The Marcellus Shale Play Special Report

Impact Fees, Land Pooling Included in Corbett Commission Shale Report
The Legal Intelligencer
August 2, 2011

On July 22, the Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission made its recommendations official by making them public and sending them to Gov. Tom Corbett. As expected, the report calls for the imposition of local impact fees, as well as for pooling that will allow drillers to extract natural gas from land without lease agreements if it's contiguous to land that does have an agreement with a driller. Both recommendations require approval by the General Assembly. Full Text

K&L Gates' Pittsburgh office has a new administrative partner after its former head accepted a new role co-leading the firm's recently created energy, infrastructure and resources practice group. Full Text

Report on Marcellus Shale Just a Start, Lawyers Say
The Legal Intelligencer
July 27, 2011
Environmental lawyers across Pennsylvania commended the 137-page report issued Friday by Gov. Tom Corbett's Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission but said the document is merely a jumping off point for what is likely to become a very complicated set of statewide environmental issues. Full Text

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has long had a Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) to advise it. In January 2011, following through on President Obama's "Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future" (a comprehensive plan to reduce America's oil dependence, save consumers money, and make our country the leader in clean energy), DOE Secretary Steven Chu created a three-member panel, the "Secretary of Energy Advisory Board Natural Gas Subcommittee," aka the frack panel. Full Text

Impact Fees Among Dozens of Marcellus Shale Commissions Recommendations
The Legal Intelligencer
July 26, 2011

Adoption of impact fees, pooling of property, and 94 other recommendations regarding natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale were approved by Gov. Tom Corbett's Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission during its final public meeting July 15. Detailed recommendations were unavailable at press time. The report was due to be presented to Corbett on July 22. Full Text

Accord in Marcellus Shale Case Highlights Contract Signature Requirements
The Legal Intelligencer
July 26, 2011

Legal tip: Signatures on contracts are not necessary. At least that was the argument made by a potential class of landowners who reached a settlement last week with an energy company that they alleged reneged on a deal to lease their properties for Marcellus Shale drilling. Full Text

In 2002's United States v. Craft, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the first principles of property law in a case dealing with — of all things — a tax lien: "A common idiom describes property as a 'bundle of sticks' — a collection of individual rights which, in certain combinations, constitute property." Full Text

How Far Can Pa. Municipalities Go in Regulating Gas Drilling?
The Legal Intelligencer
July 14, 2011

With the recent surge of drilling into Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale as a source of natural gas production, local governments are looking for guidance on the issue of what they can and cannot regulate with regard to oil and gas drilling. Full Text

One Air Emission Source or Many?
The Legal Intelligencer
June 28, 2011

Two recent appeals to the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board raise difficult issues concerning aggregation of air emission sources for purposes of regulating them under the federal Clean Air Act and the Pennsylvania Air Pollution Control Act. Of course, those appeals arise from natural gas development activity associated with the Marcellus Shale. Full Text

Arbitration Proposed for Gas Well Disputes
The Legal Intelligencer
June 21, 2011

An arbitration panel established for a little-used natural gas extraction process would be expanded for all natural gas and oil well disputes in Pennsylvania under legislation recently introduced in the Pennsylvania Senate. The General Assembly established the three-member Coal Bed Methane Review Board in 2010 to resolve access roads, placement of pipelines and other disputes between surface land owners and those who own the mineral rights. Full Text

Reed Smith, K&L Gates Handle Exxon Mobil's $1.7 Bil. Marcellus Buy
The Legal Intelligencer
June 10, 2011

The Marcellus Shale wasn't the only thing Pennsylvanian in Exxon Mobil 's nearly $1.7 billion acquisition of two of the state's natural gas exploration and distribution companies. Full Text

Shale Drilling Is Creating Jobs, State Report Says
The Legal Intelligencer
June 7, 2011

Environmentalists and natural gas drillers will likely never agree on hydraulic fracturing or on whether taxes should be paid. But it's hard to debate the number of jobs the industry has created. Full Text

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