Corbett Still Pushing To Preempt Local Drilling Ordinances

Scott Detrow / StateIm­pact Pennsylvania

Corbett’s energy exec­u­tive, Patrick Henderson

A brief note in this morning’s Pipeline morn­ing links adds an inter­est­ing dynamic to behind-the-scenes impact fee negotiations.

The Post-Gazette’s Laura Olson cov­ered an energy forum in Her­shey yes­ter­day, which Gov­er­nor Cor­bett attended. She writes,

“Gov. Tom Cor­bett declined to take ques­tions yes­ter­day about the dis­cus­sion to craft a com­pro­mise Mar­cel­lus Shale mea­sure, thought his energy exec­u­tive [Patrick Hen­der­son] said after an event in Her­shey that they will con­tinue to make their case about cre­at­ing a uni­form sys­tem of reg­u­la­tion across the state.”

That means the Cor­bett Admin­is­tra­tion hasn’t given up on lan­guage “super­sed­ing and pre­empt­ing” all local drilling reg­u­la­tions, despite the fact House law­mak­ers removed that sec­tion from a Republican-sponsored impact fee, before pass­ing it last week.

The amend­ment was a sign there’s lit­tle leg­isla­tive sup­port for over­rid­ing local zon­ing, but Gov­er­nor Cor­bett argues the move would help keep Penn­syl­va­nia com­pet­i­tive with Ohio, where more and more drillers are headed.