American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2015 - 20

IndustryDigest
Minnesota's is 30 pCi/g. However,
published accounts also note, Idaho's
limit is 1,500 pCi/g and Colorado's is
2,000 pCi/g.
DoH points out that TENORM
commonly is found in tank sludge, pipe
scale, and filter socks, some of which
have been disposed of illegally in the
state. Media reports cite department
estimates that North Dakota's oil and
gas activities generate 75 tons a day of
radioactive waste.
Further information is available on
the DoH website at:
www.ndhealth.gov/EHS/TENORM. r

Ohio Secretary Annuls
Anti-Fracturing Initiatives
COLUMBUS, OH.-Ohio Secretary
of State Jon Husted has struck down
three proposed local anti-hydraulicfracturing ballot proposals, calling the
measures "a violation of provisions of
statutory and Ohio constitutional law."
According to the Ohio Oil & Gas
Association and Energy in Depth-Ohio,
Husted has invalidated the county
charter ballot proposals in Athens,
Fulton and Medina counties, and has
remarked that such proposals would not
be on the Nov. 3 general election ballot.
"The issue of whether local
communities can get around state laws
on fracturing already has been
litigated," Husted states. "Allowing
these proposals to proceed only will
serve a false promise that wastes
taxpayer's time and money, and
eventually will end in sending the
charters to certain death in the courts."
In late August, the Youngstown City
Council said it would vote whether to
put its anti-fracturing initiative on the
November ballot. Youngstown officials
suggest Husted's decision did not apply
to municipal initiatives, and adds that
the time to explore the legality of the
issue would be after it had been
approved for the ballot. The Mahoning
County Board of Elections is expected
to do the same in the coming weeks.
OOGA Executive Vice President
Shawn Bennett says the association
commends Husted's decision as being
in line with state law and the Ohio
Supreme Court's February ruling in
Morrison v. Beck Energy Corp. This
decision overturned the city of Monroe
Falls' drilling ordinance and upheld the
Ohio Department of Natural Resources'

20 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

"sole and exclusive authority to regulate
the permitting, location and spacing of
oil and gas wells and production
operations within the state." (AOGR,
March 2015, pg. 16)
"These bans sought by cities or
counties are a misuse of time and
resources," Bennett comments, adding
that such measures keep coming up
because out-of-state groups are
persuading Ohio communities with little
to no industry activity that the county or
municipality has the authority to ban
such activity.
"It's very interesting, because there
is no shale development in any of these
places (with anti-fracturing measures),
and most of them don't have any
drilling at all," he says. "We hope
Secretary Husted's decision will put a
majority of these discussions to rest, so
that we can save time and money for all
invested parties." ❒

Federal Court Orders
Emission Recalculation
On Cross-State Air Rule

WASHINGTON-While the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency has
the authority to set emission levels
under the Cross-State Air Pollution
Rule, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
D.C. Circuit says it must recalculate
how much pollutant control it is
requiring states to impose.
Under the rule, which implements
the "good neighbor" provisions of the
Clean Air Act, EPA ordered 28 states to
adopt regulations that required them to
reduce power plant emissions that
affected air quality in downwind states
(AOGR, August 2011, pg. 21). Any
state that fails to adopt approved
regulations is subject to a federal
implementation plan written by the
agency.
Several states challenged the CrossState Air Pollution Rule and won lower
court decisions, but in May 2014, the
Supreme Court affirmed EPA's
authority for setting emissions budgets
in EPA v. Eme Homer City Generation
LP (AOGR, June 2014, pg. 24).
Several of the petitioners then
challenged the agency's methodology
for creating those budgets for upwind
states. According to court documents,
Texas, Alabama, Georgia and South
Carolina claimed EPA miscalculated

the impact of sulfur dioxide emissions.
Those states were joined by Florida,
Maryland, New Jersey, New York,
North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania,
which challenged the agency's nitrogen
oxide standards.
In a July 28 ruling, the D.C. Circuit
upheld both sets of claims and ordered
EPA to reconsider its emissions
standards for those states.
According to the decision, the judges
cited Texas as an example of the
agency's miscalculation. EPA found the
state to be linked to nonattainment at
one downwind site, in Madison, Il. The
agency ordered Texas and six other
states to impose emission-reduction
measures totaling $500 a ton. However,
the court says EPA's technical support
document for the pollution rule
indicates Madison would be in
attainment if the upwind states linked to
it only implemented emission
reductions available at the $100 a ton
threshold.
"In Texas, we create air quality
improvements through science and
facts," says Texas Attorney General
Ken Paxton. "The EPA's agenda-driven
mandates would have increased energy
costs for hard-working Texans and
decreased reliability. I am pleased the
court has sent the EPA marching back
to the drawing board." ❒

New Texas Law Prompts
Denton To Trim Setbacks

AUSTIN, TX.-The Denton, Tx.,
City Council has voted to slice 200 feet
off the city's required setback distance,
the Texas Independent Producers &
Royalty Owners Association reports.
Since the city adopted its drilling
ordinance in 2013, the association notes,
oil and gas wells in residential and
commercial districts could not be closer
than 1,200 feet from a building. The
amendment shrinks that setback to 1,000
feet while establishing a reverse setback-
the closest new buildings can be
constructed to existing wells-of 250 feet.
According to a city of Denton press
release, the council voted 5-1 on Aug. 4
to amend the city's Gas Well Drilling
and Production Ordinance. It goes on to
acknowledge the changes reflect an
effort to reconcile Denton's regulations
with the 2015 Texas Legislature's
passage of HB 40. That law clarifies
state and local jurisdictions over oil and
http://www.ndhealth.gov/EHS/TENORM
American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2015

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