It looks like the Warren County Commissioners are going to have a decision to make.
Earlier this week, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed House Bill 1950 which seeks to impose an impact fee on Marcellus Shale natural gas development. It will likely be signed in to law by Governor Tom Corbett at some point next week.
Local representative Kathy Rapp (R-65) and state senators Joe Scarnati (R-25) and Mary Jo White (R-21) all voted in favor of the legislation.
According to the bill, each county will have 60 days to enact an ordinance instituting the fee, leaving the county commissioners with a choice. Without a resolution, a county cannot collect any of the funding available under the new provisions.
Commissioner Stephen Vanco said on Friday that the commissioners "have a lot to learn about it before we can make an educated guess about what we'll do."
The first step the commissioners are going to take as they gather information is to participate in a conference call next week sponsored by the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, which supported the bill, allowing the commissioners to see "how they interpret it," Vanco said.
In information provided to the Times Observer by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, there are two Marcellus wells in Warren County. One is located in Pittsfield Township and the other is located in Eldred Township.
According to the Associated Press, there are 5,000 Marcellus wells in the state of Pennsylvania.
The actual fee would vary based on the market price of natural gas. The year one fee is set at $40,000 per well, assuming the process of natural gas does not exceed $2.25. That payment is due by April 1, 2013 with fees in subsequent years also due by April 1.
The cost will vary throughout the 15-year life of the impact fee established in this legislation.
The Associated Press reported that the fee roughly equals a 3 percent tax and could generate as much as $180 million in the first year.
Pennsylvania is the only major gas producing state that hasn't implemented some sort of an impact fee or severance tax.
If the commissioners don't adopt a resolution, local municipalities in favor of the fee have a way to respond.
Local governments can override county governments' wishes if one half of a counties municipalities, containing 50 percent of the county's population, adopt ordinances to institute a fee.
Sixty percent of the fees collected will go directly to county governments and local municipalities. The remaining 40 percent will be divided into a "Unconventional Gas Well Fund" and a "Marcellus Legacy Fund" that will be overseen by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
The Unconventional Gas Well Fund will provide resources to a variety of state agencies. County conservation districts will receive $15 million by the end of 2013. $2.5 million will be allotted to the "Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Environment Fund." That fund will allocate funds to "provide supports to projects in a county in which producing unconventional wells are located that increase the availability of of quality, safe, affordable housing" for low and middle income families.
Ten million dollars allocated to the Marcellus Legacy Fund will fund a new grant program for local municipalities and organizations who are interested in acquiring natural gas-driven fleet vehicles as part of the "National Gas Energy Development Program."
The bill states that each county who enacts an ordinance to comply with the law will receive a minimum of $25,000 "to the extent funds are available."
From infrastructure, to public safety, tax reductions, social and judicial services, and water supply issues, counties and municipalities that receive funding through the impact fee will be able to use the money in a variety of ways.
One question Vanco is hoping to pose is "how do people being impacted now feel about the bill?"
He is "trying to pull things together," indicating that he has "no idea which way the decision will fall" in Warren County. It's "too recent" to get a reaction at this point, he added.
He expects to hear from local businesses and organizations in the near future as the commissioners process the legislation before they make a decision. The commissioners have a "short time to act," Vanco said.
Neither Commissioner John Bortz nor Commissioner John Eggleston were available for comment.