Evaluation of Proposed Changes to Montana Rules on the Management of Coal Bed Natural Gas Produced Water
Technical and Regulatory Reviews by Argonne National Laboratory and Sandia
National Laboratory for the Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy
During 2005, the Montana Board of Environmental Review (BER) announced proposed
changes to Montana water quality regulations. The proposal was directed to discharges
of water from coal bed natural gas (CBNG) production, and if adopted, could
substantially reduce the amount of CBNG production in Montana. Potential impacts
could also extend to Wyoming CBNG production through much greater restrictions on
water quality that must be met at the interstate border.
DOE’s interest in this proposal stems from the importance of CBNG to U.S. natural gas
supply. CBNG currently accounts for 9 percent of U.S. natural gas production and the
Powder River Basin, situated in Montana and Wyoming and having a recoverable
resource potential in excess of 25 trillion cubic feet, is a prime future source for U.S.
natural gas supply. This is especially important in these times of tight natural gas supply
and high prices.
DOE conducts technical and regulatory analyses to assist federal and state agencies in
developing regulatory requirements that provide environmental benefits commensurate
with their economic and energy impacts. These analyses serve to provide a scientific
basis for regulatory and land management decision making.
For the proposed Montana CBNG water management rule, DOE tasked Argonne
National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratory to evaluate various aspects of the
proposal. Argonne focused on regulatory and policy issues and their interrelationships
with technology, and Sandia focused on water treatment and engineering, hydrologic
and geologic technical issues associated with the zero discharge requirements of the
proposal. The findings of these efforts were submitted for the record to the Montana
BER.
|
