Court Backs Towns in Gas-Law Fight

BY DANIEL GILBERT

Pennsylvania can’t restrict local governments from using zoning laws to regulate oil and gas drilling, a state court ruled Thursday in the latest battle over how much of a say local officials have on energy development within their boundaries.

The Commonwealth Court’s ruling was a surprise victory for seven municipalities that sued to challenge state law, arguing that they had a right to use their land-use powers to determine where natural gas wells could be drilled within their borders.

Yet the split ruling, which led three of seven justices to join in a dissent, is unlikely to end the battle …

Article source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444840104577551371908152982.html

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Posted by admin on Jul 27 2012. Filed under Drilling & Production. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry