GILLETTE -- The Equality State Policy Center on Tuesday criticized the governor's office and Wyoming attorney general, saying they're interfering with efforts to regulate negative impacts of water discharged from coal-bed methane wells.

Last week, Gov. Dave Freudenthal's administration blasted a citizen board known as the Environmental Quality Council for proceeding with rulemaking that could force state regulators to tighten controls on coal-bed methane water.

The Powder River Basin Resource Council brought the request on behalf of its rancher members, whose lands are being damaged or flooded by poor quality water. To date, many ranchers have found no regulatory relief as state agencies claim the problem is another agency's responsibility, or that no agency has the authority to address it.

"The only reason to interfere is if Gov. Freudenthal doesn't want regulation of coal-bed methane water, and that would not square with his commitment to growth on Wyoming's terms," said Sarah Gorin, chairwoman of the Equality State Policy Center, a group that bills itself as an advocate of government accountability and citizen access.

"The Wyoming Environmental Quality Act specifically provides for citizen requests for rulemaking," Gorin continued. "The EQC has considered this matter very carefully; they've had three hearings just on whether a rulemaking is justified, and they've concluded that it is."

Freudenthal said Tuesday that he thought the "dust-up" over the EQC's rulemaking has been blown out of proportion. He said he doesn't believe the council should proceed with its next hearing on the proposed rules Jan. 17 and 18, but he's not going to try to stop the hearings from happening.

"The underlying theory is we want to make sure there's a legal basis to move forward to rulemaking," Freudenthal said.

Freudenthal echoed Attorney General Pat Crank's assessment that there is no legal basis to move forward. Freudenthal also pointed out that most rulemaking actions come from within a state regulatory agency, not from a citizen petition. So there's been some question about how this particular rulemaking should continue procedurally.

Even some supporters of the rulemaking admit it is somewhat flawed, in that there seems to be no direct remedy for the state's failure to weigh water quality considerations with water quantity considerations in coal-bed methane development. But in fact it is the very intent of the Environmental Quality Act that the EQC operate under independent authority on issues that are not being resolved to the satisfaction of Wyoming citizens, said Dan Neal, executive director of the Equality State Policy Center.

Neal said the rulemaking process provides for all sides to make their cases, and the governor's office ought to let that happen without any interference.

"Gov. Freudenthal and his attorneys are trying to paint the EQC as renegade, when actually it is following state law in a very serious and conscientious manner to address an issue affecting Wyomingites who have ranched here for generations," Neal said. "Everyone will get their say at the rulemaking hearing, and if rules are made they can be challenged in court, just like any other rulemaking."

The Equality State Policy Center is a nonprofit corporation with members including several labor unions, the Wyoming Outdoor Council, the Wyoming Education Association, the Wyoming Association of Churches, the Wyoming Wildlife Association and the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association.

NewsTracker

* Last we knew: Gov. Dave Freudenthal's office criticized the state Environmental Quality Council last week for continuing with rulemaking aimed at improving regulation of coal-bed methane water discharges.

* The latest: The Equality State Policy Center called on the governor to back off from the rulemaking and allow the EQC to proceed with its work.

* What's next: Freudenthal said he does not plan to stop an EQC hearing on the proposed rule Jan. 17-18 in Cheyenne.

Energy reporter Dustin Bleizeffer can be reached at (307) 682-3388 or dustin.bleizeffer@casperstartribune.net.