PA Legislature Deals with Bonding to Decommission Gas Wells

The Pennsylvania legislature has been working on new laws to tighten regulation of the Marcellus Shale drilling industry. Since January 2011, both the PA Senate and House are now controlled by Republicans, as well as the governorship, giving new Marcellus legislation a good chance of passing. The new laws are a result of, and based on, the findings of an advisory committee appointed by Gov. Tom Corbett earlier this year (see this MDN story).

Both the PA Senate and House have passed slightly different versions of legislation and those versions are now being reconciled in committee to work out the differences so a bill can be sent to Gov. Corbett for signing. One of the outstanding issues to be reconciled is how much of a bond should drillers pay to decommission a well.

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