Republican

The Republican-led House was prepared to vote out a measure possibly as early as Thursday that would reduce fiscal year (FY) 2012 funding for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) by about 15%.

The debate over taxing shale gas production in Pennsylvania is increasingly focusing on where the money would go, as two Philadelphia-area Republican lawmakers proposed severance taxes last week designed to ease the tax burden on individuals.

The head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC ) last Wednesday defended the agency against Republican claims that it has moved too quickly to implement regulatory reforms under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act and hasn’t accurately estimated the costs of the proposed rules, as well as deflected GOP questions about its hiring and technology decisions. At the same time a House committee passed a bill to delay implementation of Dodd-Frank for 18 months.

The head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC ) Wednesday defended the agency against Republican claims that it has moved too quickly to implement regulatory reforms under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act and hasn’t accurately figured out the costs of the proposed rules, as well as deflected GOP questions about its hiring and technology decisions.

A pair of recent reports shows how difficult it is to measure the tax benefits of Marcellus Shale development in Pennsylvania.

Four Republican governors whose coastal areas hold some of the biggest domestic offshore reserves — Texas, Louisiana, Alaska and Mississippi — are urging other coastal governors to join a coalition to ensure that they can play a bigger role in future decisions about oil and gas development.

Revenue raised through a proposed impact fee that would cost Marcellus Shale drillers a minimum $10,000 per well annually is needed to help close a project $4.2 billion budget gap in Pennsylvania, according to state Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R-Jefferson).

A Republican proposal to place the reforms under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act on hold until foreign regulators implement comparable regulations has come under fire at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

At the direction of Republican Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, acting Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Mike Krancer last Tuesday called on all drilling operators to stop delivering wastewater from Marcellus Shale gas extraction by May 19 to 15 facilities currently accepting it, citing newly revised total dissolved solids (TDS) regulations.