Shapiro Orders New Controls on the Oil and Gas Industry in Pennsylvania, Targeting Methane Emissions and Drilling Chemicals

The governor also announced a collaboration with CNX Resources, a gas driller, aimed at gathering and disclosing pollution data and increasing transparency.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced on Thursday that the state Department of Environmental Protection would take part in a “groundbreaking collaboration” with a natural gas driller and more broadly impose new requirements on the oil and gas industry for “controlling” methane emissions and compelling disclosure of all chemicals used to drill for fossil fuels. 

The new requirements stem from the findings of a grand jury investigation, completed in 2020, which concluded that state agencies failed to protect Pennsylvanians from the “inherent risks” of unconventional gas drilling using hydraulic fracturing technology, or fracking. Shapiro, a Democrat elected governor in 2022, oversaw the grand jury in his previous role as the state’s attorney general.  

The DEP’s collaboration with CNX Resources Corp. will enable the agency to collect air emissions data before, during and after development on new wells, the first of which is in East Finley Township, Washington County. Shapiro described the initiative as “the most intensive independent study of unconventional natural gas wells in the nation.”

Shapiro called himself an “all-of-the-above energy governor” at a press conference announcing the private-public partnership. He said the DEP directive was “a new standard for Pennsylvania’s natural gas to be produced in the most responsible and sustainable way,” in a press release. “With this collaboration, CNX is leading the industry in showing how we can reduce pollution and ensure the health and safety of our communities while still maintaining Pennsylvania’s central role in the nation’s energy economy.” 

Nick Deiuliis, CNX’s president and CEO, said such “operational transparency is good for resident health, the industry worker, economic development, energy security, the environment, and community investment.” 

PHOTO: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. Credit: Mark Makela/Getty Images