Pennsylvania PUC releases 2012 Marcellus Shale Impact Fee Allocations
Natural gas producers will pay $202.47 million in Marcellus Shale impact fees from 2012 activity, according to a June 13, 2013 Pennsylvania PUC press release. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the number is down less than 1 percent from the $204.2 million collected from 2011 activity. Bradford County will collect the largest portion of the fees ($7.3 million) and Washington County will collect the second largest ($4.7 million). Chesapeake Appalachia paid the largest portion of the fees ($27.4 million), followed by Range Resources (nearly $24 million). The 2012 fees will be allocated as follows: county and local governments directly affected by drilling will receive $102.68 million, state agencies impacted by drilling will receive $28 million, and the Marcellus Legacy Fund will receive $71.79 million. Following the PUC’s release, Marcellus Shale Coalition CEO Kathryn Z. Klaber issued a press release, stating that the “[w]hile the impact fee represents a new and substantial revenue stream for local and state government agencies, the natural gas industry has also generated more than $1.8 billion in tax revenues since 2006 and has invested more than $500 million in road and infrastructure improvements, while contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars for emergency response training and other community-based programing.”