Recently the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania announced its holding in Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and Governor of Pennsylvania, Thomas W. Corbett, Jr., in his official Capacity as Governor. The court found against the Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation and upheld the state legislature’s ability to appropriate revenue resulting from oil and gas leasing of state-forest lands for general purposes. The court also held that the authority to lease state lands rests not with the governor but with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
To read the full case, click here.