The IRA provisions no longer being repealed as part of the bill include air monitoring, diesel emission reductions, school air pollution reduction, climate pollution reduction planning and implementation grants, Environmental Justice block grant funding, and modernization of EPA’s air and water enforcement database (ICIS).
[The proposal also includes rescinding unobligated funding for the Methane Emissions Reduction Grant Program to reduce emissions of conventional oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania.
[DEP told the Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board this week it has approved 35 applications to plug 311 conventional oil and gas wells under the Methane Emissions Reduction Grant Program funded by the federal IRA. Read more here
[No contracts have been signed yet to do the actual well plugging because the applications are waiting for work to be done to satisfy federal requirements and/or federal approvals. Read more here.
[Federal funding from this program would account for plugging over 40% of the 768 conventional wells DEP expects to plug over the next year. Read more here.]
Repeal and rescission of unobligated funding for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund remains as it was deemed to be permitted under the Byrd Rule.
The Senate also dropped an effort to repeal EPA’s tailpipe emissions standard for model years 2027 and later pursuant to the Parliamentarian’s ruling.
The Senate voluntarily dropped its efforts to repeal and rescind funding related to work by the Council of Environmental Quality on public engagement with regard to environmental reviews.
Provisions that remain in the Senate EPW text include allowing companies to pay a fee for faster environmental reviews and a delay of the implementation of the methane pollution fee for 10 years while eliminating funding to carry out the program.
Separately, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee continues to include in its budget reconciliation text a proposal to zero out fees imposed on automakers for not complying with the Department of Transportation’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards.
The text from these committees is part of the larger budget reconciliation bill of $9.4B in spending, tax and revenue, and debt limit considerations. A similar version of the budget reconciliation bill has passed the House.
Click Here for the ECOS report.
Much more work needs to be done to reconcile differences between the US Senate and House versions of the budget bill before it becomes final.
Visit the Environmental Council of the States website for more information.
Resource Link:
-- US House Republicans Eliminate Funding For The Federal Methane Emissions Reduction Program, Including PA's MERP Grant Program To Plug Conventional Oil & Gas Wells [PaEN]
Related Articles This Week:
-- Appalachian Voices: Nonprofits, Tribes, Local Government Sue President For Terminating EPA Grant Programs Helping Communities Vulnerable To Pollution, Disasters [PaEN]
-- Pennsylvania Receives Another $244.8 Million In Federal Mine Reclamation Funding, $979.3 Million Over 4 Years; Next Round Of Local Mine Reclamation Grants Open Sept. 2 [PaEN]
NewsClips:
-- PA Capital-Star: Shapiro Joins Lawsuit Against President For Slashing Billions Of Already Awarded Federal Funding Related To Resilience, Communities Preparing For Natural Disasters
-- Tribune-Democrat: Federal NRCS Conservation Efforts Facing $754 Million In Proposed Cuts: ‘Threat To Future Generations’ [Cambria County Conservation District] [PDF of Article]
-- Tribune-Democrat: Federal Emergency Management Agency Pulls $400,000 Grant From Johnstown Water Authority North Fork Dam Renovation; Board Fighting To Keep It [PDF of Article]
-- Public News Services: Congress Could Delay Oil & Gas Facility Methane Emission Reduction Program In PA
-- Chesapeake Bay Journal - Timothy B. Wheeler: US Geological Survey Faces Big Cuts, Endangering Chesapeake Bay Watershed Science
-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: Pennsylvania’s Clean Energy Momentum In Crosshairs Of The Congressional Republican One Big Beautiful Bill
-- Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader Guest Essay: PA Tradesmen and Builders Rely On Federal Energy Tax Incentives - By Robert Blair, PA State Building & Construction Trades Council and Jon O’Brien, Keystone Contractors Association
-- York Dispatch/AP: Consumers Rely On Energy Star Ratings President Wants To End
-- Erie Times: Supervisor At Erie Coke [Coal] Plant Pleaded Guilty To Federal Charges On Illegal Pollution; Now US Attorney Wants Case Dismissed
[Posted: June 28, 2025] PA Environment Digest
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