Thursday, November 3, 2022

Gov. Wolf Signs Massive, 20-Year Taxpayer Subsidies Into Law For Natural Gas, Hydrogen And Petrochemical Industries With No Public Accountability Or Environmental Safeguards

On November 3, Gov. Wolf signed into law
House Bill 1059 (Hickernell-R-Lancaster) that provides $106.6 million in annual taxpayer subsidies to manufacturing and other businesses that use natural gas and hydrogen in their operations for at least 20 years.

The bill also more than doubles the tax credit for using natural gas to make petrochemicals or fertilizer from natural gas.

Over the next 20 years, taxpayer subsidies for these industries will cost over $2.1 billion and that’s on top of the $1.5 billion taxpayer subsidies the General Assembly previously adopted for just one plant-- the Shell Ethane Refinery in Beaver County.

Called the Pennsylvania Economic Development For A Growing Economy (PA Edge) Tax Credits, the amendment would provide--

-- $50 million annually for using natural gas or “clean hydrogen” as defined by the U.S. Department of Energy in manufacturing for a 20 year period beginning January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2043;

-- Increase the current tax credit for using natural gas to make petrochemicals or fertilizer from $26,666,668 to $56,666,668 annually, with no end date;

-- $20 million in tax credits annually to support semiconductor & biomedical manufacturing, with no end date; and

-- $15 million in tax credits annually to support milk processing facilities, with no end date.

Click Here for the Senate Fiscal Note and Summary.

Governor Explains His Action

Gov. Wolf took the unusual step of explaining why he signed House Bill 1059 into law in a letter to the General Assembly.

Wolf said  “In its most recent report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes notes that ‘hydrogen is a promising energy carrier for a decarbonized world,’ and highlights hydrogen’s potential to ‘provide low-carbon heat for industrial process or be utilized for direct reduction of iron ore.’”

“That said, I recognize that in order for hydrogen to play a meaningful role in reducing emissions, we must ensure that the hydrogen used is truly ‘clean’ through stringent emissions standards.  We must also commit to strong and equitable community protections to prevent impacts to already overburdened communities and to guide benefits to communities that need them.  Each of these imperatives is addressed in HB 1059.”

“Relatedly, Subarticle D also authorizes a tax credit based on the use of natural gas.  This provision was included as a short-term fail-safe in the event that a manufacturing facility is constructed and clean hydrogen is not initially available.  

“While I do not believe that it would be possible for a project facility that has been funded as part of a DOE [U.S. Department of Energy] regional clean hydrogen hub to utilize natural gas instead of hydrogen for a significant duration of time, the bill requires a company applying for the credit to sign a commitment letter stating the date by which it will begin to purchase clean hydrogen.

“It is my expectation that this period of time would not exceed a year or two.”

Click Here for a copy of the letter.

Subsidies Without Accountability

As the Tribune Review, Republican Herald and the Citizens Voice newspapers recently editorialized after yet another major penalty was assessed for violations at a natural gas facility-- state lawmakers should adopt rules that preclude state taxpayers from subsidizing pollution from the oil and gas industry.

The Tribune Review said-- “The Shell refinery in Beaver County that is connected to gas-processing plants by the pipeline comes with $1.5 billion in state tax incentives.

“Shell isn’t alone. Pennsylvania loves to hand over tax breaks to encourage businesses to move in, build new or expand.

“But why not marry DEP’s diligence to something with a little more bite when it comes to a business functioning on the state’s dime? 

“Why not treat corporate welfare recipients more like people who get public money?”  Read more here.

The Republican Herald  said--“Remarkably, while suing the pipeline for environmental violations, the state government also heavily subsidizes the Shell refinery with $1.7 billion in tax credits.

“Since first awarding the credits a decade ago, the Legislature has gone all in on such subsidies, awarding them for similar but smaller projects around the state, including for a pipeline in Schuylkill County.

“None of those subsidies are contingent upon environmental compliance. So, for example, the Shell petrochemical refinery’s subsidies aren’t affected by the related pipeline’s fine, which amounts to a miniscule fraction of the public subsidy.

“Lawmakers should adopt rules that preclude state taxpayers from having to subsidize pollution.”

The York Dispatch added their editorial voice this week saying energy companies are reporting record profits, they don’t need more tax breaks.

Propping Up Uncompetitive Natural Gas

It seems clear the tax credits are also an attempt to try to make natural gas competitive again through taxpayers subsidies after U.S. and Pennsylvania natural gas prices have increased dramatically as a result of their link to world energy markets.

As national business media have reported, natural gas drillers have been focused on keeping natural gas prices high to reward their investors with significant profits.  Read more here.

Reaction

Joseph Otis Minott, Esq., Executive Director and Chief Counsel of Clean Air Council, issued the following statement:  “We knew HB1059 would become law once it was presented to Gov.  Wolf. His administration directly negotiated this package and aggressively pushed for it to be rushed through during the last week of legislative session in Harrisburg. 

"Even so, Clean Air Council remains deeply disappointed and alarmed. The text of this bill was publicly available for less than 12 hours before passing through both chambers in the General Assembly. There’s a reason this was negotiated in the dark.

“Investing an additional $30 million on methane subsidies every single year through 2050 to support a petrochemical refinery boondoggle in Luzerne County is awful policy for state taxpayers and our climate. 

“And the $1 billion investment in manufacturing facilities that burn methane inside a potential Hydrogen Hub has the potential to drive more methane and carbon pollution. 

“The bill doesn’t even define “clean hydrogen” in a manner consistent with the U.S. Department of Energy’s proposed Clean Hydrogen Production Standard, but rather as any hydrogen that “demonstrably aids achievement” of that standard, a massive loophole. 

“Pennsylvania must join the rest of the country in an all-out mobilization to confront the climate crisis, and billions in additional fossil fuel subsidies are simply unacceptable. The next administration needs to internalize this message and embrace a different path.”

(Photos: Be ready for the development of much more natural gas infrastructure across Pennsylvania, courtesy of Bob Donnan.)

NewsClips - Don’t Subsidize Natural Gas Pollution:

-- Republican Herald Editorial: State Lawmakers Should Adopt Rules That Preclude State Taxpayers From Subsidizing Pollution From Oil & Gas Industry  [PaEN]

-- York Dispatch Editorial: Energy Companies Are Reporting Record Profits, PA Lawmakers Don’t Need To Give Them More Tax Breaks  [PaEN]

-- Citizens Voice Editorial: Subsidizing Pollution - Taxpayers Pay $1.7 Billion To Subsidize Shell Ethane Plant In Beaver County

-- TribLive Editorial: State Fines Should Be Higher Than Tax Cuts To Penalize Environmental Leaks [PaEN]

-- Scranton Times/Republican Herald Editorial: Legislators Like Plastics, Expect More  [PaEN]

-- Republican Herald Editorial: Dangerous Course For Oil & Gas Well Emissions, Obstructionists Should Get Out Of The Way  [PaEN]

-- Citizens Voice Editorial: State Insists On Paying Polluters  [PaEN]

-- PennLive Guest Essay: Tax Credit Bill Gifts Natural Gas, Dirty Hydrogen With $4 Billion In Taxpayer Subsidies - By Patrick McDonnell, PennFuture

Related Articles - Natural Gas Prices Spike:

-- TribLive: Homeowners Brace For Winter As Prices To Heat Homes Skyrocket, Biggest Spike Is For Natural Gas - More Than 34% Increase

-- PA PUC: Cost Of Natural Gas Provided By Major Utilities In PA Increased As Much As 154% Over Last Year [PaEN]

-- LancasterOnline: Met-Ed To Hike Residential Electric Rates 9.6% Starting Dec. 1 [Due To Cost Of Natural Gas To Generate Power]

-- Scranton Times: 18% Rate Increase Awaits PPL Electric Customers Dec. 1 [Due To Cost Of Natural Gas To Generate Power]

-- National Fuel Gas Requests PUC To Approve 9.2% Increase In Base Delivery Charge; Separate Cost Of Gas Up 127.8% Since May 2021 [PaEN]

-- PUC Approves 9% Increase In The Basic Monthly Bill For Typical PECO Natural Gas Division Customers; On Top Of An 103.2% Increase In Cost Of Natural Gas [PaEN]

-- PA Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Will Accept Applications Starting Nov. 1 [PaEN]

-- U.S. Dept. Of Health & Human Services Announces $4.5 Billion To Lower Heating Costs For American Families This Winter

-- Reuters: Biden Calls On Oil, Natural Gas Companies To Stop ‘War Profiteering,’ Threatens Windfall Tax

-- Bloomberg: Natural Gas Prices Soar In Europe, Asia As Crisis Heats Up Competition

Related Articles - Major Oil & Gas Criminal/Monetary Penalties Last 2 Years:

-- House Committee Fails To Address $70 Million In Penalties On Natural Gas Pipelines Or Real Concerns Of People Living Near Gas Production & Distribution Facilities

-- AG Shapiro: Energy Transfer/Sunoco Convicted Of Criminal Charges Related To Construction Of Mariner East 2 & Revolution Natural Gas/Liquids Pipelines In PA

-- Sunoco/Mariner East Pipeline To Pay $4 Million In Damages And Restore Lake At Marsh Creek State Park Polluted By A Spill In Chester County

-- Federal Court Approves DEP, EPA, DOJ Settlement With Chesapeake Appalachia For Failure To Identify, Protect Wetlands At 76 Gas Well Drilling Sites, $1.9 Million Penalty

-- PUC Imposes $1 Million Penalty On Energy Transfer Company For 2018 Revolution Pipeline Explosion In Beaver County

-- DEP Collects $497,000, Fish & Boat Commission Collects $25,855 In Penalties For Latest Violations Involving Mariner East 2 Pipeline Construction In Lebanon County

-- DEP: Range Resources Pays $294,000 Penalty For Delaying The Plugging Of 42 Conventional Oil & Gas Wells In 8 Counties

-- DEP: Olympus Energy Natural Gas Driller Fined $175,000 For Water Quality Violations In Allegheny County

-- DEP Collects $147,250 Penalty From Rice Drilling B LLC For Erosion & Sedimentation Violations In Greene County; DEP Found Rice Had Hundreds Of Other Violations, Including Abandoning Wells Without Plugging Them

-- DEP Collects $140,000 Penalty From ETC Northeast Field Services For Pipeline Construction Violations In Beaver County

-- DEP Order Requires Payment Of $125,000 Penalty For Latest Revolution Natural Gas Pipeline Construction Violations In Beaver County

-- DEP Collects $85,000 Penalty For Mariner East 2 Pipeline Construction Violations In Blair, Cumberland, Juniata, Lebanon Counties

-- AP: PUC Judge: Sunoco/Energy Transfer Failed To Protect Delaware County Community During Construction Of Mariner East Pipeline, $51,000 Penalty Proposed

-- AG Shapiro: Southeast Directional Drilling Pleads Guilty To Contaminating Water Supply In Washington County, To Pay $15,000 Fine

Related Articles - Health & Environmental Impacts:

-- DEP Issued NOVs To Conventional Oil & Gas Companies For Abandoning 55 Wells Without Plugging Them During September Alone, A Dramatic Increase In New Well Abandonments  [PaEN]

-- Creating New Brownfields: Oil & Gas Well Drillers Notified DEP They Are Cleaning Up Soil & Water Contaminated With Chemicals Harmful To Human Health, Aquatic Life At 272 Locations In PA [PaEN]

-- Gov. Wolf, Senate, House Republicans Again Fail To Hold Conventional Oil & Gas Drillers Accountable For Protecting The Environment, Taxpayers On Hook For Billions [PaEN]

-- Conventional Oil & Gas Drillers Reported Spreading 977,671 Gallons Of Untreated Drilling Wastewater On PA Roads In 2021  [PaEN]

-- Penn State Study: Potential Pollution Caused By Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Makes It Unsuitable For A Dust Suppressant, Washes Right Off The Road Into The Ditch  [PaEN]

-- DEP Lists 84 Townships As ‘Waste Facilities’ Where Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Has Been Disposed Of By Road Spreading; Municipalities Need To Do Their Due Diligence [PaEN]

-- On-Site Conventional Oil & Gas Drilling Waste Disposal Plans Making Hundreds Of Drilling Sites Waste Dumps [PaEN]

-- Conventional Oil & Gas Drillers Dispose Of Drill Cuttings By ‘Dusting’ - Blowing Them On The Ground, And In The Air Around Drill Sites  [PaEN]

-- Senate Hearing: Body Of Evidence Is 'Large, Growing,’ ‘Consistent’ And 'Compelling' That Shale Gas Development Is Having A Negative Impact On Public Health; PA Must Act [PaEN]

-- NO SPECIAL PROTECTION: The Exceptional Value Loyalsock Creek In Lycoming County Is Dammed And Damned - Video Dispatch From The Loyalsock - By Barb Jarmoska, Keep It Wild PA [PaEN]

-- Rare Eastern Hellbender Habitat In Loyalsock Creek, Lycoming County Harmed By Sediment Plumes From Pipeline Crossings, Shale Gas Drilling Water Withdrawal Construction Projects  [PaEN]

-- DEP: PA Fracking Operations Sent Nearly 236,000 Cubic Feet Of Radioactive TENORM Waste To Low-Level Radioactive Waste Facilities For Disposal In 2021 - 811,070 since 2016  [PaEN]

-- Study: Industry Data Shows Hazardous Air Pollutants Are ‘Ubiquitous’ In The Natural Gas Transmission System; More Justification For Robust Leak Prevention Programs  [PaEN]

-- Environmental Health Project: Setback Distances And The Regulations We Need To Protect Public Health From Oil & Gas Facilities [PaEN]

-- Conventional Oil & Natural Gas Drilling: An Industrial Machine Moving Across The PA Countryside Leaving Behind Big Liabilities & Spreading Pollution Everywhere It Goes [PaEN]

-- House Committee Fails To Address $70 Million In Penalties On Natural Gas Pipelines Or Real Concerns Of People Living Near Gas Production & Distribution Facilities [PaEN]

-- DEP: Shell, Pipeline Contractor Assessed $670,000 Penalty For Falcon Ethane Pipeline Construction Violations In Allegheny, Beaver, Washington Counties [PaEN]

-- DEP Collects $147,250 Penalty From Rice Drilling B LLC For Erosion & Sedimentation Violations In Greene County; DEP Found Rice Had Hundreds Of Other Violations, Including Abandoning Wells Without Plugging Them  [PaEN]

-- Republican Chair Of House Environmental Committee Believes Opponents Of Natural Gas Infrastructure Projects ‘Just Need To Be Ignored And Politically Ran Over’ [PaEN]

Related Articles This Week:

-- Gov. Wolf Signs Bill Creating Well Plugging Grant Program; Again Fails To Address Woefully Inadequate Conventional Well Plugging Bonding; Fails To Report On Bonding Petitions; Or Issue Conventional Drilling Compliance Report  [PaEN]

-- DEP: PA General Energy Cited For More Water Pollution Violations, Blocking The Whole Width Of Loyalsock Creek At Gas Pipeline/Water Withdrawal Construction Site In Lycoming County [PaEN]

-- On-Demand Webinar: Creating A Healthy Home And Community With Shale Gas Development In Your Neighborhood  [PaEN]

-- Independent Fiscal Office Estimates CY 2022 Drilling Impact Fee Will Generate Record $274.8 Million In Revenue At Lowest Tax Rate On Record  [PaEN]

[Posted: November 3, 2022]  PA Environment Digest

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