My constituency faces the issue of shale gas extraction—the issue runs across many Departments. What steps are being taken by the Cabinet Office to co-ordinate efficiency across the Government on this important matter?

We receive a wide variety of representations on onshore unconventional oil and gas, and we always listen carefully to the views expressed.

What recent representations he has received on the application of regulations on onshore unconventional oil and gas exploration; and if he will make a statement.

The current regulations that apply to unconventional oil and gas exploration onshore have not yet been properly tried and tested. The protections given to national parks, sites of special scientific interest and areas of outstanding natural beauty were withdrawn in the Lords. Given that the regulations will not be published until July, what is the legal position on protections in or under national parks as regards any application that may be submitted this month?

A Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence (PEDL) is a pre-requisite before any oil and gas operations, including fracking, can take place. No new PEDLs have been issued since 2008. DECC cannot comment on applications made in the current, 14^th, Onshore Oil & Gas Licensing Round, the results of which we expect to announce later this year.

All operations require planning permission, access agreement with relevant landowner(s), Environment Agency permits, HSE scrutiny, and DECC consent before they can commence. Within an existing PEDL, an application which included plans to frac in North Yorkshire was consented to by DECC in 2012 but, due to changes to the operator’s plans, the activity was not carried out.

The UK already has a strong regulatory system which provides a comprehensive regime for exploratory activities. To reinforce this system, the Infrastructure Act 2015 introduced a range of further requirements that must be met before an operator can carry out hydraulic fracturing. These include environmental impact assessments, groundwater monitoring, community benefits and the exclusion of protected areas.

Before any oil or gas operation can begin in the UK, operators must gain a permit from the relevant environmental regulator (such as the Environment Agency in England). Exactly which permits they need depends on the activities proposed and site specific circumstances such as location, and is determined by the Environmental Agency (EA). The EA will require operators to have a groundwater permit unless they can demonstrate that there will be no, or a trivial, impact on groundwater (this is known as the “de minimis” exclusion). In all other cases, they will require a permit to regulate any actual impact on groundwater or the risk of an impact.

The EA also requires operators to disclose the chemicals they propose to use and the maximum concentration of each one before granting environmental permits. The EA assesses the hazards presented by fracking fluid additives on a case-by-case basis and will not allow substances hazardous to groundwater to be used where they may enter groundwater and cause pollution. Information on chemical substances and their maximum concentrations is included within the environmental permit, along with any other monitoring requirements. The permit is placed on the public register.

In addition, the Infrastructure Act 2015 makes it clear that hydraulic fracturing activity associated with onshore oil and gas exploitation cannot take place within protected groundwater source areas. Protected groundwater source areas will be defined in regulations by the end of July.

The Environment Agency (EA) is the regulator for onshore gas operations in England. It requires operators to obtain environmental permits which contain conditions that ensure risks are properly managed and will not allow companies to start work unless they can demonstrate how they will provide a high level of protection for people and the environment. The EA will monitor compliance with permits and take enforcement action if it believes permit conditions have been breached.

The EA undertakes inspections based on its assessment of the risks presented by a particular site. Often the site operator is responsible for environmental monitoring, which the EA then examines to ensure that they are abiding by their permit conditions. In some cases, depending on the risks presented by a site, the EA may undertake extra monitoring itself.

The environmental permits require operators to monitor the emissions from their activities and assess their environmental impact. They do this in order to demonstrate to the EA that pollution is minimised and to comply with the limits specified in their permit. The monitoring must be carried out to recognised standards by competent personnel. The EA recommends that operators do this through its Monitoring Certification Scheme (MCERTS). Operators can choose to use an alternative certified monitoring standard, as long as it is equivalent to the MCERTS standard.

MCERTS is the Environment Agency’s Monitoring Certification Scheme. It provides the framework for businesses to meet EA’s quality requirements. If operators comply with MCERTS, the EA can have confidence in the monitoring of emissions to the environment.

The EA will adopt a compliance assessment plan for each site that sets out how it will measure the operator’s compliance and ensure that environmental risks are properly managed. This may include a variety of methods such as audit, site inspections, check monitoring, sampling, and reviewing operator records and procedures.

In addition, DECC officials are currently developing further measures to provide independent evidence directly to the public about the robustness of the existing regulatory regime, as announced in the Autumn Statement.

The Environment Agency will make a case by case assessment of monitoring requirements. There is provision in the environmental permit for an operation involving hydraulic fracturing to require monitoring indefinitely post closure of a well. The Environment Agency will not allow surrender of the permit unless it is satisfied that the well has been decommissioned in line with standards set by the Health and Safety Executive, the site has been returned to a satisfactory condition and there is no significant on-going risk to the environment.

The recent Infrastructure Act 2015 makes clear that any hydraulic fracturing activity cannot take place unless appropriate arrangements have been made for monitoring emissions of methane into the air. During operations the operator will be required to undertake environmental monitoring, including emissions monitoring, to demonstrate compliance with their permits. In some cases, depending on the risks presented by a site or community concerns, the Environment Agency may undertake extra monitoring themselves.

My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State will not grant well consent unless he is satisfied that an environmental permit is in place which contains a condition requiring compliance with a waste management plan providing for the monitoring of emissions of methane into the air for the period of the permit.

The Office for Unconventional Gas and Oil is part of DECC. It works closely with regulators and industry to ensure that regulation is as efficient as possible whilst remaining robust to safeguard public safety and protect the environment.

The Department has received representations about self-monitoring from various parties, including members of the public, NGOs and a Minerals Planning Authority.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change will maintain and regulate controls to mitigate risks of seismic activity, including requiring developers to submit a Hydraulic Fracturing Plan providing for a traffic light system.

Each regulator is accountable to parliament as an agency or public body and we aim not to duplicate those mechanisms.

DECC has the policy lead. It works closely with regulators and industry to ensure that regulation is as efficient as possible whilst remaining robust to safeguard public safety and protect the environment.

Companies seeking planning permission for the winning and working of oil or natural gas by underground operations (including exploratory drilling) are required to serve notice of an application on individual owners and tenants of land where surface works are required. They must also publish a notice in a local newspaper and put up site notices. Mineral Planning Authorities advertise and consult upon the planning applications they receive.

Once an application for an environmental permit is made, the environmental regulator will publish details and publicise them on their website for public consultation.

As part of the amendments we have made to the Infrastructure Bill, my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State will need to be satisfied before granting a hydraulic fracturing consent that the public was given notice of the application for the relevant planning permission.

The licences do not give permission for any operation, including hydraulic fracturing. I can confirm that we will require a hydraulic fracturing plan to be submitted for any fracturing of shale, which must be approved by DECC before the fracturing operations commence. We have one of the most robust regulatory systems in the world for shale gas, including a traffic light system to measure seismic activity to allow operations to be suspended if activity is detected above a defined level.

The Government accepted all of Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering’s recommendations made in their report. We have implemented the majority of recommendations in full, for example:

· We have introduced a requirement, through the Infrastructure Act, that the Secretary of State will not issue a hydraulic fracturing consent unless a range of conditions have been met. These include that appropriate arrangements have been made for the monitoring of emissions of methane into the air, the independent inspection of the integrity of the relevant well and for the environmental impact to be taken into account by the local planning authority.

· The British Geological Survey has published regional data on tectonic history and faulting in many prospective areas and DECC set out new requirements for operators to control seismic risks, including a ‘traffic light’ system to pause or halt fracking if unusual seismic activity is detected.

· DECC now requires operators to compile an Environmental Risk Assessment, with the participation of the local community, at an early stage of developing shale gas projects. This is in addition to extensive guidance to drive high standards throughout the lifecycle of a project.

· The Infrastructure Act includes the requirement for relevant water companies to be statutory consultees.

We continue to respond as exploratory wells provide more data and information. For example, DECC is working with the industry to develop appropriate monitoring for the period after production ceases and the well is decommissioned.

No. The Shale Community Engagement Charter is an industry led commitment. The Government tabled an amendment to the Infrastructure Bill on 5 February which would require a community benefits scheme to be in place before my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State gives consent for hydraulic fracturing.

When operations finish, the licensees are responsible for safe decommissioning of the well(s) and for restoring the well-site to its previous state or a suitable condition for re-use. The Environment Agency also requires a site condition report to be submitted by the operator, demonstrating that the site is in a satisfactory state before allowing the operator to surrender its environmental permit.

If environmental damage occurs then, in accordance with statutory requirements and government policy, remediation of the damage will be dealt with under the main regimes for dealing with contamination. These are Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations 2009 and Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. These regimes provide for the remediation of environmental damage and contaminated land (including water), and they apply to the extraction of both petroleum and deep geothermal energy.

The petroleum licence issued by DECC enables the Government to ensure that funds are available to discharge any liability for damage from activities under the licence. DECC accordingly assesses, before any petroleum licence is issued, whether a company has adequate financial capacity for its planned operations. DECC also checks at the drilling and, where relevant, production stage that the company has sufficient funding and appropriate insurance.

The aim of the current regulatory framework is that wells are made safe so that they can be decommissioned with no need for on-going attention. In the UK very few instances are known of problems with decommissioned wells, and none of significant pollution caused by decommissioned wells.

There is, however, a case for further quality assurance, with some period of monitoring post-decommissioning. We are discussing suitable arrangements with regulators and industry. As regards monitoring of the site restoration, this is a matter for the planning authority.

In the 2014 Autumn Statement, the Government announced £31 million funding for a world-leading facility for research, technology and monitoring of the subsurface that will provide openly available data for academia, industry and regulators. The independent research will provide an evidence base for better regulation and to reassure the public that subsurface developments can be safe.

The current regulatory framework requires that wells are made safe so that they can be decommissioned securely. Few instances are known of problems with decommissioned wells, and none of significant pollution caused by decommissioned wells.

When operations finish, the licensee (and there may be more than one for each licence) is responsible for safe decommissioning of the well(s) and for restoring the well-site to its previous state or a suitable condition for re-use.

The key aim of the procedure for decommissioning a well is to ensure that the well will require no further work and ensure that it is permanently sealed.

The Health and Safety Executive scrutinises the design of all wells prior to any construction taking place. It also monitors well construction and will undertake joint visits to all new shale gas and oil wells with the Environment Agency. HSE also scrutinises the decommissioning/ abandonment process in the same way.