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Rulemaking Petition

On October 22nd, 2024, Clean Air Council and Environmental Integrity Project submitted a  petition for rulemaking  to the Environmental Quality Board on behalf of the Protective Buffers PA campaign to increase statewide minimum protective buffers.

Rulemaking Petition to the Environmental Quality Board

The petition recommends increasing statewide minimum protective buffers from the current 500 feet to: 

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  • 3,281 feet from any building

  • 5,280 feet from any building serving vulnerable populations (e.g., schools, hospitals)

  • 3,281 feet from any drinking water wells

  • 750 feet from any surface water​

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The petition cites 42 scientific studies in support of the proposal and includes five affidavits of impacted residents. 

 

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) deemed the petition complete and moved it to the Environmental Quality Board (EQB) for review. At a meeting on April 8th, 2025, the EQB voted to table a vote on whether to accept the rulemaking petition for study.

 

The petition was resubmitted and discussed again at an EQB meeting on December 9th, 2025. The EQB voted in favor of moving the petition forward, allowing the DEP to study the action recommended by the petition and its implications. After this process is complete, the DEP will present their findings and it will be determined whether or not the rulemaking process will proceed.

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TAuch_Infrastructure-Fracking_MetisPad-WestmorelandCounty-PA_October2022 (3) - Copy_edited
Photo citation: Ted Auch, FracTracker Alliance, 2015.
Supporting Evidence for the Petition

Scientific Studies

These 42 studies come from the scientific peer reviewed literature. They demonstrate overwhelmingly that living close to shale gas development is associated with unsafe levels of pollution linked to cancer, asthma, heart problems, preterm birth, birth defects, and other serious health problems. The distances studied provides the basis for the distances suggested in the petition. 

EQB Presentation

This presentation was given to the Environmental Quality Board on April 8th, 2025 by Lisa Hallowell of the Environmental Integrity Project.

Grassroots Petition Signatures

Over 2,500 signatures were collected by the coalition and delivered to Governor Shapiro urging his administration to institute a statewide protective buffer rule around homes, sensitive sites such as schools and hospitals, and streams using distances at least as far as those recommended in the 2020 Grand Jury report.

Organizational Endorsements

Twenty-eight independent organizations in Pennsylvania signed on to an endorsement letter to Governor Shapiro urging his administration to institute a statewide protective buffer rule with the distances recommended by Protective Buffers PA. This letter was delivered in October 2024. 

Evidence on Flawed State Funded Air Studies 

The PA Department of Environmental Protection studies from 2010 and 2018 serve as the basis for the current 500-foot setback distance. The documents below provide evidence showing that these studies were flawed and a 500-foot protective buffer is arbitrary and not supported by science.

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