CHEYENNE – The Wyoming Senate extensively revised a coal-bed methane water management bill on Thursday, but not the thorniest issue within the bill – whether natural runoff and CBM water are both considered by the State Engineer when calculating channel capacity of ephemeral streams in CBM country.

   The issue is critical, said senators on both sides of the issue that has pitted the energy industry against many ranchers in the Powder River Basin. Mother Nature throws a great deal of variability in natural flows, thanks to snow melt and thunderstorms. If added to the CBM waters pumped out to release methane gas for the energy companies, the combined flows could easily flood pastures with harmful, salt-laden waters.

 

   The key amendment that was killed 17-11 by the Senate, would have combined both flows in channel calculations, thereby penalizing the CBM industry, which would like CBM water alone considered in calculations of channel capacity. Landowners would be subject to the vagaries of Mother Nature, whether their land got flooded or not with salt-laden waters.

   CBM water is pumped away from the famous coal beds of the Powder River Basin, releasing methane gas that can then be captured by drillers. According to soil scientists, the complex chemical interactions between CBM water and soils can change dramatically within a drainage, whereby one landower realizes beneficial use of CBM water and his downstream neighbor can be ruined.

 

   The majority of senators followed the lead of Sen. Charlie Scott, R-Natrona County, who said, “This bill is unreasonable with this amendment and is unreasonable without this amendment.” Scott said a compromise was needed, and he intended to offer one before the third and final reading of Senate File 46.

   “We’ll have to see what Senator Scott has in mind,” said Kevin Lind, a lobbyist for the Powder River Basin Resource Council, which has long advocated tighter controls over CBM waters.

   Senator Grant Larson, R-Jackson, and chairman of the Senate Minerals, Business and Economic Committee, said SF 46 was product of the CBM Task Force and was a product of compromise. That was true, but not completely. As Senator John Schiffer, R-Sheridan pointedly noted, a critically significant paragraph in the bill did not come from the Task Force.

 

   That paragraph stated: “Notwithstanding any other provision in this section, if a landowner stores such produced water discharges in reservoirs, makes beneficial use of such produced water, or otherwise consents to the flow of produced water discharges that exceed the natural capacity of the channel on land which he owns or controls, such produced water discharges shall not be unlawful.”

   Schiffer said inclusion of the “Notwithstanding” paragraph would make it impossible for the State Engineer to administer the provisions of SF 46. The majority of the Senate agreed and eliminated the industry-friendly paragraph by voice vote.

 

   Senator Cale Case, R-Lander, spoke for the next amendment, adding the language that “Nothing in this section shall interfere with existing appropriative water rights.” Case called the amendment an insurance policy that would protect water rights – surely something that no one could object to. The majority of the Senate approved the amendment by voice vote.

   The Senate also approved an amendment that requires the State Engineer to make a preliminary inspection of CBM water flows, within 10 days of a landowner’s complaint, then the State Engineer has 120 days to file a complete report.
(State Engineer Pat Tyrrell said 10 days is highly problematic for him. If he does a quick inspection within 10 days and curtails an energy company, he’s almost guaranteed a law suit.)

 

   “We’re talking about damage to private property, damage to meadows,” said Senator Tony Ross, R-Cheyenne. “Why aren’t we talking about requiring piping or reinjection to handle CBM water?” he asked.

   Senator Kit Jennings, R-Casper, responded that reinjection wouldn’t work and piping CBM water was took expensive.

 

   Sen. Schiffer took exception to that, saying “this is all about money and not wanting to spend money.” Schiffer said one CBM gas company already pipes CBM water from the Powder River Basin to Midwest, and is still profitable. The majority of the Senate passed the 10-day amendment by voice vote.

 

In other amendments, the Senate:

Passed an amendment (17-10) that called for a variety of ways to get CBM water across a landowner’s property, other than only the cheapest way, by digging a ditch.
Passed an amendment (16-11) to require specific performance bonds for rehabilitation, not just a state-wide bond as currently required.

   Lastly, the Senate voted 20-9 to approve SF 46 on first reading. That leaves two more readings before final approval and on to the House for passage.
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