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

-- Post-Gazette Editorial: A Tear In Superman’s Cape [Shapiro]

-- PA Capital-Star Editorial Cartoon: For Gov. Shapiro, A Slightly More Difficult Bridge Repair

Budget

-- House Passes $45.5 Billion State Budget Including Funding For More Staff At DEP; Shapiro To Veto Voucher Funding Wanted By Republicans; Bill Must Still Be Signed In Senate To Be Presented To The Governor  [PaEN]

-- Senate Has Not Signed And Sent To Governor House Bill 611 General Fund Budget

-- Senate Has Not Signed And Sent To Governor House Bill 1100 Expanding Property Tax, Rent Rebate For Seniors

-- Click Here for the General Fund budget spreadsheet.  [House Democrats]

-- Click Here for narrative description of budget changes.  [House Democrats]

-- Spotlight PA - Stephen Caruso: Bad Blood, Technicalities, Complicate Code Bills Keep The PA State Budget In Limbo

-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: The Harrisburg Honeymoon Is Over For Gov. Shapiro In Private School Voucher Aftermath

-- TribLive Guest Essay: Private School Voucher Backtrack Another Calibrated Move By Shapiro - By Dennis Roddy

-- PennLive - Jan Murphy: PA Budget’s State Of Play: Stuck In Overtime With No Immediate End In Sight

-- Inquirer: Winners And Losers In Gov. Shapiro’s First Budget Battle So Far

-- AP: PA Governor Calls On Divided Legislature To Finalize State Budget Past Deadline

-- Politics PA: Gov. Shapiro Calls On PA Senate To Return To Harrisburg To Finish State Budget; Says Senate Republicans Didn’t Close The Deal With House Democrats 

-- The Center Square: Bipartisanship Shatters After Shapiro Washes Hands Of Budget Compromise

-- WESA: Republicans Are Mad And Democrats Are Confused After Gov. Shapiro’s Private School Voucher Budget Gambit

-- PA Capital-Star: Shapiro: Senate Republicans Failed To Close Budget Deal With House Democrats On Private School Vouchers

-- City & State PA: Shapiro Urges PA Senate Republicans To Advance $45.5 Billion Budget Plan

-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: Gov. Shapiro Blames Republicans In PA Budget Standoff: ‘Senate Republicans Did Not Close The Deal’

-- PennLive - Jan Murphy: Shapiro, Senate Republicans Blame Each Other For State Budget That’s Only Half-Finished

-- Spotlight PA: After Shapiro Reverses Position On Private School Vouchers, PA House Passes State Budget, Senate Republicans Cry Foul

-- Williamsport Sun Editorial: Projected Drop In Act 13 Impact Fee Revenues In 2023 Reiterates Need For Natural Gas Infrastructure

-- PA Capital-Star: PA Collected $44.9 Billion In Taxes In 2022-23 Fiscal Year, Edging Projections

-- Dept. of Revenue Reports State Tax Collects for FY 2022-23 Were $1.3 Billion (3.1%) Above Its Estimates

-- Independent Fiscal Office Reports June State Revenues $285.3 Million (8.4%) Above Its Estimates, $2.73 Billion Above Estimates For Fy 2022-23 Fiscal Year

Norfolk Southern Train Derailment

-- Beaver County Times: Casey, Fetterman Cheer Proposed DOT/PHMSA Rule To Enhance Rail Hazmat Reporting

-- The Allegheny Front: Norfolk Southern Finishes Soil Remediation Under East Palestine Ohio Train Tracks

-- PittsburghUnionProgress.com: East Palestine Residents Cheer Ohio Governor’s Request For Disaster Declaration Covering Norfolk Southern Train Derailment, But Many Questions Remain

-- AP: Rail Union Says A Virginia Derailment Thursday Renews Questions About Norfolk Southern’s Safety Practices

-- AP: Railroad Industry Sues To Block Minimum Crew Sizes Ohio Imposed After Norfolk Southern Train Derailment

-- WFMJ: Norfolk Southern Lawsuit Against Chemical Shippers Alleges Negligence And Oversight In Ohio/PA Train Derailment

PA Politics Of Russian Invasion

-- AAA Average Gasoline Prices: Pennsylvania - $3.63; National - $3.53

-- Reuters: Oil Prices Up 3% To 9-Week High On Supply Concerns

-- Baker Hughes: PA Natural Gas Drilling Rigs Same As Last Week - 23

-- Bloomberg: European Union’s Natural Gas Buyer’s Club Fills Nearly 80% Of Storage Without Extreme Price Spikes

-- Reuters: Column: Europe’s Natural Gas Storage Is Filling Too Fast

-- Bloomberg: Petroleos Mexicanos Natural Gas Platform Explodes In Gulf Of Mexico, 2 Dead, Workers Missing; Company Faced Scrutiny Over Safety, Environmental Record

-- Bloomberg: Petroleos Mexicanos Said Platform Explosion Impacted One-Third Of Oil Output, 11% Of Natural Gas Production

-- Reuters: Exxon Signals Sharp Profit Drop, Cites Low Natural Gas Prices, Refining Margins

-- Reuters: Shell Warns Of Significant Drop In Natural Gas Trading Results

Environment/Energy Issues

-- Community Demands Accountability From EQT Natural Gas On 1-Year Anniversary Of Greene County Frack-Out Incident; Families Still Without Clean Water; No DEP Investigation Results  [PaEN]

-- KDKA Investigations: Washington County Family Says Energy Transfer/MarkWest Natural Gas Processing Plants Turned Peaceful Farm Into Nightmare  - Part I & II  [PaEN]

-- KDKA Investigations: Environmental Group Says DEP Is Stonewalling It Amid Search For Answers About Energy Transfer Natural Gas Plant Explosion Christmas Day In Washington County - Part II

--  DEP Rejects MarkWest Act 2 Cleanup Notification For 10,000 Gallon Natural Gas Condensate Spill At Compressor Station In Robinson Twp., Washington County; Notice Is Re-sent   [PaEN]

-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - July 1 to 7; New Brownfield Cleanups; Shale Gas Well Plugging Picks Up; New Conventional Well Abandonments  [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - July 8; New Brownfield Cleanups Increase  [PaEN]

-- DEP Invites Comments On Draft Shale Gas Well Emergency Response, Pollution Prevention Contingency Plan Guidance  [PaEN]

-- DEP Sets Aug. 23 Hearing On Title V Air Quality Permit Revisions For Artemas Natural Gas Compressor Station In Bedford County  [PaEN]

-- Erie Times Guest Essay: PA Can Curb Pollution, Protect Public Health By Reducing Oil & Gas Methane Emissions Now - Alison L. Steele, Environmental Health Project

-- Inside Climate News: Q/A: What To Do About Pollution From A Vast New Shell Petrochemical Plant In Pennsylvania

-- TribLive: Olympus Energy Drops Appeal Of Shale Gas Well Pad Denial In West Deer; Residents Plan To Fight Recently Approved Well Pad

-- Observer-Reporter: Tractor-Trailer Carrying Fracking Sand Overturns In East Finley

-- WeConservePA Hosts Oct. 5 Webinar On Establishing Local Environmental Advisory Councils; EAC Network Gathering Oct. 21 [PaEN]

-- House Passes Bipartisan Bill Establishing Grant Program To Support Solar Energy Facilities At Schools  [PaEN]

-- PA-based Evangelical Environmental Network Blog: Caring For Our ‘Garden Of Eden’ - Solar Energy Benefits For Pennsylvania - By Julian Burnett, PosiGen Solar & Energy Efficiency [PaEN]

-- PJM Interconnection Announces New Project Evaluation Process Begins July 10; More Than 260,000 MW Of Mostly Renewable Projects In Queue  [PaEN]

-- WESA/StateImpactPA: In PA, Renewable Energy Projects Could Come Online Faster With New PJM Interconnection Grid Policy

-- Inside Climate News: PJM Interconnection Grid Operator Must Process And Connect Backlogged Clean Energy Projects, New Report Says

-- PJM Interconnection Issues Hot Weather Alert For Entire Electrical Grid Footprint for July 5   [PaEN]

-- Canary Media: Natural Gas Is The Pillar Of US Electric Generation, It’s Also Unreliable

-- UtilityDive: Most Of US Faces Elevated Risk Of Blackouts In Extreme Heat This Summer, North American Electric Reliability Corp Warns

-- WPost Guest Essay: Renewables Are Saving Texas As Coal, Natural Gas Plants Go Offline - Again - So Give Them Their Due

-- Scranton Times: Developer Revives Efforts To Ship LNG Natural Gas From Bradford County Through Lackawanna, Luzerne, Wyoming Counties  [Article Text ]

-- Scranton Times Editorial: Rally Region, State Against LNG Natural Gas Project In Wyalusing, Bradford County

-- Broad+Liberty Guest Essay: Carbon Capture And Storage Is Beneficial To Pennsylvania’s Energy Field - By Former Rep. Becky Corbin (R-Chester)

-- Public News Service: PA Groups Support New EPA Carbon Pollution Standards For Coal, Gas Plants

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Hydrogen Hub Legislation Stuck In House Committee

-- Guest Essay: ‘Clean’ Hydrogen Smoke And Mirrors - By Karen Elias, Lock Haven  [PaEN]

-- Post-Gazette: PA Member Of Congress In The Middle Of The Action As Congress Debates Federal Farm Bill

-- Republican Cong. Kelly: US Fish & Wildlife Service To ‘Pause’ Consideration Of Proposed French Creek National Wildlife Refuge To Draft Smaller Refuge Proposal

-- Franklin County Free Press Guest Essay: Protecting PA Wildlife Through Wildlife Corridors

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--

Budget Bills:

-- Senate Has Not Signed And Sent To Governor House Bill 611 General Fund Budget

-- Senate Has Not Signed And Sent To Governor House Bill 1100 Expanding Property Tax, Rent Rebate For Seniors

-- Click Here for the General Fund budget spreadsheet.  [House Democrats]

-- Click Here for narrative description of budget changes.  [House Democrats]

-- Read more here about the status of the state budget. 

House

Accessibility Priority For Recreation Grants: House Bill 1173 (Khan-D-Philadelphia) providing for a priority for DCNR recreation grants to improve accessibility at recreation facilities was referred into and out of House Appropriations Committee [House Fiscal Note & Summary] and passed by the House 202-1.  The bill now goes to the Senate for action.

Land Bank Environmental Liability: Senate Bill 466 (Brown-R-Lackawanna) providing for environmental liability relief for land banks was Tabled.

Diesel Mining Equipment: Senate Bill 115 (Stefano-R-Fayette) specifying when to change the oil and diesel-powered underground coal mining equipment was Tabled.

Bill Calendars

House (July 11): 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 Resolution 79 (Pisciottano-D- Allegheny) urging the Biden Administration and Congress to designate Pennsylvania as a hydrogen hub.<> Click Here for full House Bill Calendar.

Senate (September 18): Senate Bill 286 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) would redefine when a spill needs to be reported by letting the polluter decide when to notify DEP taking into account control and remedial measures, whether the discharge will harm receiving waters or public health  Read more here; Senate Bill 382 (Laughlin-R-Erie) exempting Lake Erie coastal property owners from annual groin structure fees; Senate Bill 831 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) would direct the state to apply for primary authority to regulate Class VI carbon dioxide underground injection wells from the U.S. EPA  Read more here.  <> Click Here for full Senate Bill Calendar.

Committee Meetings

House   

July 12-- House Agriculture & Rural Affairs informational meeting on Urban Agriculture Grant Program.  Las Parcelas (Norris Square Neighborhood Project), 2248 N. Palethorp St., Philadelphia. 10:00 a.m.  Click Here to watch live (if available).

<>  Click Here for full House Committee Schedule.

Senate

 <>  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

July 11

Senate

September 18, 19, 20

October 2, 3, 4, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25

November 13, 14, 15

December 11, 12, 13

[Posted: July 9, 2023]

7/10/2023