Both chambers of the Pennsylvania state congress have passed separate pieces of legislation aimed at regulating natural gas drilling in the Commonwealth. On November 15, 2011, the Pennsylvania Senate passed Senate Bill 1100 by a 29-20 vote. The senate bill would create new environmental restrictions and impose an annual “impact fee” on drillers for the first ten years a well produces gas. The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed House Bill 1950 on November 17, 2011, by a vote of 107-76. The house bill also imposes an impact fee for drillers but the environmental protections were less restrictive than those offered by the Senate. Both bills would replace the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Act. The two chambers will now work together to reconcile the two bills before final passage.
Click here to read SB 1100
Click here to read HB 1950
Written by Andy Schwabenbauer, Research Fellow
November 28, 2011
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