May. 03, 2016
HARRISBURG — Supported by Rep. Kathy Rapp (R-Warren/Crawford/Forest), a concurrent resolution to stop implementation of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Environmental Quality Board’s oil and gas drilling regulations was advanced by the House Environmental and Energy Resources Committee today.
“These one-size-fits-all drilling regulations are nothing short of a death sentence for many of the independent oil and natural gas producers who have been safely operating in our region for more than 150 years and thousands of family-sustaining jobs,” said Rapp. “Time and time again, the out-of-touch Harrisburg bureaucrats who have written and rammed these overreaching regulations through the process have demonstrated a severe lack of understanding when it comes to forcing smaller, conventional operators to follow the same regulations as unconventional operators, such as the Marcellus Shale industry.”
Watch Rep. Rapp’s comments during today’s House Environmental and Energy Resources Committee voting meeting.
Pennsylvania’s Regulatory Review Act provides for legislative oversight of regulations at the end of each process to ensure that regulations are consistent with statutory law.
“Rather than rubber-stamping these heavily flawed and punitive regulations which brought about this concurrent resolution, the so-called Independent Regulatory Review Commission should have rejected them, not only because of DEP’s blatant failure to follow the proper process, but more importantly, the irreparable economic harm they will inevitably cause if left unchecked,” said Rapp. “Requiring separate drilling regulations is absolutely essential to ensuring the future survival of our local conventional oil and gas industries.”
The resolution passed the committee on a bipartisan vote of 19-8 and now awaits consideration in the full House. Visit
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Representative Kathy Rapp
65th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Ty McCauslin
717.772.9979
RepRapp.com
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