Governor Corbett to Tout Act 13 Benefits at Lycoming County Airport

Act 13 Impact Fee Revenues Funding Airport Rehabilitation, Area Housing Projects

HARRISBURG, Pa., March 26, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Governor Tom Corbett, joined by state and local officials, today toured the Lycoming County Airport and discussed how Act 13 impact fee revenues are assisting with a $13.6 million renovation project at the airport and with two new housing projects in Williamsport.

"Just over a year ago, I signed Act 13 into law and the results are clear: every Pennsylvanian is benefitting from Marcellus shale development," Corbett said. "Natural gas means jobs, cleaner air and a secure energy portfolio. Pennsylvania is showing the world how it's done, and Lycoming County has fast become an energy hub in the northeastern United States."

Much of the infrastructure at the airport was built in 1947 and has struggled to support a dramatic increase in recent years in the number of passengers flying in and out of Williamsport. County officials are committing $1 million in impact fee revenues to install additional passenger security screening capabilities, upgrade infrastructure and expand the waiting area.

Lycoming County and Williamsport officials are also committing an additional $570,000 in impact fee revenues for the construction of two housing projects. The Memorial Homes Development Project will transform a vacant warehouse, a brownfield formerly home to Brodart Manufacturing, into 74 mixed-income dwellings for young professionals, natural gas workers and families. Another vacant area, formerly the Harrison Brothers Meat Packing plant, will house a 32-unit apartment complex for independent senior citizens.

Act 13 included the most significant revisions to the state's oil and gas law in nearly thirty years. In addition to increasing setbacks from waterways, buildings and water wells for unconventional well drilling, the law requires public disclosure of fracturing fluid chemicals and granted guaranteed access to trade secret information for medical health professionals. Most notably, the law assesses a fee on unconventional wells drilled in the state. Revenues from the fee, which totaled $204 million last year, benefit both local governments in drilling areas and statewide programs.

Federal labor data released in 2011 showed Williamsport to be the seventh fastest growing metropolitan area in the nation. Lycoming County is one of the top counties in Pennsylvania for both unconventional wells drilled and total natural gas production.

For more information, visit www.pa.gov.

Media contact:  Eric Shirk, 717-783-1116

SOURCE Pennsylvania Office of the Governor