(Undated) -- A federal committee on natural gas drilling has recommended that baseline water quality testing be conducted before operations start.

A former head of the state Department of Environmental Protection sits on the panel. Kathleen McGinty says Pennsylvania is one of only a few states that does not already requiring baseline testing before wells are dug. She says a big concern that's been raised over natural gas drilling is whether or not it's adversely impacting drinking water. "The only way to know that is to have a sense as to what the quality of that drinking water is before the well development, the drilling, commences," she says.

McGinty says gas companies should pay for that testing. Current state law holds gas companies responsible for contamination in drinking water wells within 1,000 feet of natural gas wells.

The report also calls for mandatory public disclosure of the new baseline data, which Clean Water Action's Myron Arnowitt says is key. "It's important that this is done in an upfront and public way and everybody knows what's going on," he says. A spokesman for the Marcellus Shale Coalition says the industry is already conducting pre-drill tests and would "be able to embrace" mandatory testing and disclosure.