The state government continues to effectively and tightly-regulated the safe development of natural gas in the Commonwealth. From a purely regulatory standpoint, in February 2012, Pennsylvania enacted Act 13, a comprehensive law that according to the Department of Environmental Protection, “enacted stronger environmental standards, authorized local governments to adopt an impact fee and built upon the state’s ongoing efforts to move towards energy independence as unconventional gas development continues.”
Importantly, Act 13 is designed to ensure that natural gas-related benefits continue to reach literally every inch of the Commonwealth. Through the law’s impact fee, hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues – in addition to the nearly $1.8 billion in taxes that the natural gas industry has paid over the past several years – are helping to fund important programs in each of our 67 counties. Here are examples of how these benefits are positively impacting Pennsylvania communities, many of which that do not have natural gas drilling activities:
