State officials on Monday asked the state Supreme Court for expedited consideration of an appeal of a Commonwealth Court decision last week that ruled portions of the state’s new Marcellus Shale law—known as Act 13—as unconstitutional.

The court last week ruled that zoning regulations related to Marcellus Shale play should be made at the local level, and not the state level as Act 13 mandated.

“That decision has gutted Act 13 of one of its key interstitial parts and has created significant uncertainty for the Commission, the Department, and the regulated community at this critical juncture in the Marcellus Shale development,” an attorney for the Public Utility Commission and the state Department of Environmental protection wrote in the court filing.

“For example, the Commonwealth Court's permanent injunction threatens to disrupt time-sensitive economic development projects ongoing in eastern and western Pennsylvania that will create and retain thousands of jobs—including but not limited to projects at the Philadelphia Refinery in Philadelphia—and the former Horsehead Corporation site in Beaver County that are of substantial public importance.”

For more information on reaction from Cranberry officials to the Commonwealth Court’s ruling, click here.