American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2019 - 115

ConventionCoverage: Illinois Oil & Gas Association

Progressive Lawmakers
Take Aim At Industry
By Bill Campbell
EVANSVILLE, IN.-Emboldened by
election victories last November, progressive lawmakers are setting their sights
on Illinois' oil and gas industry, Illinois
Oil & Gas Association leaders advised
during the association's annual convention,
March 5-7 at the Old National Events
Plaza in Evansville.
"We are an industry under attack,"
acknowledged outgoing President Craig
Hedin, vice president and general counsel
for Gesell's Pump Sales and Service in
Whittington, Il.
During the annual membership meeting
on the convention's second day, Hedin
noted that after picking up seven seats in
the House and four in the Senate, Democrats held supermajorities in both
houses of the Illinois General Assembly.
"If any of their legislation gets to the
floor of either the House or Senate, we are
sunk. We have to work very hard to keep it
off the floor," Hedin advised, adding:
"These folks are supercharged. They think
this is the year of the progressives and perhaps it is. They have a lot of members."
Predicting "a very hard slog in Spring-

Oil and gas is an industry under attack,
outgoing President Craig Hedin warns
the Illinois Oil & Gas Association during
the group's annual meeting, March 5-7
at the Old National Events Plaza in
Evansville, In.

field," Hedin said IOGA had increased
its presence in the Capitol. Joining longtime lobbyist Dan Reitz in representing
IOGA, Hedin reported, are Jake Butcher
with the firm Dorgan, Butcher & Phelps,
who has expertise in the state Senate,
and former Illinois state Representative
John Bradley of Marion.
Hedin explained that Bradley played
a key role in drafting the state's Hydraulic
Fracturing Regulatory Act (HFRA), passed
in 2013. "John was very instrumental in
negotiating that and still has a lot of
friends in the House," Hedin remarked.
"Our whole point is, we gave up so much
in 2013, why are we back at this? John
can remind guys in committee that we
made a deal back then."
Observing that only one permit has
been issued under the HFRA, which the
operator later withdrew, Hedin said IOGA's
goal was to protect the conventional industry. "We don't foresee any high-volume
stuff anytime soon," he said.
Anti-Industry Bills
Bills targeting Illinois oil and gas operations range from outright bans on
high-volume hydraulic fracturing to additional regulatory requirements that
would be all but impossible to meet, advised Hedin and IOGA Legal and Legislative Committee Chairman Matthew
McArthy, attorney at law, who spoke during the legislative and legal session on
the convention's second day.
Hedin pointed out the anti-industry bills
all were sponsored by lawmakers in districts
north of Interstate-80 and mostly from the
Chicago area, which is 200 miles away
from any drilling. They are not motivated
by concerns about health or safety, he
maintained. "This absolutely is the keepit-in-the-ground movement. They want to
put us totally out of business," he insisted.
Among the most direct attacks, Hedin
and McArthy advised, is HB 3238, the
Hydraulic Fracturing Prohibition Act, introduced by Representative Linda Chapa-LaVia, D-Aurora, which would ban
HVHF wells anywhere in the state.
Longtime industry foe Will Guzzardi,
D-Chicago, filed HB 3386, which would

repeal the HFRA and put a moratorium
on HVHF operations, they said.
Guzzardi also introduced HB 1562,
which would require operators to attach
written consent from every affected surface
and mineral owner to applications for
permits to drill, and mandates that three
times the market value of any mineral
resource extracted be paid to any nonconsenting owner.
"That is what I call legalized extortion,"
McArthy remarked. "Frankly, it's unconstitutional. It takes away the rights of
mineral owners without due process because a single owner can deprive everybody else of their rights."
Guzzardi unsuccessfully pushed similar
legislation in 2018 (AOGR, July 2018,
pg. 30).
McArthy said HB 3383 by Representative Daniel Dedich, D-Buffalo Grove,
is billed as providing local control over
HVHF operations, but actually would
amend the HFRA to include all horizontal
well stimulation. The HFRA defines highvolume fracturing as utilizing more than
80,000 gallons per stage or 300,000
gallons of fluids in aggregate.
Hedin explained that HB 3383 would

Legislation that would require operators
to obtain written consent from all surface
and mineral owners is little more than
legalized extortion, complains Legal and
Legislative Chairman Matthew McArthy
during the Illinois Oil & Gas Association's
annual meeting, March 5-7 at the Old
National Events Plaza in Evansville, In.

APRIL 2019 115

American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2019