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ODNR officials preview new oil and gas regs
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James Zehringer, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which regulates the oil and gas industry in Ohio, was a guest speaker at a Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber luncheon. Also speaking Thursday was Rick Simmers, ODNR’s chief of the division of oil and gas resource management.
NILES
Two top Ohio Department of Natural Resources officials previewed a set of sweeping new rules aimed at regulating the oil and gas industry as a ramp-up in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is set to begin.
The rules, divided into a series of packages, will govern a wide range of drilling activity, including well-pad construction, permitting, processing and recycling, said Rick Simmers, ODNR chief of oil and gas resources management.
Many will be highly technical and involve increased oversight of construction and operation.
“We’re not here to make you believe this industry doesn’t pose risks,” Simmers said Thursday at a Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber luncheon at Ciminero’s Banquet Centre here. “It does, but risks can be mitigated.”
Over the past two years, ODNR has worked with the governor’s office and state Legislature to enact regulatory laws, which also authorized the agency to develop its own rules to fill out statutory requirements.
ODNR soon will begin to post the packages for a public-comment period of 30 days or more, and the agency will consider modifications to the initial drafts based on the comments.
The rules then will go through a “common-sense initiative process,” during which ODNR will scrutinize their practicality and cost impacts, Simmers said.
Finally, the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review, a 10-member panel of state legislators, will evaluate the rules and conduct hearings.
The total process could take between two and four months, Simmers said.
In the coming weeks, Simmers said, ODNR will roll out its first draft package, a technical set of rules governing drilling pads.
A pad, often occupying 4 to 5 acres, is the facility where shale drilling occurs.
Simmers said the rules would require a professional engineer to design the facility and certify that its construction was consistent with the design.
Strict engineering standards also would apply to rules regarding recycling, treatment, processing and disposal, Simmers said.
A company would have to apply to build a facility according to the standards, and ODNR would then oversee construction.
A separate application process would require the facility’s operator to detail all the production and safety processes at the site.
“There will be a lot of criteria the company has to answer and implement before the facility is granted the permit to go into operation,” Simmers said.
A set of rules governing spill prevention would authorize ODNR to regulate all fluids contained at a site.
Simmers said the exact number of packages could range from 15 to 22, depending on how ODNR decides to group its rules. ODNR will stagger the rollout, introducing packages throughout this year.
All of this will occur at a time when shale drilling is expected to ramp up in Ohio.
James Zehringer, the ODNR director, said the state has issued 1,042 permits to date, and 245 Utica Shale wells are producing.
The Utica is growing quickly because it is rich in wet gas, which can be stripped of valuable ethanes and butanes.
By 2015, Zehringer expects that Ohio will issue 1,494 permits. He projects the number of drilled wells to grow rapidly, reaching the 1,830 mark by 2015.
He said this year would be the beginning of that steep upward trend.
“Ohio is open for business, and the oil and gas industry has been a wonderful partner so far,” Zehringer said.
To meet the regulatory demand of increased production, Zehringer said the agency has tripled its staff in recent years and invested resources in geological and environmental oversight.