DOVER – The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and the Delaware Department of Agriculture (DDA) have proposed new regulations expanding the scope of legal possession of firearms within Delaware’s state parks, state wildlife areas and state forests. Both agencies submitted the proposed regulations for publication in the Feb. 1 Monthly Register in response to a Dec. 7, 2017 Delaware Supreme Court decision that overturned a Superior Court ruling and expanded the scope of visitors’ ability to possess firearms in Delaware’s state parks under DNREC’s authority and state forests which are under the DDA’s jurisdiction.

Following the Court’s decision to invalidate existing regulations limiting firearms in those state lands, DNREC and DDA earlier issued interim regulations which went into effect on Dec. 26, 2017. The interim regulations, issued by Orders of the DNREC and DDA Secretaries, respect the State Constitutional provisions on firearms cited by the Supreme Court in its ruling, by implementing the State’s interest in ensuring public safety in a less restrictive manner. Interim regulations are effective for 120 days, with the possibility of a 60-day extension, for a total of 180 days before new regulations must be promulgated.

The proposed regulations by DNREC and DDA, pursuant to the Supreme Court ruling, state that visitors may legally possess firearms, as allowed by Delaware law, in state parks, wildlife areas and forests unless they are prohibited by law due to a past conviction for a violent crime, active Protection from Abuse Order, or mental health commitment. This would include, for example, trails, unguarded beaches, parking lots, and vehicles. The proposed regulations prohibit firearms only in certain public facilities and designated areas such as park offices, visitor centers, nature centers, bathhouses, stadiums and facilities while used for events, museums, zoos, stables, educational facilities, dormitories, playgrounds, camping areas, swimming pools, guarded beaches, and water parks. Proposed regulations call for these designated areas to be identified by appropriate signage.

The proposed regulations allow holders of valid Delaware concealed-carry permits to carry within parks, including designated areas, provided only that the permit be produced upon request. The regulations would further allow active-duty law and qualified retired law enforcement officers to carry anywhere within the parks and other areas affected by Supreme Court decision. The proposed regulations can be found on the DNREC website.

A public hearing on the proposed regulations will be held March 12 at 6 p.m. in DNREC’s Richardson & Robbins Auditorium, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901. Public workshops on the proposed regulations will be held in February in all three counties in advance of the March 12 public hearing. The dates, times and locations of the workshops are:

• New Castle County: Thursday, Feb. 15, 6 p.m., DNREC offices, 391 Lukens Drive, New Castle, DE 19720
• Kent County: Tuesday, Feb. 20, 6 p.m., DNREC R&R Auditorium, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901
• Sussex County: Thursday, Feb. 22, 6 p.m., Sussex Central High School Auditorium, 26026 Patriots Way, Georgetown, DE 19947

Vol. 48, No. 10

Media Contact: Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

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MILLSBORO – The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control is working with the Delaware Division of Public Health to sample water from wells at private residences in the vicinity of Mountaire Farms’ Millsboro poultry processing plant that was recently cited by DNREC for wastewater violations involving excessive levels of nitrates. Water in several recently-sampled wells was found to contain nitrates in exceedance of the national drinking water standard of 10 milligrams per liter (10mg/L).

After the wells at several residences in an area neighboring the plant and its spray irrigation fields returned high levels of nitrates in their drinking water, Mountaire at DNREC’s recommendation today began providing bottled water to the affected residences.

Mountaire also agreed to provide bottled water and possibly other water treatment to other areas of concern surrounding the plant that have the potential to be impacted by nitrate contamination. A number of residences nearer the plant already are receiving bottled water from the company.

DNREC also is continuing to work with the Division of Public Health’s Office of Drinking Water to expand sampling of private wells at residences that may be affected by nitrates from the Mountaire plant’s wastewater discharge.

Media contact: Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 47, No. 355

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DOVER – Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control will hold two public workshops this month seeking input as DNREC begins the regulatory process for developing regulations for the Coastal Zone Conversion Permit Act, which Governor John Carney signed into law in August. The act requires the Department to develop and promulgate regulations for the redevelopment of 14 heavy-industrial use sites in Delaware’s Coastal Zone by Oct. 1, 2019. The workshops will provide the public an opportunity to comment on the process the Department will use to develop regulations for the conversion permits DNREC will issue for sites to be redeveloped.

The two workshops will be held:

• Wednesday, Nov. 29, at the Kingswood Community Center, 2300 Bowers Street, Wilmington, DE 19802, and
• Thursday, Nov. 30, at Delaware City Fire Hall, 815 5th Street, Delaware City, DE 19706.

Both workshops will begin at 6 p.m.

“The workshops provide an open forum for everyone wanting to express their thoughts and concerns about the Coastal Zone Conversion Permit Act regulatory process,” said DNREC Secretary Shawn M. Garvin. “The Coastal Zone is an important part of Delaware and our environment. The State is committed to having an open and inclusive process, which starts with defining what the process will look like. The workshops are the Department’s first opportunity to listen to input from our citizens about the best way to implement the revisions to the Coastal Zone Act.”

Information gathered at the workshops will be compiled by the Consensus Building Institute (CBI), a non-profit organization collaborating with DNREC and the State of Delaware to ensure that regulations are developed by the Department with transparency and openness during the regulatory process. CBI was chosen by the State because it played a similar role in Coastal Zone Act regulations developed in the late 1990s. The information gathered at the workshops will be used by DNREC to help the Department establish a Regulatory Advisory Committee (RAC), which will help guide development of Coastal Zone Conversion Permit regulations.

Both workshops will follow the same agenda. The first part will include informative presentations about legislative changes to the Coastal Zone Act (which originated as House Bill 190 before it was signed into law as the Coastal Zone Conversion Permit Act by the Governor) followed by an opportunity for public comment. During the second half of the workshop, all who attend will be asked to participate in breakout groups focused on establishing the RAC and the role that committee will have in formulating regulations.

The information gathered by CBI in stakeholder interviews and comments made at the public workshops will not be used in drafting conversion permit regulations, but are intended to gather input on the strategy DNREC might use in developing regulations in an open and transparent manner. Information gathered during the workshops and from CBI’s stakeholder interviews will be compiled in a report for DNREC and made available for public review when complete.

For more information on the Coastal Zone Conversion Permit Act, please visit de.gov/conversionpermits. To stay updated on the regulatory process for developing the conversion permit, you can also subscribe to the Coastal Zone Act email listserv by sending a blank email to join-dnrec_coastal_zone@lists.state.de.us.

Media contact: Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 47, No. 241

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DOVER – DNREC Secretary David Small today issued a $150,000 fine in a Notice of Penalty Assessment and Secretary’s Order to the Delaware City Refining Company and PBF Energy for violating an earlier DNREC Order that allowed the refinery to ship crude oil from Delaware City to only its Paulsboro, N.J. facility as a condition of DNREC’s granting an air permit to PBF Energy and DCRC in 2013.

DNREC’s investigation found that PBF Energy violated the Order throughout 2014, when it made 17 barge shipments of crude oil over 15 days to locations other than PBF Energy’s Paulsboro refinery. DNREC determined that the Delaware City refinery had violated the order by failing to make timely and full disclosure to DNREC about the nature and extent of those shipments, and had misrepresented the number of shipments that went to other facilities.

The penalty assessment and Secretary’s Order conclude that Delaware City Refining Company/PBF Energy violated the 2013 Secretary’s Order, by shipping crude oil from the Delaware City terminal to three locations other than PBF Energy’s Paulsboro, N.J. refinery, on 15 days in 2014, making a total of 17 separate barge shipments containing approximately 35.7 million gallons of crude oil in total. Contrary to terms of the 2013 Order, DCRC did not disclose these shipments to DNREC, and did not seek a status determination regarding the change in operations or a modification of the terms of the Order.

The excerpt below from the 2013 Order reiterates the representations made by DCRC, and that DCRC, upon occurrence of any change in circumstances or operations with respect to the crude oil terminal, was required by DNREC to provide notice and take additional action:

 “Applicant stated on the record that the proposed use would be consistent with the past use and that the activity would be limited to the transfer of North American-produced crude oil from the Facility’s docks onto barges to be transported up the Delaware River to Applicant’s sister company refinery in Paulsboro, New Jersey, also owned by PBF Energy.”

The order further states: “This determination may be subject to change should the Department determine that the proposed usage has changed or that the information in this record is incorrect or incomplete. …Applicant should request a Coastal Zone Status Decision if future physical or operational changes are intended or implemented.”

The Delaware City Refining Company and PBF Energy have 30 days to appeal the penalty and Secretary’s Order, which can be found on the DNREC website at http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/Info/Pages/SecOrders_Enforcement.aspx.

Media contact: Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 47, No. 56

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DOVER – DNREC’s Division of Waste & Hazardous Substances has reopened the public comment period and revised proposed amendments to Delaware’s Regulations Governing Aboveground Storage Tanks, as set forth in 7 DE Admin. Code 1352. The 30-day public comment period regarding the revised proposed amendments will be from Feb. 1 through DNREC close of business March 3.

The Department has revised the proposed amendments based on comments received prior to the Dec. 21, 2016 end of the initial public comment period. The revisions also correct formatting errors found in the original proposed amendments. The purpose of the proposed regulatory action is to clarify technical requirements applicable to aboveground storage tank (AST) systems and specify applicable industry-based reference standards published by the American Petroleum Institute and other trade organizations. Additionally, the regulations propose minimum distances for locating new ASTs near private and public wells consistent with requirements set forth by DNREC’s Well Permitting Regulations. Also, actions required in terms of both reporting and corrective action when AST releases occur have been updated to provide greater clarify and specificity.

The revised proposed regulations were published in the Feb. 1, 2017 edition of the Register of Regulations and can be viewed on the DNREC website at http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/tanks/Pages/AST-Program.aspx

A public hearing on the initial draft of the proposed amendments was held Dec. 6, 2016. An additional public hearing will NOT be held on the revised proposed amendments unless the Secretary of DNREC receives a request. Comments may be emailed to Lisa Vest or sent by US Mail to Lisa Vest, Hearing Officer, DNREC, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901.

This proposed promulgation falls under the Regulatory Transparency and Accountability Acts of 2015, which requires that agencies proposing new or amended regulations that affect small businesses or individuals to submit a Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (RFA) and Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS). Both these documents are available on the Delaware.gov website, and include consideration and addressing of possible economic impacts of the proposed regulatory amendments.

Media contact: Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 47, No. 27

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