Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes

58 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 3301 (2026)

Definitions.

✓ current as of May 2026

Coverage note: this corpus holds the consolidated Pa.C.S. titles only. Unconsolidated P.S. statutes (UTPCPL 73 P.S. § 201-1, Liquor Code, wage payment laws) are not included; a miss here does not mean the statute does not exist. Check palegis.us.

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section PA-LEGpalegis.us JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

CHAPTER 33

LOCAL ORDINANCES RELATING TO

OIL AND GAS OPERATIONS

Sec.

3301. Definitions.

3302. Oil and gas operations regulated pursuant to Chapter 32.

3303. Oil and gas operations regulated by environmental acts.

3304. Uniformity of local ordinances.

3305. Commission.

3306. Civil actions.

3307. Attorney fees and costs.

3308. Ineligibility.

3309. Applicability.

Enactment. Chapter 33 was added February 14, 2012, P.L.87, No.13, effective in 60 days.

Special Provisions in Appendix. See section 4(1) of Act 13 of 2012 in the appendix to this title for special provisions relating to continuation of prior law.

Cross References. Chapter 33 is referred to in sections 2303, 2314 of this title.

§ 3301. Definitions.

The following words and phrases when used in this chapter shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Building." An occupied structure with walls and a roof within which individuals live or customarily work.

"Commission." The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.

"Environmental acts." All statutes enacted by the Commonwealth relating to the protection of the environment or the protection of public health, safety and welfare, that are administered and enforced by the department or by another Commonwealth agency, including an independent agency, and all Federal statutes relating to the protection of the environment, to the extent those statutes regulate oil and gas operations.

"Local government." A county, city, borough, incorporated town or township of this Commonwealth.

"Local ordinance." An ordinance or other enactment, including a provision of a home rule charter, adopted by a local government that regulates oil and gas operations.

"MPC." The act of July 31, 1968 (P.L.805, No.247), known as the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code.

"Oil and gas operations." The term includes the following:

(1) well location assessment, including seismic operations, well site preparation, construction, drilling, hydraulic fracturing and site restoration associated with an oil or gas well of any depth;

(2) water and other fluid storage or impoundment areas used exclusively for oil and gas operations;

(3) construction, installation, use, maintenance and repair of:

(i) oil and gas pipelines;

(ii) natural gas compressor stations; and

(iii) natural gas processing plants or facilities performing equivalent functions; and

(4) construction, installation, use, maintenance and repair of all equipment directly associated with activities specified in paragraphs (1), (2) and (3), to the extent that:

(i) the equipment is necessarily located at or immediately adjacent to a well site, impoundment area, oil and gas pipeline, natural gas compressor station or natural gas processing plant; and

(ii) the activities are authorized and permitted under the authority of a Federal or Commonwealth agency.

"Permitted use." A use which, upon submission of written notice to and receipt of a permit issued by a zoning officer or equivalent official, is authorized to be conducted without restrictions other than those set forth in section 3304 (relating to uniformity of local ordinances).

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 5 cases, 2012–2020 · leading case: Robinson Twp. v. Commonwealth, 52 A.3d 463 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2012).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Robinson Twp. v. Commonwealth, 52 A.3d 463 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2012). · cites it 4× “58 Pa.C.S. § 3301. Act 13 also gives the power of eminent domain to a corporation that is empowered to transport, sell or store natural gas, see 58 Pa.”

Robinson Twp. v. Commonwealth, 147 A.3d 536 (Pa. 2016). “” 58 Pa.C.S. § 3301. . 53 P.S., Chapter 30.”

Robinson Twp. v. Commonwealth, 96 A.3d 1104 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2014). · cites it 2× “” In turn, 58 Pa.C.S. § 3301 defines "environmental acts” as "[a]ll statutes .”

Pennsylvania Gen. Energy Co. v. Grant Twp., 139 F. Supp. 3d 706 (W.D. Pa. 2015). “See generally Oil & Gas Act, 58 Pa.C.S. § 3301. Because Section 3(a) of the Ordinance, on its face, completely bans a legitimate use, the Ordinance is de jure exclusionary.”

Com. of PA, DEP v. Grant Twp. of Indiana Cnty. & The Grant Twp. Bd. of Supers. (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2020). “§ 3302 (last sentence stricken as unconstitutional, preemption language left intact). “Local ordinance” is defined in Section 3301 of the Oil and Gas Act as “[a]n ordinance or other enactment, including a provision of a home-rule charter, adopted by a local government that…”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.