Corbett wants special panel's July input on drilling policy
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HARRISBURG -- Gov. Tom Corbett's Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission is scheduled to send him a "blueprint" for drilling policy changes in July, but the new administration already has been doing a little regulatory rebuilding.
Tuesday's request that gas drillers stop hauling wastewater to municipal treatment facilities is the latest in a series of changes to how the Department of Environmental Protection operates. Earlier changes encouraged the economic development secretary to nudge those issuing permits to speed up their process, and required centralized approval of violation notices.
With those changes coming before the commission completes its work, and other discussion on regulations and revenue from drillers pushed back until after the panel's summer report, lawmakers and environmentalists are growing impatient for action on their priorities.
"The industry is not waiting for any commission recommendation," said Jan Jarrett, president and chief executive officer of the environmental group PennFuture. "It's speeding right along."
The governor has said his commission is tasked with reviewing the current environmental guidelines in order to make "very strong recommendations."
"You know, this industry's been here three years, four years -- nobody did anything like this," Mr. Corbett said after an event Monday. "Give me 120 days to have the commission come back to us."
He's also asked for "consistency" within the department's actions, which DEP officials say spurred their recent procedural changes. A spokeswoman said those internal changes have not stopped DEP from working with the commission, of which Acting Secretary Michael Krancer is a member.
Ms. Jarrett's group did applaud this week's change on water safety, stating in a news release that the agency's action had "exactly the right result -- to respond to new information quickly and definitively."
First Published April 21, 2011 12:00 am
