American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2017 - 14

IndustryDigest
U.S. House Passes Bill
To Protect ANF Drilling
WEXFORD, PA.-The U.S. House of
Representatives on Oct. 2 unanimously
passed a bill introduced by
Representative Glenn Thompson, R-Pa.,
that protects oil and natural gas
production in Pennsylvania's Allegheny
National Forest (ANF), reports the
Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas
Association.
PIOGA notes that a federal law
passed in 1992 directed the U.S. Forest
Service to write new regulations for oil
and gas production in the ANF.
However, as a result of litigation
initiated by the Pennsylvania Oil & Gas
Association, courts have ruled
repeatedly that the Forest Service may
not restrict production activities because
more than 90 percent of the minerals in
the 500,000-acre forest are privately
owned.
Consistent with those court
decisions, HR 2316, the Cooperative
Management of Mineral Rights Act,
"repeals the improper 1992 directive,"
PIOGA says.
"This legislation will prevent future
lawsuits that impede oil and gas
production, and will ensure that
individuals with subsurface rights can
access their property," PIOGA quotes
Congressman Thompson.
The association adds that HR 2316
also protects timbering in the ANF. A
previous version of the bill was passed
by the U.S. House in 2016 (AOGR,
October 2016, pg. 32). r

BLM Increases Fee
For Processing APDs
WASHINGTON-The U.S.
Department of the Interior's Bureau of
Land Management has increased from
$9,610 to $9,790 the fee it charges for
processing an application for permit to
drill. BLM announced the move on
Sept. 18 and the policy took effect on
Oct. 1.
According to the bureau, the fee
applies to any new APD submitted on
Form 3160-3, whether submitted
individually or as part of a master
development plan, is due on submission
and is owed regardless of whether an
APD receives subsequent approval.
An APD for a new well without the
14 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

full fee will not be logged in, posted,
processed or considered, the bureau
states. Incomplete APD fees will
prompt BLM to contact the operator
and provide 10 business days to submit
the required amount, the bureau says,
adding that it will consider an APD filed
only after it has received the full fee.
Although replacement wells that
operators may use in the event of
downhole problems may require a new
3160-3 for administrative purposes,
BLM says, such wells do not require an
additional processing fee because the
bureau already has completed most of
the APD approval task, including
consultation and environmental work.
"If the (operator) moves the well
location at the request of the BLM to
accomplish agency or resource
protection goals, or to accommodate a
surface owner request, and the move
results in a new APD, an additional
processing fee is not required," the
notice goes on. "An example would be
moving a well to reduce a cut and fill or
loss of habitat. However, if the operator
requests the move and the move results
in a new APD, an additional processing
fee is required."
BLM adds that an additional
processing fee is not required if an
operator submits a second form 3160-3
to correct a clerical error or to adjust a
drilling location that was changed at the
on-site inspection. r

Court Allows DAPL
To Keep Operating
During Litigation
BISMARCK, N.D.-The Dakota
Access Pipeline may continue to
operate while the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers completes its court-ordered
environmental review of the pipeline's
disputed crossing of North Dakota's
Lake Oahe, indicates the North Dakota
Petroleum Council.
The judicial determination in
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe v. U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers and Dakota
Access LLC, by Judge James Boasberg
in the U.S. District Court for the District
of Columbia, allows crude oil to
continue flowing through DAPL as its
legal fate is decided. Boasburg's ruling
notes that, although the court's June 14

decision denied the plaintiffs' claims
under the Clean Water and Mineral
Leasing acts, and upheld the majority of
the Corps' determinations under the
National Environmental Policy Act, it
concurred with the Tribes' claim that
the Corps environmental assessment
was inadequate. Specifically, the court
says, the EA fails to sufficiently account
for the:
* Degree to which the DAPL's
effects are likely to be highly
controversial;
* Consequences of a spill for the
tribes' fishing and hunting rights; and
* The project's environmental
justice impacts.
On Oct. 6, the Corps reported that its
review of those issues would extend
into spring 2018, notes NDPC Vice
President Kari Cutting, which raised
concerns about the pipeline's continued
operation in the interim. Boasberg's
determination that DAPL may remain
open during the review was issued on
Oct. 11.
Despite the flaws he identified in
June, Boasberg writes in his latest
determination that he "ultimately
concludes that the three errors identified
in the prior opinion are not fundamental
or incurable flaws in the Corps' original
analysis; rather, the agency has a
significant possibility of justifying its
prior determinations on remand."
"This is not only a win for the
Dakota Access Pipeline, but also for
all major infrastructure projects under
construction or consideration," Cutting
assesses, adding that by the second
week of October, DAPL had "already
delivered some $18 million in
revenues for the state of North Dakota
in just its first three months of
operation."
Boasberg's opinion concludes with a
warning to the Corps that its due
diligence must adequately address the
court's concerns. "Compliance with
NEPA cannot be reduced to a
bureaucratic formality, and the court
expects the Corps not to treat remand as
an exercise in filling out the proper
paperwork post hoc," he writes. "After
the agency's further work on remand,
the parties may well disagree over the
sufficiency of its conclusion. If and
when such a dispute arises, they will
again have the opportunity to address
whether defendants have, in fact,
fulfilled their statutory obligations." r
American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2017

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