Tension Persists Between State and Local Government Regulation of Gas Drilling
Posted by George on 30 Jul 2009 | Tagged as: Municipal Regulation, Municipal and Zoning
In a recent case, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court held that certain municipal regulations of gas drilling could not be challenged directly in state court but rather were under the exclusive jurisdiction of the municipal board. As such, these regulations could only be challenged by application to the municipal government and a hearing before the applicable municipal government board, followed by possible appeal to state court. The result is a potentially longer time for review of validity challenges to local ordinances involving gas drilling, unless the challenged ordinance is clearly an operational regulation. For a summary of this case click here.
