The July 3 PA Environment Digest is now available. Here are just a few of the headlines--
The Senate, House and Gov. Wolf reached a bipartisan agreement Thursday on a $31.996 billion General Fund budget-- House Bill 218 (Saylor-R-York)-- which the Senate (43-7) and House (173-27) passed Friday and sent to the Governor.
But, the budget fails to address a any environmental funding shortfalls, including in DEP’s Safe Drinking Water Program criticized by EPA for failing to have the resources to meet minimum federal requirements for inspections and other obligations.
Representatives of Colorado-based Bion Environmental Technologies, whose subsidiary Bion PA1, LLC is still in default of its 2009 $7.8 million loan from the PA Infrastructure Investment Authority (PennVEST), has again been shopping draft legislation around Harrisburg like they did in 2013, 2015 and in 2016 to “establish appropriate public policies which will create regulations and funding mechanisms” for Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc, and other companies.
That legislation was introduced last Friday-- Senate Bill 799 (Alloway-R-Adams)-- as an initiative of the Coalition for Affordable Bay Solutions, a nonprofit advocacy group whose founding members include Bion and related companies.
While the political fight is running hot and heavy to adopt a new natural gas severance tax or new fees on this or that to fund programs, no one has noticed there is a $65 million a year solution to fund Pennsylvania’s environmental and clean water restoration projects right under their noses.
The U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Tuesday amended and reported out H.R. 1731, the RECLAIM (Revitalizing the Economy of Coal Communities By Leveraging Local Activities and Investing More) Act mine reclamation and economic development initiative to the full House, according to Robert Hughes, Executive Director of the Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation Coalition.
The Foundation for PA Watersheds is now accepting applications for its Fall round of grants. The deadline for letters of intent to apply for grants is August 15.
The Susquehanna River Basin Commission will hold the line on most fees for the next year, and will increase the municipal discount for its Annual Compliance and Monitoring Fee to 44 percent, as a result of actions taken at its meeting on June 16.
During a press conference at Fairmount Water Works in Philadelphia Wednesday, 23 environmental education centers from Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey announced a new Alliance for Watershed Education of the Delaware River to increase awareness of the importance of the Delaware River watershed, a 13,500 square mile system that provides drinking water for 15 million people.
The Pennsylvania Environmental Council Thursday released a white paper, Achieving Deep Carbon Reductions: Paths for Pennsylvania’s Electricity Future, summarizing the findings of its March 2017 conference of the same name.
by John Arway, Executive Director, Fish and Boat Commission
Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission law enforcement staff recently provided critical assistance in several water-rescue events, including one on the Susquehanna River near Lancaster in which hundreds of individuals launched a variety of floatable devices during high water.
To read the Digest, visit: www.PaEnvironmentDigest.com. Click Here to view or 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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