Pa. gas industry: change endangered species laws | Press & Sun-Bulletin | pressconnects.com
September 11, 2013
Pa. gas industry: change endangered species laws | Press & Sun-Bulletin | pressconnects.com.
Notice of Proposed New 6 NYCRR Part 570, Liquefied Natural Gas – Public Comment Period, Availability of Documents, Public Meetings and Public Hearing
September 11, 2013
ENB – Statewide Notices 9/11/2013 – NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation.
Notice of Proposed New 6 NYCRR Part 570, Liquefied Natural Gas – Public Comment Period, Availability of Documents, Public Meetings and Public Hearing
Notice is hereby given that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) is proposing to adopt 6 NYCRR Part 570 to implement a permitting program for the siting, construction, and operation of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facilities in New York State (NYS). LNG facilities are those that either store LNG in a tank system or convert LNG into natural gas through vaporization. The two types of facilities that NYS DEC expects to permit most frequently include facilities to fuel trucks and facilities that store LNG as a backup heating fuel.
Chapter 892 of the Laws of 1976 added Environmental Conservation Law (ECL) Article 23 Title 17, “Liquefied Natural and Petroleum Gas” (the LNG statute). This statute requires NYS DEC to implement regulations with criteria for the safe siting, operation, and transportation of LNG throughout the State. An environmental safety permit must be obtained from NYS DEC prior to construction, operation, or modification of an LNG facility in the State. The LNG statute also directs that operation of LNG facilities must be carried out in conformance with permits and regulations issued by NYS DEC. This rulemaking will establish a program to address the siting, construction, and operation of LNG facilities. Part 570 will also address the transportation of LNG and the statutory requirement that intrastate transportation only occur along approved routes.
The Notice of Proposed Rule Making is available in the September 11, 2013 issue of the State Register. Written public comments will be accepted by NYS DEC until November 4, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. Additional details are provided below.
Availability of documents for review: The proposed Part 570 and supporting rule making documents are available on NYS DEC’s web site at http://www.dec.ny.gov/regulations/93069.html.
These documents may also be inspected at the following NYS DEC offices (call the noted contact for an appointment):
- NYS DEC Central Office, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233, Attention: Russ Brauksieck, Phone: (518) 402-9553.
- NYS DEC – Region 1 Office, SUNY, Building #40, Stony Brook, NY 11790, Attention: Karen Gomez, Phone: (631) 444-0320.
- NYS DEC – Region 2 Office, Hunters Point Plaza, 47-40 21st Street, Long Island City, NY 11101, Attention: Leszek Zielinski, Phone: (718) 482-6455.
- NYS DEC – Region 3 Office, 21 South Putt Corners Road, New Paltz, NY 12561, Attention: Ed Moore, Phone: (845) 256-3137.
- NYS DEC – Region 4 Office, 1150 North Westcott Road, Schenectady, NY 12306, Attention: Keith Goertz, Phone: (518) 357-2399.
- NYS DEC – Region 5 Office, 1115 NYS Route 86, Ray Brook, NY 13601, Attention: Russ Huyck, Phone: (518) 897-1242.
- NYS DEC – Region 6 Office, State Office Building, 317 Washington Street, Watertown, NY 13601, Attention: Gary McCullouch, Phone: (315) 785-2513.
- NYS DEC – Region 7 Office, 615 Erie Boulevard West, Syracuse, NY 13204, Attention: Dick Brazell, Phone: (315) 426-7523.
- NYS DEC – Region 8 Office, 6274 East Avon-Lima Road, Avon, NY 14414, Attention: Pete Miller, Phone: (585) 226-5427.
- NYS DEC – Region 9 Office, 270 Michigan Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14202, Attention: Greg Sutton, Phone: (716) 851-7220.
Public Meetings: NYS DEC will conduct public information meetings to present the proposed regulations and respond to questions prior to the public hearing. These meetings will be held as follows:
Date: Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Time: 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Location: New York State Fairgrounds
581 State Fair Blvd, Martha Eddy Room
Syracuse, NY
Date: Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Location: NYS DEC – Central Office
625 Broadway, Room 129
Albany, NY
Public Hearing: A legislative public hearing to receive public comment about the proposed rule making will be held as follows:
Date: Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Location: NYS DEC – Central Office
625 Broadway, Room 129
Albany, NY
This hearing location is accessible to persons with impaired mobility. Interpreter services will be made available to deaf persons, at no charge, upon written request at least five business days prior to the date of the hearing. Please address requests to: Russ Brauksieck, NYS DEC – Division of Environmental Remediation, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-7020.
NYS DEC invites all persons, organizations, corporations and governmental agencies to attend the hearing and submit either written or oral statements. At the hearing, persons who wish to make a statement will be invited to speak. It is requested that oral statements also be submitted in writing. NYS DEC will give equal weight to written and oral statements. Since a cumulative record will be compiled, it is not required for interested parties to attend the hearing.
Written comments: The public is invited to submit written comments about these proposed regulations until Monday, November 4, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. Mail written comments to:
Russ Brauksieck
NYS DEC – Division of Environmental Remediation
625 Broadway
Albany, NY 12233-7020
Email written comments to: derweb@gw.dec.state.ny.us and please write “Comments on Proposed Part 570” in the subject line.
Contact: Russ Brauksieck, NYS DEC – Division of Environmental Remediation, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-7020, Phone: (518) 402-9553, E-mail: derweb@gw.dec.state.ny.us.
Executive Order 13604 of March 22, 2012 Improving Performance of Federal Permitting and Review of Infrastructure Projects
September 9, 2013
www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-03-28/pdf/2012-7636.pdf.
Executive Order 13604 of March 22, 2012
Improving Performance of Federal Permitting and Review of Infrastructure Projects
Breaking down the Keystone XL executive order
Obama’s Keystone XL southern half March 2012 memo reads like Big Oil talking points.
“[W]e need an energy infrastructure system that can keep pace with advances in production,”Obama states in the Memo. “To promote American energy sources, we must not only extract oil — we must also be able to transport it to our world-class refineries, and ultimately to consumers.”
A metaphorical slap in the face to environmentalists who spent months working on opposing Keystone XL, Obama argued a more efficient, less bureaucratic means of approval was compulsory.
“[A]s part of my Administration’s broader efforts to improve the performance of Federal permitting and review processes, we must make pipeline infrastructure a priority … supporting projects that can contribute to economic growth and a secure energy future,” the memo reads.
Though the order issued an expedited permitting process for Keystone XL’s southern half, it also foreshadowed that expedited permitting would become the “new normal” going forward for all domestic oil and gas pipeline projects.
“To address the existing bottleneck in Cushing, as well as other current or anticipated bottlenecks, agencies shall … coordinate and expedite their reviews … as necessary to expedite decisions related to domestic pipeline infrastructure projects that would contribute to a more efficient domestic pipeline system for the transportation of crude oil,” the memo states in closing.
The memo also notes all projects placed in the expedited permitting pile can have their statuses tracked on the online Federal Infrastructure Projects Dashboard, with 48 projects currently listed.
Little time was wasted building the XL’s southern half after Obama issued the Order and within a slim two years, TransCanada will have its first direct line from Alberta to Gulf Coast refineries in southern Texas.
Economics of Fracking NY
September 9, 2013
Recently, various reports have confirmed the analyses of various independent economists, including Jannette Barth, Ph.D., which have suggested that the economic gains from fracking are industry-contrived and short-lived. Letter to Governor Cuomo from Three Concerned Economists, Dr. Barth, a Catskill homeowner and former chief economist for the M.T.A. has criticized the overly-optimistic forecasts, contending that the models are flawed and the data incomplete, at best. Critique of PPI Study on Shale Gas Job Creation, Unanswered Questions About The Economic Impact of Gas Drilling in the Marcellus Shale: Don’t Jump to Conclusions, Moreover, Dr. Barth, in one of the very few peer-reviewed articles on shale gas economics, concludes that job gains are minor, money flows out of extraction states and that any booms tend to be followed by pronounced and extended busts, as pre-existing industries are irreparably destroyed by fracking THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF SHALE GAS DEVELOPMENT ON STATE AND LOCAL ECONOMIES: BENEFITS, COSTS, AND UNCERTAINTIES,
Over the last week, a clutch of reports has laid bare the exaggerated job claims in Pennsylvania and Arkansas and the inevitable bust which has followed shale gas extraction in the Marcellus and Fayetteville shales. Both reports confirm Dr. Barth’s conclusions and should be recognized by policymakers who contemplate whether to allow fracking in New York state. In Arkansas, local business owners have recognized that workers must follow the rigs from state-to-state—now to North Dakota and Montana–and that the motel business, which surged briefly, has crashed. Economy slows with Fayetteville Shale drilling lag
Meanwhile, next door in Pennsylvania, the Pro-Fracking Corbett administration’s much ballyhooed job claims have been shown to be merely “[r]obust and aggressive statements about job creation which overstate dramatically the effects of one specific area of economic activity.” Pennsylvania Marcellus shale job creation claims being overstated? In fact, “According to a grimmer-than-expected report from the Keystone Research Group, the workforce outlook for Pennsylvanians is the bleakest it has been since 2010.” Report: Pa. outlook on jobs worst in three years
GDACC 
