Huntley & Huntley, Inc. v. Council of Oakmont

OPINION

Justice SAYLOR.

This appeal by allowance requires an examination of the preemptive scope of Pennsylvania’s Oil and Gas Act. It also raises the separate question of whether the municipality should have granted a conditional use permit to drill a natural gas well on the residential property in question. This case and its companion, Range Resources-Appalachia v. Salem Township, 600 Pa. 231, 964 A.2d 869, 2009 WL 413748 (2009), present our first occasions to interpret the preemptive language contained in the act.

I. Background

Appellee Huntley & Huntley, Inc. (“Huntley”), an engineering…