PA Environment Digest Blog: Monday 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 Voting Schedule

May 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 24

June 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30

-- Committee Schedule

Senate Voting Schedule

May 5, 6, 7, 12, 13

June 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30

-- Committee Schedule

TODAY’s Calendar Of Events

TODAY 11:00: House Environmental and Natural Resource Protection Committee meets to consider House Bill 1233 (Siegel-D-Lehigh) establishes a stewardship program for safe disposal of portable and medium format batteries up to 25 pounds; House Resolution 192 (Hill-Evans-D-York) designating June 8-14 as Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week. Room 205 Ryan Building. 11:00 a.m. Click Here to watch online.

TODAY Off the Floor: Senate Appropriations Committee meets to consider Senate Bill 349 (Yaw-R- Lycoming) providing for the decommissioning of solar energy facilities. Rules Room. Off the Floor. No video coverage.

May 6-- Senate Consumer Protection & Professional Licensure Committee hearing on ratepayer impact of Act 129 energy efficiency plans. Hearing Room 1, North Office Building. 9:00 a.m. Click Here to watch online.

May 6-- Senate Game & Fisheries Committee hearing on economic impacts of boating and fishing in Pennsylvania. Hearing Room 1, North Office Building. 11:30 a.m. Click Here to watch online.

May 6-- Virtual. EPA Virtual Hearing On Proposed Permit For A Sandstone Development Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Well In Lafayette Twp., McKean County. 6:00 p.m.

May 7-- Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee meets to consider Senate Bill 102 (Bartolotta-R-Washington, Yaw-R-Lycoming) punishes local elected officials who want to better protect their constituents from the documented adverse health and environmental impacts of shale gas development by prohibiting municipalities from receiving Act 13 drilling impact fees if they set protective standards on the development of natural gas that “imposes a standard or condition on well development that conflicts with or exceeds those contained” in state law. The legislation was prompted by an ordinance adopted by Cecil Township in Washington County that establishes a 2,500 setback from shale gas well pads. The current minimum setback is 500 feet from a well bore. Cecil Township is in Sen. Bartolotta’s legislative district Read more here.; Senate Bill 682 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) changing the name of the Department of Environmental Protection to the Department of Environmental Services; Senate Bill 704 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) require DCED and DEP to identify sites suitable for natural gas electric generation projects; Senate Bill 712 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) redefining safe plugging requirements for conventional oil and gas wells with a new definition of what is considered a “reasonable” effort to clean out a well. [Note: Conventional well owners have been trying for several years to reduce the effort needed to safely plug a well.] Room 461 Main Capitol 9:30 a.m. Click Here to watch the meeting online [if available]. Read more here.

May 7-- House Finance Committee meets to consider House Bill 500 (Inglis-D-Allegheny) part of Governor’s Lightning Energy Plan to repurpose the EDGE Tax Credit Program to support adding reliable energy generation to the grid tax credit, a regional clean hydrogen tax credit and a sustainable aviation fuel tax credit [Read more here]. Room 523 Irvis Building. 10:00 a.m. Click Here to watch online.

May 7-- Agenda Posted. House Energy Committee informational meeting on geothermal energy development [Read more here]. Room 515 Irvis Building. 10:00 a.m. Click Here to watch online.

May 7-- House Local Government Committee meets to consider House Bill 1282 (Davis-D- Bucks) requiring property owner notifications of changes to special flood hazard area maps. Room G-50 Irvis Building. 10:00 a.m. Click Here to watch online.

May 8-- Senate Communications & Technology Committee hearing on powering artificial intelligence’s future in our economy. Ben Franklin Technology, Partners, 116 Research Dr., Bethlehem. 10:00 a.m. Click Here to watch online.

May 14-- Agenda Posted. House Energy Committee informational meeting on electric transmission. Room 523 Irvis Building. 10:00 a.m. Click Here to watch online.

-- May 5 - Weekly PA Environment Digest Now Available [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - April 26 to May 2: Contaminated Livestock Water Supply; Ruptured Gathering Pipeline; Failure To Comply With Shale Gas Well Plugging Order [PaEN]

-- Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners Continue To Push DEP To Legalize Road Dumping Their Wastewater [PaEN]

-- Consol Conventional Well Plugging Incident Contaminates Livestock Water Supply, 2 Springs, Stream In Morris Twp., Greene County [PaEN]

-- Conventional Oil Well Storage Tank Rupture Causes 2,100 Gallon Spill Of Wastewater, Crude Oil In Upper Burrell Twp., Westmoreland County [PaEN]

-- 6-Inch Conventional Natural Gas Gathering Pipeline Rupture Causes Spill In Rostraver Twp., Westmoreland County; State Agencies Have No Jurisdiction Over Safety Issues [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - May 3 [PaEN]

-- DEP Received Air Quality Permit For 4.6 Gigawatt Homer City Generation Natural Gas Power Plant For Data Center In Indiana County [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 77 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In May 3 PA Bulletin [PaEN]

-- PA Senate Committee Meets May 7 On Bill To Punish Communities Taking Steps To Protect Their Residents From Health, Environmental Impacts Of Shale Gas Drilling [PaEN]

-- Ohio River Valley Institute May 6 Webinar To Announce New Report On The Growing Cost Of Plugging Thousands Of Shale Gas, Conventional Oil & Gas Wells [PaEN]

-- WESA/WVIA: From Classroom To Creek: PA Students Learn About Trout By Raising, Releasing Fish