House Republican Leader To Offer Marcellus Impact Fee, Oil And Gas Fund Proposal

Rep. David Reed (R-Indiana), Chair of the Republican Policy Committee, has filed an amendment to Senate Bill 303 (MJ White-R-Venango) now on the House Calendar which would allocate monies from the Oil and Gas Fund to support the Growing Greener Program and establish a per well Marcellus Shale impact fee
            The proposal has two parts--

-- Transfers from the Oil and Gas Lease Fund: 

        -- 25 percent of the available yearly ending balance to the Environmental Stewardship Fund; 

        -- 7.5 percent of the available yearly ending balance up to $7.5 million to payment in lieu of taxes to communities  with State Forest land; 

        -- 1 percent of the available yearly ending balance up to $3 million to a Catastrophic Fund associated with unconventional wells;
        -- $40 million to the Hazardous Site Clean Up Fund. This transfer will be updated annually based on the CPI (inflation rate).
-- Marcellus Shale Per Well Impact Fee:

        -- Fee Schedule: Year 1:  $50,000; Year 2:  $25,000; Year 3:  $25,000; Year 4:  $10,000; Year 5:  $10,000; Year 6:  $10,000; Year 7:  $10,000; Year 8:  $10,000; Year 9:  $10,000; Year 10: $10,000;

        -- In cased when a well is re-stimulated (re-fracked) the fee rate reverts back to $10,000 per year for 5 additional years.  If an existing well is used to drill to a different strata (Utica) then the impact fee structure resets at year 2 ($25,000).
        -- Revenues collected under this fee are distributed as follows: 37.5 percent to host counties; 10 percent to host counties dedicated to EMS and first responders; 25 percent to host municipalities on a per well basis;  17.5 percent to all municipalities within a host county; 10 percent to Conservation Districts.