Tuesday PA Environment & Energy Articles - NewsClips: 3.31.26

“The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania's public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.”

-- Article I, Section 27 Pennsylvania Constitution  [It’s Not A Suggestion]

House Voting Schedule

April 13, 14, 15, 27, 28, 29

May 4, 5, 6

June 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30

September 28, 29, 30

October 5, 6, 7, 19, 20, 21

November 9, 10

-- Committee Schedule

Senate Voting Schedule

April 20, 21, 22

May 4, 5, 6

June 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30

-- Committee Schedule

TODAY’s Calendar Of Events 

TODAY 7:00: Virtual. Delaware County Planning Department Webinar On Delaware County Air Monitoring Project. 7:00 to 8:00 p.m.  Click Here to register.

April 1-- Draft Agenda Posted. DEP Radiation Protection Advisory Committee meeting. Room 105 Rachel Carson Building.  9:00 a.m. Contact: John S. Chippo jchippo@pa.gov.  (formal notice)

April 1-- Lower Susquehanna RiverKeeper Speaker Series: Dr. Dorothy Merritts, Dr. Robert Walter And The Potential Of Restoring Buried Pre-Colonial Landscapes And Removal Of Legacy Sediments.  RiverKeeper Office, Wrightsville, York County.

April 2-- DEP State Water Planning Program Hosts Webinar On Act 167 Stormwater Management Planning, 10:00 a.m.

April 7-- DEP Public Hearing On Shell Petrochemical Plant Air Quality Plan Approval Application. Penn State Beaver Auditorium, 100 University Drive in Monaca, Beaver County.  6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Read more here.

April 16-- DCED PA Grade Crude [Oil] Development Advisory Council meeting.  Penn State, State College.  10:00.  Contact: Adam Walters 717-214-6548 or adwalters@pa.gov. 

April 30-- DEP Oil & Gas Technical Advisory Board meeting. 10:00 a.m. Contact: Todd M. Wallace twallace@pa.gov.  (formal notice)

-- Erie Times/USA Today: Radioactive Radium On Rural Roads? PA House Bills Clash Over Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater On Public Roads [PDF of Article] 

-- PennLive - John Beauge: DEP Assesses $100,000 In Penalties For Violations At 2 Of 3 Eureka Resources Closed Oil & Gas Wastewater Treatment Facilities In Lycoming, Bradford Counties 

-- DEP Launches Delaware County Air Monitoring Project To Study Pollution From Refineries, Other Industrial Sources In And Around City Of Chester; March 31 Online Outreach Meeting [PaEN]  

-- Observer-Reporter: Range Resources Making School District $5,000 Enrichment Grants Available In Operating Area 

-- Reuters: Oil/Natural Gas Companies To Reap Billions From President’s War On Iran After A Month Of Soaring Energy Prices 

-- First Waves Beaver County - Earth Week Student Summit April 22-25 [PaEN] 

-- Outdoor News: PA’s Old Crow Wetland Being Degraded In Huntingdon County [After DEP Issues Permit For Convenience Store] 

-- Huntingdon Daily News Letter: This Isn’t Just About How One Project Is Degrading The Old Crow Wetlands; It’s About DEP Accountability And What Else Can Happen - Laurie Michaels, Huntingdon

-- Republican Herald: Already Burdened, Tremont Water System Faces Additional Strain From  Proposed ICE Warehouse Detention Facility In Schuylkill County 

-- DEP State Water Planning Program Hosts April 2 Webinar On Act 167 Stormwater Management Planning, 10:00 a.m.

-- The Center Square: Showers, Toilet Flushing Optional As Residents Tackle High PA American Water Bills In Berks County

-- Morning Call: Lehigh Valley Drought Conditions Improve But Persist

-- WITF/NPR: President’s Administration Cuts Turned Rural Towns Into Sitting Ducks For Floods, Other Disasters [PA Highlighted]

-- Planet Philadelphia Radio: April 3 - Legally Protecting PA’s Environment - Climate Petition Before The EQB, 4:00 p.m.

-- PA iMapInvasives 2026 Invasive Species Scavenger Hunt May 1-31; Webinar Introduction April 30  [PaEN] 

-- July 15-16-- In-Person. PA Sea Grant Aquaponics Educator Workshop. Tom Ridge Environmental Center, Erie.

-- Help Wanted: Armstrong County Conservation District - Dirt, Gravel, Low-Volume Road Resource Conservationist  [PaEN]

-- Centre Daily Times: Black Moshannon Named State Park Of The Year By PA Parks & Forests Foundation At Event Unveiling New Volunteer System 

-- Republican Herald: PA Recreation & Park Society Recognizes Schuylkill Haven Recreation Department For Revitalizing Trout Population To Boost Outdoor Recreation

-- PA Environmental Council Accepting Applications For Statewide Non-Motorized Waterway Access Grants  [PaEN] 

-- Republican Herald: Schuylkill River ‘River Of Revolutions’ Sojourn To Honor America’s 250th Anniversary - June 13 to 19 

-- Teams Now Forming To Support 2026 Breeding Bird Blitz For Conservation By PA Society For Ornithology  [PaEN] 

-- WESA/Inside Climate News-Kiley Bense: Avian Flu Has Killed Thousands Of Birds In The US, Pennsylvania Is At The Epicenter  

-- Audubon Supports New Bill To Designate Scarlet Tanager As Pennsylvania’s Official Migratory Bird  [HB 2316]

A.I. /Data Centers

-- Scranton Times: Proposed ‘Wildcat Ridge’ A.I. Data Center Acquires Nearly 500 Acres Of Land In Archbald Boro

-- Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader: Dorrance Twp. Hearing On Proposed A.I. Data Center Continued Until May

-- WTAE: Hanover Twp., Beaver County Passes Ordinance To Regulate Potential A.I. Data Centers

-- Inquirer - Frank Kummer: PECO Files For 11.4% Rate Increase For Natural Gas Customers, 12.5% Rate Increase For Electric Customers; Typical Customer Bill Increases $420 Annually  

-- WHYY - Susan Phillips: PECO Files For 12.5% Electric, 11.4% Natural Gas Rate Increases

-- PECO Files Request With PUC To Increase Electric, Natural Gas Rates

-- Scranton Times: UGI Electric Files For $17.3 Million Rate Increase, Residential Bills To Go Up 12.8% 

-- UGI Electric Files For $17.3 Million Rate Increase, Residential Customers To See 12.8% Increase

-- Altoona Mirror: Susquehanna River Basin Commission Issues Water Permit To Amazon Data Services For Luzerne County Data Center

-- Delaware, Susquehanna, Potomac River Basin Commissions To Host April 16 Data Centers - What About Water? Webinar  [PaEN]

-- WNEP: University Of Scranton Panel Warns Of A.I. Data Centers’ Impact On Environment 

-- MyChesco.com: House Holds Hearing On Geothermal Energy Bill, Could Reshape PA Energy Future

-- TribLive Letter: Clean, Renewable Energy Should Be Powering A.I. Data Centers - By Debra Smit, Breathe Project

-- ABC27: Lawmakers Walk At Tightrope With A.I. Data Center Expansion

Today’s Oil & Gas Violations

-- Erie Times/USA Today: Radioactive Radium On Rural Roads? PA House Bills Clash Over Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater On Public Roads [PDF of Article] 

-- PennLive - John Beauge: DEP Assesses $100,000 In Penalties For Violations At 2 Of 3 Eureka Resources Closed Oil & Gas Wastewater Treatment Facilities In Lycoming, Bradford Counties

-- Today’s Violations: DEP inspected a Concordia Luth Health & Human Care conventional well in Butler County, Winfield Twp. and found it continued to be abandoned, not plugged and owner failed to submit annual reports [ever] for 1,737 days and counting.  DEP inspection.

-- Today’s Violations: DEP inspected a Burnham Gas Co. Inc. conventional well in Crawford County, Spring Twp. and found it abandoned, not plugged and owner failed to submit annual reports [ever].  DEP inspection.

-- Today’s Violations: DEP inspection of 3 Range Resources Appalachia LLC shale gas well pads In Washington County in response to notifications found multiple slope failures in Amwell, Blaine, Hopewell Townships on March 23 & 25.  DEP inspections. 

Gas Explosions

-- PennLive: Central Dauphin East H.S. Evacuated Tuesday Morning After Natural Gas Leak In Dauphin County 

International/National Impacts On PA Natural Gas

[Energy Independence Means Renewables]

-- March 31: PA Average AAA Gasoline Price Continues To Climb - Up 3 Cents To  86 Cents/Gallon Higher To $3.97 Since Feb. 27 

-- March 31: Average AAA Gasoline Prices: National- $4.01 Ohio- $3.79  PA- $3.97

-- Feb. 27: Average AAA Gasoline Prices: National- $2.98  Ohio- $2.79  PA- $3.11

-- Warren Times: Warren County PA Gasoline Prices Still Highest In The State [Center Of Conventional Oil Industry, With Its Own Refinery]

-- Lock Haven Express Guest Essay: In Response To Spiking Energy Prices Caused By Another War, Harrisburg Must Act To Break Our Addiction To Oil/Natural Gas By Doubling Down On Clean, Renewable Energy - By Molly Parzen, Conservation Voters Of Pennsylvania  

-- Post-Gazette Guest Essay: Step Up Harrisburg! Break Oil/Natural Gas Energy Spikes By Moving To Clean, Renewable Energy - By Molly Parzen, Conservation Voters Of Pennsylvania   

-- Reuters: Record Wind Energy Output Helps Shield UK From Worst Of Fallout From US President’s War With Iran 

-- The Guardian: England’s Rachel Reeves, Chancellor Of The Exchequer, To Tell G7 Nations Accelerating Shift To Clean, Renewable Energy Is Best Defense Against Energy Price Shocks

-- Reuters: EU Tells Members To Prepare For ‘Prolonged Disruption’ To Oil/Natural Gas Energy Markets  

-- BBC: US President Tells UK, Other Allies To ‘Go Get Your Own Oil’ From The Strait Of Hormuz As The President’s War Against Iran Continues 

Federal Administration

-- Reuters: US Exempts Gulf Of Mexico Oil/Natural Gas Drillers From Protecting Endangered Species Due To The ‘Emergency’ Caused By The President’s War Against Iran

-- EarthJustice: Federal District Court Strikes Down President’s Earlier Attacks Against Federal Endangered Species Act  

PA Politics - Everything Is Connected

-- PA Capital-Star: With $4.5 Billion On The Line, PA Businesses Seek Refunds Of President’s Illegal Tariffs; Lancaster Business: ‘This Is Not A Way To Make The World A More Just And Equitable Place For All’

-- TribLive/PennLive: President Hosts PA Republican Candidate For Governor Stacy Garrity At Mar-A-Lago Fundraisers, Calls Gov. Shapiro ‘A Stiff’ 

-- PennLive: $9.9 Million In 3 Years: PA Taxpayers Paid State Lawmakers’ Legal Bills With No Bidding, Few Details

-- Attorney General Sunday: PA Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Had Most Convictions In The US During 2025 Fiscal Year

-- TribLive Editorial: Fear Of Unknown Medical Bills

-- WESA/WHYY: PA Home Care Workers Say Industry In ‘Crisis’ Without $800 Million Infusion Of State Funding

-- PennLive: Central Mountain H.S. Reopens After 3 Days Of Active Shooter, Bomb Threats In Clinton County

-- WESA: Pittsburgh Grand Jury Indicts 6 Residents Over Alleged Antisemitic Attack In Oakland Neighborhood

-- WPost: President’s Lawyers Cite White Supremacists In Bid To End Birthright Citizenship Before US Supreme Court 

-- WESA/NPR: How President’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Is Attacking Diversity-Equity-Inclusion And Emphasizing White People

-- TribLive Guest Essay: Will Pennsylvania Punish Republicans Over President’s War With Iran? - By Hunter Derensis, Bring Our Troops Home veterans advocacy group

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[Posted: March 31, 2026]  PA Environment Digest