Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection released the first draft of its pipeline infrastructure taskforce report, and will accept public comments for 30 days beginning Nov. 14.
“This draft report is the culmination of hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of work done by the members of this task force and by the volunteers on the 12 work groups,” said PDEP Sec. John Quigley, who chairs the taskforce which Gov. Tom Wolf (D) formed earlier this year (OGJ Online, May 29, 2015).
The work groups developed 184 recommendations are in the first draft, he said. “[They] have been put together by the sectors affected by pipeline development,” Quigley said. “Agriculture, communities, environmentalists, cultural resource advocates, industry officials, emergency responders, and local, state, and federal agencies and more are all represented in these pages.”
He said it is important to remember that the first draft is not meant to be the final word, and that it will be discussed at the taskforce’s next scheduled meeting on Nov. 18 at PDEP’s South Central Regional office in Harrisburg.
“When we present our report to the governor in February 2016, I anticipate that the next step will be to determine the feasibility and implementation strategies for each recommendation,” Quigley said.
Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].