EDF and PEC commend the Corbett Administration and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for approving Chapter 78 Regulatory Package

(Harrisburg, PA – August 28, 2013) Environmental Defense Fund and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council jointly commend Governor Thomas Corbett’s energy executive and Department of Environmental Protection Acting Secretary Christopher Abruzzo along with the remaining members of the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board for voting for DEP’s proposed Chapter 78. John Walliser, PEC Vice President of Legal and Governmental Affairs was a voting member of the EQB today.

Moving forward on Chapter 78 shows leadership on the part of the Corbett administration and DEP, and it is an important step toward greater environmental protections related to natural gas and oil production in Pennsylvania. The approved regulatory package includes, among other things, important environmental enhancements called for by Act 13 such as water supply restoration standards, public resource protection, waste management at well sites, and pre-hydraulic fracturing assessment.  Failure to support Chapter 78 would have further delayed the sixteen-month time period since Pennsylvania legislators made Act 13 into law.

DEP is expected to publish Chapter 78 within the month and begin a formal 60-day public comment period.  EDF and PEC look forward to working with the administration and other stakeholders to strengthen the package before final adoption.