The Public Utility Commission’s Chairman may be “letting the play come to [it]” when it comes to collecting Pennsylvania’s new impact and enforcing local zoning, but Chairman Rob Powelson says the commission will be aggressive about making sure local governments are using their impact fee revenue properly.
The new impact fee — now known as Act 13 — lays out specific guidelines for how municipalities and counties can use the money they receive from natural gas drilling. “There’s prescribed language about what that money can be used for,” Powelson said during a lengthy interview with StateImpact Pennsylvania. The act lays out thirteen specific areas counties and municipalities can apply fee revenue to, including road and bridge repairs, public safety efforts, property tax cuts, and affordable housing efforts.
