Penn Future - - Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future: Working to Protect Pennsylvania's Environment and Economy

Natural gas in Marcellus shale

PennFuture's Plain Language Guide to Act 13

In February of 2012 Gov. Corbett signed Act 13.

Download a summary or
full text (Version 1.2, as of 04/27/2012) of PennFuture's analysis of this law. A list of changes to the original analysis is also available.

You can also ask PennFuture's legal staff questions about this law.

Natural gas has potential environmental and public health benefits.

But drilling for gas deep in the Marcellus and Utica shale formations is an intensely industrial, inherently hazardous activity that threatens water, air and land resources and public safety if proper regulations, with vigilant oversight, aren't in place.

Pennsylvania should pursue world-class standards, should enact a reasonable drilling tax, and should protect its population. Instead, in February of 2012, House Bill 1950 was signed into law, as Act 13, by Gov. Corbett.

Impacts keep surfacing.

Quiet communities with small law-enforcement departments suddenly have to keep up with population booms. Emergency responders have to learn quickly how to deal with types of accidents they couldn’t have imagined just a few years ago.

Housing prices in these same areas have skyrocketed, often — literally and figuratively — leaving long-time residents out in the cold when they’re priced out of their homes.

Heavy truck and other traffic damage roads — sometimes faster than they can be repaired.

The list of challenges continues to grow.

Take action.

Download PennFuture's Citizens guide to Marcellus drilling and add your business or organization to our list of endorsers who want to keep drilling out of Pennsylvania's state parks.

What next?

Counties were granted a scant 60 days (deadline: April 16, 2012) to assess the Oil and Gas Act of 2012 and decide whether or not to adopt the inadequate impact fee it offers — and with a catch. According to the law, counties that opt to institute the fee can have it rescinded by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) if the commission deems that a local ordinance conflicts with oil and gas operations. Zoning and setback rules in the law are outlined such that pipelines can potentially end up in your neighborhood and a noisy compressor station could show up near your hospital.

Good news?

On April 11, 2012, a judge ruled that the zoning part of the law should not go into effect on April 16 and gave local governments some breathing room to deal with their drilling ordinances.

PennFuture will continue to be vigilant in our work to protect Pennsylvania.