WVEC Action AlertApril 12, 2012DEP Extends Comment Period on Oil and Gas Stormwater General Permit Following a request made by a lobbyist/lawyer representing the oil and gas industry at a public hearing on Monday, the WV Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Water and Waste Management has decided to extend the comment period on its proposed “General Water Pollution Control Permit for Stormwater Associated With Oil and Gas Related Construction Activities.” The new deadline for comments is 5 p.m. Monday, April 30. Also at the request of the industry lobbyist, the agency has prepared a “fact sheet” regarding the proposed General Permit (it’s an eleven-page fact sheet!). The fact sheet is available on the DEP’s website (near the bottom of the page). Basically, the proposed permit would regulate the discharge of stormwater runoff associated with oil and gas construction activities including processing or treatment operations, or transmission facilities that disturb an acre or more of land. The proposed permit would not apply to stormwater runoff at a drilling site, which is regulated by the drilling permit and oil and gas rules. It was apparent at Monday’s public hearing that the oil and gas industry opposes the proposed General Permit. After reviewing the proposal and comparing it to other West Virginia stormwater permits for construction and industrial runoff, the West Virginia Environmental Council is supportive of the proposal and will submit comments suggesting additional improvements to the proposed permit. Actually, in the 2005 Energy Act the U.S. Congress exempted the oil and gas industry from the stormwater runoff provisions of the federal Clean Water Act. We applaud the West Virginia DEP for its proposal to regulate oil and gas stormwater pollution under state law. Donald S. Garvin, Jr. |