Oil, Gas Group Sues To Block Pa. Drilling Site Rules

By: Matt Fair

Partner Chris Carusone was mentioned in the Law360 article “Oil, Gas Group Sues To Block Pa. Drilling Site Rules,” in regards to his representation of the Pennsylvania Independent Petroleum Producers Association in their lawsuit against the state Department of Environmental Protection. The full article is available on the Law360 website.

Law360, Philadelphia (March 25, 2016, 5:20 PM ET) — Pending rules governing surface operations at oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania fail to abide by state law requiring separate regulatory packages for hydraulic fracturing operations and conventional drillers, an industry group claimed in a lawsuit filed on Thursday.

The Pennsylvania Independent Petroleum Producers Association filed suit in Commonwealth Court claiming that the state’s well site regulations were being promulgated in defiance of state law requiring separate rules for conventional and unconventional drillers, and would leave them saddled with costly and unreasonable new requirements.

“The predictable result of this unlawful commingling of rules governing conventional and unconventional operators is a final-form regulation — devoted and designed largely to address the impacts of unconventional gas production — that subjects PIPP’s members to new and expensive regulatory mandates that are not necessary or appropriate for conventional operators,” the complaint said.