Wednesday, 14 December 2011 22:55

Written by Laura Olson

Another deadline is gone without a shale bill.

The state Senate wrapped up its final session day of 2011 with more than two hours of debate on House Bill 1950, a Marcellus Shale fee and regulatory measure that contained provisions the Senate approved earlier this year.

That gas-drilling bill was pushed forward on a 28-22 vote without agreement from the House, despite recent weeks of negotiations between the two chambers and the Corbett administration on the issue toward reaching a compromise by the year's end.

Instead, Wednesday’s vote was aimed at setting up a joint House-Senate panel to adopt a compromise bill, which would receive a “yes or no” vote — without the option for amendments — in each chamber.

(For review, here's our most recent stories on the House version and the Senate version, contained in Senate Bill 1100.)

Senate Democrats, who say the current shale bill contains too low of a fee and inadequate environmental rules, were almost successful in hiking the fee to start at $75,000 per well instead of $50,000 per well. That vote ended in a tie, 25-25, and attempts to allow one Democrat in the opposition to switch his vote ultimately failed.

The bill’s future is unclear. Mr. Miskin said House Republicans have not yet decided whether to send the measure to negotiations. "Not everyone is certain that a conference committee is the way to go," he said.

Senate President Pro Tem Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, who put first forward the "impact fee" idea in the spring, said he hoped his House colleagues do move toward a conference committee.

"We're going to try to reconcile as many of the differences with the House and with the governor as we can in the coming days, as quick as we can," Scarnati said. "It would be our intent to work toward hopefully an agreed-to product."

He added: "I think with a good-faith effort by all we can find some resolution and have it done when we're back in January. And if we ultimately find a resolution to it sooner than that, we can talk about coming back. ... We haven't lost our goal. We didn't reach the date."

In a statement following the Senate vote, the Corbett administration remained optimistic of completing a drilling measure.

Here's the full Corbett administration release:

Harrisburg – Governor Tom Corbett today thanked members of the Senate for advancing House Bill 1950, a comprehensive Marcellus Shale bill, to the House of Representatives.

"I thank Senator Scarnati and his colleagues for their strong leadership on this issue," Corbett said. "This is a significant step forward toward finalizing a strong and sensible Marcellus Shale legislative package."

In October, Corbett outlined his Marcellus Shale proposal, which followed the work of the Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission and includes a plan to help create thousands of jobs for Pennsylvania residents, to enhance protection of our natural resources, and to move the Commonwealth toward energy independence.

"While productive discussions are ongoing and continue to resolve the various issues related to Marcellus Shale, today's action reaffirms the strong commitment of the Senate to achieve our common goals of safe and responsible natural gas development in Pennsylvania," Corbett said.