West Virginia Passes Tax Breaks for Marcellus Drilling, But No New Regulations

It looks like there will be no new regulations for Marcellus Shale drilling in West Virginia—at least not this year. The WV legislature just ended its regular session without passing a slate of proposed new regulations, with plenty of finger pointing between the Senate and the House:

At the start of the year, legislative leaders promised the Marcellus shale would be a major priority for lawmakers during the session. It was, but legislators were torn between establishing new regulations for the industry and encouraging further development of the shale.

The latter view ultimately won out, with lawmakers passing legislation giving drilling companies and other natural gas-related industries tax breaks for extract gas from the shale. Separate legislation setting up a host of new regulations oil and gas drilling died after lawmakers failed to agree on the amount of regulation necessary.*

*WBOY-TV (Mar 13, 2011) – Senate, House Blame Each Other for Failed Bills