July 27 PA Environment Digest Now Available

The July 27 PA Environment Digest is now available.  Here are just a few of the headlines--

PA Officials Reiterate Commitment To Clean Water, Chesapeake Bay Cleanup

In Washington, DC, Thursday, Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Quigley and Department of Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding restated Pennsylvania’s commitment to improving river and stream health throughout the Commonwealth, and ultimately, the health of the Chesapeake Bay.  Click Here to read the story.

Op-Ed: Commit To Saving Chesapeake Bay, By Former Gov. Dick Thornburgh

The Chesapeake Bay is our nation’s largest estuary. An American treasure of legendary beauty, the bay and its system of tributary rivers and streams are critically important — economically, culturally, and for human health reasons.  Click Here to read the story.

CBF-PA: Pennsylvania Declares Clean Water Counts!

By Harry Campbell, Chesapeake Bay Foundation-PA Executive Director

The chorus of county, organization, and individual voices grows louder across Pennsylvania each day as more names are added to our Clean Water Counts Campaign.  The lyrics of this tune say that the status quo is no longer good enough when it comes to efforts to reduce water pollution in Pennsylvania.  Click Here to read the story.

DEP Citizens Advisory Council OKs Comments On Act 54 Deep Mining Impact Report

At its Tuesday meeting, DEP’s Citizens Advisory Council finalized its comments on DEP’s Act 54 report on the impact of underground coal mining.   Council also heard a presentation on workforce development and succession planning within DEP and made changes to its policy for accepting public comments during its monthly meetings.  Click Here to read the story.

DCNR: Greene County Lake Dam Damaged By Deep Coal Mining Won’t Be Rebuilt

The Washington Observer-Reporter and Tribune Review Friday reported DCNR Secretary Cindy Dunn announced the agency would not rebuild the Duke Lake dam in Ryerson Station State Park, Greene County, due to concerns about additional settling of an area above an underground coal mine that damaged the original dam.  Click Here to read the story.

PEC To Hold 2nd Environmental Policy Conference In Harrisburg October 13

The PA Environmental Council Friday announced its Second Annual Environmental Policy Conference, which will be held on October 13 at the Hilton Hotel in Harrisburg. The all-day forum will be focused on the biggest environmental opportunities and challenges facing Pennsylvania, including state implementation of the soon-to-be-announced Federal Clean Power Plan, achieving 2017 pollution reduction goals for the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and how the state should manage infrastructure build-out from natural gas production and use.   Click Here to read the story.

Wolf Administration Publishes First Regulatory Agenda

The Governor’s Office published the semi-annual Regulatory Agenda in the July 25 PA Bulletin (beginning on page 4063) outlining regulatory proposals each of the state agencies will be working on over the next six months to a year.  This is the first Regulatory Agenda published by the Wolf Administration.

Among other regulatory changes to be proposed by the Department of Environmental Protection over the next year, the agency will be proposing permit fee increases for the air quality, noncoal and coal mining, radiation protection and laboratory accreditation programs. The proposed fee increases were in process beginning in the Corbett Administration.  Click Here to read the story.

Op-Ed: Here’s Where We Need To Go Next For Safe Hydraulic Fracturing

By Susan LeGros, Executive Director, Center For Sustainable Shale Development

After reviewing thousands of pages of scientific studies and data, EPA recently concluded that the risk to groundwater from fracturing itself is small, but the process does involve risks, and identified ways that drinking water could be impacted and managed.

EPA's determination appears consistent with the consensus of most in the academic, regulatory and engineering communities, but concerns remain, and its conclusions leave many wondering what should happen next.   Click Here to read the story.

Small Business Advantage Pollution Prevention, Energy Efficiency Grants Now Available

The Department of Environmental Protection is now accepting applications for its Small Business Advantage Grants to help fund pollution prevention or energy efficiency projects.  (formal notice)  Click Here to read the story.

To read the Digest, visit: www.PaEnvironmentDigest.com.  Click Here to print the entire Digest.

PA Environment Digest is edited by David E. Hess, former Secretary Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, and is published as a service of Crisci Associates.

PA Environment Digest was the winner of the PA Association of Environmental Educators'  2009 Business Partner of the Year Award.

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Questions?: Send email to David Hess at: DHess@CrisciAssociates.com