PA Environment Digest Blog: Thursday PA Environment & Energy Articles

“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]

Senate Voting Schedule

Budget hearings will be held February 23-26, and March 2

March 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25

April 20, 21, 22

May 4, 5, 6

June 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30

-- Committee Schedule

House Voting Schedule

Budget hearings will be held February 23-26, and March 2

March. 23, 24, 25

April 13, 14, 15, 27, 28, 29

May 4, 5, 6

June 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30

September 28, 29, 30

October 5, 6, 7, 19, 20, 21

November 9, 10

-- Committee Schedule

TODAY’s Calendar Of Events

TODAY 1:00: Agenda Posted. DEP Agricultural Advisory Board meeting. 1:00 p.m. Contact: Bob Haines robhaines@pa.gov or 717-787-7565.

TODAY 9:15: Agenda Posted. DEP Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee meeting. 9:15 a.m. Contact: RA-EPAQTAC@pa.gov.

TODAY: US Army Corps Of Engineers, PEMA Other Partners Host Feb. 5 (Eastern/Central PA), Feb. 6 (Western PA) Ice Jam Webinars

February 6-- Agenda Posted. DEP Environmental Justice Advisory Board meeting. 9:00 a.m. Contact: Mariana Fletcher marifletch@pa.gov or 717-497-0714.

February 9-- House Environmental & Natural Resource Protection Committee to hold hearing on Stream Impairment In Pennsylvania. Room G-50 Irvis Building. 10:00 a.m. Click Here to watch online.

February 10-- CANCELED. Environmental Quality Board meeting. 9:00 a.m. Contact: Laura Griffin, Regulatory Coordinator, laurgriffi@pa.gov or (717) 772-3277.

February 10-- Agenda Posted. DEP Citizens Advisory Council meeting. 12:30 p.m. Contact: Ian Irvin iirvin@pa.gov or 717-579-0329.

February 19-- In-Person/Online. PA League Of Women Voters, Duquesne University Host Shale Gas & Public Health Conference. Pittsburgh. 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

February 26-- Senate Appropriations Committee budget hearing: 1:00 - Department of Environmental Protection.

March 2-- House Appropriations Committee budget hearing: 1:00 - Departments of Environmental Protection and Conservation and Natural Resources. Click Here to watch live.

March 3-- Senate Appropriations Committee budget hearing: 1:00 - Public Utility Commission.

March 5-- House Appropriations Committee budget hearing: 1:00 - Public Utility Commission. Click Here to watch live.

-- In Memoriam: Paul Marchetti, Founding Executive Director Of the PA Infrastructure Investment Authority

-- In Memoriam: David Johnson, Educator, State Parks/Jennings Environmental Education Center

-- 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]

-- 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]

-- DEP Citizens Advisory Council Meets Feb. 10 To Hear Update From Senate, House Environmental Committees, And On Philadelphia Combined Sewer Overflows [PaEN]

-- TribLive: Environmentalists Urge DEP To Make Tenaska Natural Gas Power Plant Meet Air Pollution Requirements To Get Permit In Westmoreland County

-- Senate Passes Sen. Yaw Bill To Identify Sites For Natural Gas Power Plants [Except That Isn’t The Problem At All] [Senate Bill 704]

-- Senate Passes Bill To Weaken Plugging Standards For Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells [Senate Bill 712] [These wells were abandoned in the first place because there is no effective well plugging bond program and 100% of the burden put on taxpayers. Now conventional well boosters want to cut breaks to the industry by making the well plugging program less effective so wells have to be replugged more frequently. At the same time Congress and the President cut federal funding for well plugging. The wrong decisions at every step, for what?]

-- Reps. Matzie, Mehaffie Laud Passage Of Bill To Clear The Way For Construction Of Modular Nuclear Reactors [House Bill 2017]

-- Register Now! For Keep PA Beautiful's Pick Up Pennsylvania Initiative Honoring America's 250th Anniversary; In 2025, 53,500 Volunteers Collected 3.4 Million Pounds Of Trash [PaEN]

-- DEP Announces Winners Of 2026 PA Student Radon Poster Contest; Regan Schall Went On To Win 1st Place In National Contest [PaEN]

-- PA Capital-Star: PA House Panel Approves Bill To Limit Exceptions To Sunshine Act Notice Requirements

-- US Army Corps Of Engineers, PEMA Other Partners Host Feb. 5 (Eastern/Central PA), Feb. 6 (Western PA) Ice Jam Webinars

-- The Derrick: Chilly Temperatures Bring Back Memories Of Forgotten Ice Floods In Oil Region’s History [PDF of Article]

-- DEP Now Accepting Applications For Alternative Fuels Incentive Grants, Deadline April 1 {PaEN]

-- TribLive: Former Heinz Endowments IT Manager Pleads Guilty To Embezzling Nearly $1 Million

-- American Water Charitable Foundation Now Accepting Applications For Water & Environment Grants From PA American Water Service Territories [PaEN]

-- National Fish & Wildlife Foundation Awards $12.5 Million To Support 30 Delaware River Watershed Conservation Projects; Next Round Of Grant Applications Due In March [PaEN]

-- Bird Safe Philly: NFWF Awards Grant To Support Efforts To Educate, Mitigate For Bird Collisions With Glass

-- National Fish & Wildlife Foundation Awards $6.9 Million to Support 33 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Conservation Projects; Next Round Of Grant Applications Due April 9 [PaEN]