Shale Oversight Legislation in Pennsylvania Could Be Approved This Year - Stay Tuned
This post was written by Jennifer Smokelin.
As we've dicussed, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and the Pennsylvania Senate passed versions of shale oversight legislation last month. The measures differ in several ways, including how to update the state's environmental rules and method for implementing and distributing a drilling impact fee. The House proposal, which mirrors much of what the governor outlined in his Marcellus Shale policy announcement, would allow for a fee on producing wells of up to $40,000 per well in the first year and decreasing annually to $10,000 in years four through ten. The Senate has offered a fee that starts at $50,000 per well, decreasing through a period of 20 years -- twice as long as the assessment in the House bill. There are other differences in the two bills that need to be discussed as well. Supporters had talked about getting a compromise piece of legislation on to the governor's desk by end of the year and time is running out -- the Senate has three session days left on the calendar for 2011, with six for the House. We'll keep you posted.
