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New center to start shale gas producer certification process

4 min read

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A new center announced nine months ago to provide shale gas producers with certification of performance standards for shale development in the Appalachian basin said Tuesday it’s officially ready to launch that process.

In a day marked by multiple announcements, including one for welcoming its first permanent director, the Center for Sustainable Shale Development – a collaborative between environment organizations and energy companies – said its independent third-party certification and verification program is now accepting applicants.

While applying for the certification is voluntary, the group hopes to eventually see its process replicated in other shale stratas in the United States and globally.

During a conference call with media, CSSD interim director Andrew Place outlined a rigorous certification process based on the center’s 15 initial performance standards that were developed last year to reflect leading industry practices.

Companies working in the Marcellus Shale strata can seek certifications in air and climate, water and waste, or both, concurrently. Auditors will evaluate the applicant’s operations to the standards that are specific to the certification a company chooses.

A summary of a completed audit report will be accessible on CSSD’s website.

Place said a company’s application will cost between $30,000 and $50,000, with between three and six months required from application through certification.

A certification is valid for two years.

In addition to the 15 performance standards that focus on the protection of air and climate and water and waste, CSSD also established standards for auditors and the accreditation process, and establish the requirements for impartiality, knowledge, skill and resources to meet the scope, scale and geography of operations being evaluated.

The group also provides guidance for the third-party auditors, detailing specific measures that must be met to provide assurance that the producer is operation in conformance to CSSD’s 15 performance standards. It includes specific instruction on the kinds of data, reporting and documentation producers must provide to auditors.

CSSD also establishes the producer verification protocol with the frequency and intensity of the field and office audit process, provides for extensive documents review, on-site visits and follow-up activities. Verification of conformance to the standards is evaluated both at the time of initial certification as well as throughout the life of the two-year certification period.

“Through the accreditation and selection of our first auditing firm, Bureau Veritas, and the launch of our certification and verification process, we begin the real work of fulfilling the promise of CSSD’s performance standards that we introduced in March of 2013,” Place said.

When CSSD debuted last year, the environmental and industry groups that participated in the formation included representatives from Shell Oil, Chevron, Consol Energy and EQT. They worked with representatives of the Environmental Defense Fund, Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, the Clean Air Task Force, Group Against Smog and Pollution, Pennsylvania Environmental Council, the Heinz Endowments and the William Penn Foundation.

On Wednesday, CSSD announced that the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation has joined the center as a philanthropic participant.

Christine Todd Whitman, former New Jersey governor and administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in the administration of President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2003, participated in Tuesday’s conference call.

Whitman, who termed CSSD’s certification process “rigorous,” noted that their requirements “do go beyond the regulatory process at the federal or state (level) and where they are now.”

She said the undertaking by CSSD is significant given the declining governmental resources of today.

When asked by a reporter if the consortium had a goal of how many Marcellus shale drilling companies it wanted to reach, Place declined to give an exact number, stating only that CSSD hoped to eventually received applications from “a meaningful number” of producers.

While no producer has yet to apply for certification, Place said CSSD’s goals are already making an impact in the region.

He noted that Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald has already noted that the county would required CSSD certification from any company that wants to drill beneath the county’s parks.

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