MU~'+, .:'..U l"i' '7.JU MIVI ' CSM # 4039 Draft# D10609 Co-Sponsorship Report Posted: September 16, 2013 01 :00 PM To: All House Members From: Representative Greg Vitali Subject: Loyalsock State Forest Resolution 1. Representative Rick Mirabito added by kherr 2. Representative Frank Dermody added by mkhanna 3. Representative Dan Frankel added by gspece 4. Representative P. Sturla added by mbohnke 5. Representative William Adolph added by creddecliff 6. Representative Robert Freeman added by rfreeman 7. Representative Phyllis Mundy added by kbernard 8. Representative Mark Cohen added by kseidl 9. Representative Mark Mustio added by jmckee 10. Representative Michelle Brownlee added by tlatham 11 . Representative Mark Rozzi added by mrozzi 12. Representative Eddie Pashinski added by epashinski 13. Representative Steve Samuelson added by tcollins 14. Representative Michael O'Brien added by mobrien 15. Representative Katharine Watson added by mknab 16. Representative Mark Painter added by mpainter 17. Representative Thaddeus Kirkland added by !smith 18. Representative James Roebuck added by aedwards 19. Representative Kate Harper added by kfalzone 20. Representative Tim Briggs added by kmanucci 21. Representative Stephen Mccarter added by smorris 22. Representative Thomas Murt added by ediasio 23. Representative Madeleine Dean added by mkoenig 24. Representative Harry Readshaw added by mtricarico 25. Representative Mari Jo Daley added by dtoth 26. Representative Brendan Boyle added by lfouse 27. Representative Ed Gainey added by shardman 28. Representative John Sabatina added by kzickler KUY "t, LV I "t :;;? . JO t\IVI / 29. Representative Brian Sims added by mblane 30. Representative Matthew Bradford added by dbricker 31 . Representative Daniel Deasy added by jjarbeck 32. Representative Scott Conklin added by jmoser 33. Representative Rosita Youngblood added by wthomas 34. Representative Daniel Miller added by ltakacs 35. Representative Steven Santarsiero added by pgrill 36. Representative W. Thomas added by bhorne 37. Representative Michael Schlossberg added by gbrace 38. Representative Gene DiGirolamo added by phuss 39. Representative Mario Scavello added by rborbidge 40. Representative Patty Kim added by egutshall 41. Representative Patrick Harkins added by theilman 42. Representative Michael McGeehan added by poddo 43. Representative Florinda Fabrizio added by cpolaski 44. Representative Gerald Mullery added by gmullery 45. Representative Kevin Schreiber added by ltakacs 46. Representative Pamela Delissio added by kshaffer 47. Representative Bernie O'Neill added by cmcclure 48. Representative Thomas Caltagirone added by dvitale 49. Representative Adam Ravenstahl added by dwhite 50. Representative Stephen Kinsey added by tlatham 51. Representative Dom Costa added by pgrimpe 52. Representative Tim Mahoney added by ereever 53. Representative Neal Goodman added by lreed ,. 2014D10609 10609JKL:AJC 07/29/14 #82 A RESOLUTION i Encouraging the Governor and the Secretary of Conservation and 2 Natural Resources to prevent drilling operations in the 3 Clarence Moore Lands and preserve the character of the 4 Loyalsock State Forest. 5 WHEREAS, The Loyalsock State Forest encompasses 114,494 acres 6 in Lycoming, Sullivan and Bradford Counties; and 7 WHEREAS, The Loyalsock State Forest is home to a wealth of 8 magnificent natural and recreational resources; and 9 WHEREAS, The heart of the forest includes the Old Loggers 10 Path, a 27-mile hiking path that does not cross a single paved 11 road and features deep forests that are becoming increasingly 12 rare; and 13 WHEREAS, The Old Loggers Path has attracted hikers from 14 across the country and the world; people from England and Mexico 15 have signed the trail registers on the Old Loggers Path; and 16 WHEREAS, It also contains the Devil's Elbow Natural Area, a 17 remote plateau of rare plants, bogs and hemlock forests; and 18 WHEREAS, The forest is home to Rock Run; an Exceptional Value 2014Dl0609 - 1 - .{~ 1 stream, often described as the single most beautiful stream in 2 this Commonwealth; and 3 WHEREAS, The forest's size, water quantity and quality and 4 lack of disturbance make it an especially valuable nesting 5 habitat for interior bird species, including the Northern 6 Goshawk, a rare raptor, and the State-endangered Yellow-Bellied 7 Flycatcher; and 8 WHEREAS, There are 25,621 acres of Loyalsock State Forest, 9 known as the Clarence Moore Lands, where the Commonwealth owns 10 only the surface estate and does not own oil and gas rights; and 11 WHEREAS, The subsurface oil and gas rights to this acreage 12 are owned by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation and International 13 Development Corporation; and 14 WHEREAS, This land is divided into an 18,780-acre tract and a 15 6,841-acre tract; and 16 WHEREAS, A Commonwealth Court decision in 1983 gives the 17 Commonwealth the legal power, authority and right to prevent 18 Anadarko and International Development Corporation from using 19 the surface of 18,780 acres of the Clarence Moore Lands to 20 extract oil and gas; and 21 WHEREAS, Anadarko has entered into discussions with the 22 Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to develop the 23 Clarence Moore Tracts; and 24 WHEREAS, According to the Department of Conservation and 25 Natural Resources, Anadarko has proposed a development plan that 26 includes the siting of 25 wellpads, clearing 60-foot-wide swaths 27 of land for pipelines that traverse the Old Loggers Path 28muitiple-t:Cme-s~---the construction of compressor stations and 29 impoundment pits in the area; and 30 WHEREAS, Anadarko's proposal would significantly degrade the 2014D10609 - 2 - ,/- ; 1 wild character of the Loyalsock State Forest; and 2 WHEREAS, Under Section 27 of Article I of the Constitution of 3 Pennsylvania, the Department of Conservation and Natural 4 Resources has a legal duty to conserve, maintain and enhance 5 State Forest lands for the benefit of all Pennsylvanians, 6 including future generations; and 7 WHEREAS, The Conservation and Natural Resources Act s specifically requires the Department of Conservation and Natural 9 Resources to protect, maintain and regulate the occupancy and 10 use of State Forest lands; therefore be it 11 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives encourage the 12 Governor and the Secretary of Conservation and Natural Resources 13 to exercise all of their constitutional, statutory and 14 discretionary powers to prevent drilling operations in the 15 Clarence Moore Lands to the maximum extent possible, so as to 16 preserve the wild character of the Loyalsock State Forest. 2014D10609 - 3 - -.t-\ Save the Loyalsock Coalition www.saveloyalsock.com July 31, 2014 Ellen Ferretti, Secretary Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Rachel Carson State Office Building P.O. Box 8767 Harrisburg, PA 17105-8767 Dear Secretary Ferretti: We write concerning the recent announcement that the Department will conduct a 15-day public comment period on the final draft Surfuce Disturbance Management Agreement ("SDMA") between the Department and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation and Southwestern Energy Production Company (collectively, "Companies") for the Clarence Moore lands in the Lovalsock State Forest. We understand that the SDMA will include the Companies' proposed development plan as an exhibit. First, we thank the Department for acknowledging and responding to our repeated requests for public involvement in these development plans. However, while we appreciate the opportunity to comment, we also believe thiit the Department's proposed 15-day comment period will be entirely inadequate for the public to review, understand, and comment on documentation that we assume will be 100 piiges or more in length. This is especially true if the documentation includes the Department's environmental reviews and other impact assessments concerning the Companies' proposed development. We believe strongly that these assessments must be included for the public to be able to evaluate the final draft SDMA. By way of comparison, when the Department proposes a transfer or exchange of State Forest land-no matter how small the area-it advertises the proposal in the Pennsylvania Bulletin and local newspapers for at least 60 days and accepts comments for 30 days. See 17 Pa Code§ 25.2. Under Pennsylvania law, thirty-day comment periods are standard for many permitting matters and proposed transactions or programmatic cha..'1ges. Even a simple change in Pennsylvania's Smallmouth Bass "Catch and Release" Program requires a 30-day comment period. Given the ecological and recreational importance of the Clarence Moore lands, as well as the volume and complexity of the information at issue, we believe that the public comment period on any final draft SMDA and proposed development plan should be sixty (60) days, and should include at least three (3) public hearings. Of course, given the Commonwealth Court's decision in Clarence Moore v. DER, 566 A.2d 905 (Pa Cmwlth. 1989), we continue to believe that an SDMA is the wrong legal instrument for the DCNR to be negotiating at all-that the Companies need a right-of-way from the DCNR to use the 18,870-acre "yellow tract" area because, assuming that the Companies have good title to the oil and gas under the Clarence Moore lands, under Clarence Moore the DCNR has exclusive control of the surface of that area We have stated these concerns before, and will reiterate them during the formal comment period. Meanwhile, we respectfully request that the Department's public comment process