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Sen. Yaw To Introduce Bill To Punish Counties That Seek To Protect Their Residents From Impacts Of Natural Gas Thru Lawsuits

Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming) is circulating a cosponsor memo announcing he plans to introduce legislation to prohibit the distribution of Act 13 Impact Fees to any county “that is actively suing over fossil fuel use.”

“It is only fitting that those counties which choose to support the safe and responsible development of our domestic energy resources [natural gas] benefit from those Impact Fee and Legacy funds,” said Sen. Yaw.

“Revenue that is currently allocated through Impact Fees to a county that is in on-going litigation shall be redirected to housing assistance,” Sen. Yaw said.

Sen. Yaw is Republican Chair of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

Marcellus Drilling News reported the legislation is being introduced at the request of “Big Oil” as a result of an announcement by Bucks County it initiated a climate change-related lawsuit against the oil industry.

The county sued several oil companies and the American Petroleum Institute alleging they intentionally deceived the public about the role fossil fuels play in worsening climate change. Read more here.

MDN said the Center for Climate Integrity made a similar pitch to have Allegheny County file a similar lawsuit.

No Stranger To Trying To Punish Counties For Gas Industry

In 2022, Sen. Yaw introduced Senate Bill 1331 that would have denied Act 13 Impact Fees to counties that ban natural gas development on county-owned land.

The gas industry-- via Sen. Yaw-- was upset that Allegheny County banned gas development on county-owned park land which makes up less than 1% of the land in the county.

Over 99% of the land remaining in the County could be leased for shale gas drilling, but that wasn’t enough apparently. Read more here.

The bill made it out of Sen. Yaw’s Environmental Committee on nearly a party-line vote, but died on the Senate Calendar.

Punish States That Impede Gas Pipeline Development

In 2019, Sen. Yaw announced in a speech at the UpStreamPA Natural Gas Conference in State College his plans to introduce legislation to ban the sale or transport of Pennsylvania natural gas to states that impede the development of natural gas pipelines. Read more here.

Sen. Yaw said those states include New York, New Jersey and Maryland.

Bill Reducing Shale Gas Impacts ‘Stupid’

Sen. Yaw has also reacted to legislation-- House Bill 170-- increasing safety zone setbacks around shale gas drilling pads and other gas infrastructure by calling it “stupid.”

His comment came after the House Environmental Committee held a hearing on the bill last October. The Committee has yet to actually take a vote on the legislation. Read more here.

“Earlier today, the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee held a public hearing on House Bill 170, which would expand setback requirements for natural gas wells in Pennsylvania to between 2,500 – 5,000 feet,” said Sen. Yaw in a press release.

“It is often said that we cannot legislate against stupidity. That is true but we can stop stupid legislation from becoming law.” Read more here.

Let Barbers Review Permits For Large-Scale Energy Projects

On May 1, Republicans in the Senate passed legislation--- Senate Bill 832-- sponsored by Sen. Yaw that would take away the ability for any state agency to issue permits for a large-scale energy and give it to a state authority. Read more here

The bill would also eliminate any public review, waiving any regulation needed for the project and provide immunity from prosecution for waived regulations.

The legislation would also authorize the authority to hire any state licensed professional to be the technical reviewer of any permit applications.

“State licensed professionals” could mean an engineer, but also a land surveyor, landscape architect or any of 29 “licensed professionals,” including barbers. Read more here

[Note: We’re guessing he didn’t really mean the bill language to allow hiring barbers to review hazardous waste permits, but it does.]

Gas Advocate Of The Year

Just a few weeks after the “stupid” statement, Sen. Yaw announced he received the Marcellus Shale Gas Coalition’s 2023 Shale Gas Advocate of the Year Award. Read more here.

NewsClip:

-- The Guardian: Vermont Poised To Become First US State To Charge Big Oil For Climate Damage; Modeled On Federal Superfund Cleanup Program

Special Link:

-- We’re Heard This Before: ‘We’re Providing Jobs - Stopping Pollution Threatens Jobs’ - A Brief Review Of Pennsylvania’s Conservation History [PaEN]

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - May 4 to 10 - 32 More Abandoned Conventional Well Violations; Failure To Cleanup Spills; Failure To Get Permits [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - May 11 [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 80 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In May 11 PA Bulletin [PaEN]

Related Articles This Week:

-- Hundreds Of Residents Warn Against Impacts Of Shale Gas Development In Cecil Township, Washington County [PaEN]

-- Two Months: Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Continues To Surround The Home Of A Senate Witness Who Opposes The Illegal Practice [PaEN]

-- Moody & Associates Study Finds Discharge Of Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater To The Ground Surface ‘Not A Viable Management Practice'; Supports Ban On Road Dumping; Onsite Disposal [PaEN]