State Senate panel approves impact fee on drilling
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HARRISBURG -- With approval from a key Senate panel on Monday evening, legislation to assess an impact fee on gas drillers and strengthen oversight of that industry is poised for a final vote in that chamber later today.
The latest changes, which were approved on a nearly party-line vote of 17-9, re-inserted a beefed-up drilling fee and would allow for the attorney general's office to review local zoning rules related to natural gas extraction.
Those revisions -- the result of months of negotiations between a bipartisan group of senators -- were met with disappointment by Democrats who said the proposed fee was still far too low.
But Senate President Pro Tem Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, defended his fee proposal as reasonable, also pointing to environmental safeguards recently added to the bill and the ability for localities to retain some autonomy over their zoning rules.
"Those have been the three components that have eluded us over the past months and year, and so we found something to bring it together," Mr. Scarnati said.
Passage of a drilling fee in the Senate would be a first in that chamber. And with the number of remaining session days this year in single digits, its approval would set up long-awaited talks between lawmakers and Gov. Tom Corbett on a final bill.
The new state-assessed impact fee from Mr. Scarnati would levy an initial base cost of $50,000 per well, which would decrease annually until years 11 through 20 that a well is producing, with a cost then of $10,000 per well. That price tag would increase if natural gas prices rise.
An earlier version of the bill would have set the fee for a well's first year of production at $40,000 and assessed it at a decreasing rate for only 10 years. That rate currently is included in a House fee proposal.
Revenues from the fee would be split between the state and local levels, with 55 percent going to counties and municipalities in the Marcellus Shale region and 45 percent to statewide infrastructure projects, environmental programs and other projects related to natural gas production.
Other funds also would be set aside for county conservation districts, training programs conducted by the state fire commissioner, the Fish and Boat Commission and for boosting availability of affordable housing.
First Published November 15, 2011 12:00 am
