Bill Text: PA SB600 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Further providing for enforcement orders and for civil penalties.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-23 - Referred to ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY [SB600 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2011-SB600-Introduced.html

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PRINTER'S NO. 898
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No. 600 Session of2011
INTRODUCED BY WARD, SCARNATI, YAW, VOGEL, EARLL, PILEGGI, ERICKSON, COSTA, FONTANA, TARTAGLIONE AND WILLIAMS, MARCH 23, 2011
REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, MARCH 23, 2011
AN ACT
Amending the act of December 19, 1984 (P.L.1140, No.223),
entitled "An act relating to the development of oil and gas
and coal; imposing duties and powers on the Department of
Environmental Resources; imposing notification requirements
to protect landowners; and providing for definitions, for
various requirements to regulate the drilling and operation
of oil and gas wells, for gas storage reservoirs, for various
reporting requirements, including certain requirements
concerning the operation of coal mines, for well permits, for
well registration, for distance requirements, for well casing
requirements, for safety device requirements, for storage
reservoir obligations, for well bonding requirements, for a
Well Plugging Restricted Revenue Account to enforce oil and
gas well plugging requirements, for the creation of an Oil
and Gas Technical Advisory Board, for oil and gas well
inspections, for enforcement and for penalties," further
providing for enforcement orders and for civil penalties.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 503 of the act of December 19, 1984
(P.L.1140, No.223), known as the Oil and Gas Act, is amended by
adding a subsection to read:
Section 503. Enforcement orders.
* * *
(f) The department shall post inspection reports on its
publicly accessible Internet website. The inspection reports
shall include:
(1) The nature and description of violations.
(2) The operator's written response to the violation, if
available.
(3) The status of the violation.
(4) The remedial steps taken by the operator or the
department to address the violation.
Section 2. Section 506 of the act is amended to read:
Section 506. Civil penalties.
In addition to proceeding under any other remedy available at
law or in equity for a violation of a provision of this act or a
rule or regulation of the department or any order of the
department, the Environmental Hearing Board, after hearing, may
assess a civil penalty upon a person for such violation. Such a
penalty may be assessed whether or not the violation was
willful. The civil penalty [so assessed] shall not exceed
$25,000, plus $1,000 for each day [of continued violation]
during which the violation continues, or in the case of a
violation arising from the construction, alteration or operation
of an unconventional well, $50,000, plus $2,000 for each day
during which the violation continues. In determining the amount
of the civil penalty, the board shall consider the willfulness
of the violation, damage or injury to the natural resources of
the Commonwealth or their uses, endangerment of the safety of
others, costs of remedying the harm, savings resulting to the
person in consequence of such violation and other relevant
factors. It shall be payable to the Commonwealth and shall be
collectible in any manner provided at law for the collection of
debts. If any person liable to pay any such penalty neglects or
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refuses to pay the same after demand, the amount, together with
interest and any costs that may accrue, shall be a lien in favor
of the Commonwealth upon the property, both real and personal,
of such person but only after same has been entered and docketed
of record by the prothonotary of the county where such is
situated. The board may, at any time, transmit to the
prothonotaries of the respective counties certified copies of
all such liens, and it shall be the duty of each prothonotary to
enter and docket the same of record in his office and to index
the same as judgments are indexed, without requiring the payment
of costs as a condition precedent to the entry thereof.
Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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