Pa. to raise drilling fees to add staff

Responding to companies lobbying to accelerate the permitting process for tapping the potentially lucrative , state regulators moved forward on Tuesday with a fee increase to pay for additional staff.

The state Environmental Quality Board approved a state request to increase drilling permits fees in the Marcellus Shale, a gas-laden layer of rock about 6,000 feet underground that stretches from upstate New York south to West Virginia and Ohio, including northern and western Pennsylvania.

In the proposal, which still faces several bureaucratic hurdles, the $100 permit fee would be increased to $900, plus $100 for every 500 feet a well continues beyond 1,500 feet.

The proposal must still pass the state Independent Regulatory Review Commission and the state Legislature’s two committees that oversee DEP regulations, said Stephen Rhoads, the president of the Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Association. “Because of the time involved and the fact that the general assembly is no longer in session … the final rule probably won’t take effect until mid- to late March or later,” he said. “The industry generally understands their need and desire for the fee increase. … We are interested in seeing the department improve its permitting.”

The Environmental Quality Board also approved on Tuesday a DEP request to solicit public comment on changing permitting fees for all oil and gas wells. Though Rhoads declined to comment on the amount of the fee increase, “we do intend to take advantage of the public comment period,” he said. “We saw this a few weeks ago for the first time,” he said, and the industry was “not at all” involved in crafting the rules.

DEP noted the additional fees will go to adding staff at its Meadville, Pittsburgh and Williamsport offices, which are most involved in gas-well permitting. DEP has issued 8,000 permits this year and expects 40,000 more in three years.