Posts Tagged ‘Bill’

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett wants to lift a statewide moratorium on gas well drilling on state land, including state forests, state prisons, and college campuses. He proposed that campuses situated over the Marcellus Shale Gas Reserve could be opened to natural gas drilling. Preliminary talks with school officials have already begun and a bill has been drafted allowing campus drilling. The announcement comes after he proposed to cut state funding to the schools by 50% in the budget.

There are six college campuses located within the Marcellus Shale Gas Reserve: Mansfield University, Lock Haven University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, California University of Pennsylvania, Clarion University, and Slippery Rock University. Discussion regarding the ownership of the gas royalties is ongoing.

The University of Texas at Arlington began natural gas drilling in 2009.  The drilling has generated millions in royalties for the university (The Meadville Tribune, 5/29/2011) (Erie Times-News, 5/29/2011).

Posted At: Examiner.com

Despite facing a major uphill battle, Democratic Pennsylvania State Senator John Yudichak of Luzerne County has moved a bill that would tax natural gas as it comes out of the ground. The bill calls for a tax on the gross value of the gas.

In the first three years of production, a well would be taxed at 2% and then jump up to 5% in year four. It would stay at that level until production fell below 150 MCF of natural gas per day. Once that threshold is reached, the tax would slip back to 2% as long as it stays above 60 MCF per day. Any well below 60 MCF would be exempt from the tax.

Yudichak says the tax would bring in $125 million in the first year and as much as $400 million a year after five years.

The measure is unlikely to win approval despite having Republican State Senator Edwin Erickson of Delaware County as a co-sponsor. Most Republicans in Harrisburg are against such a tax and the GOP holds a 30-20 majority in the PA senate. Yudichak says it is time to listen to the residents not the party, “The need to enact a natural gas severance tax is obvious to more than 60% of Pennsylvanians.” Yudichak was sighting recent polls that show public support for such a tax. “Gas drilling can potentially impact us all, in every corner of Pennsylvania,” says Yudichak.

Republicans have argued that such a tax will kill the young Marcellus Shale industry before it has a chance to grow. Yudichak disagrees, “We can have a thriving natural gas industry in Pennsylvania but it must be responsibly regulated and taxed to protect our communities, our land and our water.”

Even if it gets past the Republican controlled legislature, it would most likely face a veto from Governor Tom Corbett who made it a campaign pledge to not tax shale gas extraction. However, in recent weeks the governor and much of the rest of the party have begun to indicate that they may be willing to enact an impact fee that would stay with a host municipality.

In an effort to appeal to the Republicans, a third of the tax under Yudichak’s bill would be set aside for water supply and waste water issues, a third would go to an environmental stewardship fund and the rest would stay with local governments.

Originally Posted At: http://wduqnews.blogspot.com

              Ally received a notice from a collection agency advising her that she must respond to the letter or face a suit within thirty days. Ally had incurred a bill back in 2006 from a cosmetic company which she had questioned and never paid. Ally was unsure whether she should try to negotiate payments on the debt or whether she owed it at all.

ISSUE:          Does Ally have an obligation to pay the debt legally?

ANSWER:     No. There is a four year statute of limitations on contractual debts. Should Ally make any kind of payment, the date of the payment would start the running of the four year statute of limitations all over again.

            Ally should notify the credit agency that she is not responsible for the debt and the same would be barred by the statute of limitations. She should notify the collection agency that for any reason this bad debt shows up on her credit report, she will immediately take action under the Fair Credit Reporting Act against the debt collection agency. In effect, Ally will become the Plaintiff in the suit as opposed to the possible Defendant.

            Collection agencies are buying mass amounts of potential debt collection activities for pennies on the dollar in hopes of collecting on some of them. Consumers should beware of this activity.

Disclaimer: The above article is for instructive purposes only and each case is fact sensitive.  Consultation with an attorney should be obtained instead of reliance upon the legal issues discussed in this column. 

Congressman says federal agency can’t wait to regulate

By CASEY JUNKINS Staff Writer

© Copyright 2011 The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.



           Pam received a check made out to her name for $25.00 which was a reward for entering a sweepstakes which she never entered. Pam decided to cash the check and she did not realize that by endorsing the same, it was in actuality a letter of authorization. This basically acknowledged her approval to switch her long distance and local phone service provider.

            When Pam got her first bill, she was surprised that she was paying substantially more than she did with her traditional provider. This practice is prohibited by both federal and state laws and is called “slamming.”

QUESTION:  What should Pam do?

ANSWER:     Pam should call the new service provider, advising them immediately that she is switching back to her traditional company. She cannot be charged for this switch and she has a right to dispute any of the charges on her bill and she can only be billed at the original company’s rate.  If the “slamming” company does not cooperate, Pam can notify the Federal Communications Commission at their Bureau of Consumer Complaints.

Disclaimer: The above article is for instructive purposes only and each case is fact sensitive.  Consultation with an attorney should be obtained instead of reliance upon the legal issues discussed in this column.  

Freeze on issuance of drill permits sought to allow for study, regulation changes.

MATT HUGHES [email protected]

The first bill, also introduced by Mundy last summer, would place a one-year moratorium on the issuance of new gas drilling permits in order to give the state General Assembly time to enact necessary changes to environmental laws and regulations.

“With thousands of gas wells expected to be drilled in the next decade, we have to make sure appropriate law and regulations are in place,” Mundy said in a statement. “We must ensure that drillers do the job right; prevent problems to the extent possible and, when problems do occur, that they are dealt with effectively.”

Within the first six months of the moratorium, the state Department of Environmental Protection would be required to establish an online tracking system to monitor the storage, transportation and disposal of oil- and gas-drilling wastewater.

Mundy said the legislation would require DEP, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Fish and Boat Commission, and the Game Commission to do a joint study on the cumulative impact of gas and oil drilling in Pennsylvania.

The moratorium bill was also introduced by state Rep. Gerald Mullery, D-Newport Township, and state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre.

Mundy also reintroduced bills that would bar gas companies from drilling wells beneath or within 2,500 feet of a primary source for a community water system, such as a lake or reservoir, create an online tracking and reporting system for Marcellus Shale waste, and impose restrictions on drilling and site preparations in a flood plain, wastewater disposal and erosion control.

Copyright: Times Leader

Some PA Residents to See Nearly 11 Percent Drop in Gas Bill Immediately; Even More Domestic Supplies on the Way

• Philadelphians to save more than $22.6 million over next three months alone
• UGI customers to experience between 8.1 and 10.7 percent reduction in monthly bill
• Rates more than 13 percent lower than a year ago

PGW announces cuts in gas rates
Philadelphia Inquirer
Andrew Maykuth
November 29, 2010

Just in time for the winter heating season, Philadelphia Gas Works announced Monday it will decrease natural gas rates for the next three months, saving the average residential heating customer about $14.69 per month.

The municipal gas utility will lower its residential gas-supply charge from $1.60 per hundred cubic feet to $1.50 on Wednesday. The charge for commercial and institutional customers will also be reduced.

The supply charge is adjusted quarterly to reflect changes in the wholesale market price of natural gas, which is depressed because of the recession and abundant supplies from new resources such as shale-gas.

Based upon current market projections, the company anticipates that its rates should remain stable through the spring.

UGI cuts natural gas rate by 8.1 percent
Reading Eagle
Dan Kelly
November 30, 2010

Citing falling market prices and a growing supply, UGI Gas Utilities said Tuesday that it will decrease the rate it charges for natural gas by 8.1 percent beginning today.

UGI provides natural gas to 82,000 customers in the greater Reading area.

In addition, the utility owns UGI Central Penn Gas, which has several hundred customers in Hamburg and Shoemakersville, and in Centre, Perry, Tilden and Windsor townships. The rate for those customers will drop by 10.7 percent beginning today.

The average monthly bill for a UGI customer will drop to $103.60 from $112.76, officials said.

Central Penn monthly bills will drop to $83.01 from $92.92, they said.

Since 2008, UGI customers’ rates have fallen 30 percent and Central Penn customers’ bills have dropped 35 percent, company spokesman Joseph Swope said.

“We’re only starting to see the impact of the Marcellus shale gas supply,” Swope said. …”For the first time in a long time we have this huge supply of gas sitting here locally and better yet, it’s hurricane proof.”

By 2018, Swope said, the Marcellus shale will be producing 4.6 billion cubic feet per day, or 40 percent of all natural gas currently used in the Northeast.

U.S. proved natural gas, crude oil reserves soar – EIA
Reuters
Selam Gebrekidan and Joshua Schneyer
Nov 30, 2010

U.S. natural gas reserves increased by the most in history last year, and crude reserves also rose, as companies drilled frantically into shale rock formations with new technology, the Energy Information Administration said in an annual report on Tuesday.

U.S. net proved natural gas reserves rose 11 percent, or 28.8 trillion cubic feet (tcf), in 2009 to total 284 tcf, underscoring the dramatic impact that new gas pumped from shale rock formations is having on world energy supply.

“These increases demonstrate the possibility of an expanding role for domestic natural gas and crude oil in meeting both current and projected U.S. energy demands,” EIA researchers said in their report.

Proved reserves — which now stand at the equivalent of 12 years of gas consumption and 3.3 years of oil demand — represent energy supplies that are extensively charted out and could be tapped under current market conditions. Total recoverable reserves, however, can be far higher.

Originally Posted at: MarcellusCoalition.org

By DONALD GILLILAND, The Patriot-News

March 28, 2010, 7:38PM

CHRISTINE BAKER, The Patriot-News, 2009A towering gas-drilling rig stood on the Susquehanna County property of Jim Grimsley. Dimock Twp. farmers in Susquehanna County are signing leases with natural gas companies like Cabot Oil & Gas to drill into Marcellus Shale so they can pump out gas.

Pennsylvania lawmakers should learn from history and from Dr. Seuss, said Robert F. Davey
Jr., a retired forester with 38 years of experience in Penn’s Woods.

The state’s forests were decimated by rampant logging in the 19th century and a number of its streams were polluted by unrestricted mining, Davey said. He compared those scenarios to “The Lorax” by Seuss, the tale of a species of trees being nearly wiped out, with only one seed remaining.

Davey said lawmakers should be careful when profiting from the Marcellus gas boom “so that future generations won’t be saddled with mistakes we made because of a myopic view of natural-resource limitations or outright greed.”

He was one of several conservation leaders who testified this month before the state House Majority Policy Committee in support of a five-year moratorium on additional leasing of state forest land for drilling in the Marcellus Shale.

The moratorium, proposed by Rep. Greg Vitali, D-Delaware County, would also require studies of the impact of drilling on public lands. The bill, House Bill 2235, was voted out of committee Wednesday morning with two Republicans supporting it.

With the state facing another budget crisis, money lies at the heart of the debate over leasing more public land.

Advocates, including Gov. Ed Rendell, want to repeat last year’s profitable lease offer, which generated $128 million, twice what officials had hoped. Opponents said the state is moving too fast for a quick buck without fully weighing the implications.

“It’s become apparent that this administration intends to press for new oil and gas leasing to bankroll their spending priorities,” said Rick Carlson, a former policy director for the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

“I’m not real crazy about how we’re making these decisions,” said Rep. Garth Everett, R-Lycoming County, one of the two Republicans voting for the moratorium bill Wednesday. “These are long-term, far-reaching decisions, and we make them as knee-jerk budget reactions.”

Everett said he thinks a five-year moratorium is too long, “but I think we need to move this discussion forward.”

Many of his fellow Republicans emphasize the economic value of the Marcellus boom to depressed areas of the state.

“Another word for moratorium is delay, and in our part of the state, we need the jobs,” said Rep. Martin Causer, R-McKean County, whose district includes Cameron and Potter counties, where more than half of the land is owned by the state.

“I recognize the issues,” Causer said. “But I think we can do it properly.”

Some Democrats prefer a moratorium on leasing and a new tax on the gas extracted.

“The alternative to leasing more state forest land is simple: Raise new revenues elsewhere,” said John Quigley, the acting secretary of conservation and natural resources.

Rendell has said he supports an extraction tax on Marcellus gas, but Senate Republicans have said they oppose it.

The budget passed by the House last week includes $112 million in projected revenue from new gas leases next year but does not include an extraction tax.

Nine Marcellus wells have been drilled on state forest land thus far, but some lawmakers predict the number could rise into the thousands.

Everett said he’d “like to see us take a little bit of a timeout and have the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee do a study of the financial and environmental impacts of all the land we’re leasing already.”

Nearly 700,000 acres of state forest land is leased for drilling, according to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. And there’s not much left that would be appropriate to open up, Quigley said.

Quigley testified last week that all of the remaining land is “environmentally sensitive,” including wild areas, old-growth forest, wetlands, areas with endangered species and land with high tourism value.

“There may be pockets here and there” that might be available, said Chris Novak, a department spokeswoman.

Seneca Resources Corp., the highest bidder for two of the most recent leases, would be “likely to participate” in another, said Nancy Taylor, a company spokeswoman.

Seneca Resources and other gas companies oppose the moratorium.

But the issue may be more significant to legislators and conservationists than it is to the gas industry. The companies are aware there is little remaining land that the state is willing to offer; some of the best was included in the last offering, and a moratorium on state leases would have no impact on drilling on private land, which accounts for about 90 percent of Marcellus activity.

There may be bigger issues there.

Matthew B. Royer, a staff lawyer for the Pennsylvania office of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, blasted the Department of Environmental Protection’s “expedited review process,” which stripped authority from local conservation districts, saying it now “consists simply of making sure all the paperwork is in the permit application.”

Last September, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation appealed three permits approved by the DEP under the new process, alleging no technical review of plans was conducted, plans went through wetlands with no effort to avoid impacts, and permits were approved within two to four days.

The DEP subsequently revoked the permits, noting technical deficiencies.

“It should not take the efforts of a third-party conservation organization to track weekly Pennsylvania Bulletin notices, travel to Williamsport to review permit files, and file notices of appeal before the Environmental Hearing Board just to ensure that careful environmental review of Marcellus Shale permits is happening,” Royer said.

Visit the original article here.

Bill had been a dependable driver for Coast-to-Coast Trucking Company for over twenty years. By the very nature of his job, Bill spent much of his time in a seated position in his truck. In the last three or four years, Bill noticed a tingling in his legs, which progressively got worse. As it turned out, Bill had developed phlebitis in the legs because of poor circulation and other reasons.

Bill was placed on a blood-thinning drug which he had to take now for the rest of his life and was told by his doctor that he should not return to long, over-the-road truck driving because of the increase in risks to his health. Bill applied for workers’ compensation benefits alleging that the development of the phlebitis was substantially contributed to by his work activities.

Issue: Will Bill be successful?

Answer: Bill has a good chance of obtaining workers’ compensation benefits. The Workers’ Compensation Act does not require a specific injury but, rather, only requires that the disability be caused, in whole or in part, by the work activities. In this particular case, Bill’s prolonged sitting over a number of years substantially contributed to the development of the phlebitis in his legs. Because Bill could no longer perform that type of work without serious risks to his health, he may very well be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits.

Disclaimer: The above article is for instructive purposes only and each case is fact sensitive. Consultation with an attorney should be obtained instead of reliance upon the legal issues discussed in this column.