The 14 industries include those that emit 25,000 tons or more of greenhouse gases a year-- cement, iron, lead, petroleum products production, coal mining, electric generating facilities, oil and gas production facilities, suppliers of natural gas and carbon dioxide, and fuel oil and petroleum product distributors.
The proposal-- called the Stability and Affordability Via Emissions Reduction (SAVER) Regulation-- would reduce Pennsylvania’s greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2052.
The Environmental Quality Board-- the 20 member board that adopts DEP’s regulations-- accepted the petition for study in April 2019, but took no further action, and DEP made no recommendation to the Board on the petition.
Instead, Gov. Wolf issued an executive order in October 2019 directing DEP to draft a regulation to reduce carbon pollution from just power plants consistent with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
The Environmental Quality Board proposed the regulation for comment in November 2020 and published it as final in April 2022 after a two-and-a-half year development process.
The regulation, which was never implemented, was immediately challenged in court.
In April 2023, just months after taking office, Gov. Shapiro formed a RGGI Working Group to consider options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants that reported a consensus recommendation in September 2023 generally supporting a form of cap-and-invest carbon pollution reduction program covering energy generation.
In March 2024, Gov. Shapiro unveiled a cap-and-invest plan in legislation to reduce carbon pollution from power plants known as PACER (Pennsylvania Climate Emissions Reduction Act) based on the work group recommendations. Read more here.
The proposal became part of an expanded “Lightning” Energy Plan proposed by Gov. Shapiro in January 2025 [Read more here] that is now before the General Assembly and included in the Governor’s FY 2026-27 budget proposal [Read more here].
In November 2023 Commonwealth Court ruled the RGGI regulation was an “invalid tax” and enjoined DEP and the EQB from enforcing its provisions.
In December 2023, the Commonwealth Court decision was appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court which never ruled on the case because an agreement included in the FY 2025-26 state budget abrogated the regulation and the Shapiro Administration asked the Court to approve withdrawal of the appeal.
Demand For Action
In a letter to members of the Environmental Quality Board, the groups said the Board and DEP "have a non-discretionary obligation to develop and implement regulations reducing greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions consistent with the Petition and its proposed regulation" "to satisfy its duty as trustee of Pennsylvania’s public natural resources under the Environmental Rights Amendment to Pennsylvania’s Constitution."
"The Board’s acceptance of the Petition triggered a mandatory obligation for DEP to produce a report concerning the Petition together with recommendations for further steps including development of a proposed regulation within 60 days.
"Although DEP requested an extension, it never produced that report."
"With the abrogation of the RGGI Regulation, there’s no excuse for further inaction. We are now back to square one.
"Worse, we have lost seven years—time that could have been spent more fully developing a lower-cost and more reliable clean energy economy. This is unacceptable.
"The accompanying Demand for Action is a restatement of the request we made seven years ago but with more supporting information and greater urgency.
"The SAVER Regulation will expand use of clean, affordable energy, improve transportation and lower its costs, improve human health, revitalize manufacturing and create family sustaining jobs.
"While somewhat similar to the RGGI Regulation, the SAVER Regulation applies on an economy-wide basis and will reduce emissions more rapidly and cost-effectively by focusing on the transportation sector, industry, and the built environment as well as electric generation and distribution.
"The SAVER Regulation’s benefits will reach every Pennsylvanian, increasing affordability, improving health and safety, and raising overall standards of living, all while boosting the state’s gross domestic product.
"Pennsylvania already suffers the consequences of climate disruption caused by GHG pollution.
“Pennsylvanians already face increased energy, health, insurance and other prices caused by climate disruption and pollution associated with burning fossil fuels.
“The Center for Climate Integrity puts the cost of Pennsylvania’s damages from climate disruption at more than $1 billion annually and rising.
“Most of these costs are borne by local and state governments, water departments, electrical utilities and their taxpayers and ratepayers. The costs are a significant driver to today’s affordability crisis.
“The cost of doing nothing will only increase unless and until Pennsylvania takes meaningful action to address the problem.
“The Commonwealth has a clear duty to do so under the Environmental Rights Amendment. Inaction is neither legally permissible nor prudent.”
Click Here for the cover letter to EQB signed by the groups.
Click Here for a fact sheet on the proposal.
Click Here for a copy of the 495-page Demand for Action.
NewsClip:
-- Post-Gazette - Laura Legere: Attorneys Issue Legal Demand To Environmental Quality Board To Adopt Regulations To Cut Carbon Emissions Across The Economy
PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Jan. 31 to Feb. 6 - 10 More Conventional Abandoned Well Violations; Failure To Notify DEP Of Water Contamination; Casing/Cement Failure [PaEN]
-- Washington County Residents On Water Wells Not Aware A MarkWest Pipeline Drilling Project Lost 1.2 Million Gallons Of Drilling Fluid In Mount Pleasant & Robinson Townships [PaEN]
-- Environmental Hearing Board Denies CNX Gas Company Motion To Throw Out Ullom Family Appeal Over Water Loss In Washington County; Scope Of Rebuttable Presumption Under Review [PaEN]
-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - February 7 [PaEN]
-- DEP Invites Comments On Permit For Homer City Generation 5.8 Mile, 30-Inch Natural Gas Pipeline To Serve Proposed Data Center 4.5 GW Power Plant In Indiana County [PaEN]
-- DEP Invites Comments On Columbia Gas Permit For Project To Protect 2 Major Natural Gas Pipelines From Impacts Of Longwall Coal Mining In West Finley Twp., Washington County [PaEN]
-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Approved 74 Shale Gas Well Pad Water Use General Permits In December, January; 471 In 2025 [PaEN]
-- Guest Comments: Jacoby & Cove Mountains In Loyalsock State Forest Will Be Degraded For Generations By PA General Energy's 'Saluda' Shale Gas Access Road, Staging Area Project In Lycoming County - By Barbara Jarmoska, Resident [PaEN]
-- DEP Posted 56 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In February 7 PA Bulletin [PaEN]
Related Articles This Week:
-- Gov. Shapiro’s Proposed Budget Includes Performance Standards For Data Centers Seeking State Tax Credits; Renewed Call For Lightening Energy Plan; New PUC Benchmarks For Utility Profits [PaEN]
-- Reactions To Gov. Shapiro's Proposed Budget From Citizen, Environmental, Energy, Industry, Utility Groups [PaEN]
-- In Case You Missed It: A.I./Data Center Articles - NewClips From Last Week - February 9 [PaEN]
-- House Committee OKs Bill To Give PUC More Authority To Regulate A.I. Data Centers, Other Large Loads To Protect Ratepayers, Electric Grid [PaEN]
-- Capitolwire.com: Senate Committee Amends, Does Not Report Out Bill Requiring Data Centers To Bring Their Own Power, Respecting Local Decisions [PaEN]
-- House Passes Bills Authorizing Clean Manufacturing, Reduce Fees For Small Nuclear Reactors, Advances Solar Warehouse Bill [PaEN]
-- Independent Fiscal Office Reports PA Electricity Prices Increased 46.1% From 2018 to 2025, More Than Other PJM States, Largely Due To Pennsylvania's Reliance On Natural Gas-Fired Electric Generation [PaEN]
-- Guest Essay: A.I. Data Centers Pose Big Challenge For PA's Energy Future - Dramatically Increasing Costs For Energy Consumers, And It's Not Getting Any Cheaper - By Tom Gilbert, Pennsylvania Environmental Council [PaEN]
-- Clean Energy Group, Partners Host Feb. 25 Webinar On The High Cost Of A.I. - How Data Centers Are Reshaping Pennsylvania's Energy Landscape [PaEN]
-- PJM Interconnection Issues Cold Weather Alert For Feb. 7 to 9 Across Its Entire Footprint [PaEN]
[Posted: February 5, 2026] PA Environment Digest
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