however, that if the
24 board cannot be fully convened for a conference within this
25 time, the conference shall be scheduled to commence on the
26 earliest reasonable date in which the board can be fully
27 convened, but no later than 15 business days from the date of
28 the service of the objections on the well operator. The
29 conference shall be held at the applicable regional or district
30 office of the department closest to the tract which is the
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1 subject of the objection. The board may use, and the department
2 shall provide, clerical assistance and the use of regional or
3 district offices for the board in conducting conference
4 sessions.
5 (d) Proceedings.--At the conference the well operator and
6 surface owner or owners as are present or represented shall
7 consider the objections and attempt to agree upon a location for
8 the coal bed methane well or access road. The board may hold
9 more than one conference session. The conference shall be
10 completed within ten days of the date that the conference is
11 originally commenced. However, the board, in its sole
12 discretion, may extend the time for completion of the conference
13 by an additional five business days, and the parties to the
14 conference may extend the time for completion of the conference
15 to a date mutually agreed upon. Any agreement reached at the
16 conference shall be consistent with the requirements of the Oil
17 and Gas Act and shall be reduced to writing by the board and
18 submitted to the department within ten business days of the date
19 that the conference is completed. Upon receipt of notice that
20 the board's conference resulted in a mutual agreement between
21 the operator and the surface owner, the department shall proceed
22 to issue or deny the permit. If the parties to the conference
23 before the board fail to agree upon a location of the coal bed
24 methane well or access road or if only the party requesting
25 review participates in the conference, the board shall make a
26 determination in writing establishing a location of the coal bed
27 methane well or access road that, in the judgment of the
28 majority of the board, will cause only those surface impairments
29 that are reasonably necessary for purposes of extracting the
30 underlying coal bed methane. Issuance of the written
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1 determination shall be made within ten business days of the date
2 of completion of the conference and shall be served on the date
3 of issuance by certified mail upon the surface owner, the well
4 operator and the department. Failure by the board to issue a
5 written determination within the prescribed period of ten
6 business days shall be deemed a final determination by the board
7 to affirm the location of the well or access road proposed by
8 the well operator. Within 15 business days of the date of
9 completion of the conference, the board shall issue a written
10 statement setting forth findings of fact and reasons in support
11 of its determination and shall serve copies of the written
12 statement by certified mail upon the surface owner, the well
13 operator and the department. Failure by the board to issue the
14 written statement of findings of fact and reasons in support of
15 its determination within the prescribed period of 15 business
16 days shall not preclude an aggrieved person from exercising the
17 right of appeal to a court of common pleas as provided under
18 subsection (f). If no appeal of the board's determination is
19 filed under subsection (f), the department shall proceed to
20 issue or deny the permit.
21 (e) Determination.--Any determination by the board shall be
22 binding on the department.
23 (f) Appeal.--Any person aggrieved by a determination of the
24 board issued under subsection (d) shall have the right, within
25 15 days of receipt of the written determination, to appeal the
26 determination to the court of common pleas in the judicial
27 district in which the affected property is located. A copy of
28 the appeal shall be served upon all the parties to the
29 conference. The board or the department shall not be a party to
30 the appeal. The court shall hold a hearing on the appeal within
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1 30 days of filing of the appeal and shall render its decision in
2 the appeal within 60 days of filing of the appeal. In any
3 appeal, the only issue to be determined by the court is whether
4 the location of the disputed well or access road, as the case
5 may be, determined by the board, will cause only those surface
6 impairments that are reasonably necessary for purposes of
7 extracting the underlying coal bed methane. If the court agrees
8 that the board's determination meets this standard, it shall
9 affirm the board's determination. If the court determines that
10 the board's determination does not meet this standard, it shall
11 issue an order indicating the location of the disputed well or
12 access road, as the case may be, that, in the opinion of the
13 court, will cause only those surface impairments that are
14 reasonably necessary for purposes of extracting the underlying
15 coal bed methane. Upon issuance of a decision by the court, the
16 department shall proceed to issue or deny the permit.
17 Section 6. Ordinances and resolutions superseded.
18 This act supersedes the ordinances and resolutions of
19 political subdivisions dealing with material regulated by this
20 act.
21 Section 7. Enforcement actions.
22 The provisions of this act shall not be construed to affect,
23 limit or impair any enforcement action taken by the department
24 under the act of December 19, 1984 (P.L.1140, No.223), known as
25 the Oil and Gas Act, prior to the effective date of this act.
26 Section 8. Other remedies.
27 Nothing in this act precludes a person from seeking other
28 remedies allowed by statute, common law, deed or contract, nor
29 does this act diminish or alter rights previously established or
30 granted by statute, common law, deed or contract.
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1 Section 9. Notification.
2 The department shall publish a notice in the Pennsylvania
3 Bulletin when the board established in section 4 has appointed
4 all initial members.
5 Section 10. Effective date.
6 This act shall take effect as follows:
7 (1) Section 5 shall take effect upon publication of the
8 initial notice under section 9.
9 (2) The remainder of this act shall take effect
10 immediately.
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