Friday, September 30, 2016

October 3 PA Environment Digest Now Available

The October 3 PA Environment Digest is now available.  Here are just a few of the headlines--
The PA Independent Oil and Gas Association, representing conventional well operators, Friday delivered a letter to the Joint House Senate Committee on Documents objecting to the publication of DEP’s final Chapter 78a Marcellus Shale drilling regulations, now scheduled for the October 8 PA Bulletin.
Harry Campbell, executive director for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in Pennsylvania, issued this statement Wednesday after Sen. Tom Killion (R-Delaware) introduced Growing Greener III legislation that would provide $315 million a year for environmental conservation, recreation, and preservation projects in the Commonwealth.
Ad Crable on LancasterOnline.com reported Friday Exelon Generation will provide Lancaster and York conservation districts each with $225,000 annually to help pay for on-farm conservation measures to help cleanup the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.
The funding is part of its commitment to $31 million in recreational and project initiatives as part of the Conowingo hydroelectric and Muddy Run pumped storage generation facility license renewals.
The Coldwater Heritage Partnership Wednesday announced it is now accepting applications for its two Coldwater Conservation Grant Programs to help protect and conserve the health of Pennsylvania’s coldwater ecosystems.  Applications are due December 16.
The federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Monday recognized state and tribal abandoned mine land programs and mine operators who have innovated and performed notable reclamation of surface coal mines.  Two Pennsylvania projects were recognized by OSM—
By: Robert Hughes, Executive Director, Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation
The RECLAIM Act, currently before Congress, is an opportunity to create both immediate and permanent jobs in communities facing severe economic hardship due to the loss of coal mining jobs and lagging local economies.
Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful awarded 25 grants of up to $1,000 for community improvement projects in three focus areas of Prevent It, Clean It, or Keep It to tax-exempt groups across Pennsylvania.
Grants were awarded in Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Blair, Cambria, Carbon, Centre, Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Erie, Huntingdon, Lancaster, Lehigh, Luzerne, McKean, Northampton, Philadelphia, Potter and York counties.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Thursday announced it is accepting applications for approximately $7 million in rebates to public school bus fleet owners to help them replace or retrofit older school buses.  Applications are due November 1.
The Department of Environmental Protection is considering or approved 43 applications for natural gas-fired power plants* since January 2014 totaling 17,140 megawatts of electric generation capacity.  That capacity could entirely replace the 12,683 megawatts of coal-fired electric generation capacity now in Pennsylvania.
The Public Utility Commission Tuesday announced it will kick off its statewide annual PA “Be Utility Wise” events in October and November.  The theme for this year’s campaign is “Who to Turn To” – focusing on increasing community awareness of essential utility assistance programs.
The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Thursday posted its second Fall foliage report showing expected dates when the best forest colors can be found.  Fall foliage visitors can also get suggestions about the best spots to view foliage on DCNR’s Penn’s Woods Fall Foliage Story Map.
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.
Additional Tools--
Click Here to sign up to receive the Digest directly by email.
Click Here for a Calendar of Upcoming Events.
Click Here to search back issues of the Digest.
PA Environment Digest Twitter Feed: Update on PA environmental issues.
PA Environment Daily Blog: Update on PA environmental issues.
Green Works In PA Google+ Circle: Update on PA environmental issues.
Questions?: Send email to David Hess at: DHess@CrisciAssociates.com
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Exelon Gives Lancaster, York Counties $225K Each For Farm Conservation Measures

Ad Crable on LancasterOnline.com reported Friday Exelon Generation will provide Lancaster and York conservation districts each with $225,000 annually to help pay for on-farm conservation measures to help cleanup the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.
The funding is part of its commitment to $31 million in recreational and project initiatives as part of the Conowingo hydroelectric and Muddy Run pumped storage generation facility license renewals.
The first check was delivered to Lancaster County on Thursday.
NewsClip:
Crable: Exelon To Pay Lancaster County $225K Annually For Farm Conservation Measures
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PECO Recognized With Delaware Valley Green Building Council Groundbreaker Award

PECO was recognized as one of three project winners of the 2016 Delaware Valley Green Building Council Groundbreaker Award for the company’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification initiatives for its Philadelphia headquarters and multiple service buildings throughout southeastern Pennsylvania.
The awards were presented at the annual DVGBC Groundbreaker Awards reception on September 29.
In 2015, PECO earned LEED Existing Building Operations + Maintenance Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for the company’s Philadelphia headquarters.
This certification was achieved through a series of building upgrades and operational enhancements, including:
-- Extensive energy-efficient lighting improvements, which led to a reduction of 2,700 light fixtures and 30,000 fluorescent lamps;
-- Heating and cooling upgrades and the installation of a new building automation system to control the HVAC system;
-- A 45,000 square foot green roof, which mitigates stormwater runoff and reduces energy usage for heating and cooling; and
-- Updating PECO’s iconic Crown Lights system with energy-efficient LED technology atop the building
This work has helped reduce building energy usage by 7.25 million kilowatt-hours each year.
“It’s an honor to be recognized by the Delaware Valley Green Building Council for our continued environmental focus and dedication to sustainability,” said Mike Innocenzo, senior vice president and COO. “Our work to achieve LEED certification for our largest company building further demonstrates our commitment to environmental leadership and we continue to realize ongoing benefits of this important sustainability work.”
This achievement culminates a multi-year, $15.3 million environmental initiative to improve the sustainability of PECO’s buildings and operations across southeastern Pennsylvania.
In total, PECO’s LEED initiative comprises 12 buildings and nearly 1.5 million square feet of building space, representing 80 percent of the total square footage of all PECO buildings.
From the company’s green building initiatives, to operating an environmentally-friendly fleet, to launching PECO Smart Ideas to help customers save energy and money, all of PECO’s environmental efforts help contribute to and support the long-term sustainability efforts of Exelon, PECO’s parent company, to benefit the company’s customers and communities.
For more information, visit PECO’s Environmental Commitment webpage.
(Photo: The green roof installed on the PECO headquarters building in Philadelphia.)
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House/Senate Preparedness Committees Set Nov. 16 Hearing On Pipeline Emergency Response

The House and Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committees are scheduled to hold a joint hearing November 16 to review emergency preparedness and response measures for natural gas and petroleum pipeline infrastructure.
The hearing will be held in Hearing Room 1 of the North Office Building starting at 9:00 a.m.
No agenda is yet available for the hearing.
Rep. Stephen Barrar (R-Delaware) serves as Majority Chair of the House Committee and can be contacted by sending email to: sbarrar@pahousegop.com and Rep. Chris Sainato (D-Lawrence) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by sending email to: csainato@pahouse.net.
Sen. Randy Vulakovich (R-Allegheny) serves as Majority Chair of the Senate Committee and can be contacted by sending email to: rvulakovich@pasen.gov and Sen. Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by sending email to: costa@pasenate.com.
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Conventional Oil & Gas Drillers Attempt To Delay Publication Of Final Marcellus Drilling Regs

The PA Independent Oil and Gas Association, representing conventional well operators, Friday delivered a letter to the Joint House Senate Committee on Documents objecting to the publication of DEP’s final Chapter 78a Marcellus Shale drilling regulations, now scheduled for the October 8 PA Bulletin.
In its September 30 letter, PIOGA said the regulations should not be published because the PA Supreme Court Wednesday, in the Robinson II case, restated the Court’s position in the Robinson I ruling that Sections 3215(c) and (e) of Act 13 relating to the protection of public resources during the well permitting process are enjoined from being enforced.
The final Chapter 78a drilling regulations retain the provisions related to protecting public resources, such as, “but not limited to” publicly owned parks, playgrounds, scenic rivers, habitats of rare and endangered species and historical and archaeological sites.
The Office of Attorney General approved the Chapter 78a regulations for form and legality, with some changes, in spite of a July 22 letter from PIOGA objecting to protecting public resources based on Robinson I.
On August 18 the Joint House Senate Committee on Documents unanimously approved the final publication of Chapter 78a in the PA Bulletin, notwithstanding the objections of PIOGA in the July 22 letter and the changes made by the Office of Attorney General.
PIOGA noted in its September 30 Commonwealth Court ruled against a declaratory judgment action against DEP on September 1 rejecting PIOGA’s position the public resource sections were invalid and enjoined.  PIOGA filed an appeal of this decision September 29.
PIOGA wants the public resource provisions removed from the Chapter 78a regulation.  The September 30 letter did not say what would happen if the Joint Committee on Documents refused the request, but there is no doubt more legal action is in the future on this issue.
Asked for comment on the PIOGA letter, Vincent DeLiberator, Chair of the Joint Committee on Documents, said the Committee is reviewing the letter.  Neil Shader, DEP’s Press Secretary said the agency does not comment on current litigation.
DEP’s final Chapter 78 regulations covering conventional oil and gas drilling operations, represented by PIOGA ,were killed in June when Gov. Wolf signed legislation into law that became Act 52.  DEP is now starting that regulatory process over.
In April PIOGA lost an appeal of DEP’s Chapter 78 & 78a regulations to the Commonwealth Court and later the PA Supreme Court saying they violated a 2014 state law on separating the regulations into conventional and unconventional (Marcellus Shale) provisions. Commonwealth Court said the issue was not legally "ripe."
On another front, now pending before the House are potentially two actions which could roll back parts of DEP’s Chapter 78a Marcellus regulations, even if this effort by PIOGA is not successful.
When it returns October 17, the House is expected to take up an amendment-- Amendment A09804-- to be offered by Rep. Jaret Gibbons (D-Beaver) to House Bill 1391 (Everett-R-Lycoming) to rollback well site restoration, waste disposal reporting and freshwater construction standards now in DEP’s Chapter 78a Marcellus Shale drilling regulations.
Also pending in the House Rules Committee is Senate Bill 1229 (Vogel-R-Beaver) that contains similar provisions.
Related Story:
PA Supreme Court Strikes Down Disclosure Of Fracking Chemicals In Act 13
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PUC Accepts PA Supreme Court Decision On Act 13 Drilling Law

The Public Utility Commission Friday issued the following statement regarding Wednesday’s PA Supreme Court ruling involving portions of the Act 13 drilling law:
“The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that sections of Act 13 related to PUC review of local zoning ordinances regulating oil and gas operations are no longer valid. The PUC has reviewed the Court's ruling and accepts the decision without reservation.  
“As a result of this decision, the PUC will continue to carry out its statutory obligation under Act 13 to collect and distribute unconventional gas well Impact Fees.
“The PUC has always sought to be an independent and unbiased agency, focused on ensuring safe and reliable utility service while also safeguarding the public interest,” said Commission Chairman Gladys M. Brown. “The Court has spoken very clearly on this matter and the Commission will continue to focus on its key responsibility under Act 13, which is the collection of Impact Fees and the distribution of those funds to counties and municipalities across Pennsylvania.”
A copy of the decision is available online.
For more information on the PUC’s role in implementing the drilling law, visit the PUC’s Act 13 Impact Fee webpage.
Related Stories:
Sen. Yudichak Applauds Act 13 Drilling Law Court Decision
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Pennsylvania Water Utility Asset Management Summit Nov. 15 In State College

The Summit workshops outline the tools, technologies and case studies designed to help managers of water and wastewater systems in today’s challenging environment.
Click Here for a detailed conference agenda. Click Here to register as an attendee, exhibitor or a sponsor.
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