Thursday PA Environment & Energy NewsClips - 7.11.24

“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 July 11

-- Committee Schedule

Senate next voting day July 11, September 16, 17, 18, 30

-- Committee Schedule

TODAY’s Calendar Of Events 

Legislative Update--

-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: PA Lawmakers, Gov. Shapiro Believe Budget Deal Is In Sight: ‘We Are Very Close’

-- Tribune-Democrat/CNHI: Negotiations Continue But PA Budget Remains Unsettled

TODAY Off the Floor: Senate Rules Committee considers Senate Bill 656 (Rothman-R- Cumberland) tax on alternative fuel vehicles on concurrence vote.  Rules Room. [No video coverage]

Solar Energy In Schools: House Bill 1032 (Fiedler-D-Philadelphia) establishing a grant program to support solar energy facility projects was passed by the Senate and now returns to the House for a concurrence vote.

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-- DEP Advisory: OnBase Database Will Be Unavailable July 27 From 5:00 to 8:30 p.m.

-- State Health Plan Identified Oil & Gas Development As Health Risk Last Year; Environmental Health Indicators Map Is Now Available To Show Potential Risks Near You  [PaEN]

-- The Derrick: PUC To Hold Second Pre-Hearing Regarding Venango Water Company [Impacts Continue From Conventional Oil Well Wastewater Contamination Of Water Supply]   [PDF of article ]

-- House, Senate Give Final, Unanimous Approval To Changes In Anti-SLAPP Bill Designed To Stop Lawsuits Restricting Public Participation, Free Speech  [PaEN]

-- PennLive: PA Lawmakers Pass Bill To Curb Frivolous Lawsuits, Protect Free Speech

-- Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance Energy Policy Conference Sept. 17-18 In King Of Prussia 

-- PA Capital-Star: Electric Vehicle Owners Would Pay $250 Registration Fee Under Bill Passed By PA House

-- TribLive: Electric Vehicle Stations Still Under Construction In Aspinwall

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: How US Steel Is Using Battery Powered Locomotives At Some Of Its Plants 

-- The Center Square: Philadelphia Schools To Spend $41.5 Million On Green Buses

-- Bradford Era Guest Essay: The Time To Prepare For The Electric Vehicle Transition In PA Is Now - By Nick Bibby, Advanced Energy United

-- TribLive: Power Outages Dropping For Duquesne Light, West Penn Power But Thousands Remain In The Dark

-- Courier Times: Power Out In Quakertown?  Blame The Squirrel

-- WNEP: $500,000 Federal Grant To Help Repair Luzerne County Fairgrounds After Flooding

-- PennLive: Tornado Ripped Through Campbelltown, Lebanon County 20 Years Ago: ‘The Defining Disaster’

-- Breathe Project: PA Cong. Summer Lee Questions EPA Administrator Over Cancer Rates In Braddock [Video]

-- Hoodline.com: Allegheny County Air Quality Data Compromised Due To Monitoring Glitch At Liberty Station

  

-- PennWATCH: Kevin Stewart Honored With Lung Association’s Prestigious Professional Service Award 

-- The Heinz Endowments Commits $9.3 Million To Improve Region’s Climate, Environment, Health Outcomes

-- Post-Gazette: Heinz Endowments Awards $9.3 Million To Pittsburgh Organizations Focused On Climate, Health

-- WITF/LancasterOnline: With Temperatures Continuing To Climb, How Does Heat Impact Crops?

-- MCall Guest Essay: How Farming Contributes, And Doesn’t, To Climate Change - By Mark Lichtenwalner, Lower Macungie Twp. Farmer

-- LancasterOnline: Chesapeake Bay Report Card Reveals Progress From Local Pollution Control Efforts

-- Williamsport Sun: Sen. Yaw: State’s Efforts Are ‘Positively Transforming’ Chesapeake Bay Watershed

-- DEP Received 16,574 Permit Applications Since Nov. 2023: 13,017 Decided; 3,557 Pending; 9 Did Not Meet Decision Deadlines Eligible For PAyback Refund: Zero Asked For Refunds 

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: DEP Cut Permitting Backlog 60% Since 2023

-- PA Capital-Star Guest Essay: PA Supreme Court Does Not Align With Ideological Split Of US Supreme Court Chevron Decision - By Jerry Dickinson, University Of Pittsburgh School Of Law

-- Penn State Extension Survey: Lyme Disease And The Lyme Disease Vaccine

-- DCNR Grants Newsletter: Celebrate Park & Recreation Professionals Day July 19; Featured Projects In Dauphin County; Philadelphia

-- TribLive: Mountain Watershed Assn. Plans Youghiogheny River Rafting Trip

-- Republican Herald: New Boat Launchpad Offers Easier Access To Schuylkill River At Island Park In Schuylkill Haven

-- Altoona Mirror: Altoona Blair County Development Corp. Receives Grant For ATV Trail Feasibility Study In Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield Counties

-- WHYY: Second Wind Bicycles Repairs, Delivers Bikes To People In Berks, Bucks, Montgomery Who Need Them The Most

-- Post-Gazette - Mary Ann Thomas: Lead Poisoning Continues To Impact Bald Eagle Populations In PA And Beyond 

-- York Daily Record - Brian Whipkey: Fish Commission Outlines New Management Plan For Black Bass

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

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

-- Reuters: US Natural Gas Prices Ease On Rising Production, Drop In Gas Flowing To LNG Gas Export Facilities

-- Bloomberg: US Natural Gas Price Forecasters Say Prices Set To Rise By Over A Third In Second Half Of The Year

Other States/National/International

-- FEMA Finalizes Rule To Increase Resilience Against Flooding To Protect Future Taxpayer-Funded Projects

PA Politics - Everything Is Connected

-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: PA Lawmakers, Gov. Shapiro Believe Budget Deal Is In Sight: ‘We Are Very Close’

-- Tribune-Democrat/CNHI: Negotiations Continue But PA Budget Remains Unsettled

-- Inquirer Editorial: Legislature Blows Its Budget Deadline-- Again-- Leaving Vulnerable Pennsylvanians With The Consequences

-- Inquirer: Public Education Advocates: PA Budget Deal Has To Include School Funding Plan Or We’ll Go Back To Court

-- Sen. Jarrett Coleman: Senate Committee Issues Subpoena To Revenue Secretary Over Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone Information

-- WITF/Votebeat: Lawmakers Hope Bill Setting Deadlines For Legal Challenges Will Help PA Avoid November Election Certification Crisis

-- Wilkes-Barre Times: Republican House Candidate Files PA Supreme Court Appeal Over 2 Provisional Ballots

-- PennLive: After Killing, Dismemberment Of Mercer County Trans Teen, PA House LGBTQ Caucus Urges Hate Crime Bill Passage

-- Tribune-Democrat: Penn’s Political Empathy Lab Research Team Visits Johnstown

-- WESA: Pittsburgh-Area Democratic Delegates Want To Stick With Biden, Dismiss Concerns About Age

-- TribLive: Restrictions On Pharmacy Benefit Managers Passes PA Senate With Changes

-- Post-Gazette: Geisinger Health System Commits $1.8 Billion To Upgrades As Health Care Competition Stiffens In Central PA

-- TribLive: Western PA Is Experiencing A Cultural, Economic Change, Latino Economy Saw 18% Growth

-- Spotlight PA: Secret Bank Accounts, $1 Million Deficit Plague DuBois As Official’s Corruption Case Is Repeatedly Delayed

-- Post-Gazette: Whooping Cough Cases Spike In Allegheny County After A Period Of Near Dormancy

-- Inquirer: One Of Korea’s Richest Men Just Became Haverford College’s New Board Chair

-- WHYY: After TikTok Scandal, Chester County Teachers Pushing For Digital Citizenship Curriculum

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[Posted: July 11, 2024]  PA Environment Digest