University Drilling Bill goes to Governor

A bill in Harrisburg awaiting Governor Corbett’s signature would permit Pennsylvania’s state-owned university system to keep the full proceeds if universities decide to lease campus land for drilling.  Although the 14 universities were permitted to lease land for drilling in the past, any revenue would have been collected by the state treasury.

However, under the new law, royalties from mineral extraction—including Marcellus Shale drilling—would be divided between the individual university and the other state-owned institutions.  Should any of the universities decide to lease for drilling, the leasing university would take in 50 percent of the revenue, while 35 percent would be distributed among the other thirteen universities.  The remaining 15 percent would be allocated for tuition assistance for the schools.  With the new law, six of the fourteen that sit within the Marcellus Shale region—Manfield, Lock Haven, Indiana, California, Clarion, and Slippery Rock Universities—could earn significant profits from any drilling leases.

The spokesman for the State System of Higher Education remarked that the universities had not previously leased any land because the universities would not receive any of the revenue.  However, with the bill’s easy passage through the House of Representatives on Tuesday (136-62), several universities are ready to explore leasing options.

The bill also allows for the lease of other state-owned land, such as those in the large state prison grounds.  An unspecified portion of the revenues would be retained by the sponsoring state agency.

Any lands leased for drilling would join the roughly 700,000 acres of state forest currently leased.