The law on fracking in Pennsylvania

At a Carbon County Democrats for Change meeting tonight, attendees were given information on HB 1950, passed by the Pennsylvania legislature and signed by the governor.  Our own representative, Doyle Heffley, voted for the bill.  

Here is what the legislation does.  It allows drilling within 500 feet of a private well or home and within 1000 feet of a public water source.  (There are a number instances of wells being contaminated within 2000 feet of a well site, and a Duke University study recommends a 3000 foot buffer zone.)  All local zoning restrictions on drilling are overridden by the bill.

The bill requires drillers to release the list of chemicals that they use in the “fracking fluid,” but not if they are using a “proprietary” formula.  (All of the drillers claim to use a proprietary formula, so this clause is meaningless.)

The bill allows “affected” counties to impose a 2.5% fee.  (It’s not called a tax, because Governor Corbett said he wouldn’t impose new taxes.)  Texas has 5.4% fee and West Virginia has a 5% fee plus a tax on the sales of natural gas.  As you may know, Texas and West Virginia are not considered liberal states.

The fees, which are estimated to bring in $300 million annually, don’t kick in until 2013.  In the meantime, Pennsylvania is cutting aid to schools and libraries.  

Is it too cynical to wonder if the large contributions from the gas companies affected Corbett’s policy on this issue?  And why would our representative, Doyle Heffley, announce proudly that he supported this legislation? Is this something he is proud to support?  Really?