Wednesday, September 26, 2012
The order, dated Monday, also denied Marcellus Shale industry groups' petition to intervene.
A state Supreme Court order dated Monday denied the request from two top state Republican leaders to intervene on the Act 13 appeal that is scheduled for oral arguments Oct. 17. State Senate President Pro Tempore Joseph Scarnati and Speaker of the House state Rep. Samuel H. Smith in August had sought to intervene in the appeal of a Commonwealth Court ruling that struck down portions of the state's new Marcellus Shale law as unconstitutional. A request by the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association, the Marcellus Shale Coalition, Markwest Liberty Midstrearn & Resources, LLC, Penneco Oil Company, lnc., and Chesapeake Appalachia, LLC to intervene and participate in oral arguments in the appeal was also denied in the order Monday. To …
Thursday, September 20, 2012
The brief was filed this week.
Attorneys for the group of municipalities, medical doctor and nonprofit challenging the state’s new law governing Marcellus Shale play filed a brief with the state Supreme Court laying out its argument for why it should affirm a Commonwealth Court’s ruling that portions of Act 13 are unconstitutional. “Act 13’s promulgation of a uniform set of zoning regulations governing oil and gas operations throughout the commonwealth constitutes a single set of statewide zoning whiles which allow for incompatible uses in like zoning districts thereby eliminating the constitutional rationale for such districts,” the court paperwork reads. It continues: “Act 13’s broad brush approach and failure to account for the health, safety and welfare of citizens…
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
A group of Senate Democrats filed a similar brief Tuesday.
State Rep. Jesse White on Wednesday announced that the House Democratic Caucus has filed with the state Supreme Court a special legal brief, known as an "amicus curiae," to support Commonwealth Court’s July ruling that the elimination of local zoning ordinances for oil and gas operations under Act 13 was unconstitutional. White was named on the brief as one of 44 House Democrats who affirmed the efforts of the seven municipalities, including Cecil, Mt. Pleasant, Peters, Robinson and South Fayette townships, that successfully sued the Commonwealth to overturn the local zoning provisions in Act 13, the state’s natural gas drilling law. State Rep. Brandon Neuman, D-North Strabane, was not among those who signed. "I usually do not sign on to …
The amicus brief filed in support of affirming the efforts of seven municipalities, a medical doctor and a nonprofit challenging the state's Marcellus Shale law was filed Tuesday.
State Sen. Jim Ferlo has enlisted the support of 15 of his Senate Democratic colleagues in signing on to an amicus brief affirming the efforts of the seven municipalities that sued the Commonwealth to overturn zoning provisions of Act 13—although state Sen. Tim Solobay was not among those who signed. Solobay represents three of the communities—including Cecil—that challenged the law. The amicus brief specifically requests that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirm the decision of the Commonwealth Court’s majority ruling that found that these sections of Act 13 were unconstitutional. “In my opinion, it means higher taxes, higher energy costs and loss of jobs and I don’t support any of that,” Solobay said, explaining why he did not sign onto…
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Several groups today filed briefs in support of the group of communities, medical doctor and nonprofit that have challenged Act 13.
A group of environmental and community planning organizations, as well as government entities, filed a series of Amicus Briefs with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court today in support of communities’ rights to making zoning decisions about Marcellus Shale play within their borders. The groups—including the Natural Resources Defense Council, Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Planning Association, the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs, the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors, the Pittsburgh City Council, Mountain Watershed Association, and Earthjustice—filed in support of a Commonwealth Court decision that found portions of Act 13 unconstitutional. The groups filing today join a broad spectrum of entities from …
Saturday, September 15, 2012
The brief supporting the Commonwealth Court's ruling that portions of the new law is unconstitutional is expected to be filed Tuesday.
Pittsburgh City Council President Darlene Harris announced Friday that council will file an amicus brief in support of upholding the state Commonwealth Court’s ruling that portions of Pennsylvania's new law governing Marcellus Shale is unconstitutional. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the state's appeal of the decision on Oct. 17 in Pittsburgh. Council’s brief is expected to be filed with the state Supreme Court Tuesday, Harris said in a release. "It is difficult to get nine votes on legislation of this nature and I am pleased that the council is of one mind on this matter,” she saidn. Harris added that Monroeville, Murrysville, West Homestead and other municipalities are doing the same. She continued: “This …
Friday, September 7, 2012
The state Supreme Court will hear arguments on Oct. 17.
The state Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the Act 13 appeal on Oct. 17 in Pittsburgh. A cluster of communities—including Cecil and Peters townships— a non-profit and a medical doctor challenged the law, portions of which were struck down by a Commonwealth Court judge in July. A day after that ruling was made, the state appealed the ruling, which voided portions of the Marcellus Shale law that dealt with zoning. For more information on the challenge, click here. For more information on the appeal, click here.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
The request to deny the motion to intervene in an appeal of Act 13 by two of the state's top Republican leaders was filed Wednesday by the challengers to the law.
Attorneys for a cluster of communities, medical doctor and nonprofit challenging Pennsylvania's new law governing Marcellus Shale play on Wednesday asked the state Supreme Court to deny the request of two top state Republican leaders to intervene in an appeal of Act 13. State Senator Pro Temore Joe Scarnati and state Leader of the House Rep. Samuel H. Smith made the request to intervene in the appeal, which was filed a day after the Commonwealth Court ruled that portions of the new law dealing with zoning was unconstitutional last month. In its motion, attorneys for the Act 13 challengers, which include the communities of Cecil and Peters townships, said Scarnati and Smith's request should be denied for several reasons—including the fact …
Saturday, August 4, 2012
'The residential and commercial growth of Pennsylvania municipalities is currently hampered if not practically halted during the pendency of this court’s decision,” the court filing read.
Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection and the Public Utilities Commission last week asked the state Supreme Court to consider an expedited hearing for its appeal of a Commonwealth Court ruling that struck down the zoning portions of the Keystone State’s new Marcellus Shale law. On Friday, attorneys for the cluster of communities—including Cecil and Peters townships—a medical doctor and a nonprofit that filed the challenge to Act 13 that spawned the ruling have joined the state in its request—but not for the same reasons. “The inherent uncertainty of this court’s pending determination for municipalities and local officials and municipalities and local officials to perform any effective land-use planning,” attorneys said in …
Monday, July 30, 2012
The application was filed Monday.
State officials on Monday asked the state Supreme Court for expedited consideration of an appeal of a Commonwealth Court decision last week that ruled portions of the state’s new Marcellus Shale law—known as Act 13—as unconstitutional. The court last week ruled that zoning regulations related to Marcellus Shale play should be made at the local level, and not the state level as Act 13 mandated. “That decision has gutted Act 13 of one of its key interstitial parts and has created significant uncertainty for the Commission, the Department, and the regulated community at this critical juncture in the Marcellus Shale development,” an attorney for the Public Utility Commission and the state Department of Environmental protection wrote in the …
Insider Eyes
8:32 am on Thursday, September 27, 2012
White is a loudmouth and Neuman is gutless. Time to get some real legislators in there. more ›