The chair of the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee asked Amber Rudd (the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change) on Wednesday whether she had any Christmas presents for him. By this he meant any announcements she wished to share with the Committee.
Amber Rudd held back from revealing anything, saving the surprise for the day after her appearance before the Committee.
This week the Government has announced that it is awarding all 159 of the new onshore oil and gas licences that it said this summer it intended to offer.
MPs also voted this week to permit fracking beneath protected areas like National Parks. However, there will be a depth threshold, and fracking can only take place at 1200m depth.
There are now several overlapping pieces of regulation and legislation, at various stages of being brought into effect, making the situation quite complex. The summary of them is as follows:
Sub-surface:
The Infrastructure Act gave an automatic right of access for petroleum for any land at a depth of 300m or more.
The Infrastructure Act banned hydraulic fracturing at anything less than 1000m (under any land), although the Secretary of State has the power to override this.
A piece of new legislation (following on from the Infrastructure Act and passed on Wednesday) banned fracking at less than 1200m (i.e. an extra 200m depth threshold) beneath World Heritage Sites, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, National Parks, the Broads and groundwater Source Protection Zones 1.
Surface:
Consultation proposal - Government’s current consultation proposes (the consultation closed for input from stakeholders on 16 December and we await a response from Government) a ban on fracking at the surface within: Sites of Special Scientific Interest, groundwater Source Protection Zone 1, Natura 2000 sites, Ramsar International wetlands, World Heritage Sites, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, National Parks, the Broads.
The RSPB is pleased to see Government's proposal to ban fracking at the surface within a full set of protected areas. However, we don't understand why the list of sites protected beneath the surface is different - we've seen no evidence explaining this differentiation. In some cases we also think it might be wise to extend the ban to water Source Protection Zones 2 and 3, in order to protect public water supply. We hope the Government will seek advice from statutory agencies on this.
Fracking is a new onshore industry in the UK, and we don't know what a safe depth for it is beneath sensitive places. Allowing fracking beneath them could also incentivise fracking wells being placed near to the edges of them, putting wildlife and water sources at risk from light, noise and chemical pollution.
It would be best if fracking at any depth were banned beneath sensitive places altogether.
Matt Williams, Assistant Warden, RSPB Snape.