What?: To drill and frack a horizontal Marcellus Shale well, the operator needs at least two kinds of permits. For the actual well itself they need a Drill & Operate Well permit (one for each well on the pad.) To build the well pad itself they need an Erosion & Sedimentation (E&S) permit. (More generally, an E&S permit is normally required for any kind of activity that disturbs 5 acres or more of earth.) The current permit for well pads is called ESCGP-2. Like many DEP permits, this is a General Permit. That means it is a standardized permit drafted in advance — as opposed to a “custom” permit drafted specifically for the site in question. Whenever the text of a DEP general permit is modified, the public is given the opportunity for Public Comment on the proposed draft. However there is typically no public comment whatever on individual applications for general permits. ESCGP-2 will expire at the end of 2018, so DEP is proposing to “reissue” it (with supposedly very few changes) as ESCGP-3.

Deadline: August 13, 2018

Why Does It Matter?:

In general, because there is never a public comment period for individual applications under a General Permit, when we do get a public comment period for a General Permit such as this one, it is critical that we share our concerns with DEP because it is the only opportunity for public comment on this kind of permit we are likely to get for (literally) years. The draft ESCGP-3 well pad E&S permit deals with a number of issues beyond the usual concerns of erosion and sedimentation, stabilizing soil, control of stormwater runoff, etc:

• Act 14 Notifications

Act 14 is a state law requiring applicants to DEP for several kinds of permits to notify every county and municipality in which the project takes place. For well pad E&S permits, the notification includes the DEP’s NOI (Notice of Intent) form. This gives the exact latitude and longitude of the center of the well pad, and may be the first precise GIS information for where a well pad is going to be located. Unfortunately counties and municipalities vary a lot in how easy it is to obtain an NOI. We must:

• Demand that the DEP require well pad operators to submit the NOI electronically to the DEP at the same time they notify counties and municipalities.
• Demand that the DEP publish the NOI electronically to the Internet.
  

• PPC Plan

Included with the operator’s application for the well pad E&S must be a PPC (Preparedness, Prevention and Contingency) Plan. These are not published in any form easily accessible to citizens or local government officials or EMS personnel. (They are available via DEP File Review, but that is extremely cumbersome and getting more so every day.) We must:

• Demand that the DEP include Produced Water, Frack Fluid Constituents, and Drill Cuttings in the list of substances identified in the PPC plan.
  
• Demand that the DEP require well pad operators to include an MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for each substance listed in the PPC plan.
  
• Demand that the DEP publish the PPC Plan electronically to the Internet.
  

• Phased Permit Process

DEP allows a well pad operator to apply for an E&S permit in phases. This is seriously problematic. The current draft permit is silent on how the phasing should interact with Act 14. There is clear risk that the phasing may be used to disguise the implications of the full project. Ideally, DEP should simply delete these provisions from draft ESCGP-3. Failing that, we must:

• Demand that the DEP explicitly require an Act 14 notification for each phase.
  
• Allow counties and municipalities to receive full documentation for the impact of the entire project (all phases!) with the initial NOI.
  
• Demand that the DEP include explicit language in ESCGP-3 that phasing may not be used for circumvention of environmental requirements of the full project (all phases).
  

How?:

Via DEP’s eComment System: Use this link:

<https://www.ahs.dep.pa.gov/eComment/Agreement.aspx?system=2&period=236>

Via E-mail: Use this E-mail address:

ecomment@pa.gov
Use as the subject line:
ESCGP-3

Background:

The actual ESCGP-3 draft permit is available here:
<http://www.depgreenport.state.pa.us/elibrary/GetDocument?docId=53748&DocName=DRAFT%20-%20AUTHORIZATION%20OF%20COVERAGE%20UNDER%20THE%20EROSION%20AND%20SEDIMENT%20CONTROL%20GENERAL%20PERMIT%20%28ESCGP-3%29%20FOR%20EARTH%20DISTURBANCE%20ASSOCIATED%20WITH%20OIL%20AND%20GAS%20EXPLORATION%2C%20PRODUCTION%2C%20PROCESSING%2C%20OR%20TREATMENT%20OPERATIONS%20OR%20TRANSMISSION%20FACILITIES.PDF%20>

The PA Bulletin Notice is here:
<https://www.pabulletin.com/secure/data/vol48/48-28/1078.html>