November 21 Special Meeting on Gas Drilling is Cancelled by the Delaware River Basin Commission

WEST TRENTON, N.J. (Nov. 18) – The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) today announced that the special meeting scheduled for Nov. 21 to consider draft natural gas development regulations has been postponed to allow additional time for review by the five commission members.

No additional information is available at this time.

The DRBC is a federal/interstate government agency responsible for managing the water resources within the 13,539 square-mile Delaware River Basin. The five commission members are the governors of the basin states (Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania) and the commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ North Atlantic Division, who represents the federal government.

Natural Gas Development Regulations

On November 21, 2011, the Delaware River Basin Commission will consider adoption of Article 7 of DRBC’s Water Quality Regulations to protect the water resources of the Delaware River Basin during the construction and operation of natural gas development projects.

This meeting is a special meeting rescheduled from October 21, 2011.  It will be held from 10 a.m. to 12 noon in the Patriots Theater at the War Memorial, 1 Memorial Drive, in Trenton, N.J.  It will not include a hearing to accept comments from the public prior to the anticipated vote.

The purpose of the proposed regulations are to protect the water resources of the Delaware River Basin during the development and operation of natural gas projects.  69,000 comments were received on the draft natural gas development regulations. Six public hearings were held at three locations in February 2011. Written comments were accepted until April 15, 2011, which was an extension from the original March 16 deadline.

The Commission has published the regulations on their website:  NATURAL GAS DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS

They also published a "fact sheet" regarding the regulations on their website: NATURAL GAS DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS "AT A GLANCE" FACT SHEET