We The People will pay increases in taxes to local governments and the state in order to have vital services provided, while some of these foreign gas companies avoid paying their fair share of taxes. PSAB understands every budget has winners and losers, but this time around the citizens of the Commonwealth are the biggest losers while the natural gas companies are the winners. Local officials are also speaking up and asking that the severance tax remain on the table during continued budget discussions. He also said counties have supported the adoption of a natural gas production severance tax and have followed the discussion of a possible local impact fee to deal with the costs imposed by drilling on county and local governments. Conversely, it is during exploration and expansion that communities will face the most impacts.” A severance tax will continue to provide revenue to both state and local governments for the foreseeable future.

Maturing production areas in the lower 48 states and the need to respond to shareholder expectations have resulted in major integrated petroleum companies shifting their exploration and production focus toward the offshore in the United States and in foreign countries. Sanko commended drilling companies for moving to a policy of recycling water to help reduce water withdrawals, but said contamination of local water supplies is a concern of many townships. He also said townships should be able to levy property taxes on natural gas holdings saying both lease and royalty income are exempt from local income tax in Pennsylvania, except in Allegheny County. He noted PSATS is helping townships deal with these issues in a number of ways, including distributing a model zoning ordinance that allows communities to control the location of drilling activities. The Boroughs agree and support legislators who are advocating that a more practical approach to creating sustaining revenue to deal with the impacts of natural gas drilling is to impose a severance tax on natural gas. At a press conference held today at the capitol by a coalition of legislators who want to protect the state forest lands, Rep.

Though why you would want somebody who couldn’t pass a civil-service exam showing up on your doorstop in the middle of the night with a semi-automatic weapon is beyond me. “In order to ensure the protection of our rivers and streams and prevent a battle over our public lands every year, we call upon the General Assembly to pass a severance tax as soon as possible,” said Ehrhart. The above information is for general purposes only and is not a solicitation to buy or an offer to sell any securities. Click here for more information. Wow what a fasinating hub, it simply awesome information, brave to you for sharing this well informed information. Once these confirm the presence and capacity of the oil reservoir, a well is sunk into the reservoir and capped to await the arrival of a production platform. This is why Tasman is the favoured go-to company for many oil and gas companies working in the Australasian, Asia-Pacific, Far East, Middle East and African oil and gas markets looking to rent downhole rotary drilling tools. “These companies stand to make billions of dollars over the next several decades exploiting a Pennsylvania natural resource just like coal, timber and oil companies did in the past.

Like Hill, Sanko supported a severance tax or fee structure on natural gas, provided at least 30 percent of the revenue is returned to communities experiencing drilling impacts. 5,500 an acre and a 20 percent royalty to a coalition of landowners in Susquehanna County. 2,000 an acre and royalties of 18 percent. The inequity of these cuts is stark – the 26.7 percent reduction in the DEP budget was nearly triple the average 9 percent cut other state agencies took in this budget. 2 million available for county stormwater management planning, another key element in reducing nutrient pollution from runoff, and reduces basic sewage planning and enforcement by 40 percent. The cut to DEP staff raises significant concerns about whether the agency can conduct basic and mandatory environmental protection duties. Douglas Hill provided the Committee with background from a statewide perspective on infrastructure, worker education, housing and tourism, human service and criminal justice, environmental and landowner concerns related to drilling.