PA Judge to PUC: Cease & Desist Act 13 Zoning Reviews

On Friday, Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Judge Keith Quigley issued a “cease and desist” order to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) telling them they can no longer review PA towns’ zoning ordinances for compliance with the new Act 13 drilling law (a copy of his order is embedded below). MDN has chronicled the ongoing fight between seven PA towns and the state over the state’s new standardized “one size fits all” zoning ordinance for oil and gas drilling (see this MDN story for background).

The lawsuit brought by the seven towns is now before the state Supreme Court waiting for a decision. In advance of that, the PUC said there are some zoning provisions not challenged in the lawsuit and they are evaluating those kinds of cases. The PUC has ruled that some of the seven towns in the lawsuit are not in compliance and the PUC is withholding their impact fee checks pending a decision from the Supreme Court—it’s a lot of money. Judge Quigley has said “no more” and now the attorney for those towns is demanding the PUC cut the checks for the impact fees owed to the towns.

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