Can oil and gas companies request waivers for conditions contained in the Oil and Gas Lease?
Operators may submit waiver requests for certain conditions specified in the lease, including buffers, spacing, offsets, production reporting, drilling requirements, insurance, and plugging. Requests must be justified and submitted in writing to the State Forester for review. The Bureau of Forestrys intent is to not grant blanket approval for waivers, but to review the waiver requests on a case-by-case basis, and to generally consider granting waivers where the waiver provides greater environmental protection, and is in the best interest of the Commonwealth.
