Riverkeeper can pursue Act 13 challenge
“An environmental group can pursue a legal challenge to eminent domain provisions in the state natural gas drilling impact fee law, thanks to a recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling.
The highest court drew widespread attention last month when it struck down portions of the impact fee law providing for state oversight of local drilling zoning regulations. Three of the justices in the majority opinion said those provisions conflict with the environmental rights amendment in the state Constitution. The court also found the Delaware Riverkeeper Network has standing to have its eminent domain appeal heard in the lower Commonwealth Court, thereby reversing an earlier ruling by that court.
The network is challenging a provision saying drillers can use eminent domain powers to acquire storage space for natural gas, said Maya K. van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper. Drillers are interested in underground geological formations for storage space even if that space is underneath private land, she added.”
Swift, Robert. The Daily Review 6 January 2014.