Rep. Bill Schuster (R-PA) spoke last week at Hart Energy’s Marcellus Midstream Conference in Pittsburgh, Pa. about why regulating the natural gas industry should remain in the hands of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) – and not the federal government – to ensure the fastest and safest development the Marcellus shale.

“In my opinion, Pennsylvania knows best how to develop and regulate the shale gas we have here. We’re not Texas, Oklahoma or any other state. The ‘one-size-fits-all’ federal mentality doesn’t work so we have to make sure to keep the federal government the hell out of Pennsylvania,” he said.

Congressman Schuster stated that the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the Interior, and the Army Corps of Engineers are each attempting to regulate the development of the Marcellus in some form or another. In particular, he noted that the Army Corps of Engineers has been trying to regulate gathering pipelines in the state. In Schuster’s opinion such action would slow down the process while not creating any new protections for the environment.

“The DEP has been doing this for 30 years and they know what they’re doing. Plus they’re Pennsylvanians and they don’t want to destroy the state’s environment,” he said. “I’ve already gotten word back to the Corps that if they attempt to regulate in Pennsylvania that my colleagues and I in Congress will do everything in our power to stop it, including defunding the portion of the Corps attempting this action.”

Schuster spoke about how the Marcellus shale could give Pennsylvania a second chance to revitalize its economy by becoming a leading producer of natural gas, not just in the United States, but the world. However, to achieve this it was imperative to create the right environment for business development.

He noted that the state has steadily suffered population losses during the last few decades and was set to lose a Congressional seat based on the latest census data while Texas will gain four seats.

“This is a result of a culture that is friendly and responsive to businesses,” Schuster said. “I recognize the importance of Pennsylvania’s economic future and our need to secure energy independence. I believe natural gas is going to be a bridge fuel [to clean energy]. Congress and the President, I’m happy to say, have stopped their push for comprehensive climate change bills. The opportunity for natural gas is enormous, but the development has to be done right.”

While Schuster highlighted the need for Congress and the state of Pennsylvania to create a regulatory and legislative atmosphere that created a welcoming business environment for natural gas producers and midstream operators, he also noted that the onus was on the industry to develop these volumes in an environmentally safe manner.

“A lot of companies that work in other states such as Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado were kind of taken aback with the response that average Pennsylvania citizens had to the development of natural gas,” he said. “That occurred because during the last 100 years the coal industry came into Pennsylvania and didn’t develop coal correctly. They destroyed land, took the coal and left behind acid mine drainage, which has been a significant problem in Pennsylvania for the last 30-40 years.”

It is important that the natural gas industry learn from these mistakes, avoid as many accidents as possible and be conscious of the land and the citizens in the state. While the industry does a good job of policing itself to maintain safety standards, third-party pipeline damage is an area that can be fraught with danger from both a physical and a public awareness standpoint.

While generally out of the hands of pipeline operators, these companies need to do a better job of making the public aware of the dangers associated with accidently coming into contact with pipelines. He said that a public campaign to make citizens aware of the need to contact local pipeline companies while doing different field work would help eliminate some accidents.

Schuster also said that the industry needs to do a better job at the grassroots level talking to citizens and local papers instead of concentrating so much on TV ads and editorials in large city papers.

“Local citizens believe the stories out of their local papers are gospel. If the public pushback is strong enough against development then there will be regulations that you and I won’t like. When the public pushes, their elected officials respond,” he said.

While there are challenges ahead on the regulatory and legislative front, the effort will be worth it for both the industry and the state, according to Schuster. “Pennsylvania is blessed. Not only do we have the shale gas, we still have coal, a little bit of oil and an abundance of water. We have the natural resources to again become the Keystone State and become one of the drivers of the U.S. economy.”

Contact the author, Frank Nieto, at fnieto@hartenergy.com.