By Zack Needles
Of the Legal Staff
The Commonwealth Court has agreed to hear oral arguments on the constitutionality of Act 13 in Harrisburg in June and counsel for a number of oil and gas operators and industry organizations will be allowed to weigh in.
The court issued a one-page per curiam order on May 9, granting state Attorney General Linda Kelly’s petition for expedited en banc argument as well as the application for amici curiae filed by the Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Association, the Marcellus Shale Coalition, MarkWest Liberty Midstream and Resources, Penneco Oil Co. and Chesapeake Appalachia.
Per the order, the Act 13 arguments will be first on the list when the oral arguments session kicks off in Harrisburg on June 4 and the industry representatives will be allowed to argue for a total of five minutes.
Kelly had argued in her petition, filed May 4, that “the present case involves important questions of public policy which should be addressed as quickly as possible.”
“The commonwealth is presently prevented from fully implementing Act 13, an important law enacted by the legislature for the benefit of Pennsylvania’s citizens,” the petition said. “The interest of the citizens of Pennsylvania in establishing new standards for the environment and providing for the ordered development of the oil and gas industry will be negatively affected by delaying the resolution of constitutional issues raised by [the plaintiffs].”
You can read more about the underlying suit here.
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