Washington (Platts)--25Sep2012/156 pm EDT/1756 GMT

Proposed ordinances that would allow oil and natural gas drilling within Pittsburgh city limits in 40-acre "mineral extraction districts" was introduced in the city council Monday night.

The four ordinances "are necessary to protect the health and safety of our citizens while simultaneously providing for due process," the bills' author, Councilman Patrick Dowd, said in a statement Tuesday.

The ordinances would require an operator to develop a comprehensive plan, perform baseline water and soil studies and provide training for public safety workers who might have to respond to an emergency.

A spokesman for Dowd, Nathaniel Hanson, said council may vote to adopt the changes to the city's zoning code early next month. Calling the proposals "judicially stable," Hanson noted the city's two-year-old ban may be thrown out by the courts.

A unanimous city council in November 2010 approved an ordinance that banned gas drilling within the city limits.

"We are supportive of safeguards that would allow for responsible drilling to occur," Joanna Doven, spokeswoman for Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstall, said. "We hope that this legislation will lead to the repeal of the irresponsible ban that council placed on drilling in the city."

Patrick Creighton, a spokesman for the Marcellus Shale Coalition, said, "It is short-sighted for Councilman Dowd to put such a restrictive plan forward that will further strip private property owners of their fundamental rights to develop their resources that they rightfully own."

He also said he was not aware of any natural gas operator who wants to drill in Pittsburgh.

--Rodney White, rodney_white@platts.com

--Edited by Jeff Barber, jeff_barber@platts.com