Docket

Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly on Tuesday filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that Act 13, the state’s omnibus Marcellus Shale law, has a medical “gag rule” that violates a doctor’s constitutional rights to communicate with his patients.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly and lawyers representing several state agencies filed briefs with the state Supreme Court on Tuesday, arguing that an appellate court erred when it said portions of Act 13, the state’s new omnibus Marcellus Shale law, were unconstitutional.

Nearly three weeks after ruling that portions of Act 13, Pennsylvania’s new omnibus Marcellus Shale law, were unconstitutional, the Commonwealth Court on Wednesday ordered that an injunction against the law’s preemption provision will remain in place pending appeal, while one affecting setback waivers is lifted.

In a 4-3 decision on Thursday, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled that portions of Act 13, the state’s new omnibus Marcellus Shale law, were “unconstitutional, null and void” on the grounds that its limits on local zoning violate municipalities’ right to substantive due process.

A panel of seven Commonwealth Court judges heard oral arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by seven Pennsylvania municipalities and others that claim parts of Act 13, the state’s new omnibus Marcellus Shale law, are unconstitutional.

Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly and the City of Fall River, MA, filed a motion with FERC in the Weaver’s Cove LNG docket on Thursday requesting that the Commission initiate a new comprehensive evidentiary hearing to review all of the proposed and planned northeastern liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals in order to identify those that best serve the public interest.

Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly and the City of Fall River, MA, filed a motion with FERC in the Weaver’s Cove LNG docket last Thursday requesting that the Commission initiate a new comprehensive evidentiary hearing to review all of the proposed and planned northeastern liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals in order to identify those that best serve the public interest.

Columbia Gulf Transmission is holding an open season for a possible pipeline expansion in compliance with a 1997 FERC order (Docket No. CP93-736) approving a settlement agreement with shippers over issues dating back to Order 636. A Columbia spokesman noted that the Gulf rig count is still extremely high and there could be demand for an expansion of Columbia Gulf. However, Columbia is not holding this open season because shippers have been knocking on its doors begging for new capacity. This market test is being done for purely legal reasons, the spokesman said.