An unconventional gas well that produces fewer than 90,000 cubic feet of gas per day during one month of a calendar year does not need to pay impact fees, the Commonwealth Court has ruled in a decision parsing the definition of the word “any” in a portion of Act 13 defining a “stripper well.”
A split en banc panel found March 29 in Snyder Brothers v. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission that the General Assembly intended “any” to mean “one,” rather than “every,” when it said a stripper well is one that falls below the threshold “during any calendar month.” Stripper wells, as opposed to “vertical gas wells,” are not required to pay impact fees. The case attracted the attention of the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association, which was an intervenor on behalf of Snyder Brothers Inc.
