PA Environment Digest Blog: Wednesday PA Environment & Energy NewsClips

“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 next voting day June 26, 27, 28, 29, 30

-- Committee Schedule

Senate next voting day June 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, September 16, 17, 18, 30

-- Committee Schedule

TODAY’s Calendar Of Events

TODAY 9:00: Legislative Budget & Finance Committee meets on House Resolution 131 (Steele-D- Allegheny) requiring the Legislative Budget & Finance Committee to conduct a study comparing the Act 13 shale gas drilling impact fee revenues with a natural gas severance tax. Room 8E-B East Wing. 9:00 a.m. Click Here to watch live.

TODAY 10:00: Agenda Posted. DEP Solid Waste Advisory Committee meeting. Room 105 Rachel Carson Building. 10:00 a.m. Visit the Committee webpage for options to join the meeting remotely. Contact: Laura Henry, at lahenry@pa.gov or (717) 772-5713.

-- House Passes Bill To Update PA Energy Development Authority To Better Leverage Available Federal Clean Energy Funding [PaEN]

-- PA Capital-Star: PA House Passes Bill To Allow State To Use Federal Funds For Clean Energy Development

-- House Committee Amends, Reports Out Senate Bill Setting A Framework For Geologic Sequestration Of Carbon Dioxide [PaEN]

-- The Center Square: PA House Committee Moves Carbon Capture, Storage Rules Quickly

-- DEP: Reminder Of July 2 Virtual Hearing On PA General Energy Triple Shale Gas, Water Pipeline Proposal In Lycoming County

-- House Environmental Committee Reports Out Bipartisan Landslide Insurance Legislation [PaEN]

-- PA Receives $28.6 Million In Federal Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization (AMLER) Program Funding; Local AML/AMD Project Funding Application Period Open [PaEN]

-- EPA, National Fish & Wildlife Foundation Award $22.4 Million To Support Innovative Nutrient & Sediment Reduction Projects In Chesapeake Bay Watershed; 8 Projects To Benefit PA [PaEN]

-- Inside Climate News: The Chesapeake Bay Program Flunked Its 2025 Cleanup Goals, What Happens Next?

-- Chesapeake Bay Journal Forum: For The Chesapeake Bay, Federal Leadership Is Sorely Needed For 2025 And Beyond - By Ann Mills & Nancy Stoner

-- Instead Of Fines, DEP Agrees To PA American Water Cleanup Of Silt In Roaring Brook, Lackawanna River; Creating Fish Habitat, Natural Enhancements Worth $300,000 [PaEN]

-- WVIA: DEP Reaches Sediment Pollution Deal With PA American Water For Polluted Lackawanna County Waterways

-- Environmental, Conservation Groups Seek To Intervene To Protect Municipal Riparian Buffer Ordinance In Monroe County [PaEN]

-- York Dispatch: Tanker Truck Crash Resulted In Spill Of York Landfill Leachate Into Kreutz Creek, DEP Says

-- LebTown: Lebanon County Clean Water Alliance Wants To Know Your Water Improvement Project Stories

-- TribLive: Delmont Residents Get Chance To Ask Questions Of New Stormwater Authority In Westmoreland

-- WPost: Indiana County Coal Workers Feel Abandoned As Coal Plants Close In Pennsylvania; How Biden’s Promise To Coal Country Became A Warning For Democrats

-- Nearly $25 Million Federal Grant Awarded To Sharpsburg To Reconnect Town To Its Riverfront In Allegheny County [PaEN]

-- TribLive: Blighted Sharpsburg Brownfield Gets $25 Million Bump In Allegheny Shores Transformation

-- PittsburghUnionProgress.com: Tiny Sharpsburg Gets $25 Million Federal Grant To Provide Access To A Riverfront Brownfield Redevelopment

-- DCNR Celebrates Grand Jury Preservation Award For Project At Washington Crossing Historic Park

Train Derailments

-- Post-Gazette: NTSB: Failures And Miscommunication Plagued Response To Norfolk Southern Train Derailment

-- Beaver County Times: NTSB Final Report: Norfolk Southern’s Actions Were ‘Unconscionable’

-- AP: NTSB Chair Says Norfolk Southern Interfered With Train Derailment Probe After Botching Vent And Burn Call

-- PA Capital-Star: NTSB: Norfolk Southern Burn Of Toxic Chemicals In Train Derailment Unnecessary

-- WESA/AP: NTSB: Norfolk Southern Botched Decision To Blow Open Vinyl Chloride Cars At Train Derailment

-- TribLive/AP: A Trackside Sensor Didn’t Catch Burning Rail Bearing Suspected In Norfolk Southern Train Derailment In Time, NTSB Says

6th Oil/Natural Gas Spike: True Energy Independence Means Renewables

[There Is No Limit To What Oil/Natural Gas Industry Can Make You Pay]

-- PA Natural Gas Prices Follow International Market Prices Which Have Caused 40% to 60%+ Increases To PA Ratepayers, And Will Again. Diversification Of Energy Sources Is The Key To Prevent Spikes, Lower Prices Read more here.

-- Bloomberg: Is Natural Gas A Fossil Fuel Trap Or A Bridge To Clean Energy? How Gas Industry Boom Became An Unexpected Threat To Renewables

-- Reuters: US Natural Gas Spot Market Prices Turn Negative In Texas Due To Pipeline Maintenance Despite Heat Wave

Other States/National/International

-- Shell To Build Carbon Capture And Storage Projects In Canada

PA Politics - Everything Is Connected

-- WITF: State Budget Deadline Looms - Here’s What’s At Stake

-- WHYY: Shapiro, State Legislators Seek Compromise On Public Education Funding

-- PennLive: PA House Puts Tax Forgiveness Expansion Back On Table As Budget Talks Continue

-- Attorney General Henry Releases ‘TeenTalk’ Report Highlighting Impacts Of Gun Violence On Students

-- Tribune-Democrat: Teens Tell PA Attorney General Of Gun Violence Fears

-- WITF/NPR: US Surgeon General Declared Gun Violence A Public Health Crisis, What Does That Do?

-- Tribune-Democrat: PA House Approves Bill For Contraceptive Care, Sends To Senate