PA Gathering Update
We've reported previously on the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission's (PA PUC) possible regulation of gathering (see here, e.g.), and the petition filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by Laser Marcellus Gathering Company, LLC, for a declaratory order that its pipeline facilities are functionally gathering and therefore exempt from Federal Energy Regulatory Commission jurisdiction under Section 1(b) of the Natural Gas Act (see here and here, e.g.).
Laser Marcellus has also filed a public utility application with the PA PUC that has generated controversy over its ability - if the application is granted - to exercise the power of eminent domain. See here (the PUC docket) and here (letter from PA Rep. Mundy objecting to application), for example. Public hearings were recently held at which an administrative law judge heard frequent objections to the application, based largely on eminent domain concerns.
