Lawmakers and Gov. Edward G. Rendell set an October 1 deadline for approval of an extraction tax on natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale. To date, no specifics of the plan have been agreed to.

“Everything is still up in the air,” said Terry Bossert, vice president of government relations for Chief Oil & Gas, one of the largest natural gas drilling companies working in Pennsylvania. “The rate of the tax, how the revenue is divided … everything.”