|
Senate committee approves legislation that establishes process to resolve disputes occurring between surface and mineral rights owners
By KYLE MILLIRON
Era Reporter
The state Senate’s Environmental Resources and Energy Committee approved legislation that establishes a process to resolve disputes that occur between surface and mineral right owners.
The dispute arises when a property owner does not own the mineral rights below the property, and the mineral rights owner wants to access those minerals by drilling a well. According to the 1984 Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Act, an owner of subsurface mineral rights cannot be denied access to those minerals — even by the landowner — as long as the surface disruption is minimized.
Senate Bill 1330, the Coal Bed Methane Dispute Resolution Act, would establish a review board that would be empowered to resolve disputes. The board would be comprised of three appointed members.
The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau would appoint one member. One member would be appointed jointly by the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Producers (POGAM), the Independent Oil and Gas Association of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Coal Association. The third member would appointed jointly by the deans of the College of Agricultural Sciences and the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences of The Pennsylvania State University, according to the bill.
Currently, under Pennsylvania Law, if the surface owner disagrees with a proposal to drill a well, the matter is handled in county courts of common pleas.
“That’s a lengthy, expensive and often acrimonious process for all parties involved,” said state Sen. Don White, R-Indiana, sponsor of the bill. “My legislation would establish a special panel with specific expertise in resolving those disputes, which could streamline the process.”
That special panel would resolve the objections of a surface owner who disagrees with the location or disruption of a proposed well.
But, as POGAM Executive Director Steve Rhoads points out, that board would only have authority over coal bed methane wells. The bill does not establish a review board for oil wells.
“In those cases where a surface owner and mineral rights owner can’t agree, it allows an independent third party to review the case and make a decision,” Rhoads said Wednesday. “But the courts would do that anyway. It’s just another step producers have to take.”
Rhoads doesn’t believe the option of convening the review board will be used often because dual estates — separate surface and subsurface owners on the same tract of land — are rare in Pennsylvania.
In Pennsylvania’s House, Rep. Dave Reed, R-Indiana, has introduced a similar bill, which is currently before the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.
The Environmental Resources and Energy Committee is also reviewing a resolution that addresses the Allegheny National Forest Service’s forest management plan.
Senate Resolution 294, sponsored by Sen. Mary Jo White, R-Clarion, “urges the federal government to reevaluate their plan” that imposes new restrictions and regulations on oil and gas producers within the forest, according to the resolution.
Rhoads said the restrictions and regulations of the forest’s new management plan oversteps their jurisdiction.
“The new plan includes a variety of design criteria and standards that are an attempt to impose new regulation and management practices that are above and beyond the forest service’s authority,” Rhoads said. “This resolution is a reminder to the forest service that their authority is bound by the 1911 Weeks Act.”
The Weeks Act was the basis for the establishment of the forest, but when the land for the forest was acquired by the federal government in 1923, only 7 percent of the subsurface was purchased. Private individuals or groups own 93 percent of the forest’s subsurface, giving private producers the right to disrupt the forest in the name of oil exploration.
When Pennsylvania sold the land to the federal government, a stipulation of the agreement was that the forest service — or any other federal agency — could not prevent private mineral estate owners from accessing their minerals.
Ryan Talbott, Allegheny Defense Project forest watch coordinator, said the U.S. Forest Service must have the ability to regulate oil and gas in order to fulfill their mandate, to protect the forest for future generations.
“There have been 8,000 miles of roads cut through the Allegheny in the last five years for oil and gas producers,” Talbott said. “It’s just nonsense that the forest service can’t regulate their own forest.”
An identical resolution, HR 693, was approved by the House of Representatives on April 8.
 printer friendly version
 e-mail this story
Reader Comments
There are No comments posted. comments to this story.
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of bradfordera.com.
Submit a Comment
We encourage your feedback and dialog, all comments will be reviewed by our Web staff before appearing on the Web site.
|
