[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1444 Introduced in House (IH)]







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 
        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;
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;
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
    Resolved, that it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the Susquehanna River Basin Commission should give the same 
consideration to the energy needs of the United States and the 
potential jobs that could be created by a proposed project as is 
accorded to other factors, such as 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, when 
drafting a regulation and reviewing a project application related to 
natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation.
                                 <all>