HARRISBURG – Gov. Tom Corbett has announced that the Marcellus Shale Impact Fee, part of Act 13, signed into law in February of 2012, has brought in more than $400 million dollars in its first two years.
“Act 13 is a law that has helped bring Pennsylvania forward both economically and environmentally,” Corbett said. “In addition to enacting some of the most rigorous environmental standards in the nation, we’ve brought in more than $400 million for our communities directly impacted by unconventional drilling, along with other environmental efforts across the state.”
“As this industry grows, benefitting all Pennsylvanians with thousands of new jobs, lower energy prices, and increased energy independence, Act 13 has played a key part in our role making sure that it grows safely and responsibly,” Corbett said.
Collections for 2012 were due to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) by April 1.
Nearly $198 million is expected to come into the state from the 2012 collections. This is in addition to the $204 million collected during the first round of collections. The 2012 amounts were released yesterday.
The collections this year are slightly lower than last year due mainly to the lower price of natural gas.
Information on the amount of money expected for 2012, as well as the amount of money collected to date, can be found on the Act 13 page on the PUC’s website, www.puc.pa.gov.
Payments for some wells are still being challenged by some producers. As per the law, disputed wells are not reflected in the current data available. Any additional payments received from these disputed wells will be updated on the website and included in the 2012 Reporting Year disbursement if they are received prior to when the calculations are made to distribute the funds.
