Corbett touts reform of DEP, drilling rules

MATT HUGHES

mhughes@timesleader.com

Republican gubernatorial candidate announced Monday his “plan to protect Pennsylvania’s environment.”

Primary to Corbett’s plan are reform of the state and an increase in regulation of natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale.

“I will direct the Department of Environmental Protection to serve as a partner with Pennsylvania businesses, communities and local government,” Corbett, the state’s attorney general, said in a statement. “It should return to its core mission protecting the environment based on sound science.”

Corbett also said he supports strengthening existing DEP regulations on gas drilling and enacting new ones.

In a press release Monday, Corbett says he supports mandatory disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, expanding pre-drill water testing, daily well cap inspections at drill sites and tougher penalties for violation of DEP regulations.

He also pledges to create a bipartisan Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale Commission in the Legislature, if elected.

Corbett does not, according to his campaign website, support a severance tax on gas drilling. Such a tax would, Corbett says, reduce capital investment and the potential for new jobs, tax revenues and other economic benefits.

Corbett’s Democratic opponent, Dan Onorato, does support a severance tax, and Onorato’s campaign targeted this part of Corbett’s platform in a response Tuesday.

“Tom Corbett has offered no new ideas for protecting the environment, and he still wants taxpayers to bear the costs of gas drilling. He has made clear that his single goal is to prevent the oil and gas companies that are making hundreds of millions of dollars a year drilling in Pennsylvania from paying their fair share,” Onorato spokesman Brian Herman said Tuesday. “Dan Onorato wants the drillers to pay for protecting our communities, while Tom Corbett continues to put the interests of big business over the needs of Pennsylvania families.”

Corbett is also opposed to a one-year moratorium on gas drilling in the state, as New York has imposed and some state lawmakers have suggested.