IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1444 

Expressing the Sense of the House of Representatives that the Susquehanna 

River Basin Commission should carefully consider the energy needs of 

the United States and the economic development needs of the region 

before limiting natural gas exploration and development in the Marcellus 

Shale formation. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 16, 2008 

Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania submitted the following resolution; which was 

referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the Sense of the House of Representatives that 

the Susquehanna River Basin Commission should carefully consider the energy needs of the United States 

and the economic development needs of the region before 

limiting natural gas exploration and development in the 

Marcellus Shale formation. 

Whereas spending hundreds of billions of dollars every year 

on foreign oil to fuel cars and trucks has weakened the 

economy, the environment, and national security; 

Whereas after decades of debate about the dangers of becoming reliant on foreign oil and how that reliance has damaged our economy and weakened our national security, 

the United States has grown more dependent on foreign 


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•HRES 1444 IH 

oil, and the dire consequences are being felt across the 

Nation; 

Whereas the United States is borrowing itself into national 

bankruptcy in the amount of $700 billion a year for imported oil, and this is not sustainable; 

Whereas the public of the United States needs to know there 

is an alternative to our failed energy policies of the past; 

Whereas energy is the Nation’s single biggest challenge, the 

need to meet that challenge is urgent, and there is an answer through the natural gas of the United States; 

Whereas in early 2008, Terry Englander, a geoscience professor at Pennsylvania State University, and Gary Lash, 

a geology professor at the State University of New York 

at Fredonia, produced estimates that the Marcellus Shale 

formation might contain more than 500 trillion cubic feet 

of natural gas; 

Whereas the presence of an enormous volume of potentially 

recoverable gas in the eastern United States has great 

economic significance, and this natural gas is closest to 

the highly populated areas of New Jersey, New York, and 

New England; 

Whereas gas produced from the shallower, western portion of 

the Marcellus Shale formation could be transported to 

cities in the central part of the United States and have 

a positive impact on the stability of the natural gas supply of the surrounding region for several years; 

Whereas if the Marcellus Shale formation holds up to the optimistic expectations of some natural gas experts, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, and West Virginia could temporarily have an enormous boost in income over the next 

few decades; 


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Whereas local economies could see an increase in employment 

and revenue as a result of the drilling into the natural 

gas-rich Marcellus Shale formation, according to a report 

from the Penn State Workforce Education and Development Initiative; 

Whereas the above-mentioned report estimates that for each 

billion dollars of royalty income generated by the 

Marcellus Shale formation reserves, local communities 

could gain 7,880 jobs in the first year, and close to 8,000 

in the second; 

Whereas the increase in drilling has already resulted in a 

large demand for workers, entry-level jobs with drilling 

companies and well servicing companies, and a variety of 

jobs throughout the region; 

Whereas more than 72 percent of the tri-state Susquehanna 

watershed, covering portions of New York, Pennsylvania, 

and Maryland, are underlain by the Marcellus Shale formation and other natural gas rich shale formations; 

Whereas advancements in technology for capturing natural 

gas in shale formations require operators to inject large 

amounts of water several thousand feet underground to 

break up the rocks; 

Whereas on August 15, 2008, the Susquehanna River Basin 

Commission (SRBC) notified the natural gas operators 

that as of October 15, 2008, any amount of water withdrawn or consumptively used to develop wells in the 

Marcellus, Utica, or other shale formations in the Susquehanna River watershed would require prior approval 

from the SRBC; 


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•HRES 1444 IH 

Whereas this is the first time in the SRBC’s 37-year history 

they are imposing this type of requirement on an entire 

class of projects rather than on an individual project; 

Whereas the SRBC has indicated it will only consider quantity and rate of water usage, location of water (ground 

and surface sources) for withdrawals and consumptive 

uses, the potential to alter the physical, biological, chemical or hydrological characteristics of the basin’s water resources, and the potential to affect interstate water quality; and 

Whereas the SRBC’s initial public statement has not indicated they will consider the broad energy needs of the 

United States or the economic development needs of communities in the immediate region: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, that it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that the Susquehanna River Basin Commis3 sion should give the same consideration to the energy 

4 needs of the United States and the potential jobs that 

5 could be created by a proposed project as is accorded to 

6 other factors, such as quantity and rate of water usage, 

7 location of water (ground and surface sources) for with8 drawals and consumptive uses, the potential to alter the 

9 physical, biological, chemical, or hydrological characteris10 tics of the basin’s water resources, and the potential to 

11 affect interstate water quality, when drafting a regulation 

12 and reviewing a project application related to natural gas 

13 drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation. 

Æ 


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