The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will adopt Saturday the final version of a rule it will use for issuing air-quality permits for natural gas and oil production and processing operations, the agency said Friday.
Called a guidance, the rule applies to the permitting of emissions from the exploration, extraction and production of oil and gas, the DEP said. The guidance explains how the agency will decide when it will separately permit emission sources, such as natural gas compressor stations, and when it will aggregate the sources under one permit.
The guidance "provides a common-sense approach" to the permitting process, DEP Secretary Mike Krancer said in a statement.
The policy is based on an existing interim rule and the DEP has generally interpreted it to favor oil and gas producers, said Joe Osborne, an attorney for the Group Against Smog and Pollution in Pittsburgh.
