Family Life

10.18.12 | Sarah Harnisch

Pennsylvania's Supreme Court had a standing-room only crowd yesterday for 2 hours as it debated Act 13, a bill that dictates which parts of the the drilling industry can and cannot be regulated by towns. Representatives of 7 towns told the state's highest court that Act 13 takes away their ability to control drilling operations through local zoning, leaving them defenseless to protect homeowners, parks and schools from being surrounded by drilling sites. In July, a court ruled 4 to 3 that Act 13 violated the state constitution, and the Corbett administration appealed, saying the law was fair. The court says the review will be speedy, but didn't offer a timeline on when the ruling would come down.