[Adopted 6-14-2011 by L.L. No. 3-2011]
The previous recitals are incorporated herein.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
CORPORATIONS
For purposes of this article, corporations shall include
any corporation, limited partnership, limited liability partnership,
business trust, or limited liability company organized under the laws
of any state of the United States or under the laws of any country,
and any other business entity that possesses state-conferred limited
liability attributes for its owners, directors, officers, and/or managers.
EXTRACTION
The digging or drilling of a well for the purposes of exploring
for, developing or producing natural gas or oil or other hydrocarbons
using a process commonly known as "hydraulic fracturing" and/or "horizontal
gas or oil well drilling."
HORIZONTAL DRILLING
Intentional deviation of a wellbore from the vertical for
the purpose of reaching subsurface areas laterally remote from the
point where a well drilling bit or similar equipment enters the earth
at the surface.
HYDRAULIC FRACTURING
An operation in which water, chemicals and a solid proppant
are pumped into a wellbore at a rate sufficient to increase the pressure
downhole to a value in excess of the fracture gradient of the formation
rock, causing the formation to crack, thus allowing the fracturing
fluid to enter and extend the crack farther into the formation, forming
passages through which natural gas or oil can flow.
NATURAL GAS
Any gaseous substance, either combustible or noncombustible,
which is produced in a natural state from the earth and which maintains
a gaseous or rarified state at standard temperature or pressure conditions,
and/or gaseous components or vapors occurring in or derived from petroleum
or natural gas.
The foundation for the making and adoption of this article is
the people's fundamental and inalienable right to govern themselves,
and thereby secure their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit
of happiness. Any attempts to use other units and levels of government
to preempt, amend, alter, or overturn this article, or parts of this
article, shall require the Town Board to hold public meetings that
explore the adoption of other measures that expand local control and
the ability of residents to protect their fundamental and inalienable
right to self-government. Such consideration may include actions to
separate the municipality from the other levels of government used
to preempt, amend, alter, or overturn the provisions of this article
or other levels of government used to intimidate the people of the
Town of Wales or their elected officials.
The provisions of this article are severable. If any court of
competent jurisdiction decides that any section, clause, sentence,
part, or provision of this article is illegal, invalid, or unconstitutional,
such decision shall not affect, impair, or invalidate any of the remaining
sections, clauses, sentences, parts, or provisions of the article.
The Town Board of Wales hereby declares that in the event of such
a decision, and the determination that the court's ruling is
legitimate, it would have enacted this article even without the section,
clause, sentence, part, or provision that the court decides is illegal,
invalid, or unconstitutional.
All inconsistent provisions of prior local laws adopted by the
Town of Wales are hereby repealed, but only to the extent necessary
to remedy the inconsistency.