Senate Environmental Committee Reports Out Bills On Natural Gas Royalty Reform

The Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee Tuesday reported out two bills introduced by Majority Chair Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming) to reform the way oil and natural gas royalties consider post-production costs.  The bills include--

-- Senate Bill 138 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) further providing for the calculation of proceeds paid to interest owners (sponsor summary); and

-- Senate Bill 139 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) establishes the Natural Gas Lease Anti-Retaliation Act (sponsor summary).
“These bills will give landowners more weapons to use in their arguments with the gas drilling companies that pay their royalties,” Sen. Yaw said. “We’ve tried to provide them with the tools that they can use to determine the accuracy of their royalty reports. These tools come with no additional costs or negative impacts to Pennsylvania taxpayers.”

The bills now go to the Senate Floor for action.

Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming) serves as Majority Chair of the Senate Environmental Committee and can be contacted by sending email to: gyaw@pasen.gov.   Sen. John Yudichak (D-Luzerne) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by sending email to: yudichak@pasenate.com.