Six years ago, then-Attorney General Josh Shapiro released a secret grand jury report examining Pennsylvania’s response to the shale gas revolution.

The report arrived with significant attention and sweeping recommendations. What it lacked was a clear understanding of the regulatory system it sought to critique.

There were no public meetings to review or vet its findings, nor an opportunity for public comment. There was no requirement that those involved possess expertise in oil and natural gas development, environmental regulation, engineering, geology, air quality, water management, or any of the countless disciplines that shape Pennsylvania’s oversight system – or even evidence that they so much as visited a natural gas site to better understand how shale development actually operates across the Commonwealth.

When responding in June 2020, the MSC described the report as exhibiting “a jarring lack of reality” as to how shale gas development occurs in Pennsylvania, specifically pointing to its “equally disturbing ignorance” of the many laws and regulations that govern shale gas development.

Notably, Pennsylvania’s own environmental regulators reached a similar conclusion.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) called the report “factually and legally inaccurate” and warned that it “does a disservice to the citizens of the Commonwealth.”

Those criticisms have only grown more relevant with time.

What the Report Left out

One of the report’s most significant flaws was its failure to fully account for the extensive regulatory framework already governing shale development in Pennsylvania.

In reality, many of the issues highlighted in the report had already been addressed through years of legislative, regulatory, and operational reforms. By 2020, Pennsylvania had already undertaken one of the most comprehensive overhauls of oil and natural gas regulation in the country.

Among the measures already in place when the report was released were:

  • Multiple permit fee increases that enabled DEP to more than triple staffing dedicated to oversight and enforcement.
  • The passage of Act 13, which strengthened environmental protections, expanded setbacks, enhanced water well protections, increased road bonding requirements and penalties, established chemical disclosure requirements, and created the Impact Fee.
  • Comprehensive regulatory updates in 2011 and 2016 governing well construction, groundwater protection, waste management, site restoration, and public resource protection.
  • Air quality permitting requirements implemented in 2013 and strengthened again in 2019, including first of their kind permits designed to reduce emissions and require advanced control technologies.
  • Mandatory emergency response planning requirements, along with extensive inspection, reporting, and compliance obligations.

These measures were not isolated reforms. They were part of a broader system of laws, regulations, and oversight that had been strengthened over more than a decade.

The Commonwealth’s oversight structure extended far beyond a single law or regulation. By 2020, shale development was governed by 43 laws, 28 permit authorization packages, and seven technical guidance documents, administered through multiple agencies and reinforced by ongoing inspections and enforcement.

Pennsylvania did not lack a regulatory framework.

That reality received little attention in the grand jury report, despite the fact that many of its recommendations centered on issues lawmakers and regulators had already addressed through years of policy and regulatory action. The result was a report that often failed to acknowledge the breadth of safeguards, requirements, and oversight mechanisms already in place.

Six More Years of Evidence

Perhaps the clearest test of the report’s conclusions is the six years that have followed its release.

Since 2020, both the regulatory system and industry practices have continued to evolve through enhanced emissions monitoring and reporting, expanded transparency measures, updated air quality requirements, and ongoing scientific evaluation of natural gas development and environmental performance.

Operators continue investing in the best available leak detection and repair technologies, methane reduction efforts, water recycling systems, well construction improvements, emissions monitoring tools, and operational best practices designed to improve environmental performance across all stages of development.

Today, Pennsylvania’s unconventional natural gas industry maintains an environmental compliance rate approaching 98%, one of the strongest records of any major industrial sector.

As a result, Pennsylvania is widely regarded as a national standard bearer for shale gas development, pairing rigorous oversight with the economic and energy benefits of responsible resource development.

More than 123,000 jobs are supported by natural gas development, while Impact Fee revenues have generated more than $3 billion for local communities, infrastructure projects, environmental programs, emergency services, and conservation initiatives.

At the same time, abundant domestic natural gas supplies have helped lower energy costs for families and businesses, supported manufacturing investment, strengthened American energy security, and contributed to decades of emissions reductions associated with increased natural gas use in electricity generation.

These outcomes were not achieved in the absence of regulation. They were achieved under a system built on continuous oversight, accountability, and improvement.

The View From 2026

What makes the 2020 report noteworthy today is not simply that industry stakeholders and regulators disagreed with its conclusions. It is that the years since its release have provided a real-world test of many of its underlying assumptions.

Pennsylvania’s shale industry operates under extensive state and federal oversight. Wells are permitted, monitored, inspected, and regulated throughout their lifecycle. Operators are subject to detailed requirements governing air emissions, water protection, waste management, emergency planning, site construction, restoration activities, and public disclosure.

Any meaningful discussions about energy development must begin with an accurate accounting of the facts. That was the concern raised by MSC in 2020. It was the concern raised by DEP. And it remains the report’s most significant shortcoming today.

The record shows a natural gas industry supporting jobs, generating billions in public revenue, contributing to affordable and reliable energy, and operating under a regulatory system that has continuously evolved alongside development.

Far from validating the report’s portrayal of shale development, the past six years have reinforced the criticisms raised when it was released. The grand jury offered a narrative. Pennsylvania’s record has provided the evidence.