The Environmental Quality Board published notice of final Radiological Health and Radon Certification Fee increases in the October 21 PA Bulletin.

The Environmental Quality Board published notice of proposed changes to Chapter 93 Water Quality Standards under the Triennial Review of Water Quality Standards for public review in the October 21 PA Bulletin starting on page 6609.

Among the proposed changes are an update to the ammonia criteria, fecal coliform-based water quality criteria, chloride criteria, human health and aquatic life criteria for toxic substances, an authorization for DEP to develop site-specific water quality criteria and corrections to drainage lists.

Three public hearings will be held starting at 2:00 p.m. at the following locations--

-- December 6: DEP Northeast Regional Office, 2 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre;

-- December 8: DEP Southcentral Regional Office, 909 Elmerton Avenue, Harrisburg; and

-- December 14: DEP Southwest Regional Office, 400 Waterfront Drive, Pittsburgh.

[Note: This is an EQB-corrected list of hearing locations from the notice published.]

Persons wishing to present testimony at a hearing are requested to contact the Environmental Quality Board, P.O. Box 8477, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8477,  717-787-4526 at least 1 week in advance of the hearing to reserve a time to present testimony. Oral testimony is limited to 5 minutes for each witness.

Witnesses are requested to submit three written copies of their oral testimony to the hearing chairperson at the hearing. Organizations are limited to designating one witness to present testimony on their behalf at each hearing.

The deadline for comments is December 29.  Comments will be accepted through DEP’s eComment webpage where you can also find a copy of the proposed changes, by email to: RegComments@pa.gov or by mail to Environmental Quality Board, P.O. Box 8477, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8477. Express mail should be sent to the Environmental Quality Board, Rachel Carson State Office Building, 16th Floor, 400 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101-2301.

Click Here for the full notice, a summary of the changes and other information.

The Game Commission published notice of an Executive Order on Chronic Wasting Disease - Designation of Disease Management Areas and Endemic States and Canadian Provinces Order #3 in the October 21 PA Bulletin.

Pennsylvania Bulletin - October 21, 2017

Sign Up For DEP’s eNotice: Did you know DEP can send you email notices of permit applications submitted in your community?  Notice of new technical guidance documents and regulations?  All through its eNotice system.  Click Here to sign up.

Check the PA Environmental Council Bill Tracker for the status and updates on pending state legislation and regulations that affect environmental and conservation efforts in Pennsylvania.

DEP Regulations In Process

Proposed Regulations Open For Comment - DEP webpage

Submit Comments on Proposals Through DEP’s eComment System

Proposed Regulations With Closed Comment Periods - DEP webpage

Recently Finalized Regulations - DEP webpage

DEP Regulatory Update - DEP webpage

August 2017 DEP Regulatory Agenda - PA Bulletin, Page 4922

Technical Guidance & Permits

Note: DEP published 64 pages of public notices related to proposed and final permit and approval/ disapproval actions in the October 21 PA Bulletin - pages 6500 to 6564.

The Department of Environmental Protection published notice in the October 21 PA Bulletin extending the PAG-02 NPDES General Permit for Stormwater Discharges for 1 year.  The notice also describes how existing permittees and new applicants after December 7 will be handled by the agency.  Click Here for more.

DEP published notice in the October 21 PA Bulletin inviting comments on a revised Chapter 16 Water Quality Toxics Management Strategy and giving notice of three public hearings on the changes.

The hearings will be held starting at 1:00 at these locations--

-- December 6: DEP Northeast Regional Office, 2 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre;

-- December 8: DEP Southcentral Regional Office, 909 Elmerton Avenue, Harrisburg; and

-- December 14: DEP Southwest Regional office, 400 Waterfront Drive, Pittsburgh.

Note: This is an EQB-corrected list of hearing locations from the notice published.]

Persons wishing to present testimony at the Chapter 16 hearings are requested to contact Thomas A. Barron at 717-787-9637 or send email to: tbarron@pa.gov at least 1 week in advance of a hearing to reserve a time to present testimony.

Oral testimony is limited to 5 minutes for each witness. Witnesses are requested to submit three written copies of their oral testimony to the hearing chairperson. Organizations are limited to designating one witness to present testimony on their behalf at each hearing.

The deadline for comments is December 29.  Comments will be accepted through DEP’s eComment webpage where you can also find a copy of the proposed changes, by email to: ecomment@pa.gov or by mail to Department of Environmental Protection, Policy Office, Rachel Carson State Office Building, P.O. Box 2063, Harrisburg, PA 17105-2063.

Click Here for the full notice, a summary of the changes and other information.

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission published notice in the October 21 PA Bulletin of proposed changes to its Access To Records [Right-To-Know] Policy for public comment and notice of a November 2 public hearing in Harrisburg.

The proposed rule is designed to enhance the Commission’s commitment to open and transparent operations and accessibility of records to the public.

The Commission has a longstanding practice of providing information to the public in much the same manner as its member states.

The Commission first promulgated its Freedom of Information Policy on January 11, 1979, and then updated its open records policy by adopting its Access to Records Policy on September 10, 2009.

“We believe our policy has been successful in satisfying records requests. Over the past several years, the Commission provided records to more than 100 formal records requests and more than 50 distinct requests for data or information, as well as innumerable informal information requests,” said Andrew Dehoff, Commission executive director. “Over the years, the Commission has also implemented significant improvements to the data and information available on its website.”

The Commission will continue this long tradition of transparency by further formalizing the key elements of its Access to Records Policy in duly promulgated regulations.

Through this action, the Commission will be codifying its commitment to public access to records in a way that instills these new regulations with the status of law that can be enforceable against the Commission.

Public Hearing

A public hearing on the proposed policy will be held on November 2 from 2:30 to 5:00 in Room 8E-B East Wing of the Capitol Building in Harrisburg.

Those wishing to testify are asked to notify the Commission in advance, if possible, by contacting Jason E. Oyler, Esq., General Counsel, telephone: 717-238-0423, ext. 1312; fax: 717-238-2436; or send email to: joyler@srbc.net.

The deadline for public comments is November 13.

Comments may be mailed to: Jason E. Oyler, Esq., General Counsel, Susquehanna River Basin Commission, 4423 N. Front Street, Harrisburg, PA 17110-1788, or by email to regcomments@srbc.net . The public hearing is located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, State Capitol (East Wing, Room 8E-B), Commonwealth Avenue, Harrisburg, PA 17120.

For more information, visit SRBC’s Public Participation Center webpage.  Follow SRBC on Twitter, visit them on YouTube.

DEP Technical Guidance In Process

Draft Technical Guidance Documents - DEP webpage

Technical Guidance Comment Deadlines - DEP webpage

Submit Comments on Proposals Through DEP’s eComment System

Recently Closed Comment Periods For Technical Guidance - DEP webpage

Technical Guidance Recently Finalized - DEP webpage

Copies of Final Technical Guidance - DEP webpage

DEP Non-Regulatory/Technical Guidance Documents Agenda (July 2017) - DEP webpage

Other DEP Proposals For Public Review

Other Proposals Open For Public Comment - DEP webpage

Submit Comments on Proposals Through DEP’s eComment System

Recently Closed Comment Periods For Other Proposals - DEP webpage

Other Proposals Recently Finalized - DEP webpage

Visit DEP’s Public Participation Center for public participation opportunities.  Click Here to sign up for DEP News a biweekly newsletter from the Department.

DEP Facebook Page     DEP Twitter Feed         DEP YouTube Channel

Click Here for links to DEP’s Advisory Committee webpages.

DEP Calendar of Events    DCNR Calendar of Events

Add Green Works In PA To Your Google+ Circle

10/23/2017