The Commonwealth Court, one of Pennsylvania’s two intermediate appellate courts, invalidated provisions of the Oil and Gas Act Amendments of 2012 (“Act 13″) intended to limit local regulation of natural gas development, particularly development of the Marcellus Shale.  The court issued its opinion in Robinson Township v. Public Utility Comm’n, No. 284 M.D. 2012, on July 26.  The decision is on appeal in the Supreme Court at Nos. 63, 64, 72, and 73 MAP 2012.  My monthly column in the Pennsylvania Law Weekly considers some of the issues raised by this decision and the general confusion over which governments ought to regulate natural gas projects.  Read Natural Gas and Zoning:  The Commonwealth Court’s Act 13 Decision, 35 Pa. L. Weekly 696 (Aug. 28, 2012), by clicking here.