Q: Regulatory challenges are ever present. What will your focus be for the PAW member committees you work with in the next year or so?

A: We have several regulatory issues coming to finalization within various departments of the WDEQ. In the Water Quality Division we are continuing to work on water management associated with coal bed natural gas wells. The EQC has received testimony and reports detailing how agriculture and coal bed development can work together. We are hopeful that the EQC will make a decision on the DEQ’s Ag Use Protection Policy that will allow for continued economic development of the resource in the state while also allowing for continued agricultural protection. We expect the EQC will continue to debate the policy in the coming months. PAW has been working with the DEQ to try and find solutions to all interested parties. In terms of the Air Quality Division, PAW has been working to lower the winter ozone levels we have seen in the past years. Do to voluntary efforts to reduce ozone precursors and added monitoring efforts, PAW members were successful in not having an ozone exceedence this past winter. An effort we’re very proud of. We are also working with AQD to develop even more ways to lower emissions by working on Best Available Control Technologies (BACT) on all production equipment. It is our belief that through these efforts we will continue to be able to develop the resource our country so desperately needs, while maintaining our Wyoming way of life.

Q: Activity has slowed. Why should operators remain engaged in the process?

A: Although drilling activity has slowed over the last year or so, the issues involving regulation changes, legislative proposals, and other programs are continuing at an alarming rate. We have seen no slow down in regulatory changes to coincide with the slow down in drilling. It is much more critical to maintain a high level of participation in PAW and all the committees that are offered to work on these efforts when our industry is in a downtime such as now. The regulatory agencies and the legislature don’t slow down when we do, in fact, they maintain or pick up pace. Now is the time when the staff at PAW needs the most input from member companies to maintain a work environment that is conducive to our business. Eventually, this downturn will come back up, and when that happens, we need to be able to continue to do business in Wyoming. PAW is working to maintain that ability, but we need industry to stay engaged and work within the committee structure within PAW.

Q: What is coming up ?

PAW has a new Safety Subcommittee that is partnering with the Wyoming Contractors Association to hold a Safety Summit on October 13. The summit will be held at the McMurry Training Center in Casper. Currently a full agenda is being prepared, however the Governor has agreed to present the opening remarks. We believe the industry needs to show case the commitment to safety we all know exists. Gary Hartman, who staffs the Governor’s Task Force on Worker’s Safety, will also be invited to present. We expect to have booths available for exhibitors as well. This is a follow up summit to the Rocky Mountain Safety Council’s Safety Summit held in Rock Springs earlier this year.