The information you need to follow legislation in the House and Senate- starting with articles and NewsClips from last week--

Environment & Energy NewsClips--

Gov. Shapiro

-- Inside Climate News: Secretive State Climate Talks Stir Discontent With Gov. Shapiro On Variety Of Environmental Issues, Including Dimock Shale Gas Drilling Settlement

-- AP: PA Using Tons Of Recycled Glass Nuggets To Rebuild Collapsed I-95 In Philadelphia

-- Inquirer: How Aero Aggregates Recycled Glass Will Be Used To Rebuild I-95

-- AP: Gov. Shapiro: Collapsed Stretch Of I-95 In Philadelphia To Reopen Within 2 Weeks

Budget

-- PennLive - Jan Murphy: PA Senate Republican Leader Shares His Thoughts On Topics On The Budget Table

-- York Daily Record: Why Gov. Shapiro’s First Budget Could Be Heading Into Overtime

-- Spotlight PA: How Landmark School Funding Lawsuit Is Shaping Budget Negotiations

Norfolk Southern Train Derailment

-- Spotlight PA - Stephen Caruso: Train Safety Bill Inspired By Norfolk Southern Train Derailment Faces Tough Odds In PA Senate

-- LancasterOnline: 3 Lancaster Republican Lawmakers Opposed Bipartisan Railroad Safety Bill

-- PennLive: Diesel Storage Tank Leak Reported On Norfolk Southern Property In Harrisburg June 8

-- PittsburghUnionProgress.com: East Palestine, OH Residents Cause A Stir In Columbus In An Attempt To Get State Emergency Declaration For Norfolk Southern Train Derailment

-- The Allegheny Front: EPA Assures Farmers It’s Safe To Grow Food Near Norfolk Southern Train Derailment Site

PA Politics Of Russian Invasion

-- TribLive: PA Average Gasoline Price Down 28% From Record High Set 1 Year Ago

-- AAA Average Gasoline Prices: Pennsylvania $3.64, National $3.57

-- PUC Vice Chairman: During Winter Storm Elliot We Learned Natural Gas Can Be An Intermittent Generator Of Electricity Just Like Renewables  [PaEN] 

-- S&P Global: Federal Inquiry Finds Same 3 Causes Driving U.S. Electric Generation Outages In Extreme Cold - Reliability Of Natural Gas System Remains A Concern  [PaEN]   

-- Utility Dive: Power Plants Remain Vulnerable To Outages In Extreme Cold, Despite Warnings, FERC, NERC Find

-- Utility Dive: PJM Interconnect’s Electric Power Capacity Market Is Sound, But Changes Needed To Adapt To Evolving Grid Mix, Extreme Weather: FERC Panelists

-- PUC Releases Summer Readiness Reports From Electric Utilities - Adequate Capacity And Supply To Meet Summer Energy Needs  [PaEN]

-- Utility Dive: FERC Approves PJM Electricity Capacity Auction Delays To Incorporate Potential Market Reforms

-- Observer-Reporter Editorial: The Struggle Between [Electric] Power And Money

-- PUC Approves 6.8% Natural Gas Rate Increase For National Fuel Gas

-- Baker Hughes: Pennsylvania Natural Gas Drill Rigs Down 2 to 22 Last Week

-- Bloomberg: European Natural Gas Prices Spike As Major Dutch Gas Site Set To Close

-- Bloomberg: Europe’s Fragile Natural Gas Market Show Huge Price Swings Last Week, Shows Risk Of Crisis Redux

-- PA Business Report: Allentown-based Air Products To Supply Qatargas With LNG Natural Gas Technology, Equipment 

-- Wall Street Journal: Oil/Gas Drilling Stocks Plunge On Bets For Oil Price Slump; Natural Gas Prices Down 38% Since December

-- AP: Germany Hails EU Deal On Renewable Energy Raising Target For 2030 To 45%

-- Financial Times: Shell Pledges To Invest In New Oil And Gas Production For Years To Come

-- Financial Times: Williams Pipeline Says US Green Energy Shift Will Need More Natural Gas As A ‘Back-Up’

Environment/Energy Issues

-- Citizens Advisory Council Presentations Highlight New Center Of Environmental Excellence At DEP To Improve Permitting Efficiency, Deliver Best In Class Service, Share Results;  Environmental Justice;  More  [PaEN]

-- StateImpactPA - Rachel McDevitt: Senate Republican Lawmakers Want To Replace ‘Protection’ With ‘Services’ In DEP’s Name

-- PA Capital-Star Guest Essay: What’s In A Name?  When It Comes To PA Senate’s Vote Changing DEP’s Name, It Accomplishes Nothing - By Joseph Powers, Former DEP Acting Secretary, Executive Deputy

-- TribLive Editorial: ‘Protection’ Still Core Of DEP’s Job

-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - June 10 to 16 -- Leaking Conventional Wells; 5 More Abandoned Conventional Wells; Using Tape To Repair Containment Liner [PaEN]

-- DEP Finds PA General Energy Installed Its Shawnee Water Withdrawal On The Exceptional Value Loyalsock Creek At Sizes Larger Than Authorized By Its SRBC, DEP Permits  [PaEN] 

-- Robinson Twp., Washington County Seeks Answers To Cleanup Of MarkWest Liberty Midstream 10,000 Gallon Spill Of Natural Gas Condensates After Company Sends Notice To Wrong Municipality  [PaEN]

-- DEP Invites Comments On MarkWest Liberty Midstream Project To Expose 1 Mile+ Of 2 Natural Gas Pipelines To Prevent Longwall Coal Mining Damage In Washington County  [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - June 17  [PaEN]

-- Spotlight PA - Stephen Caruso: Train Safety Bill Inspired By Norfolk Southern Train Derailment Faces Tough Odds In PA Senate

-- LancasterOnline: 3 Lancaster Republican Lawmakers Opposed Bipartisan Railroad Safety Bill

-- PUC Vice Chairman: During Winter Storm Elliot We Learned Natural Gas Can Be An Intermittent Generator Of Electricity Just Like Renewables  [PaEN] 

-- S&P Global: Federal Inquiry Finds Same 3 Causes Driving U.S. Electric Generation Outages In Extreme Cold - Reliability Of Natural Gas System Remains A Concern  [PaEN]   

-- Utility Dive: Power Plants Remain Vulnerable To Outages In Extreme Cold, Despite Warnings, FERC, NERC Find

-- Utility Dive: PJM Interconnect’s Electric Power Capacity Market Is Sound, But Changes Needed To Adapt To Evolving Grid Mix, Extreme Weather: FERC Panelists

-- Bay Journal: Satellites, Drones, Special Cameras Join The Fight Against Methane/VOC Pollution From Oil/Gas Wells, Petrochemical Plants, Landfills, Coal Mines In Pennsylvania - By Ad Crable, Chesapeake Bay Journal  [PaEN] 

-- Environmental Health News: Federal Investments Supporting Community-Led Air Monitoring Could Lower Southwest PA Cancer Rates

-- Bloomberg: A Cheap Fix To Global Warming is Finally Gaining Support - Reducing Methane Emissions From Coal Mines and Oil/Gas Operations

-- Bloomberg: A Cheap Fix To Global Warming is Finally Gaining Support - Reducing Methane Emissions From Coal Mines and Oil/Gas Operations

-- StateImpactPA - Susan Phillips: Pennsylvania’s Largest Coal Plant-- Homer City, And One Of Its Largest Polluters, To Shut Down

-- TribLive Guest Essay: Homer City Coal-Fired Power Plant Closing, Another Step In Killing The Electric Grid; Renewable Does Not Mean Reliable - By Sen. Gene Yaw  [Natural Gas Intermittent Too]

-- PA Business Report: PA Business Leaders Again Urge Shapiro To Withdraw From RGGI Carbon Pollution Reduction Plan

-- Public Source: As Feds Move Toward Decision On Hydrogen Hubs, Players Jockey On Legislation Requiring ‘Green’ Hydrogen

-- The Center Square: PA National Guard Warns Proposed Wind Farm Near Ft. Indiantown Gap Poses Safety Threat

-- Inquirer: PA Lawmakers Already Working To Extend Emergency Declaration For I-95 Collapse Or It Will Expire In 21 Days

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Mawson Infrastructure Rapidly Increases Cryptocurrency Mining Operations To 88 MW In Beaver County

-- TribLive: Western PA Officials Push For Transition To Electric Vehicles, Clean Energy

-- WESA: Pittsburgh Officials, Advocates Gather To Promote Clean Transportation, Electric Vehicles

-- Observer-Reporter Editorial: The Struggle Between [Electric] Power And Money

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: Philadelphia Wants Harsher Penalties For Illegal Dirt Bikes Than State Allows

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: Sen. Boscola Proposes $2,000 Penalty For Eagle Killings

Top 10 Stories On Harrisburg/PA Politics Last Week--

Because In Politics Everything Is Connected To Everything Else--

-- Top 10 Stories: Harrisburg/PA Politics Reported By Local News Media Last Week [PaEN]

Senate, House Bills Moving Last Week

The following environmental and energy bills saw movement last week-- 

House

Skip The Straw: House Resolution 119 (Krueger-D-Delaware) designating June 1, 2023 as “Skip The Straw Day” in Pennsylvania (sponsor summary) was adopted by a party-line vote of 102 to 101.

Allowing Recycled Materials In Stuffed Toys: House Bill 1333 (Dawkins-D-Philadephia) allowing recycled materials in stuffed toys (sponsor summary) was reported out of the House Labor and Industry Committee an re-referred to House Rules Committee. 

Bill Calendars

House (June 20): House Bill 962 (Vitali-D- Delaware) to restore DEP’s authority to review conventional oil and gas well plugging bonding amounts to help prevent the routine abandonment of between 400 and 600 conventional oil and gas wells a year by operators Read more here; House Bill 1032 (Fiedler-D-Philadelphia) establishing a solar energy grant program for schools Read more here;  House Resolution 79 (Pisciottano-D- Allegheny) urging the Biden Administration and Congress to designate Pennsylvania as a hydrogen hub; House Resolution 131 (Steele-D-Allegheny) directing the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to estimate how much revenue Pennsylvania could have collected by adopting a natural gas severance tax since February 2012 (sponsor summary). <> Click Here for full House Bill Calendar.

Senate (June 19): Senate Bill 100 (Brooks-R-Crawford) further providing for Lyme disease and tick-borne illness medical coverage; Senate Bill 514 (Baker-R-Luzerne) requiring child testing for lead blood levels (sponsor summary); Senate Bill 689 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) would authorize DEP to issue a 10-year “stream cleaning” permits to local governments or PennDOT without need for further preapprovals for actions in the stream regardless if stream conditions changes within their jurisdictions [Read more here]; Senate Bill 690 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) would authorize county conservation districts to develop a complex and expensive program related to “reconstruction emergency permit authorizations” to conduct “stream cleaning” operations [Read more here]; Senate Bill 709 (Boscola-D-Lehigh) increasing the penalty for killing Bald or Golden Eagles (sponsor summary);  Senate Bill 756 (Robinson-R-Allegheny) allowing recycled materials in stuffed toys (sponsor summary).  <> Click Here for full Senate Bill Calendar.

Committee Meetings

House   

June 20-- House Consumer Protection, Technology and Utilities informational meeting with PJM Interconnection. Room G-50 Irvis Building. 10:00 a.m. Click Here to watch live.

June 20-- House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee meets on House Resolution 132 (Matzie-D-Beaver) designating June 19 to 25 as Pollinator Week in Pennsylvania.  Room 515 Irvis Building. 10:30 a.m.  Click Here to watch live.

June 20-- House Transportation Committee meets to consider House Bill 1338 (Neilson-D- Philadelphia) authorizing Philadelphia to adopt a local ordinance regulating illegal use of off-road vehicles like dirt bikes and ATVs on city streets.  Room 140 Main Capitol.  10:00 a.m.  Click Here to watch live.

<>  Click Here for full House Committee Schedule.

Senate

June 20--  Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee hearing on solar energy’s impact on Pennsylvania ratepayers.  Hearing Room 1, North Office Building. 9:00 a.m.  Click Here to watch live.

June 21-- Joint Legislative Budget & Finance Committee meeting to adopt House Resolution 87 (Daily-D-Montgomery) study of wildlife conservation corridors. Room 8E-B East Wing.  8:50 a.m.  Click Here to watch live.

June 21-- Joint Legislative Budget & Finance Committee meeting to release study on proposed revisions to biosolids permits pursuant to House Resolution 149.  Room 8E-B East Wing.  9:00 a.m.  Click Here to watch live.

 <>  Click Here for full Senate Committee Schedule.

Bills Pending In Key Committees

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.

Session Schedule 

Here is the latest voting session schedule for the Senate and House--

House

June 20, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30

Senate

June 19, 20, 21, 22, [23], 26, 27, 28, 29, 30

[Posted: June 18, 2023]

6/19/2023