Friday PA Environment & Energy Articles - NewsClips: 7.24.26

“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

September 9, 28, 29, 30

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

November 9, 10

-- Committee Schedule

Senate Voting Schedule

​​September 28, 29, 30

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

November 17, 18

-- Committee Schedule

TODAY’s Calendar Of Events 

July 27-- Virtual. Outdoor Business Alliance Of PA Hosts Webinar On Outdoor Participation Trends And What They Mean For Your Business.  Noon to 1:00 p.m.

August 4-- Agenda Posted. DEP: Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority meeting. Rachel Carson Building, Harrisburg. 10:00 a.m.

August 5-- Delaware River Basin Commission virtual hearing. 1:30 p.m.  (formal notice) Read more here.

August 5-- Penn State Extension Hosts Webinar On Forested Headwaters And Drinking Water Quality, 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.

August 6-- Agenda Posted. DEP Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee meeting. Room 105 Rachel Carson. 9:15 a.m.  [Oil & Gas Methane Reduction Regulations On Agenda: Read more here.]

August 6-- DEP Agricultural Advisory Board meeting. DEP Southcentral Regional Office, Harrisburg. 1:00 p.m. (formal notice)

August 11-- Environmental Quality Board meeting. 9:00 a.m. Contact: Laura Griffin, Regulatory Coordinator, laurgriffi@pa.gov,  (717) 772-3277.

August 11-13--  In-Person. Penn State Ag Progress Days

August 12-- DEP Environmental Justice Advisory Board meeting. Room 105 Rachel Carson. 10:00  a.m. 

-- DEP To Adopt Regulations Limiting Methane Emissions From Conventional Oil & Gas, Shale Gas Infrastructure; Will Outline Approach At Aug. 6 Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee Meeting  [PaEN] 

-- Dept. Of Agriculture Encourages Farmers To Apply For $13 Million In Resource Enhancement & Protection Farm Conservation Tax Credits

-- 2027 Keystone Coldwater Conference Set For Feb. 26-27 In State College  [PaEN]

-- Registration Open!  Delaware River Watershed Forum Sept. 29-30, University Of Delaware

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Guardian News: Grant Projects Saving 1.5 Billion Gallons; Navigating Data Center Issues; Water Sampling Season

--  WESA: Pittsburgh Air Pollution Levels Last Week Hit Second-Highest All Time Since Measuring Began In 1999 Due To Wildfire Smoke

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Mainspring Linear Generator Secures State Funding For 600-Job Plant Near Pittsburgh

-- Erie Times: Electric Airplane Lands In Erie To Recharge

-- Scranton Times: Dunmore Residents Reinstates $150 Trash Fee Despite Not Paying Fees To Keystone Landfill For Disposal

-- WHYY: Anti-Illegal Dumping Group Launches Crowdsourced Map Of Philadelphia’s Worst Sites 

-- City & State PA: Philly Neighborhood Organizers Seek To Scale Illegal Dumping Mapping, Prevention

-- July 25 Pennsylvania Bulletin Now Available

-- DEP Posts Updated Nonregulatory Agenda Listing Technical Guidance In Development

-- Governor’s Office Posts Regulatory Agenda Listing Regulations In Development

-- DCNR Opens Next ATV, Snowmobile Project Grant Round Aug. 3

-- Erie Times: Bald Eagle Released Back Into Wild At Erie Bluffs State Park By Tamarack Wildlife Center

 A.I. /Data Centers

-- Scranton Times: Speculator Buys 528 More Acres Of Conservation, Ag Land In Ransome Twp. For A.I. Data Center, 750 MW Battery Storage In Addition To Another Adjacent 402+ Acre Data Center Site 

-- Scranton Times: Hearing On 3 Proposed Natural Gas Power Plants To Feed A.I. Data Centers Postponed In Dickson City Due To Missing Environmental Assessment 

-- Scranton Times - Chris Kelly Opinion: ‘Lucky’ Archbald Boro Receives Unsolicited Proposal From 7th Data Center Speculator From New York [Apparently Being ‘Blessed’ With 51 Proposed Data Center Buildings Wasn’t Enough]

-- PA Capital-Star: Advocates, Regulators Both Call For Reforms At PJM: ‘Market Participants Have Lost Confidence In PJM’s Decision-Making Abilities’

-- The Center Square: Future PJM Regional Power Supply Down, But Not Out 

-- Inquirer: Shapiro Administration Consulted With Amazon And Data Centers On Shaping Governor’s GRID Data Center Proposals, Records Show [Reported Weeks Ago By Other Media]

-- President Expands Ratepayer Protection ‘Pledge’ For A.I. Data Centers To Pay Full Cost Of Energy, Supporting Infrastructure  [PJM Ratepayers Already Paying $29.4 Billion In Added Electricity Costs]  [PaEN] 

-- PPL Utilities Signs President’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge [Except It Doesn’t Cover Projects  Like Transmission Lines, Other Infrastructure Structure Already Approved]

-- TribLive/AP: President Expands Voluntary Pledge To Protect Consumers From High Utility Bills Driven By A.I. Data Center Demands

-- Utility Dive: GE Vernova Natural Gas Power Turbine Backlog Now 116 GW And Growing; Ordering Now For 2031

International/National Impacts On PA Natural Gas

[Energy Independence Means Renewables]

-- July 24: PA Average AAA Gasoline Price Unchanged From Yesterday To $4.23/Gallon - $1.12/Gallon Higher Than On Feb. 27 [Susquehanna County Average Price Highest at $4.33]

-- July 24: Average AAA Gasoline Prices: National- $4.10  Ohio- $3.92  PA- $4.23

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

-- Bloomberg: Europe Faces Winter Gas Reckoning As Global Fight For LNG Natural Gas Brews, Prices Soar 

-- Bloomberg: Constitutional Natural Gas Pipeline Backed By President To New York Struggles For Customers

PA Politics - Everything Is Connected

-- TribLive: Shapiro Campaign Raised Over $50 Million Since Jan. 2025

-- TribLive: Under Deadline Pressure, PA House Passes Bill To Reform Felony Murder Sentencing Statute

-- The Center Square: Allegheny County DA Asks PA Supreme Court For More Time To Fix Unconstitutional Felony Murder Law

-- TribLive: PA Health Insurance Companies Seek Average 17.1% Premium Increase For 2027 On Top Of Spike In Prices This Year Due To Failure Of Congress To Take Action

-- WESA: Shapiro Joins Lawsuit That Says President Uses Homeland Security Disaster Funds To ‘Coerce’ State Election Changes

-- AP: PA, 23 Other States Sues President After It Put Conditions On Receiving Disaster Funding To Coerce States Into Making Election Changes

-- TribLive: Millions Sign Up For President’s $1,000 Baby Accounts, Families Still Waiting For Payments

-- TribLive/AP: President Imposes Double-Digit Tariffs On Dozens Of Countries Alleging Forced Labor Violations As His 10% Tariffs Set To Expire [To Tax American Consumers]

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[Posted: July 24, 2026]  PA Environment Digest

DEP To Adopt Regulations Limiting Methane Emissions From Conventional Oil & Gas, Shale Gas Infrastructure; Will Outline Approach At Aug. 6 Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee Meeting

The Governor’s Office has announced DEP will adopt regulations to limit methane emissions from conventional oil and gas and shale gas wells and infrastructure to comply with federal methane emission reduction requirements in 40 CFR Part 60 Subpart 0000c regulations, according to the Governor’s latest Regulatory Agenda published July 25 in the PA Bulletin.

DEP also said it will incorporate recent changes to the federal oil and gas methane reduction requirements into the plan and regulation for implementing 0000c.

In April, DEP told the House Environmental and Natural Resource Protection Committee the agency received over 10,000 comments on its initial 0000c plan. 

Comments from industry and many from environmental groups said DEP should adopt its own regulations, but for different reasons.  Read more here.

Aug. 6 Air Quality Committee Meeting

The new approach to implementing the federal 0000c regulation will be discussed at the August 6 meeting of DEP’s Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee.

DEP’s presentation to the Air Quality Committee says two factors led to the change in direction from DEP’s initial approach of using general permits to implement the requirements--

-- A change in state law requiring all Air Quality Permits to be reviewed in 30 days (Act 45 of 2025): “Considering the volume of applications and staff limitations, the Department determined that the General Permit approach would be untenable.”

-- Several key changes in the federal requirements extending compliance deadlines, revised flaring standards and other monitoring requirements.

DEP said “Based on public comments, the enactment of Act 45 of 2025, and changes at the federal level, the Department is revising the proposed General Permit enforcement mechanism.

“To enforce the requirements under 40 CFR Part 60 Subpart OOOOc, the Department will propose a state rulemaking process under the authority of the APCA.

“These revisions are reflected in the final State Plan, and the Model Rule language has been removed.

“The State Plan was also revised to reflect federal changes and incorporate requirements for meaningful engagement and public testimony.”

DEP said it expects to submit its state plan to implement the federal 0000c regulation by January 22, 2027.

DEP also said in its presentation it will be conducting an “information request for equipment inventories from conventional [oil and gas] well site[s] and centralized production facility operators.”

And will also “review collected data to determine appropriate standards of performance” for facilities.

DEP expects to conduct additional “public engagement” on the regulations it proposes for conventional and shale gas operations as well as present them to the appropriate advisory committees.

Click Here for a copy of DEP’s Presentation.

DEP 2022 Oil & Gas Methane Regulations

The Environmental Quality Board adopted regulations in December 2022 requiring methane pollution reductions from conventional oil and gas facilities in response to a federal rule then in effect.

Conventional well owners challenged the regulations in court and did not have to comply with the requirement to submit a compliance report until a settlement with DEP in April required them to submit their first report by June 1, 2025.  Read more here.

DEP reported in November, 2025, more than 99% of the 4,950 conventional oil and gas well owners failed to comply with the reporting requirement.  Read more here.

During the process of adopting the 2022 regulations, DEP estimated conventional oil and gas facilities would account for 80 percent of the total methane emission reductions expected under the regulations which covered both conventional and unconventional shale gas facilities.  Read more here.

Shale gas facility owners submitted their first reports on June 1, 2024 to cover 2023 emissions as required.

Join The Meeting

The DEP Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee meeting will be held on August 6 starting at 9:15 a.m. in Room 105 of the Rachel Carson Building in Harrisburg.

Click Here to join the meeting via Microsoft Teams.  Click Here for other options.

Public Comments

Anyone interested in providing public comments at the AQTAC meeting is encouraged to pre-register prior to the start of the meeting by emailing the AQTAC Liaison at: RA-EPAQTAC@pa.gov.   

Commenters are encouraged, but not required, to email written versions of their intended comments at least 24 hours prior to the meeting to AQTAC Liaison at: RA-EPAQTAC@pa.gov) with CC to John Tissue at: jctissue@msn.com so they may be shared with AQTAC members in advance.

Commenters should be aware the time slot for the Public Comment Opportunity is subject to change and may begin and conclude earlier than shown on this agenda.

[Posted: July 24, 2026]  PA Environment Digest