PA Gas Drilling Panel To Hold Final Meeting Before Sending Proposals To Corbett

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Members of an advisory panel will vote Friday on their final recommendations to Gov. Tom Corbett on how the state should address issues related to the rapidly growing Marcellus Shale drilling industry, but those recommendations will not be made public until they are sent to the governor a week later, an administration official said.

The fifth and final meeting of the 30-member Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission comes four months after Corbett picked its members, many from the industry and his administration, and asked it to recommend ways the state can best capitalize on the economic potential of the state's natural gas drilling boom while containing environmental problems and impact. ne of the recommendations also may address the hotly debated subject of a fee or tax on the industry.

The meeting will be public. The dozens of recommendations being voted on will not be publicly disclosed, although it is possible that the recommendations will be debated at Friday's meeting and that amendments will be offered to some, said a spokesman for Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley, who chairs the commission.

The panel is under no legal obligation to meet publicly, although it does, and has no obligation to disclose the proposed recommendations before they are voted on, said the spokesman, Chad Saylor. The recommendations are to be sent to the governor no later than July 22, and are expected to be made public shortly after.

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http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20110714/NEWS11/107140346/Updated-Corbett-s-drilling-panel-meet-final-time

Ed. - emphasis added.