MEMORANDUMTO:FROM:SUBJECT:
APR
13
2012
Assistant Secretaries, National LaboratoriesDepartment
of
EnergyAssistant ecretaries,Bureau DirectorsDepartment
of
the InteriorAssistant Administrators,RegionalAdministratorsEnvironmentalProtectionAgencyArunMajumdar,Acting Under Secretary
of
EnergyDepartment
of
EnergyDavid J. Hayes,Deputy
Secret~
ii
__
Department
of
the lnterior
?7
~
"
BobPerciasepe,DeputyAdministrator
;:;,~~
EnvironmentalProtectionAgencyMulti-Agency Collaboration on UnconventionalOil and Gas Research
OVERVIEW:
In
March2011,the White House releaseda"Blueprintfor a Secure EnergyFuture"
(Blueprint)-a comprehensiveplan toreduce America's oil dependence,save consumersmoney,and
makeour countrythe leader
in
clean energyindustries.TheBlueprintsupportsthe responsible
development
of
theNation's oil andnaturalgas,withthespecificgoals
of
promotingsafepractices andreducing energyimports.TheDepartment
of
Energy (DOE),the Department
of
the Interior
(DOL)
,andthe EnvironmentalProtection Agency(EPA) each willhavea criticalrole to play in this mission.
I
Tothisend,the DOE,DOl,and EPA willdevelopamulti-agency program directed towarda focused
collaborative Federalinteragencyefforttoaddressthe highest priority challengesassociated with
safely andprudently developing unconventionalshale gas andtightoilresources.The goal
of
thisprogramwill focus ontimely,policy relevantscience directedto research topicswhere collaboration
amongthe threeAgencies canbe mosteffectively and efficiently conductedto provide results and
technologies thatsupport soundpolicy decisions
by
state and Federal agenciesresponsible forensuringtheprudentdevelopment
of
energysourceswhile protectinghuman healthandtheenvironment.
Thisprogramrespondsto the Blueprintandto relevantrecommendations
of
theSecretary
of
EnergyAdvisoryBoardSubcommittee on Natural Gas.
2
1
Th
e 31March
20
11
W
hi
,e
/-l
ouse
Bluepri
nt
for a Secure Energy
Fu
ture
in
st
ruc
tedthe
Federal
Go
ve
rnment
to
"co
ndu
ct
re
se
arch
to
e
xa
mine
th
e i
mp
a
ct
s of
[racki
ng on
wa
ter r
eso
ur
ce
s:
'
dir
e
ct
ing
th
e E
PA
a
nd
D
OE
to s
pon
so
r r
esearc
h..:'
2
Th
e
Sec
ret
ary
ofEner
gy
A
dv
i
sory
B
oa
rd
re
co
mm
e
nd
ed
th
at"
the
fed
eral
gove
rnm
e
nt
h
as
arole especially in
bas
ic
R&D
.
en
v
ir
o
nment
pr
ot
ec
ti
o
n.
and
safet
y"and
rec
o
mm
e
nd
s
th
at
th
e
DO
E.
001a
nd
E
PA
"a
ll
h
ave
mi
ss
ionr
es
pons
ibilit
y
th
at
ju
s
tif
y
a co
ntinuin
g.
tailor
ed.
Federal R&D effort.'·hnp:llwww.shalegas.energy.gov/resour
ce
sl081811_90_day_report_
fin
al.
pdf
2
InteragencyCollaboration
TheDOE,
001,
and
EPA
wi
ll
identify research priorities andcollaborate
to
sponsorresearch thatimprovesourunderstanding
of
the impacts
of
developingour Na
ti
on'sunconventionaloilandgas
resources andensurethesafeand prudent development
of
these resources. Throughenhancedcooperation,theAgencies
wi
ll
maximize the quality and relevance
of
this research,enhance synergiesbetween theAgencies'areas
of
expertise,andeliminate redundancy.TheAgenciesremain responsible
forimplementing theirown author
iti
es andinternal priority-setting processes.Thegoals
of
this interagencyco
ll
aborationareas
fo
ll
ows:
I.
Focus each Agency onitsarea
of
core competency. Each Agencyhasadifferentcombination
of
experiences,researchstrengths,personnel, resources, and mission mandates leading
to
complementary research core competencies.
oEPA
Core research
c
ompetencies
;
Air monitoring
Environment
and
human
health
risk
•
Water
quality
Collaboration
U
I DE
...
IIT
..
£NT OF
ENERGY
Coreresearchcompetencies;
Wellbore integrity.flow
and
control
Green
technologiesSystems
engineering, imaging
and
materials
CollaborationCollaboration
Collaboration
II
USGS
............
---
Core
research
competencies
'
Resource
assessment
Hydrology and geology
Land
use,
Wildlife,
and
ecological
impact
\
TheVenn diagramsummarizesthecoreresearchcompetencies
of
each
of
thethree Agencies.Furtherdetailscanbe found
in
theappendixto this memorandum.2.Collaborate onresearch topicsas approp
ri
ate.Whileeach Agency willfocusonits areas
of
coreresearchcompetency, there willbe tasksfor which the combined capabilities
of
more thanoneAgency will
be
necessary toaddress a particularresearch topic.
3An example
of
collaboration is research
on
water use for hydraulic fracturing, in which the EPAfocuses on the impacts and effectiveness
of
current technology, DOE focuses
on
improvements thatfuture technological innovations may yield, and USGS focuses
on
stream gage and groundwatermonitoring to determine water availability, use, and groundwater flow modeling. Another exampleis the ongoing prospective case study in the Marcellus Shale that the three Agencies are currentlycollaborating on in support
of
the
EPA's
congressionally mandated study
on
hydraulic fracturing.Where practical and advisable, efforts will be made among the Agencies to apply common and/orconsistent monitoring, sampling, and analytical protocols. These and other topic areas arerepresented
by
the green areas in the Venn diagram and will be further defined in the research plandiscussed in the section below.
3.
Bring coordination and consistency to the annual budget process. Effective research requires asustained, well-planned effort. The three Agencies will work to ensure that the annual budgetprocess is part
of
a coordinated multi-year effort with targeted results.
Forming the Partnership
The three Agencies will take the following steps:Interagency management structure: The three Agencies will create a Steering Committee to coordinatethe Agencies' activities for unconventional oil and gas research. Each Agency will contribute twomembers to the Steering Committee: one member focused on policy and one member focused onresearch and technology. The Office
of
Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) will also provide amember to serve on the Steering Committee. The lead agency
of
the Steering Committee will rotateannually among the three Agencies in alphabetical order: DOE, DO!, EPA. The Steering Committeewill provide leadership, coordinate the activities
of
the three participating Agencies, and reach out toother relevant Federal, state and local organizations.Formalizing a research plan: Within 9 months
of
formation, the Steering Committee will publish aformal multi-year Research Plan that will:
a.
analyze and synthesize the state
of
knowledge
of
unconventional oil and gas research to assistin identifying and prioritizing new research directions;
b.
identify, categorize, and prioritize research topics relevant to the safety and environmentalsustainability
of
unconventional oil and natural gas exploration and production;
c.
identify gaps in available data and appropriate activities to address these topics;
d.
identify research milestones and deliverables;
e.
describe steps to promote transparency and maximize stakeholder participation andnotification;
f.
establish specific mechanisms for cooperative relationships among the three memberAgencies in planning and conducting research and reviewing the results; and
g.
determine future plans, goals and objectives.
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