PA Court Reaffirms that Gas Company Profits Do Not Trump Constitutional Rights of PA Residents

Opponents of Act 13, an amendment to the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Act preempting municipal zoning of oil and gas development, won another victory Aug. 15 in PA Commonwealth Court. The court held oral argument on the question of whether its order declaring Act 13 unconstitutional and unenforceable should be stayed pending the Commonwealth’s appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Under Pennsylvania’s appellate court rules, when the Commonwealth appeals from an injunction order, that underlying injunction order is automatically stayed during the course of the appeal.

The parties challenging Act 13—including the Delaware Riverkeeper Network and the Delaware Riverkeeper—filed a motion for relief from that automatic stay. In the ruling, the Commonwealth Court agreed that its order enjoining Act 13 should remain in place during the pending appeal. The Court found that the parties challenging Act 13 have a reasonable likelihood of success on appeal, that they would suffer irreparable harm without the injunction blocking enforcement of Act 13, and that there is minimal harm to the public by allowing the injunction to stay in place during the appeal….