Bill Text: PA HB539 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Establishing the Coal Bed Methane Review Board to resolve disputes between property owners over the location of coal bed methane wells and access roads.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 15-5)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2009-02-19 - Referred to ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY [HB539 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2009-HB539-Introduced.html

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PRINTER'S NO. 588
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No. 539 Session of2009
INTRODUCED BY REED, BEYER, CALTAGIRONE, DENLINGER, EVERETT, HENNESSEY, MOUL, MUSTIO, PYLE, REICHLEY, ROHRER, SCAVELLO, SIPTROTH, SOLOBAY, VULAKOVICH AND WANSACZ, FEBRUARY 19, 2009
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, FEBRUARY 19, 2009
AN ACT
Establishing the Coal Bed Methane Review Board to resolve
disputes between property owners over the location of coal
bed methane wells and access roads.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 101. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Coal Bed
Methane Well Dispute Resolution Act.
Section 102. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Alternative dispute resolution." The procedure for dispute
resolution provided for under this act.
"Board." The Coal Bed Methane Review Board established under
this act.
"Coal bed methane." Gas that can be produced from a coal
seam, a mined-out area or a gob well.
"Coal bed methane well." A hole or well that is sunk,
drilled, bored or dug into the earth for the production of coal
bed methane from a coal seam, mined-out area or gob well for
consumption or sale. The term includes a horizontal borehole.
The term does not include any of the following:
(1) A shaft, hole or well that is sunk, drilled, bored
or dug into the earth for core drilling or production of coal
or water.
(2) A borehole drilled or being drilled for the purpose
of or to be used for degasifying coal seams if one of the
following is met:
(i) the borehole is:
(A) used to vent methane to the outside
atmosphere from an operating coal mine;
(B) regulated as part of the mining permit under
the act of June 22, 1937 (P.L.1987, No.394), known as
The Clean Streams Law, and the act of May 31, 1945
(P.L.1198, No.418), known as the Surface Mining
Conservation and Reclamation Act; and
(C) drilled by the operator of the operating
coal mine for the purpose of increased safety; or
(ii) the borehole is used to vent methane to the
outside atmosphere under a federally funded or
Commonwealth-funded abandoned mine reclamation project.
(3) A well or borehole drilled in a coal seam from
within an underground coal mine for the production of coal
bed methane. This paragraph includes a well or borehole
connected to a well or borehole that is sunk, drilled or dug
from the surface.
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"Department." The Department of Environmental Protection of
the Commonwealth.
"Oil and Gas Act." The act of December 19, 1984 (P.L.1140,
No.223), known as the Oil and Gas Act.
"Permit." A well permit issued pursuant to the act of
December 19, 1984 (P.L.1140, No.223), known as the Oil and Gas
Act.
"Secretary." The Secretary of Environmental Protection of
the Commonwealth.
"Surface owner."
(1) A person who owns any of the following interests in
the surface upon which a coal bed methane well or associated
access road may be constructed:
(i) a fee interest;
(ii) an interest for life; or
(iii) a remainder interest.
(2) The term does not include:
(i) the Federal or State Government or any agency or
political subdivision thereof;
(ii) a person who is entitled to royalties for
removal or recovery of coal bed methane; and
(iii) a person who owns a lease, easement, right-of-
way, license, privilege or other similar interest in the
surface.
"Well operator." A person who has filed or who is required
to file for a permit under the act of December 19, 1984 (P.L.
1140, No.223), known as the Oil and Gas Act.
Section 103. Legislative purpose and intent.
It is the purpose of this act to establish an alternative
procedure to court action for consideration and resolution of
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objections to the location of certain coal bed methane wells or
access roads associated with those wells to be constructed on
surface lands and to modify the procedure for review of permit
applications to the extent necessary to allow for the procedure
for alternative dispute resolution.
Section 104. Coal Bed Methane Review Board.
(a) Establishment.--The Coal Bed Methane Review Board is
established.
(b) Composition.--The board shall consist of members as
follows:
(1) One member shall be appointed by the Pennsylvania
Farm Bureau.
(2) One member shall be appointed jointly by the
Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Association, the Independent Oil and
Gas Association of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Coal
Association.
(3) One member shall be an individual with expertise in
petroleum geology or petroleum engineering with at least
three years of experience in practice in this Commonwealth
who is selected jointly by the Deans of the College of
Agricultural Sciences of The Pennsylvania State University
and the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences of The
Pennsylvania State University.
(c) Term of appointment.--The term of appointment of a board
member shall be three years or until a successor is duly
appointed. A board member may be appointed for successive terms.
(d) Staffing.--The department shall provide administrative
and clerical support to the board as requested.
(e) Purpose.--The purpose of the board shall be to consider
objections and attempt to reach agreement on or determine a
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location for the coal bed methane well or access road.
(f) Compensation.--
(1) Members of the board shall be compensated at the
appropriate per diem rate based on the prevailing formula
administered by the Commonwealth, but not less than $150 per
day, plus all reasonable expenses incurred while performing
their official duties.
(2) The compensation shall be adjusted annually by the
secretary to account for inflation based on the rate of
inflation identified by the Consumer Price Index published by
the United States Department of Labor.
(3) An individual member may waive the individual's
right to all or part of the compensation set forth under this
subsection.
Section 105. Procedure and alternative dispute resolution.
(a) Notification.--A well operator who intends to drill a
coal bed methane well or construct an access road associated
with a coal bed methane well shall provide written notification
to the surface owner in the time and manner prescribed under
section 201(b) of the Oil and Gas Act. The notification shall
also include the following statement in at least ten-point
print:
Right to Participate in Alternative Dispute Resolution
You have the right to have your objections to the well
operator's proposed location of the well or of the access road
associated with the well heard and decided by a coal bed methane
review board, established under an act of the General Assembly
that provides for the Coal Bed Methane Well Dispute Resolution.
You may participate with or without a lawyer in any conference
session the board may hold to hear your objections.
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Important: To exercise the right, you must file your
objections in writing with the regional office of the Department
of Environmental Protection at:
(Address)
(City, State, Zip Code)
within 15 days of the date you received this notification.
Otherwise you will be considered to have waived this right to
resolve your objections through the Coal Bed Methane Review
Board. Your objections may be filed in person or by first-class
mail.
(b) Filing of written objections.--
(1) A surface owner who intends to invoke alternative
dispute resolution under this act must file written
objections to the well operator's proposed location for the
coal bed methane well or access road with the department
within 15 days of the date of receipt of the written
notification and plan prescribed in subsection (a).
(2) The written objections may indicate an alternative
location at which the proposed coal bed methane well could be
drilled or the access road could be located to overcome the
objections.
(3) If no objections are filed in the time prescribed in
this subsection, the department shall proceed to issue or
deny the permit.
(c) Scheduling of conference.--
(1) If objections are filed by a surface owner pursuant
to subsection (b), the department shall, within two days,
notify the operator and the board of the objections, and the
board shall fix a time and place for holding the dispute
resolution conference and shall notify the surface owner and
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well operator of the time and place where the conference will
be held.
(2) (i) The conference shall be scheduled to commence
not more than ten business days from the date of service
of such objections on the well operator.
(ii) If the board cannot be fully convened for a
conference within the ten-business-day period, the
conference shall be scheduled to commence on the earliest
reasonable date on which the board can be fully convened,
but no later than 15 business days from the date of the
service of the objections on the well operator.
(3) The conference shall be held at the applicable
regional district office of the department closest to the
tract which is the subject of the objection.
(4) The board may use and the department shall provide
clerical assistance and the use of regional or district
offices for the board in conducting conference sessions.
(d) Conference session.--
(1) At the conference, the well operator and surface
owner or owners, as are present or represented, shall
consider the objections and attempt to agree upon a location
for the coal bed methane well or access road. The board may
hold more than one conference session.
(2) (i) The conference shall be completed within ten
days from the date that the conference is originally
commenced.
(ii) The board, in its sole discretion, may extend
the time for completion of the conference by an
additional five business days, and the parties to the
conference may extend the time for completion of the
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conference to a date mutually agreed upon.
(3) An agreement reached at the conference shall be
consistent with the requirements of the Oil and Gas Act,
shall be reduced to writing by the board and submitted to the
department within ten business days of the date that the
conference is completed.
(4) Upon receipt of notice that the board's conference
resulted in a mutual agreement between the operator and the
surface owner, the department shall proceed to issue or deny
the permit.
(5) If the parties to the conference before the board
fail to agree upon a location of the coal bed methane well or
access road or if only the party requesting review
participates in the conference, the board shall make a
determination in writing establishing a location of the coal
bed methane well or access road that, in the judgment of the
majority of the board, will cause only those surface
impairments that are reasonably necessary for purposes of
extracting the underlying coal bed methane.
(6) (i) Issuance of the written determination shall be
made within ten business days of the date of completion
of the conference and shall be served on the date of
issuance by certified mail upon the surface owner, the
well operator and the department.
(ii) Failure by the board to issue a written
determination within the ten-business-day period shall be
deemed a final determination by the board to affirm the
location of the well or access road proposed by the well
operator.
(7) (i) Within 15 business days of the date of
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completion of the conference, the board shall issue a
written statement setting forth findings of fact and
reasons in support of its determination and shall serve
copies of the written statement by certified mail upon
the surface owner, the well operator and the department.
(ii) Failure by the board to issue the written
statement of findings of fact and reasons in support of
its determination within the 15-business-day period shall
not preclude an aggrieved person from exercising the
right of appeal to courts of common pleas of the
Commonwealth as provided under subsection (f).
(8) If no appeal of the board's determination is filed
under subsection (f), the department shall proceed to issue
or deny the permit.
(e) Binding effect of board determination.--Any such
determination by the board shall be binding on the department.
(f) Appeal.--
(1) Any person aggrieved by a determination of the board
issued under subsection (d) shall have the right, within 15
days of receipt of the written determination, to appeal the
determination to the courts of common pleas of the
Commonwealth in the judicial district in which the affected
property is located. A copy of the appeal shall be served
upon all the parties to the conference. The board or the
department shall not be a party to the appeal.
(2) The court shall hold a hearing on the appeal within
30 days of the filing of the appeal and shall render its
decision in the appeal within 60 days of the filing of the
appeal. In any such appeal, the only issue to be determined
by the court is whether the location of the disputed well or
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access road, as the case may be, determined by the board,
will cause only those surface impairments that are reasonably
necessary for purposes of extracting the underlying coal bed
methane.
(3) (i) If the court agrees that the board's
determination meets this standard, it shall affirm the
board's determination.
(ii) If the court determines that the board's
determination does not meet this standard, it shall issue
an order indicating the location of the disputed well or
access road, as the case may be, that, in the opinion of
the court, will cause only those surface impairments that
are reasonably necessary for purposes of extracting the
underlying coal bed methane.
(4) Upon issuance of a decision by the court, the
department shall proceed to issue or deny the permit.
Section 106. Ordinances and resolutions superseded.
This act supersedes the ordinances and resolutions of
political subdivisions dealing with material regulated by this
section.
Section 107. Enforcement actions.
The provisions of this act shall not be construed to affect,
limit or impair any enforcement action taken by the department
under the Oil and Gas Act prior to the effective date of this
section.
Section 108. Other remedies.
Nothing in this act precludes a person from seeking other
remedies allowed by statute, common law, deed or contract, nor
does this act diminish or alter rights previously established or
granted by statute, common law, deed or contract.
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Section 109. Publication in Pennsylvania Bulletin.
The board shall publish a notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin
when all members have been initially appointed to the board.
Section 110. Effective date.
This act shall take effect as follows:
(1) Section 105 shall take effect upon publication of
the notice under section 109.
(2) The remainder of this act shall take effect
immediately.
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