Pennsylvania+Senate+Dems+say+Marcellus+shale+impact+fee+must+be+part+of+budget

= By **Brad Bumsted** = =// Published in the Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW //= = //6/22/11// =

= = = = =HARRISBURG — Claiming Southeast Senate Republicans' support, Senate Democrats today vowed to push ahead with an impact fee on deep gas wells — threatening to amend a key budget-related bill if necessary.= ="I certainly checked with my senators in the Southeast. They said, 'bless you, go for it,'" said Sen. Andrew Dinniman, D-Chester County, one of four Senate Democrats who appeared at a news conference today to tout their version of a Marcellus shale impact fee.= ="There is Republican and Democratic consensus building on this," said Sen. John Yudichak, D-Luzerne County.= =They said their fee proposal is a variation of Senate Bill 1100 that Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson County, has offered. Yudichak said he will offer the Democratic plan as an amendment to Scarnati's bill if it's called up, and as an amendment to numerous other bills, including the state fiscal code that must accompany the state budget.= =With seven days remaining before summer recess, there's still time to get it done without risking a late budget, said Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills.= ="Unfortunately, one person has not been part of this debate," Yudichak said. "The governor has really decided not to engage on this."= =Republican Gov. Tom Corbett "believes it does not need to be part of this budget," his spokesman Kevin Harley said Tuesday. Corbett is waiting for his Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission to quantify local impacts from drilling before considering any fee, Harley said. That report is due July 22.= =The possibility that Corbett could veto the fiscal code, if it makes it through the Legislature with an impact fee attached, raises the scenario the budget could be late. The fiscal code sets state tax rates and enables the state to spend money.= =But even if such legislation wins Senate approval, getting through the House would be an uphill fight. That could leave the state without a fiscal code. House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-Bradford Woods, says an impact fee should not be part of the budget package.= =Yudichak said his bill borrows from Senate Democrat bills, Scarnati's and a House proposal by Rep. Marguerite Quinn, R-Bucks County.= =It would establish a $17,000 per well base fee — up from the $10,000 in Scarnati's bill, Yudichak said. The fee adjusts based on volume and price.= =The local share of revenue would be 55 percent, down from 60 percent in Scarnati's bill. The statewide distribution for environmental projects would increase to 45 percent from 40 percent.= =Yudichak said his bill eliminates a provision that holds back money from communities that exceed a model zoning ordinance. The local share is intended to cover local damage by drillers.= =The Public Utility Commission would collect and distribute the revenue, so it does not go into the state's General Fund, Yudichak said. That's in the Scarnati bill. Scarnati said lawmakers fashioned it to meet Corbett's criteria.= = Read more: [|Pennsylvania Senate Dems: Marcellus shale impact fee must be part of budget - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review] [] =

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