American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2017 - 79

ConventionCoverage: North Dakota Petroleum Council

Governor Finds Cooperation
Preferable To Regulation
By Bill Campbell
GRAND FORKS, N.D.-The goal for
government when it comes to energy development in North Dakota is continuous
improvement through innovation rather
than excessive regulation, according to
Governor Doug Burgum.
Burgum discussed government/industry
relations in an opening session welcome
to the North Dakota Petroleum Council
annual convention, held Sept. 26-28 at
the Alerus Center in Grand Forks.
Later the same day, Vincent DeVito,
counselor for energy policy at the U.S.
Department of the Interior, said that
federal agency shared a similar goal of
becoming a better business partner in energy development rather than an adversary.
In other NDPC annual meeting presentations:
* Bruce Hicks, assistant director for
the North Dakota Department of Mineral
Resources' Oil & Gas Division, previewed
regulatory initiatives for 2018.
* David Glatt, chief of the North
Dakota Department of Health's Environmental Health Section, provided an example of mutual trust and cooperation
solving an environmental problem.
* Keynoter Stephen Moore, chief
economist for the Heritage Foundation,
emphasized the importance of federal income tax reform and lowering the corporate tax rate.
State Legislation
The North Dakota Legislature took a
couple steps away from overregulation
this year in passing HB 1336 and HB
1151, observed Burgum.
HB 1336 waives certain administrative
and civil penalties for companies that
self-report environmental, health or safety
violations. The bill, which was modeled
after statutes in states such as Texas,
Wyoming and Oklahoma, "shows we
want to partner with all of you," Burgum
stated. "We share the goal of a safe operating environment for everybody (as well
as) taking care of the environment."
HB 1151, the "Spill Bill," raises from

one to 10 barrels the threshold for reporting
spills contained on a well pad. Burgum
compared the intent of the Spill Bill with
spilling a glass of red wine in a sink
versus spilling it on someone's new, white
carpet. "Is it news if something lands in
the sink? You are not buying new carpet,"
he posed. "I want to focus on real, not
manufactured problems, and we were
kind of manufacturing problems with the
way we were doing reporting."
NDPC Chairman Eric Dillé noted that
HB 1151, which took effect Aug. 1,
applied to facilities constructed after Sept.
1, 2001.
Another legislative priority for NDPC
this year, continued Dillé, who is vice
president of government relations for
EOG Resources in Houston, was SB
2134, which directs the Department of
Mineral Resources to refer to the original
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' survey
of the high water mark along the Missouri
River before construction of Garrison
Dam in the 1950s when determining mineral ownership under Lake Sakakawea.
The bill instructs DMR to contract
for an independent review of the Corps
survey, which Dillé said ought to be completed by April 1. Following a public
comment period, he said, the DMR will
develop its final recommendations, after
which operators will have six months to
release potentially hundreds of millions

of dollars in royalties held in suspense.
A couple bills Dillé said ought to simplify permitting and speed infrastructure
development are HB 1320 and SB 2286.
HB 1320 requires all counties that
participate in the state's Uniform Truck
Permitting System to participate in the
same system for workover rigs. "We are
getting townships out of the business of
issuing road permits," Dillé explained.
He said SB 2286 ensured that state
pipeline permits pre-empted local landuse, zoning and building rules, regulations
or ordinances. "However," he pointed out,
"local officials must be given notice and
the opportunity to testify during hearings
on the proposed siting, corridors or routes."
Dillé also mentioned SB 2327, which
transitions the Department of Health's
Environmental Health Section into a cabinet-level Department of Environmental
Quality by July 1, 2019, and HB 1257,
which lowers the state's unitization threshold from 60 to 55 percent of affected
royalty interests.
Governor Burgum commented that
HB 1257 should lessen surface impacts
while still protecting the rights of mineral
owners. "I think this is the right balance,"
he expressed.
Regulatory Initiatives
Turning to regulatory issues, Dillé
noted that earlier this year, Governor

North Dakota Petroleum
Council Chairman Eric Dillé
(left) pauses with North
Dakota Governor Doug Burgum during NDPC's annual
meeting, Sept. 26-28 in Grand
Forks. Burgum welcomed
the association in an address
that stressed government/industry cooperation.

NOVEMBER 2017 79

American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2017

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