The motions to report the nominations came from Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming), Majority Chair, and Sen. John Yudichak (D-Luzerne), Minority Chair.
Sen. Daylin Leach (D-Montgomery) voted against the Abruzzo nomination “as a matter of conscience” because of his concerns about the Corbett Administration’s position on climate change issues.
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Senators of both parties generally praised the nominees for their suitability to the positions, in the case of Abruzzo for his background as a township commissioner and a former prosecutor and Ferretti for her life-long work on environmental issues in the public, non-profit and private sectors.
Most of the questions for both nominees revolved around Marcellus Shale development and regulation.
Sen. Jim Ferlo (D-Allegheny), Sen. Andrew Dinniman (D-Chester) and Sen. Leach all expressed concerns about the large portion of DCNR’s budget now coming from natural gas royalties from drilling on State Forest land. They each asked if that sets up a potential conflict with how the agency manages its public lands.
Acting DCNR Secretary Ferretti said the General Assembly passed and the Governor signed the budget using Oil and Gas Fund revenues to pay for her agency’s operations. She noted there has been no additional leasing of State Forest land for drilling since the Corbett Administration came to office. She said all the activity now on DCNR land is the result of leasing done in the past.
Senators Ferlo, Dinniman and Leach also asked if Ferretti would support enacting a moratorium on future gas drilling. Ferretti said the Executive Order signed by Gov. Rendell prohibiting further leasing on State Forest land remains in effect and added, in response to follow-up questions, she would certainly consult with the Governor’s Office if there were any changes proposed.
Gov. Rendell issued the Executive Order imposing the moratorium 10 days before the 2010 gubernatorial election and after he leased 137,896 acres of State Forest land for drilling. He announced his general support for a moratorium earlier that year on the same day he announced the leasing of the last 32,896 acres.
Sen. Dinniman asked Acting Secretary Abruzzo for his commitment to improve citizen access to information about proposed natural gas pipeline projects in light of past difficulties his constituents had in becoming aware of proposed pipeline routes and hearings on those proposals. He also expressed concern about additional water runoff that he said was coming from these projects.
Abruzzo said he would take a leadership role in dealing with these issues and noted earlier in the hearing he took immediate steps when he came to the agency in April as Acting Secretary to improve transparency and public participation.
Sen. Yaw followed-up by saying some of the pipelines of concern to Sen. Dinniman were regulated by the federal government or the Public Utility Commission, in some cases, and he would be happy to talk with the Senator again about his concerns.
Sen. Yudichak asked for the status of the Auditor General’s audit of DEP’s water programs related to the Marcellus Shale drilling program. Abruzzo said the agency has cooperated fully with the Auditor General. He said the agency’s program continues to evolve and he would welcome recommendations made by the Auditor General.
Senators Yudichak and Ferlo asked for more information on air monitoring related to natural gas drilling and transportation facilities and for an update on the radiation study DEP is conducting on drill cuttings and wastewater.
Abruzzo said he would provide more detail separately, but noted the radiation study would probably be completed next August.
Other Issues Raised
In response to a question from Sen. Leach on whether he thought climate change was real and that humans had a role in causing the problem, Abruzzo said he would not argue there isn’t climate change and that human’s contribute to that change.
Abruzzo said although he had not seen the scientific studies, there are adverse aspects of climate change.
Asked whether he supported an increase in the renewable energy purchases by utilities through the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards, Abruzzo said he was not opposed to it, but those decisions have economic and other consequences.
Other issues raised included--
-- Act 537 Sewage Planning: Sen. Yudichak said many local officials express concerns about the inconsistency of interpretations of sewage regulations between DEP offices and noted as a local official Abruzzo would have a perspective on that issue. Abruzzo said he understood the issue well and noted most of the problems revolve around a breakdown of communications that he is working hard to change.
-- Counting Existing BMPs: Sen. Elder Vogel (R-Beaver) asked for the plans DEP has to do a better job accounting for the nutrient and sediment reductions farmers have already made by installing best management practices on their farms. Abruzzo said DEP and the Department of Agriculture plan an Agricultural Summit in January to take up that issue and share information on new BMPs farmers are using to reduce pollution to better account for their results in meeting Chesapeake Bay cleanup milestones.
-- Endangered Species: In response to a question from Sen.Yudichak, Ferretti said the agency has not taken a position on House Bill 1576 (Pyle-R-Armstrong) that would change the endangered species listing process, but noted DCNR is already required to list species by regulation, a primary provision in the bill.
-- Multiple Use Of Forests: Sen. Scott Hutchinson (R-Venango) said he believed State Forests were intended not to be preserved, but to be used in multiple ways to take advantage of the natural resources they contain. Ferretti said public land management is always a balancing act, noting State Parks and State Forests are managed differently. State Forests are being used for low-impact recreation and State Parks for a broader choice of recreational opportunities. She also explained DCNR owns the mineral rights for most State Forests, but almost none under State Park lands.
-- Heritage Parks Program: Sen. Scott Hutchinson (R-Venango) expressed his support for the Heritage Parks Program and recommended DCNR do more to support the program.
Neither nominee had a formal written opening statement for the Committee.
The Governor nominated Abruzzo and Ferretti on September 20. The Senate is scheduled to be in session today and three more days next week then adjourn for the year.