Senate Guts, Moves House Marcellus Bill, But No Agreement Yet On Provisions
The Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee Wednesday reported out the House Marcellus bill-- House Bill 1950 (Ellis-R-Butler)-- after amending the bill to gut the existing language and insert the provisions of Senate-passed Senate Bill 1100 (Scarnati-R-Jefferson).
Click Here to watch a video of the Committee meeting.
After the Committee meeting, Sen. Joe Scarnati confirmed there is not yet an agreement between the House and Senate Republicans and the Governor's Office on a drilling impact fee or environmental provisions covering Marcellus Shale drilling.
In particular, Sen. Scarnati said there aren't the votes in the Senate to approve legislation containing the optional county-imposed drilling fee included in the House Bill and advocated by Gov. Corbett.
The Senator also said he would not be adding any additional voting days this year, unless there was an agreement of all parties on a Marcellus bill.
The Senate is set to adjourn next Wednesday for the year, while the House has an additional three days scheduled.
