Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 4, 2011 / Proposed Rules 295 

ONMS will accept anonymous 

comments (enter N/A in the required 

fields if you wish to remain 

anonymous). Attachments to electronic 

comments will be accepted in Microsoft 

Word, Excel, Wordperfect, or Adobe 

PDF file formats only. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Debra Malek, Office of National Marine 

Sanctuaries, 1305 East-West Highway, 

11th floor, Silver Spring, MD 20910, 

(301) 713–3125 Ext. 262. 

Daniel J. Basta, 

Director, Office of National Marine 

Sanctuaries. 

[FR Doc. 2010–33088 Filed 1–3–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–NK–M 

DELAWARE RIVER BASIN 

COMMISSION 

18 CFR Part 410 

Proposed Amendments to the Water 

Quality Regulations, Water Code and 

Comprehensive Plan To Provide for 

Regulation of Natural Gas 

Development Projects 

AGENCY: Delaware River Basin 

Commission. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of public 

hearing. 

SUMMARY: The Delaware River Basin 

Commission (‘‘Commission’’) proposes 

to amend its Water Quality Regulations 

(‘‘WQR’’), Water Code and 

Comprehensive Plan by adding a new 

Article 7 to the WQR providing for the 

conservation and development of water 

resources of the Delaware River Basin 

during the implementation of natural 

gas development projects. This Article 

applies to all natural gas development 

projects involving siting, construction or 

use of production, exploratory or other 

wells in the Basin regardless of the 

target geologic formation, and to water 

withdrawals, well pad and related 

activities and wastewater disposal 

activities comprising part of, associated 

with or serving such projects. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before close of business on March 16, 

2011. Public hearings are scheduled for 

February 17 and 22, 2011. See 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below for 

further information about the public 

hearings. 

ADDRESSES: Electronic comments will 

only be accepted through the designated 

public comment collection system 

accessible through the Commission’s 

Draft Natural Gas Development 

Regulations Web page: http:// 

www.state.nj.us/drbc/notice_naturalgasdraftregs.htm. Printed comments may be 

submitted through the U.S. Mail to 

Natural Gas Regulations c/o 

Commission Secretary, DRBC, P.O. Box 

7360, West Trenton, NJ 08628–0360; by 

private mail carrier to Natural Gas 

Regulations c/o Commission Secretary, 

DRBC, 25 State Police Drive, West 

Trenton, NJ 08628–0360; or at any of the 

three public hearings. See Supplemental 

Information below for further 

information about the location of the 

public hearings and how to file 

comments electronically. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The 

full text of the Draft Natural Gas 

Development Regulations was posted on 

December 9, 2010 on the Commission’s 

Web site: http://www.state.nj.us/drbc/ 

notice_naturalgas-draftregs.htm. Hard 

copies of these materials may be 

obtained at cost by contacting Ms. Paula 

Schmitt at 609–883–9500, ext. 224. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Comment Process: Interested parties 

wishing to comment on the proposed 

Article 7 are encouraged to visit the 

Commission’s Draft Natural Gas 

Development Regulations webpage: 

http://www.state.nj.us/drbc/ 

notice_naturalgas-draftregs.htm. This 

Web page provides instructions on how 

to submit comments, a copy of the draft 

regulations, supporting documents and 

information about the public hearings 

and informational sessions, and access 

to the public comment collection 

system. The Commission will only 

accept comments received through the 

electronic comment collection system 

accessible through its Web page, during 

the public hearing or at the addresses 

listed above. Comment received through 

any other method, including email, fax 

and telephone, will not be considered or 

included in the record. 

Public Hearings: Three public 

hearings will be held. The hearings are 

tentatively scheduled for February 17, 

2010 near the Commission office and 

February 22, 2011 in Wayne County, 

Pennsylvania and Sullivan County, New 

York. The exact times, locations, 

directions, and other details about these 

meetings will be posted on the 

Commission’s Web page as they become 

available: http://www.state.nj.us/drbc/ 

notice_naturalgas-draftregs.htm. 

Purpose, Authority and Scope: The 

Commission is proposing a new Article 

7 of DRBC’s Water Quality Regulations 

to protect the water resources of the 

Basin during the construction and 

operation of natural gas development 

projects. This Article applies to all 

natural gas development projects 

involving siting, construction or use of 

production, exploratory or other wells 

in the Basin regardless of the target 

geologic formation, and to water 

withdrawals, well pad and related 

activities and wastewater disposal 

activities comprising part of, associated 

with or serving such projects. The 

provisions of this Article rely on the 

state oil and gas regulatory programs of 

Pennsylvania and New York where 

separate administration by the 

Commission would result in 

unnecessary duplication. The Article 

supersedes the Executive Director’s 

Determinations issued on May 19, 2009, 

June 14, 2010 and July 23, 2010. 

This Article implements the statutory 

authority that the Basin states of 

Delaware, New Jersey, New York and 

Pennsylvania and the federal 

government granted to the Commission 

in the Delaware River Basin Compact 

and supplements the Commission’s 

Comprehensive Plan with respect to 

natural gas development projects within 

the Basin. Commission regulations are 

one mechanism by which the Basin 

states and Federal government work 

together to manage water resources in 

an integrated manner for the benefit of 

all citizens of the Basin. 

Strategic Regulatory Framework: This 

Article’s regulatory framework is 

divided into sections addressing water 

sources for natural gas development, 

well pad siting, and wastewater 

disposal. The Commission primarily 

relies on the oil and gas programs and 

the experienced agency staff of the state 

in which the natural gas well is located 

to manage well construction and 

operation. 

Water Sources for Uses Related to 

Natural Gas Well Development: Existing 

Commission regulations establish a 

program for regulating water 

withdrawals. These Commission 

requirements serve multiple water 

resources objectives including, among 

others, preserving river flows to protect 

in-stream living resources and 

downstream withdrawers, and ensuring 

adequate assimilative capacity for 

approved discharges. The Commission 

has in other regulations established 

thresholds for project review based on 

the thirty-day average volume of water 

withdrawals. Water withdrawals for 

natural gas development including high 

volume hydraulic fracturing may have 

substantial water quality impacts due to 

their high intermittent daily withdrawal 

volume. Consequently, this Article 

requires that water used for natural gas 

development projects must come from 

water sources that have been approved 

by the Commission for use for natural 

gas development. The requirements for 

approval are designed to protect 

minimum stream flows, provide a 


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296 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 4, 2011 / Proposed Rules 

record of water transfers and otherwise 

ensure that water resources are not 

adversely affected. A streamlined 

approval process is provided that 

encourages the use of existing 

Commission-approved water sources to 

minimize the need to construct and 

operate new water sources. This Article 

permits water sources located within 

the physical boundaries of an approved 

Natural Gas Development Plan 

(‘‘NGDP’’) to be approved for uses within 

the NGDP. This Article also permits 

flowback and production waters, treated 

wastewater and mine drainage waters to 

be reused for natural gas development 

under specified conditions. 

Natural Gas Development Plan 

(‘‘NGDP’’) and Well Pad Siting 

Requirements: The severity of the risks 

to water resources from well pad 

construction and operation depends in 

large part on where the well pads are 

placed. Article 7 seeks to minimize 

impacts to water resources from natural 

gas development by establishing NGDP 

and well pad siting and planning 

requirements, including: 

• Mandatory preparation of NGDP by 

sponsors of natural gas well pad projects 

who have total lease holdings in the 

Delaware River Basin of over 3,200 acres 

or intend to construct more than five 

natural gas well pads designed for any 

type of natural gas well. 

• Identification, through the NGDP, of 

the project sponsor’s foreseeable natural 

gas development in a defined 

geographic area. The NGDP requirement 

is designed to foster protection of water 

resources through broad scale lease area 

planning rather than limited site-by-site 

decision making, thereby encouraging 

development only in areas most suitable 

for it and minimizing impact to 

sensitive water resource features. These 

plans identify geographic and 

hydrological constraints to natural gas 

development and identify measures to 

minimize those impacts. 

• Restrictions regarding siting in 

flood hazard areas, on steep slopes, and 

areas that serve as critical habitat for 

federal or state designated threatened 

and endangered (T&E) species. 

• Minimum setbacks from water 

bodies, wetlands, surface water supply 

intakes and water supply reservoirs at 

distances specified in the regulations, 

and from occupied homes, public 

buildings, public roads, public water 

supply wells, and domestic water 

supply wells as provided by regulations 

of the state in which the well pad is 

located. 

• A requirement for pre- and postproject monitoring of surface and 

groundwater near well pads involving 

high volume hydraulically fractured 

wells, including a characterization of 

the hydrology, water chemistry and 

biological resources of surface waters 

and the water chemistry of ground 

waters. 

• Requiring the monitoring, tracking, 

and reporting of water usage and 

wastewater treatment and disposal. All 

wastewaters must be transported to an 

approved treatment and disposal 

facilities. 

Well Construction and Operation 

Procedures: The Commission 

principally relies on the states’ 

implementation of state laws, 

regulations and programs concerning 

construction and operation of natural 

gas wells, well pads, and appurtenant 

structures to satisfy the requirements of 

the Compact and the Commission’s 

Comprehensive Plan. In this Article, the 

Commission is separately requiring that 

all non-domestic wastewater be 

transferred to appropriate tanks for 

temporary storage on the well pad site 

or to a centralized wastewater storage 

facility and that fluids and drill cuttings 

from horizontal wellbores in the target 

formation be beneficially reused or 

disposed of at an appropriate waste 

facility. 

Wastewater Generated from Natural 

Gas Activities: Wastewater produced at 

natural gas well sites contains salts and 

other chemicals that present water 

treatment challenges. This Article 

provides that any wastewater treatment 

facility within the Basin may accept 

non-domestic wastewater from a natural 

gas development project only if the 

facility first obtains approval from the 

Commission in the form of a docket or 

modification of an existing docket. 

To obtain authorization, a project 

sponsor must submit a treatability study 

to demonstrate that acceptance of the 

non-domestic wastewater will not 

interfere with the facility’s operations, 

and provide information to show that 

the facility’s discharge will neither (a) 

cause primary and secondary Safe 

Drinking Water Act standards to be 

exceeded where surface water may be 

used as a public water supply, nor (b) 

violate zone-specific stream quality 

objectives and effluent limitations. This 

Article 7 includes a comprehensive 

tracking system designed to promote the 

proper disposal of wastewater from 

natural gas development projects. 

Approval by Rule (‘‘ABR’’) Procedures: 

Existing procedures for obtaining a 

Commission decision on a project 

application generally take 6–9 months. 

This Article 7 provides for a streamlined 

process for natural gas development 

projects that demonstrate that they 

satisfy certain criteria. It provides 

Commission approval for these projects 

under an ‘‘approval by rule’’ process 

involving public notice, application to 

and approval by the Executive Director 

in a process that may take less than 30 

days Eligible projects include (a) Bulk 

water sales for uses related to natural 

gas by holders of valid Commission 

approvals that can provide water within 

their current allocations; (b) well pad 

projects that conform to a Commissionapproved Natural Gas Development 

Plan; (c) well pad projects that conform 

to specified restrictions and setback 

requirements; and (d) water supply 

projects involving the reuse of recovered 

flowback and production fluids as 

make-up water for hydraulically 

fracturing natural gas wells. In addition, 

projects that do not involve fracturing or 

that consist of well pads constructed 

exclusively for the development and 

operation of exploratory natural gas 

wells and that are expected to use no 

more than 80,000 gallons or equivalent 

of hydraulic fracturing fluids (‘‘low 

volume hydraulically fractured wells’’) 

are eligible for an ABR if they comply 

with applicable state programs and 

Commission setbacks and requirements. 

Approval by rule is not available for 

projects located in National Park 

Management Areas or in the watersheds 

of the New York City Reservoirs. 

Financial Assurance Requirements: 

Financial assurance for the plugging, 

abandonment and restoration of natural 

gas wells and the remediation of any 

pollution from natural gas development 

activities is required in the amount of 

$125,000 per natural gas well. After well 

installation and hydraulic fracturing are 

complete, the Executive Director may 

approve a reduction in the amount of 

the financial assurance for individual 

wells if there is no evidence of harm to 

the water resources of the Basin and the 

project sponsor obtains a separate 

‘‘excess’’ insurance policy or other 

financial assurance instrument. 

Dated: December 23, 2010. 

John F. Calkin, 

Attorney, Delaware River Basin Commission. 

[FR Doc. 2010–32981 Filed 1–3–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6360–01–P 

POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION 

39 CFR Part 3050 

[Docket No. RM2011–6; Order No. 626] 

Periodic Reporting 

AGENCY: Postal Regulatory Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking; 

availability of rulemaking petition. 


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