A County Gas Committee ?

Should Susquehanna County establish a County Gas Committee and, if so, what should it do ?

The County Commissioners have discussed creating a "Gas Committee" at recent meetings and have asked the Economic Development Board to address the issue. I attended the 26 February meeting of the Board to learn what was being considered.

The county is rich in Marcellus Shale and the extraction of natural gas is very likely to become a major driver of the county's economy with impacts on public services, infrastructure, and the environment. The Board is an understandable place to start even though the issues may go beyond their normal purview.

While I lack the context of prior discussions, my main impression was that the Commissioners were not going to set the committee's mission and goals. Instead, they wanted the Board to come up with mission, goals, objectives, structure and personnel recommendations - basically from scratch. It is very hard for an advisory board to do this without specific guidance from the executive leadership. The Board accepted the task.

In an attempt to get or clarify some executive guidelines, I commented that the "Committee" might try to do three things : Educate the public ( in conjunction with Penn State's efforts - Don't be redundant); Establish a forum for county offices to discuss and coordinate their actions on gas extraction issues ( safety, roads, etc.); and Identify key legislative or regulatory issues for the County to pursue.

I did not ask whether the committee should be "inward"focused per the first two items above or "outward" focused per the legislative item, which might entail suggesting alliances of legislators or counties for coordinated action (e.g. lobbying). It became clear that the Board would have to define these guidelines for themselves. The main resource for them was their contract staff, the Planning Authority (PA), which had obtained information about two other county committees. Reviewing those documents can be useful if one focuses on committee effectiveness rather than just structure and process.

OK; that's what was. Now what should be done?

Simple answer - I really don't know. But I'll offer a few more suggestions that might help the Board develop recommendations for a county gas committee; or at least stimulate some discussion about what a committee should and could do. The overall guideline should be to prioritize effort - don't do what others are doing; do things that get actions and results.

First - I still like the above 3 objectives : Educate Public ( and Listen); Coordinate Internal Resources; Influence Legislation. These are reasonably distinct areas of endeavor which could be pursued separately. They are not in priority order. The Board should refine and prioritize.

Second - Recognize our strengths and resources : we have a Planning Commission, an EMA office, a Conservation office, a Penn State Extension Office, and other resources ( including knowledgeable citizens) that can be tapped or coordinated.

Third - Accept our limitations : we are a small 41,000 person county with limited volunteer and financial resources. Prioritize on the doable (e.g. if the commissioners won't lobby or permit it, downplay legislative initiatives).

Fourth - Face the inevitable : Expect the commissioners to deflect public concerns onto the committee. Be prepared to listen and do triage ( executive action, staff referral, noted for consideration).

Fifth - Consider organization flexibility - e.g., short term task forces, formed from people who present issues strongly and knowledgeably, to report out with actionable recommendations.

Sixth - Review some pertinent literature but don't get carried away by academic breadth and comprehensiveness - remember item (3) above.

Penn State has a good website on Natural Gas Impacts ( http://naturalgas.extension.psu.ed ) with a lot of information as well as many links to documents and presentations. They link several publications on local government issues and on organizing a local task force.

Of course, there are also some good earlier posts on this blog, Jessup Jottings (http://jessupjottings.blogspot.com) ; and I'll be adding more in the future. This is an important issue and I wish the Board success.