American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2016 - 135

The Presidential Papers
ication of our staff, members, legal counsel, and the Western Association of Fish
and Wildlife Agencies. This fight is far
from over, however, and we continue to

prepare for USFWS's appeal, or whatever
comes next.
Whether it is our members' operational
adjustments and long-term planning, or

PETROLEUM ASSOCIATION
OF WYOMING
RANDY HARRIS
DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT
BLACK HILLS EXPLORATION
& PRODUCTION INC.
DENVER

FROM THE CHAIRMAN
The Wyoming oil and gas industry
faced a plethora of regulatory and environmental issues in 2015. Each was met
strategically with strong, reasoned responses from the Petroleum Association
of Wyoming and many of its member
companies. Their efforts were significant
in trying to shape solutions and develop
workable compromises; but it is nearly
impossible to come away unblemished
from a battle with radical environmentalists
and zealous government overreach.
Notable was the U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service's decision not to list the greater
sage grouse under the Endangered Species
Act. Initial reaction from the industry
and many other stakeholders would seem
to call for elation. However, the Bureau
of Land Management's record of decision
and formalization of nearly 100 resource
management and land use plans reveals
66 million acres, peppered across 10
Western states, with significant activity
limitations or outright restrictions (AOGR,
Oct 2015, pg. 130). Federal regulators'
unprecedented move largely ignores what
was proven throughout the listing analysis,
which is that energy development and
sage grouse conservation can coexist.
PAW was one of several industry
groups that filed legal challenges against
BLM's move. In 2016, PAW will monitor
BLM's process and implementation of
the new restrictions that flow from the
13 RMP revisions in Wyoming, which
were released in September. The BLM
expresses plans to release additional guidance through instructional memorandums

that address rules governing land use activities, including oil and gas leasing and
development.
It will be extremely important that
BLM remain consistent with the governor's sage grouse conservation policy,
Wyoming Executive Order 2015-4. That
said, several potential revisions to the
EO have PAW's attention, which are
planned for additional comment and response. Chief among those are issues
concerning noise, winter concentration
areas and mitigation.
Federal Lands Challenges
The time it requires to process applications for permits to drill is an issue that
continues to hamstring industry and the
BLM. BLM's backlog of APDs in
Wyoming continues to hover near 1,000,
and there seems to be little or no accountability about addressing it. Although we
may see improvements in 2016, they probably will result from less drilling activity.
PAW will continue working closely
with the BLM to explore options to
resolve the backlog. The significant increase in APD fees in 2015-from $6,500
to $9,500 an application-raises hopes
that better funding will address the problem, but I am not holding my breath. As
oil and gas prices recover in the months
and years ahead, BLM must solve its
APD processing issues.
New and emerging technologies, evolving industry practices, and recommendations from several federal agencies prompted BLM in 2015 to propose rules to

the staff's government regulations efforts,
PBPA is acting. Through these actions
we are delineating and defining who we
are. Do you want to know who you are?❒
replace Onshore Orders 3, 4, and 5. These
new rules will address site security, oil
and gas measurement, transportation
record keeping and other potential revisions. Many also anticipate BLM will
revise its venting and flaring rules (NTL
4A). PAW and its member companies
will follow these issues closely in 2016
and participate in the formal process to
ensure regulations are balanced, clear,
and economically manageable.
In response to the presidential initiative
on mitigation, BLM also is developing a
regional mitigation strategy, which it apparently plans to unveil in 2016. PAW is
prepared to review and respond to any
matters that may impact the industry.
Moreover, PAW worries that the combined weight of the aforementioned BLM
developments threatens to wreak a serious
unintended consequence, considering the
bureau's increased workload and staffing
impacts entail the likely potential for
even more federal delays.
Wyoming Governor Matthew Mead
is undertaking a monumental ESA reform
initiative. This certainly will be on the
industry's radar and that of many other
stakeholders in 2016. PAW strongly supports this effort; reform is long overdue.
We hope the governor's status as chairman
of the Western Governors Association finally will help such an effort gain traction
and provide policymakers the awareness
of and information for meaningful change.
More Rule Changes
The Wyoming Oil & Gas Conservation
Commission will continue efforts to modify a number of rules. These include increasing the statewide bonding amount
from $75,000 to $100,000 and raising
APD fees from $50 to $500. APDs now
will be good for two years rather than
one. Both changes are scheduled to take
effect in 2016.
We also expect OGCC to implement
an online system through which operators
can submit APDs and other notices. Most
stakeholders believe this will create essential processing efficiencies and improve
tracking, upgrades that have been viewed
as the primary driver behind APD fee inJANUARY 2016 135

American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2016

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