{"id":5606,"date":"2013-12-20T16:44:14","date_gmt":"2013-12-20T16:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?p=5606"},"modified":"2013-12-20T16:44:14","modified_gmt":"2013-12-20T16:44:14","slug":"pennsylvania-supreme-court-reins-in-state-drilling-laws-stands-up-for-localities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2013\/12\/20\/pennsylvania-supreme-court-reins-in-state-drilling-laws-stands-up-for-localities\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania Supreme Court Reins in State Drilling Laws, Stands Up for Localities"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Source:<\/a>
Source: Pennlive<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yesterday the Pennsylvania Supreme Court stood up for the\u00a0traditional powers of local governments to decide where — and, to a significant extent, how — oil and gas development happens in their communities.\u00a0In a 4-2 vote, the Court overturned Act 13, a 2012 state law that had stripped localities of some of their power to decide where the industry can operate. For example, Act 13 required that drilling, waste pits and pipelines be allowed in every zoning district, including residential districts, as long as certain buffers are observed.<\/p>\n

That provision and others were challenged in a lawsuit filed by seven Pennsylvania localities. The suit was supported by an amicus brief written by lawyers at Earthjustice and signed by EDF and other environmental groups. We congratulate the local governments\u00a0on this important victory and thank Earthjustice for its leadership.<\/p>\n

This is a big win for local governments\u00a0because it preserves\u00a0their right to make sensible land\u00a0use decisions that\u00a0can\u00a0impact\u00a0quality of life.\u00a0Home to the\u00a0gas-rich Marcellus shale\u00a0basin, Pennsylvania\u00a0has emerged as\u00a0the\u00a0nation\u2019s fastest-growing producer of natural gas<\/a>\u00a0and now ranks third in the nation, behind only Texas and Louisiana. Pennsylvania accounts for more than 10 percent of the nation\u2019s total natural gas production, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.\u00a0Alongside this spike in production, however, serious concerns about air<\/a> and water quality in the region have\u00a0also emerged.<\/p>\n

EDF believes that\u00a0the environmental and public health risks<\/a>\u00a0associated with natural gas\u00a0development, distribution and delivery must\u00a0be addressed.\u00a0Nobody should have to accept polluted water or dirty air\u00a0for the sake of cheap energy.\u00a0That\u2019s why we are working\u00a0in\u00a0key states\u00a0around the country, such as\u00a0Pennsylvania<\/a>, Texas<\/a> and Colorado<\/a>,\u00a0to get strong regulations in place to make sure gas development is done right.\u00a0It\u2019s also why EDF and our allies\u00a0stood up for the traditional rights of localities during the Act 13 court challenge that ended in victory yesterday.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re glad to see the Pennsylvania\u00a0Supreme Court take this\u00a0important step to restore\u00a0the balance between state and local interests.\u00a0EDF believes that states and local authorities can best regulate oil and gas activities when we all work together, collaborating on the sequencing, placement and extent of this heavy industrial activity in a way that respects communities and protects the environment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday the Pennsylvania Supreme Court stood up for the\u00a0traditional powers of local governments to decide where — and, to a significant extent, how — oil and gas development happens in their communities.\u00a0In a 4-2 vote, the Court overturned Act 13, a 2012 state law that had stripped localities of some of their power to decide …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[693],"tags":[34728],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-5606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-natural-gas","tag-pennsylvania"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPennsylvania Supreme Court Reins in State Drilling Laws, Stands Up for Localities - Energy Exchange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2013\/12\/20\/pennsylvania-supreme-court-reins-in-state-drilling-laws-stands-up-for-localities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pennsylvania Supreme Court Reins in State Drilling Laws, Stands Up for Localities - 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