Commonwealth Court Judge James Gardner Colins Friday denied a request by groups representing conventional oil and gas drillers to invalidate DEP’s final Chapter 78 (conventional) and 78a (unconventional, Marcellus Shale) drilling regulations updates because they violated the provisions of a 2014 amendment to the Fiscal Code.

The Senate and House Environmental Resources and Energy Committees Tuesday voted largely along party lines to notify the Independent Regulatory Review Commission they disapprove DEP’s Chapter 78 (conventional) and 78a (unconventional, Marcellus Shale) drilling regulations updates.

The Connection for Oil, Gas & Environment in the Northern Tier had this reaction to Tuesday’s action by the Senate and House Environmental Committees recommending the Independent Regulatory Review Commission disapprove DEP’s Chapter 78 (conventional) and Chapter 78a (unconventional, Marcellus Shale) drilling regulations update—

The Independent Regulatory Review Commission will consider DEP’s Chapter 78 (conventional) and 78a (unconventional, Marcellus Shale) drilling regulations updates at its April 21 meeting in Harrisburg.

The Senate Republican and Democratic Policy Committees Monday held a hearing on whether DEP’s ability to process permits has had an impact on economic development in Pennsylvania.  There is no question the answer is yes, to some extent, but the cause of DEP’s slowdown in processing permits was in doubt to some on the panel.

The Senate, followed by the House Wednesday put a new Fiscal Code bill-- House Bill 1589 (Causer-R- Cameron)-- on the Governor’s desk by veto-proof margins.  The bill contains a new formula to distribute basic education funding, cuts Environmental Stewardship (Growing Greener) funding by $15 million and takes $12 million from CFA’s High Performance Buildings Program and transfers it to fund a new program to expand natural gas infrastructure.

Philly.com reported Friday evening DEP Secretary John Quigley told a Villanova University law school symposium “years of relentless budget cuts” have left DEP ill-equipped for its role to monitor the tens of thousands of miles of natural gas pipelines to be build in Pennsylvania over the next decade.

DEP’s Mining and Reclamation Advisory Board is scheduled to meet on April 25 to discuss proposed increases in coal mining permit fees to offset expected shortfalls in state General Fund appropriations to DEP and revenue from the existing permit fees.  (formal notice)

In a March 30 letter, the Department of Environmental Protection announced a change in policy that will allow local electronics waste recycling programs to charge consumers for e-waste they bring in for recycling, if the collection event is not part of an electronics manufacturers’ recycling program funded under the state’s Covered Device Recycling Act.

Resource Recycling reported Thursday Closed Loop Refining and Recovery, a major recycler of CRT televisions and monitors collected by electronics waste programs, including many in Pennsylvania, is “on the brink of closing and leaving more than 90 million pounds of stockpiled CRT material in its wake.”

It was a political odd couple that introduced the “Compassionate Use Of Medical Cannabis Act” in 2013 that lead, three years later, to its final passage Wednesday.

PA Environment Digest now has a Google+ Circle called Green Works In PA.  Let us join your Circle.

Here are the Senate and House Calendars and Committee meetings showing bills of interest as well as a list of new environmental bills introduced--

The following bills were given final approval by the Senate and House and are now on the Governor's desk for action--

The following bills of interest saw action this week in the House and Senate--

At a hearing of the House Democratic Policy Committee Monday, Liz Robinson, Executive Director of the nonprofit Energy Coordinating Agency in Philadelphia, promoted energy efficiency as the cheapest, cleanest and safest form of energy that eliminate building energy waste and creates more jobs.

The Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee reported out bills to delay Pennsylvania’s response to EPA Clean Power Climate Plan requirements and kill DEP’s Chapter 78 (conventional) drilling regulations and make the agency start the rulemaking over. 

The head of the U.S. Geologic Survey’s Chesapeake Bay Water Quality Monitoring Program Tuesday said water quality is improving in the Pennsylvania portion of the Bay watershed because of the steps being taken to reduce pollution, but some of the progress is being undone, particularly in sediment and phosphorous loadings, because the reservoirs behind three dams in the lower Susquehanna are about filled with sediment.

As Pennsylvania renews efforts to clean the state's waterways and the Chesapeake Bay, Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences is helping to craft a strategy in which farmers spearhead clean-water initiatives.

The Susquehanna River is the third most endangered river in the United States, according to the national America’s Rivers organization.

The first annual Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week will be celebrated from June 4-12 in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.

The PA Association of Conservation Districts recently awarded more than $52,000 for 28 projects in 24 counties through the Nonpoint Source Pollution Prevention Mini Grant Program.

The Department of Environmental Protection Tuesday announced it has entered into a consent order and agreement with the Gutman Family cattle businesses located in York and Adams counties, to correct various environmental violations of the Clean Streams Law.

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission is scheduled to hold a hearing May 4 on individual water withdrawal requests as well as proposed changes to guidance dealing with fee schedules, expiring project approvals, terminating the review of project applications and the Comprehensive Plan for the Susquehanna River Basin. (formal notice & agenda)

The April 11 Chesapeake Bay Journal News is now available featuring articles on--

The April edition of the UpStream newsletter from the Stroud Water Research Center in Chester County is how available featuring articles on--

The April 11 edition of the Watershed Winds newsletter is now available from Penn State Extension featuring articles on--

There’s still time to register for the May 10-12 PA Chapter American Water Works Association Annual Conference before the April 25 deadline.  Click Here to register or for more information.

The Friends of the Wissahickon and the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association are once again joining forces to clean the Wissahickon Creek on April 30 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.  

The Keep PA Beautiful’s annual Beautiful newsletter highlighting 2015 program accomplishments and initiatives.  In her cover letter, Shannon Reiter, President of KPB, said--

Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s local affiliates will hold special waste collection events for Butler, Cambria, Lawrence, Mercer, Washington counties this spring, sponsored in part by the Department of Environmental Protection’s HHW/Small Business Hazardous Waste Collection Program.

Westmoreland Cleanways and Recycling is hosting the 14th annual Westmoreland Earth Day Festival and Outdoor Adventure Fest on April 23 at the Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve at St. Vincent College in Latrobe.

The Department of Environmental Protection Tuesday announced Brunner Island LLC has signed a consent assessment of civil penalty, the result of a January fish kill at its coal-fired electric generating station on the Susquehanna River in York County.

Western Pennsylvania’s celebration of Earth Day 2016 will include a display of award-winning artwork created by local students who entered the 6th annual Let’s Clear the Air Poster Challenge sponsored by the Southwest Pennsylvania Air Quality Partnership and the PA Resources Council.

The Department of Environmental Protection Wednesday announced it has begun aerial spraying on more than 1,600 stream miles in 39 Pennsylvania counties to control black flies, also referred to as gnats.

Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Karen Murphy Friday advised Commonwealth residents that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed the link between Zika Virus disease in pregnant women and microcephaly and other severe fetal brain defects.

The April 14 edition of the DEP News is now available from the Department of Environmental Protection featuring articles on--

Methane emissions, the main component of natural gas and a highly potent greenhouse gas — and their consequences for Pennsylvania in the natural gas age — are the topic of April’s “Environmental Focus.”

SolarCity is making its popular solar service available to homeowners in Western Pennsylvania for the first time.  It is also in need of staff to implement its program.

Starting April 15, the first 1,000 residential customers in Ohio and Pennsylvania can help celebrate Earth Day by signing up with FirstEnergy Solutions to receive 100 percent wind energy at the same price as its standard energy offer.

The Business Council for Sustainable Energy and Bloomberg New Energy Finance this week released its 2016 Sustainable Energy in America Factbook showing Pennsylvania is well-positioned to accelerate its clean energy deployment, is a leader in energy efficiency and receives significant economic benefits from these investments.

The Public Utility Commission published notice of an opportunity to comment on a proposed policy statement on Combined Heat and Power in the April 16 PA Bulletin. 

During the April meeting of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Land Preservation Board, an additional 1,792 acres on 32 farms in 14 counties were safeguarded through the state’s nation-leading farmland preservation program.

The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources published a formal notice in the April 16 PA Bulletin giving permit applicants formal notice of its update of its system for reviewing applications for impacts on threatened and endangered species and species of special concern.

A Blair County resident dedicated to making Canoe Creek State Park a showplace of safe, enjoyable trails, and a Venango County-based group initiating innovative and widely popular events at Oil Creek State Park have been named recipients of annual Conservation Volunteer Awards by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Registration is now open for the Experiencing Your Environment Through Conservation summer science experience for students entering grades 10 to 12 at the Jennings Environmental Education Center in Butler County.

Adam Larson and Tyler Farnan pile on the last scoops of soil around the new ash trees they just planted in Rothrock State Forest [in Centre County], their footprints still fresh in the dirt. While their footprints will eventually disappear, the local footprint they and their student organization, Positive Energy, have made will endure far into the future.

Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn Wednesday  joined the Western PA Conservancy and volunteers in planting two acres of trees along the lake at Yellow Creek State Park in Indiana County to improve water quality.

Resource Environmental Solutions, the nation’s leading supplier of ecological offsets for unavoidable project-related impacts to wetlands, streams and habitats, Thursday announced the donation of 2,000 trees to the Cumberland County Conservation District. 

The Western PA Conservancy Pittsburgh Redbud Project is distributing free redbud trees to City of Pittsburgh residents at these locations--

Five new members will be inducted into the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame on June 3 at the sixth annual Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame Banquet at the Allenberry Resort in Boiling Springs, Cumberland County.

The Get Outdoors PA program will be hosting a webinar on April 29 from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. The session will focus on the upcoming National Get Outdoors Day in June, and explore ways those interested and jump-start an event to help celebrate the day.

The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources published notice soliciting public comments on 5 proposed State Forest Wild Areas designations in Centre, Clinton, Elk, Fayette, Mifflin, Pike and Potter counties in the April 16 PA Bulletin. 

The April 13 edition of the Resource newsletter is now available from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources featuring articles on--

The Open Land Conservancy of Chester County will host an April 19 program on Global Warming - What We Need To Know featuring Richard Whiteford who served as a delegate to the 2015 Paris Climate Summit.

With the approach of Pennsylvania’s traditional statewide trout season opener on April 16, and weather conditions that keep firefighters busy responding to wildfires across much of the state, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Wednesday urged anglers, property owners and others to take steps to prevent forest and brush fires.

Activate Phoenixville Area in Chester County will hold 3 Prescribe-A-Trail events along the Schuylkill River Trail between now and April 30.  Events will be held April 16, 20 and 30.

A unique public program that will illustrate Gifford Pinchot’s enthusiasm for fly fishing is planned for May 7 from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. at Pinchot’s former home, Grey Towers National Historic Site, Milford, Pike County.

The April/May edition of the Currents newsletter from the Fish and Boat Commission is now available featuring articles on--

The Department of Environmental Protection published notice in the April 16 PA Bulletin of the opportunity to bid on mine reclamation projects in Butler County and Washington County.

This section lists House and Senate Committee meetings, DEP and other public hearings and meetings and other interesting environmental events.

This section gives you a heads up on upcoming deadlines for awards and grants and other recognition programs.  NEW means new from last week.

Here are NewsClips from around the state on all environmental topics, including General Environment, Budget, Marcellus Shale, Watershed Protection and much more.

No new regulations were published this week.  Pennsylvania Bulletin - April 16, 2016

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