04-06-2025
Pennsylvania lawmakers go after local drilling restrictions
Pennsylvania lawmakers are considering a bill that would withhold some funding from local governments that restrict where the oil industry can build fracking pads.
The bill, S.B. 102, would prohibit counties and municipalities from receiving impact fees from fracking operations if they pass local rules that 'unreasonably' restrict oil and gas activity. It was written in reaction to a growing number of local 'setback' ordinances in western Pennsylvania that increase the distance between oil development and nearby homes and bodies of water.
Industry groups and the bill's supporters say it would ensure impact fees go to municipalities that are most affected by drilling and continue to host more oil and gas production. But local government leaders — along with environmental groups — say the bill would hurt local budgets and could have a chilling affect on their ability to pass zoning ordinances.
Advertisement
'The state set the standards for us in the municipal planning code, and they set us up to be the ones to have to administer zoning,' said Thomas Casciola, chair of the Board of Supervisors for the Cecil Township in western Pennsylvania. 'And yet now they're upset because we're doing it.'
