Resolution -- Natural Gas Severance Fee

Pennsylvania sits atop one of the largest deposits of natural gas in the world – the Marcellus shale formation. New drilling technology means that drillers are just now starting to exploit this resource. The Department of Environmental Protection issued a record 7,792 drilling permits in 2008 (up from roughly 2,000 in 1999).
 
Most states with gas resources impose fees on the extraction of the gas. Governor Rendell has proposed a fee on the extraction of natural gas identical to the one in place in West Virginia since 1987. This fee is projected to initially raise more than $100 million a year, rising to more than $630 million annually by 2014.
 
The extraction of natural gas imposes heavy costs on our communities and environment – pipelines, drilling pads and wastewater storage pits alter our landscapes and fragment wildlife habitat, heavy rigs damage our roads, billions of gallons of water taken from our streams and operational errors contaminate our land and drinking water.
 
Some of the money raised from a natural gas extraction fee should be used to offset these costs and invest in watershed restoration and protection, habitat conservation, public access to outdoor recreation and conservation of open space and farmland. This can be accomplished by directing a portion of the fee to the Environmental Stewardship Fund (Growing Greener) as well as to Pennsylvania’s natural resource commissions for habitat improvement and public access purposes.
 
A potential distribution could be 50% to the Environmental Stewardship Fund and split the other 50% in half with 25% going to PFBC and PGC and 25% going to county conservation districts in counties that are impacted by Marcellus shale gas extraction.
 
The Somerset Conservation District supports:
 
A fair and reasonable fee on the extraction of natural gas; and
Dedicating a portion of the fee to the Environmental Stewardship Fund and a new fund to help the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat and Game Commissions restore wildlife habitat and improve public access.
Funding distribution priority be directed geographically to counties, through the conservation districts, that have the largest number of permitted gas well drill sites.
 
 
Len Lichvar
District Manager
Somerset Conservation District