Shale Gas Roundtable Releases Final Report
Roundtable supported by Pitt’s Institute of Politics emphasizes
consensus building in issuing recommendations for shale gas
development in Southwestern Pennsylvania
University of Pittsburgh Release
15 August 2013
http://www.news.pitt.edu/news/shale-gas-roundtable-releases-final-report
Contact:
Adam Reger
reger@pitt.edu
412-624-4238
Cell: 412-802-5908
PITTSBURGH—Following two years of study and dialogue, the Shale
Gas Roundtable has released a report promoting increasing
research, modernizing state laws and regulations, and building
relationships across sectors to support environmental protection,
quality of life, and economic development goals for the region.
The 26-member Roundtable, comprising diverse representatives from
throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania and assisted in research and
administrative tasks by the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute
of Politics, has set forth recommendations for the improvement of
unconventional oil and gas development in Pennsylvania.
Co-chaired by Carnegie Mellon University President Emeritus Jared
Cohon and Jim Roddey, principal at ParenteBeard LLC and former
Allegheny County Executive, the Shale Gas Roundtable focused on
unconventional oil and gas development in the Marcellus and Utica
shale formations in 10 Southwestern Pennsylvania counties that
together contain approximately one-third of all Pennsylvania
unconventional wells drilled over the last decade. The 26
Roundtable members, listed in the report, represent a variety of
regional constituencies, including environmental organizations,
industry, higher education, foundations, and other civic
leadership.
Roundtable cochair Jim Roddey states, “The ideas and
recommendations included in this final report were built on
extensive research and cross-sector consensus building. We believe
that the recommendations deserve serious consideration from
regional, state, and national elected and civic leaders as they
make critical decisions about effectively and safely managing
Pennsylvania shale gas development.”
The Shale Gas Roundtable was created in the fall of 2011 to
fulfill a three-part mission: to build and sustain relationships
among interested parties in order to support environmental
protection and economic development goals; to identify
high-priority focus areas; and to develop recommendations that
promote improved management and outcomes from unconventional oil
and gas development in the region.
The cochairs write in the report,
Our central question was this: As a region, how can we most
effectively and responsibly safeguard our communities and
environment, grow our economy, and manage unconventional oil and
gas development? Our members recognized the value judgments and
trade-offs inherent in attempting to answer this question and the
balancing act that would be necessary to make progress. Issues
such as the use of natural gas, water resources management, air
quality impacts, infrastructure maintenance, housing, and
community quality of life quickly entered our conversations.
Cochair Jared Cohon adds that, “The Roundtable efforts are unique
given the diversity of our participants, each member bringing an
important perspective but also a strong desire to make progress on
these issues. For example, we quickly realized that while many
stakeholders agree on getting shale gas development right, there
has not been consensus on what that means in action. Early in our
deliberations, the Roundtable members were able to agree on a
common-sense framework for ‘getting it right’ that includes a
strong regulatory system that adequately protects the environment
and our local communities; the development and widespread industry
use of best management practices and performance standards;
substantial investments in technological and operational
innovation to minimize impacts; and balanced research to support
the continual improvement of regulations, standards, and
technology.”
The Roundtable, aided by the Institute of Politics, completed an
extensive review of laws, policies, regulations, scientific
studies, and advocacy materials related to unconventional oil and
gas development in Pennsylvania and conducted interviews with
stakeholder groups in both Pennsylvania and nearby states. The
Roundtable also created a “Shale Gas University” that provided
members with learning opportunities such as field tours of
drilling sites and compressed natural gas fueling stations, along
with other educational experiences that supplemented their
understanding of key issues. The Roundtable members met regularly
to share their findings and incorporate stakeholder feedback.
Based on its framework, the Roundtable identified four key areas
in which it has targeted its recommendations. These include:
- Increasing the amount and enhancing the perception of
research on the impacts of unconventional oil and gas
development and ensuring that the resulting knowledge is used
for the improvement of regulations and best practices;
- Developing a balanced proposal for modernizing the 1961
Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Conservation Law, updating the law to
account for modern technologies; limiting surface disturbance;
and avoiding wasted oil and gas resources;
- Protecting water resources in Pennsylvania by improving
management and regulation across a number of areas including
water sourcing, groundwater protection, and wastewater
treatment and disposal; and
- Developing recommendations to minimize the environmental
and surface footprints of midstream construction, improve
pipeline safety, and enhance the planning and coordination of
siting decisions.
- The Roundtable also identified eight broader
recommendations for state and federal government, industry
groups, and environmental agencies that emerged from its
overall work. These recommendations state that:
- Pennsylvania should increase investments in its oil and
gas data infrastructure, improving its accuracy,
functionality, and transparency;
- The state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
should provide annual reports on its oil and gas activities,
as well as develop regulatory staffing parameters;
- The state should restructure the Oil and Gas Technical
Advisory Board in order to expand the board’s scope beyond
technical issues and to diversify its membership, which is
currently limited to individuals with geologic and
petrochemical backgrounds;
- The state should continue evaluating the ability of
budget support and permit fees to support the costs of DEP oil
and gas regulation;
- DEP should participate in regular, comprehensive State
Review of Oil and Natural Gas Environmental Regulations, Inc.
(STRONGER) reviews in order to benefit from independent
assessments of the state’s oil and gas regulations and to
identify opportunities for further improvement;
- The federal and state governments, along with stakeholder
groups, should support efforts to increase balanced research
on and rigorous monitoring of the possible impacts of
unconventional oil and gas development;
- Government, industry groups, and regional universities
should support the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy
Technology Laboratory (NETL), headquartered in Southwestern
Pennsylvania, as the premier national research hub working on
unconventional oil and gas technology and innovation; and
- DEP should support and strengthen cross-sector and
industry efforts to develop best management practices and
other standards for unconventional oil and gas development.
The Shale Gas Roundtable members and staff have already begun the
process of sharing the report’s findings and recommendations with
key stakeholder groups and with leaders in Pennsylvania
government. The Roundtable anticipates that this process will
continue through additional briefings and dialogue as needed.
The full Shale Gas Roundtable report can be read at
http://www.iop.pitt.edu/shalegas.
The Institute of Politics at the University of Pittsburgh delivers
timely information about a wide variety of issues affecting the
Southwestern Pennsylvania region to both public and private
decision makers, and the public that they serve. The institute
provides a neutral and off-the-record forum where knowledge and
diverse viewpoints are discussed, digested, enriched, and applied
to the goals of promoting improved quality of life, government
efficiency, and economic vitality in the region.
Roundtable cochair Jared Cohon served as president of Carnegie
Mellon University for 16 years, ending his tenure in June 2013. A
water resources and environmental engineer, he has been involved
in a range of energy issues. He is a professor of civil and
environmental engineering at Carnegie Mellon University and has
also chaired several committees on the region's water issues.
Roundtable cochair Jim Roddey was Allegheny County’s first chief
executive, serving from 2000-04. He currently serves as the
chairperson of the Allegheny County Republican Committee. Roddey
has a 50-plus–year business career and has also been very active
in the civic community of Southwestern Pennsylvania. He is a
graduate of Texas Christian University and is a former captain in
the U.S. Marine Corps. He currently serves as a principal at
ParenteBeard, LLC.