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WILKES-BARRE — U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta is lauding a new Federal Emergency Management Agency policy allowing property owners greater control of oil, gas, or mineral rights on property acquired with FEMA mitigation funds. The policy change would allow hydraulic fracturing on such properties.
Barletta, R-Hazleton, sent then-FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate a letter in 2014 urging FEMA to rescind a policy that banned hydraulic fracturing on property purchased with mitigation money. The lawmaker argued the policy hurt property owners who want to relinquish only surface rights while maintaining subsurface rights.
Hydraulic fracturing is the practice of recovering natural gas from the ground by the injection of water-based mixtures under high pressure. FEMA frequently uses funds to purchase land for mitigation purposes, intending to create open space to prevent future damage from natural disasters such as flooding. Barletta believes the FEMA policy was contrary to the goals of mitigation and implemented without input from state and local governments or other stakeholders.
“This is a huge win for property owners in Pennsylvania,” Barletta said.
Barletta said some Wyoming County homeowners live in areas that regularly flood and qualify for FEMA buyouts. But under the old policy, FEMA said they also had to relinquish their subsurface rights, and no hydraulic fracturing could occur on those properties.
“These homeowners faced the choice of being flooded again or giving up their rights,” said Barletta. “I’m glad that the Trump Administration has reversed this policy and created a common-sense proposal to support mitigation and the rights of property owners.”
Barletta said FEMA determined subsurface actions associated with hydraulic fracturing generally do not impede open-space mitigation efforts.
He noted the new policy aligns with a presidential executive order signed in March. It requires all agencies to review and possibly suspend or revise existing regulations that potentially burden the development or use of domestically produced energy sources.
