Friday PA Environment & Energy NewsClips - 11.1.24

“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 Voting Schedule

-- November 12, 13 [End Of Session, All Bills Die]

-- Committee Schedule

Senate Voting Schedule

-- November 13, 14 [End Of Session, All Bills Die]

-- Committee Schedule

TODAY’s Calendar Of Events .

DEP Advisory: DEP is migrating its website to a new platform to launch in mid-December. Updates to the current site will be limited until then.

-- Environmental Groups File Notice Of Intent To Sue The Shell Petrochemical Plant In Beaver County For Air Pollution Violations: Similar Action In 2023 Resulted In $10 Million Settlement  [PaEN]

-- Low-Flow Water Conditions Trigger Big Jump In Susquehanna River Basin Water Withdrawal Restrictions, Most Shale Gas-related  [PaEN] 

-- Chesapeake Bay Program: Chesapeake Bay Shows Slight Water Quality Improvement In 2020-22 Assessment Period

-- CBF: New Chesapeake Bay Assessment Reveals Concerns, New Restoration Data Tool Offers Hope  [PaEN]

-- Dirty Work: Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership Adding 130,000 New Trees During Fall Planting Season In Pennsylvania  [PaEN] 

-- Aquatic Resource Restoration Company: Bringing Oil Creek Back To Life - A Floodplain Restoration Project In York County

-- USGS Releases New Video: Susquehanna River Story - What Does The Science Say About Water Quality?  [PaEN]

-- Spotlight PA: Owner Of Troubled Rural PA Water Company In Centre County Facing PUC Investigation Says He Wants To Sell 

-- MCall: Lehigh Valley Enters ‘Severe Drought’ As October Dryness Sets Record

-- WNEP: Crews Battle Forest Fire In Lackawanna County; Advise Residents Not To Burn  

-- Reading Eagle: Berks County Enacts Outdoor Burn Ban Due To Dry Weather Conditions

-- KYW: Christmas Tree Growers In PA Concerned About Record-Breaking Drought  

-- Republican Herald: No End In Sight For Try Conditions In Schuylkill County

-- ABC27: Dover Township, York County Issues Mandatory Nonessential Water Use Restrictions  

-- Courier Times: Bucks County Water Authority Seeks Voluntary Restrictions Amid Drought 

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Now Accepting Applications For Consumptive Use Mitigation Grants; Nov. 20 Webinar  [PaEN]

-- WITF StateImpactPA - Rachel McDevitt: PA Communities Start To See Impact Of Federal Climate Spending, As Election Casts Doubt On Future Of Programs

--  WESA: First Electric Vehicle Technician Apprentice Program Starts At Allegheny County Community College

-- Forests For The Chesapeake Bay Halloween Edition! Bat Stories; Bat Trivia; Witch-Hazel; News Around The Watershed

-- Penn State Extension: The Value Of Bats To Crop Production And Revenue

-- Delaware RiverKeeper Nov. 1 RiverWatch Video Report

-- November 2 - Pennsylvania Bulletin Now Available

-- DCNR: Last Fall Foliage Report: Still Plenty Of Fall Color In Pennsylvania’s Southern Tier This Coming Week  [PaEN] 

-- DCNR, Trust For Public Land Celebate $2.6 Million In Federal Grants For Local Parks In Reading, Scranton

-- Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Headlines At North American Hawk Migration Conference 

  

Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant Restart

-- Forbes: Will AI Drive A Nuclear Renaissance, Or A Natural Gas Boom?

-- MSN: Amazon Announces Plan To Develop 4 Nuclear Power Plants Along Columbia River

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

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

-- National Fuel Gas Increases Natural Gas Costs 3.7% On Nov. 1

-- Utility Dive: FirstEnergy CEO Again Suggests PA, Other Competitive Electricity States Should Procure Power Supplies Outside PJM Power Auctions 

Other States/National/International

-- AP: World May Be Merely Scratching The Surface On Scope Of Climate-Changing Methane Emissions

PA Politics - Everything Is Connected

-- TribLive: Don’t Mail That Election Ballot, Deliver In Person To Ensure It Counts, Officials Say

-- WITF: York County Approves Nearly Half Of Voter Registrations Submitted At Deadline, Refers 740 Others To District Attorney

-- Post-Gazette -Ford Turner: 2 Years After Tight Election Set Off Power Struggle In PA House, Both Sides Predict Victory

-- WSJ: Pittsburgh Is Now The Center Of The Political Universe

-- Financial Times: Winning The US Election Could Come Down To Erie County, Pennsylvania

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[Posted:  November 1, 2024]  PA Environment Digest

Low-Flow Water Conditions Trigger Big Jump In Susquehanna River Basin Water Withdrawal Restrictions, Most Shale Gas-related

On November 1, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission Hydrologic Conditions Monitor reported a significant increase in low stream flows that have triggered water withdrawal restrictions on water users, including multiple shale gas development water withdrawals.

A total of 62 water withdrawals are operating under water use restrictions-- most are shale gas-related-- and five more have hydrologic conditions approaching restrictions.

A total of 53 other water users are operating with consumptive use mitigation measures operating.

Shale gas development-related water withdrawals are often affected first by low stream flows because they take water from smaller streams.

Contact the Susquehanna River Basin Commission to report suspected violations of these requirements.

Visit SRBC’s Hydrologic Conditions Monitor webpage to learn more. 

Water withdrawals with restrictions found on the Hydrologic Conditions Monitor can be looked up on SRBC’s  Search for Projects webpage.

For more information on programs, training opportunities and upcoming events, visit the Susquehanna River Basin Commission website.  Click Here to sign up for SRBC’s newsletter.   Follow SRBC on Twitter, visit them on YouTube.

(Photos: October 19 water use restrictions (red dots); November 1 water use restrictions.)

NewsClips - Drought:

-- MCall: Lehigh Valley Enters ‘Severe Drought’ As October Dryness Sets Record

-- WNEP: Crews Battle Forest Fire In Lackawanna County; Advise Residents Not To Burn  

-- KYW: Christmas Tree Growers In PA Concerned About Record-Breaking Drought  

-- Republican Herald: No End In Sight For Try Conditions In Schuylkill County

-- ABC27: Dover Township, York County Issues Mandatory Nonessential Water Use Restrictions  

-- Courier Times: Bucks County Water Authority Seeks Voluntary Restrictions Amid Drought 

-- Reading Eagle: Berks County Enacts Outdoor Burn Ban Due To Dry Weather Conditions

-- PennLive: This October Will Be One Of The Driest Ever Recorded In Central PA

-- TribLive: Trick-Or-Drought? How Dry Is It In Western Pennsylvania? 

Related Articles - Watersheds:

-- Environmental Quality Board To Consider Proposed Spill Notification Regulation; Blasting; NOx & VOC Corrections Nov. 12  [PaEN]  

-- PUC Approves Emergency Order Appointing Aqua Pennsylvania Temporary Operator For 6 Rhodes Estate Water Companies As Fallout Continues From Conventional Oil Well Wastewater Spill In Venango County  [PaEN]

-- Penn State Ag Council Recognizes Cong. GT Thompson, Chair of the US House Agriculture Committee; Members Of The PA In The Balance Farm Conservation Initiative Team; Student Jessica Herr  [PaEN]

-- Chesapeake Bay Foundation: As 2025 Chesapeake Bay Cleanup Deadline Looms, Officials Propose Next Phase  [PaEN]

-- CBF: New Chesapeake Bay Assessment Reveals Concerns, New Restoration Data Tool Offers Hope  [PaEN] 

-- Dirty Work: Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership Adding 130,000 New Trees During Fall Planting Season In Pennsylvania  [PaEN]

-- Coldwater Heritage Partnership Now Accepting Applications For Conservation Grants; Natural Gas Pipeline Mitigation Projects  [PaEN]

-- Shapiro Administration Launches New Discover State Grants Website To Streamline Access To Government Funding Opportunities  [PaEN]

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Now Accepting Applications For Consumptive Use Mitigation Grants; Nov. 20 Webinar  [PaEN]

-- USGS Releases New Video: Susquehanna River Story - What Does The Science Say About Water Quality?  [PaEN]

-- Registration Now Open For PASA 2025 Sustainable Agriculture Conference Feb. 5-7 In Lancaster  [PaEN] 

-- PA Forestry Assn. 138th Annual Symposium - What Makes A Healthy Forest;  Awards Program Nov. 16 In State College  [PaEN] 

-- PA Assn. Of Environmental Educators Now Accepting Nominations For Annual PAEE Awards, Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences Awards  [PaEN] 

-- Help Wanted: Foundation For Pennsylvania Watersheds -  Grants Program Administrator  [PaEN] 

NewsClips:

-- The Allegheny Front: PA Receives Another Round Of Record-Level Federal Funding For Abandoned Coal Mine Cleanups

-- Chesapeake Bay Program: Chesapeake Bay Shows Slight Water Quality Improvement In 2020-22 Assessment Period

-- Williamsport Sun: State Of The Susquehanna River - A Closer Look At Our River

-- ABC27: Dover Township, York County Issues Mandatory Nonessential Water Use Restrictions 

-- Chesapeake Bay Journal - Ad Crable: Workforce Shortage Slows Progress On Stream Buffers In Pennsylvania

-- Lancaster Clean Water Partners Blog: Cocalico Creek Watershed Association’s Collaborative Path To Restoration

-- TribLive: Nature Focus Of Artwork Featured In Loyalhanna Watershed Association’s 40th Annual Auction 

-- MCall Guest Essay: Delaware River Basin Commission Should Help Fight Climate Change - By Tracy Carluccio, Delaware RiverKeeper Network

[Posted: November 1, 2024]  PA Environment Digest