Politics & Government

White Supports House Dems in Act 13 Legal Brief

State Sen. Jesse White joined his colleagues in filing legal brief supporting Act 13 constitutionality challenge.

The House Democratic Caucus, which includes (D-Cecil), has filed a special legal brief known as an "amicus curiae," to support arguments in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the elimination of local zoning ordinances for oil and gas operations under .

White was named on the brief as one of 30 House Democrats who provided support of the case that charge Act 13 is an unconstitutional "special law that creates a class of one industry with substantially more rights than any other industry, citizen or business in the Commonwealth in violation of Article III, Section 32 of the Pennsylvania Constitution."

due to concerns over the constitutionality of the law, including the blanket zoning preemption provision that they say is in violation of Article 1, Section 1 of the Pennsylvania Constitution and the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The local zoning preemption provision allows the state to preempt local zoning laws that had been used to provide reasonable protections for residents against nearby drilling activity.

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When the legislature passed the law earlier this year to levy a small impact fee on drilling, White and other members strongly opposed the preemption provision language and foresaw that municipalities would fight it in court.

"Act 13 is an unconstitutional law crafted primarily by energy industry lobbyists and rammed through the legislature, and I could not in good conscience support it and abandon my duties of obeying and defending the state constitution," White said. "Now that it's passed, it's time to stand up for the municipal leaders who have the guts and good sense to challenge the constitutionality of Act 13, or our communities—and everybody who holds our constitution as sacred—will be paying for it for generations to come.

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"The vast majority of municipal officials in my district have told me the same thing, that they want drilling but that they also want to be able to do their jobs and protect residents from any negative impacts of the industry," White said. "Their challenge isn't anti-drilling, it's pro-constitution, and this brief includes information and expertise accumulated throughout the legislative process that should have been taken into account and adopted in the law in the first place."

The brief, which was filed May 14 in Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, is available in its entirety at http://scr.bi/act13brief.


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