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Alaska proposes CBM development guidelines
Petroleum News
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas issued a “public review draft” April 19 of proposed standards for coalbed methane development of state-owned resources in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
The agency said it will accept comments through the end of business May 21, and will also hold public meetings in early May to take comments.
It said it would use the enforceable standards “when making decisions related to coalbed methane development in the Mat-Su Borough,” including decisions on leasing and licensing, plans of operations and unit decisions and will also recommend that the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission adopt similar standards.
Following public debate last summer, Commissioner of Natural Resources Tom Irwin announced in October that the department would begin a public process to establish enforceable standards for Mat-Su Borough coalbed methane development. A number of public meetings were held and the department said those meetings were the basis for the proposed standards, which will apply to coalbed methane decisions the department makes in the Mat-Su Borough on “lands subject to a state oil and gas lease or contained within an oil and gas unit.” Mitigation measures will be imposed on leases and licenses and conditions will be imposed on plan of operation approvals. Public notice provisions In addition to existing requirements for public notice, the department will provide public notice and a 90-day comment period for shallow gas lease applications or best interest findings for oil and gas licenses or lease sales through a variety of methods including display ads and public service announcements on radio stations.
The agency will also provide a 30-day public notice and review/comment period for each phase of coalbed methane development requiring a plan of operation — exploration, development and transportation. The applicant will be required to notify owners of surface land within a half-mile by certified mail, and there will also be published notices.
The standards include requirements for disclosure of fracturing materials in plans of operations, posting hazardous materials lists at each drill site, a written emergency preparedness and response plan and as-built surveys for permanent coalbed methane facilities.
There are setbacks for drill pads and compressor stations, and a prohibition against construction of either in subdivisions “containing lots predominantly sized at five acres or less.” Both noise and visual mitigation are required, as is light shielding. Split estate brochure The standards require “good-faith efforts to negotiate a surface use agreement” and mandate the department to develop an informational brochure on split estate issues.
Recommendations to other agencies include that the Mat-Su Borough establish standards similar to the state’s “to be applied by the borough on non-state managed lands.”
The department recommends that the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission adopt regulations to prevent production of coalbed methane from coal seams that serve as a current source of drinking water, continue its efforts to develop a public notice procedure for permits to drill coalbed methane wells and continue its efforts to develop requirements for proposed coalbed methane wells of baseline testing and on-going monitoring for water quality of any existing drinking water that may be negatively affected by the coalbed methane production.
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