HomeMy WebLinkAbout1.04 Water, Energy less waste act of 2008ATTACHMENT to SPECIAL USE PERMIT APPLICATION Laramie Energy II, LLC More Water. More Energy Less Waste Act of 2008
U.S. Senator Ken Salazar Member: Finance, Agriculture, Energy, Ethics and Aging Committees 2300 15 th Street, Suite 450 Denver. CO 80202 I 702 Hart Senate Buil ding. Washington. D. C.
205 t 0 For Immediate Release Thursday, May 08, 2008 CONTACT: Stephanie Valencia -202-494-8790 Cody Wertz -303-350-0032 UPDATE: Sen. Salazar's Bill to Recover and Reuse "Produced Water"
Signed Into Law WASHINGTON, DC -In the arid West, every drop of water counts. Recovering usable water from sources contaminated by oil and gas drilling operations could significantly
help our farmers, ranchers and recreational users, not to mention the habitats of many plants and animals. Today, President Bush signed a measure sponsored by United States Senator Ken
Salazar, the "More Water, More Energy, Less Waste Act of2007," (S. 1116) which could lead to the clean-up and usability of "produced" water from oil and gas drilling and coal-bed methane
extraction. The President signed the bill which was a part of the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of2008. This bipartisan bill is co-sponsored by Senators leffBingaman (D-NM), Pete
Domenici (R-NM) and Mike Enzi (R-WY) and it would direct the Department of Interior to evaluate the feasibility of recovering and cleaning "produced water"groundwater con tam inated
when it is brought to the surface during oil and gas drilling or coal bed methane extraction -for use in irrigation and other purposes. The bill would also authorize a grant program
to test "produced water" recovery technologies. The grants would help fund pilot projects for this technology in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico, plus one additional site in Arizona,
Nevada or California. "Every day, two million gallons of 'produced water' are wasted in this nation, unlit for any use," said Senator Salazar. "Recovering that water could help lift
a huge burden off the backs of farmers, ranchers, communities and recreation users. We owe it to them and to future generations to test the feasibility of this technology." The House
companion (H.R. 902) to the "More Water, More Energy, Less Waste Act of200T is sponsored by Rep. Mark Udall and was passed by the House in March 2007. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources
held a hearing on the bill in April 2007. The full legislative text ofS. 1116, the "More Water, More Energy, Less Waste Act of2007," can be viewed by clicking here. ###
11 ()'j'1I ('()XGl{ENN 1ST NEN8lOX S.1116 To f:wilitate the nsp for il'1·ig:llt.ioll Hnd otlwl' Imrpoxes of wat,PI' pl'odIH'ecl ill ('OlllH'diOll with dl'.\'elopnlt'Jlt of PIH'l'g:'l'
n~SOlll·(·es. IN TIlE RENATI<J OF TIm UNITED RTA'l'ER AI'H1L Iii, ~IJ07 II :Ill'. N,IL.IZAH (fol' himself. ),Ir. llI;>W,I.\LI:'<, ),11". Dmm:'<I<'l, IIlIei :Ill'. 'I'IlmLIs) il)trodtH~(~cl
tIll'. follmrillg: hill; "'hii'll was 1'(~1-lcl twi('('. CllHI l'(,fpl'I'ed to thp COl1lmitt('p Oll Enprgy and :\atm'(ll l{{'!-iOIll"('eS A BILL To f,wilit.atp t1w lISI' for irl'ig<ltiol1
and 011]('1' IJlll'jlos('s of watf'I' procIlIl'pd in ('OIl1wction with df'vdopn](,llt of elwrh'Y I'I'SOIU'I'I'S. Be it (,I/aded iJ.'I the !'Iel/(Ii!! Ill/r! J1ons(; 4 Rr;p'm,w':l/tll-2
1;1'(;,1' (d' fhl' ('nder! !'Itui('g of'/l'/l/(!'1"(:('(l ill. OOYlfjH'SS Itsscmhlrxl, 3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE, FINDINGS, AND PURPOSE. 4 (a) RuoU'l' 'l'1'l'L1£.-'l'his Ad. may 1)('
eitl'd as the 5 "MOl'1' Watpl', ]1,101'1' Energy, aIHI Less Wastl' Ad of 6 ;J007". 7 (lJ) FIXDl:-':(]i:).-The CongJ'(~ss fin(ls that.-8 (1) dCI'elopment of enel'gy I'esom('es, indlHling'
9 oil, natural gas, t:oalbe(i methane, awi geothermal
reROur~es, fl'l'que.ntIy results In bringing to the sur-2 fH('p water l'xtrad,ed f!'Olli ll!ldl'l'gl'Ound S0111'('(,S; 3 (~) SOllll' of t.hM pl'Odw'('d wat.el' is used for il'-4 rigat.ioll
or otil('r )lnl'pOSPS, bnt lllOSt. of t1H' water is 5 rl'tlll'lH'd to til(' snbs11l'fa('(' or ot.lwnl'is(' disposed of 6 ,IS wast('; 7 (:3) ]Hinl'.ing' tll(' qnHlltity of I)]'odlw('d
wat!'r l'I'-8 tnrned to the snbs1ll'faee ,md in(,reasing the qnantity 9 of prodneed water that is made anlilable for irrig'a-IO tion and other uses-11 ("\) would augment water supplies;
12 (B) eould reduce the costs to energy devel-13 opel'S for disposing' of the water; and 14 (C) ill SOIli(' easl'S, ('onld illereHs(' t.ll(' ('ffi-15 1'.i('Il(,~' of ('lI('l'g.\' developlllPllt
aetivitil's; and 16 (4) it is in tIl(' llational intel'Pst-17 (A) to lililit the qlUlllt.ity of PI'OdlW('(1 water 18 (\isposl'd of as wastl'; 19 (B) t.o optilllih!' tbl' pl'odndion of
l~nl'rgy 20 reS01U'('eS; and 2 I «') to remove or re(itH,e ohstaeles to nse of 22 J1l'OdlH'ed water for irrigation 01' otlw)' pUl'poses 23 in \\'iI,"S that will not adw>rsely affel't
watl'l' 24 quality or the em'ironment. 25 (e) Pl']{POi:lEi:l.-'l'he pnrposes of this Act. arc-.8 IlIB 18
:j ( 1) to optillli%l' the production of l'nergy re-2 SOUI'('l'S-3 (Lt) by minimizing' till' quantity of PI'O-4 du('.pd wat.('r; Hnd 5 (B) by f;wilit.ating' til(' u~p of prodw'cd 6 ",at(']'
for irrigation and otlwr IJl]]'posl'~ without 7 advl']'sel." affeding watl']' lJuality 01' t.hl' clI\lron-8 mcnt; and 9 (2.) to demonstrate means of ,l('('omplishing' 10 tllOse resnlts,
II SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 12 In this Ad.: 13 (l) I.J()\\,EH IUNI" fl'I'ATK-'l'he term "I.Jower 14 Basin Statl''' Illl'allS an,\' of t.hl' 8tat,l's of-15 (Lt) ArizonH; 16 (B) California;
and 17 (C) ;\eyada, 18 (2) PIWIJlI('ED \\'.''I'EH.-The te'l'nl "produ(,l'd 19 water" nl(',lllS lI'atl'], frolll an IUHierg]'ound soun,l' 20 tlwt is broug'ht to t.1ll' sllrfa(,e as part.
of the I)]'O('('SS 21 of ('xplorntion for, 01' development of-22 (1t) oil; 23 (B) natural gas; 24 (e) eoallJed methane; or .8 1116 18
4 (D) any other suhstance to he used as an 2 pnpl'gy SOllf'('P. 3 (:1) NECHETAHY.-Th(' tl'rm "H('.erl'f.Hry" IlH'HnS 4 the H('('.reta ry of the Interior. 5 (4) Pl'l'EH lL\Sl:\ S'l'xl'E.-The
t('1'1ll "lJ pper 6 Basin Htat(';' l1J['ans any of the Htatl's of-7 (A) Colorado; 8 (B) New Mpxi(,o; 9 (e) ITtah; and 10 (1)) vVyoming', II SEC, 3, IDENTIFICATION OF PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS,
12 (a) H'lTDy,-The Hecl'eta!',\', ading' throug'h the Com-13 llIissiol][>r of Heei,lIlwtion, the Director of the United 14 Ntiitl'S (Jl'ologip,i/Hlll'\'l'~', and the Dirl'et.m' of the
13llre<lll 15 of hnH! Manag('IIH'nt shall ('o!l(hH'.t, iI stlldy to identif)'-16 (1) the t('('llIIi('a!, ('('onolllie, l'uVirOJllIH'nt.ill, and 17 other ohstH('.Ies to n'dlleing' the
qllantity of prodll('(~d 18 \\'atpl'; 19 (2) t.he tl'dlllieal, ('('OnOnll(', l'nvirollnwntal, 20 legal, and other olista(·I('s to ilH'n,asing' t.11(' ('xt(,nt to 21 whi('h prodll('cd
\\'ater (,an be used for irrigatioll and 22 other purposes \\'ithout adversely affed,ing water 23 qmdit~, or the ell\'ironment; .S 1116 IS
(:3) the le~i~lative, <Hilninistrative, and other ae-2 tions t.hHt ('onld rednl'p 01' elilllinatp til(' OhSt.A(']P8 3 ident.ified in pHl'agnlphs (1) and (2); and 4 (4) the (,08ts and
I)('nefit.s asweiated with l'('-5 lllwing or elinlinat.ing t.1l<' oilst,wl<'s i<i<'1ltifil,d in 6 paragnlphs (1) and (2). 7 (b) REPORT .-Not. lat.PI' t.han 1 year after tIl<' date 8
of ('nadllwnt of t.his Ad, t.1l<' Sel'l'('tary shall snlJfnit t.o 9 the Committ.ee on NatnralHesonn,es of the lIonse of Rep-10 I"l'spntatiw's <ltld the Committee on Energy and Nat.ural
11 U('solllTes of the Senate a report. des('riiJing the results 12 ofthe st.ndy under' subseetion (a). 13 SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION. 14 (a) (JIU:\TN.-Slliljp('f to til(' HI'Hilahilit.y
of appl'O-15 priat.ions, tIl<' Spen'tar~' shall ]ll'Ovidl, finHn{'.ial assistalH'p 16 foJ' til<' dewlojllll('nt of fHeilities, teehnologies, and PJ'()('.-17 ('sses to dl'lllollst.ratl'
t.he feasiiJilit.y, l'f'feet.ivew'ss, awl 18 safpt,\' of-19 (1) Opt.illlil':illg PIlPrgy l'('SOIll'(,<, ]lrOdlldioll by 20 rl'dnl'illg' the qnant.ity of Pl'o<iILl·.pd water !("l'IH'l'at.ed;
2 I 01' 22 (2) in('reasing the extent to whieh prodlleed 23 wat.er Iml~' Ill' I'l'('ovl'red and made Ruitabk' for URl' 24 for irrigation, 1l1unieipal, or industrial useR, or othl'r .S
1116 IS
(j 1 purposes witliout adversely affecting w<iter qmdit," 01' 2 t.ll(' ('nvirolllllPIlt. 3 (I» LI;VIl'l'XrIO,\'>;,-A.~sista!l('(' ullder this s('('Jion-4 (1) sha II 1)(' pnH'ided fol'-5
(A) aJ h'ast 1 pl'ojed in efwh of til(' Upper 6 Basin ~tat('.s; <lnd 7 (B) at h~ast 1 IJI'ojed III at least 1 of 1.1](> 8 IJower Basin 8tates; 9 (2) shall not l'x('eed $1,000,000 for
any ]lroje('f,; 10 (:~) shall he used to PH,V not more than 50 per-Il cent of tlic total cost of a projeet; 12 (4) shall not be used for the ope'ration 01' main-13 tenHlJee of any facility;
alld 14 (ii) I!la~' 1)(' ill ad(\ition to Hssistan('p pl'Ovid(,d by 15 t.he F('del'al (JovPl'lllnl'll! Illlt'sHant, to otlwl' provi-16 siolls of law, 17 SEC, 5, CONSULTATION, ADVICE,
AND COMMENTS, 18 In ('arryillg out this Ad., indllding in pfl'pHring' till' 19 l'('I)()rt ul)(\l'r s(,(,tion :i(b) flJld ('stablishillg (;ritl'ria to 1)(' 20 itSI'd ill ('olJlledion
with 'Ill Hward of finan(;ial assistUll!'1' 21 under sc('tion 4, the 8eeretary shall-22 (1) pOllSult with the ~e('retary of Energy, the 23 Administrator of the Environmental l'rotedion
24 Agency, and appropriate Governors and local offi-25 eials; .8 1116 IS
7 (2)(A) reVieW am' relevant inforJlwtion devel-2 oped ill l'omwetioll with rpsearch ('anied ont by oth-3 l'I'S, inelnding l'l'sl'arch em'l'ied ont pursuant to suh-4 title .1 of title
IX of t.he EIll'l'g,r Policy Aet of 200[) 5 (~~ U.S.('. 1(i:171 l't seq.); and 6 (B) to tlw l'xt.ellt tIl(' Sel'I'etar)' detl'rmillcs to 7 \)(' advisablP, iIH'ludl' that illfol'lllation
in the ]'(~port 8 Illlder seetioll :Hb); 9 (:i) seek the advil'e of-10 (A) individuals with relevant. professional 11 01' academic expertise; and 12 (B) inllividllals or rcpresentativt's
of enti-13 ties with industrial cxperience, partieularly ex-14 ppril'nl'p rplat.ing to Ill'Olhll'tion of oil, natural 15 g:as, ('o(}ll)(ld HH1thallP, Or' ot.hpJ' PIlPrgy l"(ISOUI'('(IS
16 (illl'luding gl'othpl'lilal rpsoul'(~es); awl 17 (~) solil,it l'OlTllllPllts and sngg'l'stiollR from the 18 pulll il' .. 19 SEC, 6, RELATION TO OTHER LAWS, 20 Nothing in this Ad sUlwrsl'llt's,
lnollifips, abrog'atcs, 21 or limits-22 (1) the ('ffeet of an)' State law 01' an~' interstate 23 authority 01' l'oll1pad relating' to-24 (A) an~' liSP of watcr; 01' .S 1116 IS
1 2 3 4 (H) the I'cg'ulation of water quantity or (llIHlit.\, ·, O}' (2) th(, ilppli(·ahili1y 01' <'flect of HIl~' }<'edpl'al la\\' (im'luding regulations). 5 SEC, 7. AUTHORIZATION OF
APPROPRIATIONS, 6 '1'lI<'r<' ilr<' Huthorized to I}(' appl'opl'iated-7 (1) $1,000,000 to ('HlT,\' Ollt s(~etion ,); and 8 (2) $7,500,O(JO to eHlT~' 01lt s('etiolJ 4. o .8 1116 IS