Nancy D. Perkins is Associate Dean and Professor of Law at Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She teaches Property and Environmental Law, and her research and scholarship explores the intersection of these two areas with a special focus on sustainability, equity, and feminism.
This article examines the legislation regulating horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale, with a particular focus on Act 13, which privileges the zoning rights of the state over those of local municipalities, and which Perkins argues prioritizes the interests of drilling companies over local social and environmental concerns. Since the writing of this article, this provision has been challenged in court.
Click on the link below for recent news coverage of Act 13 of Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale drilling law.
"Pennsylvania Supreme Court declares portions of shale-drilling law unconstitutional" [1]
As you read and reflect, consider these important questions:
Links
[1] http://www.post-gazette.com/local/2013/12/19/Pennsylvania-Supreme-Court-declares-portions-of-shale-drilling-law-unconstitutional/stories/201312190254