Thursday, May 29, 2014

Vote For Your Favorite Great American Cleanup Of PA Video

Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful is requesting your help to choose the winner of the 2014 Great American Cleanup of PA video. Go to Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s Facebook page and like your favorite video!
Voting begins June 2nd and ends on June 13th. Winners will be announced the week of June 16th.
“It’s exciting to see Pennsylvanian’s involved in the Great American Cleanup of PA and cleaning up their local communities. What we saw was a lot of partnerships, a lot of trash being picked up and a lot of people having fun doing it,” says Shannon Reiter, president of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful.  “We are anxious to see who is chosen as this year’s winner.”
Cash prizes, sponsored by the PA Waste Industries Association, are $200 for the winning entry and $100 each for two runners up.
Additional sponsors for the video contest are Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful and the Department of Environmental Protection.
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PA Celebrates Get Outdoors Month In June

Outdoor recreation areas across Pennsylvania will be hosting special events and activities during June as part of a statewide Get Outdoors Month observance, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Ellen Ferretti said Thursday.
"The Get Outdoors Month celebration gives our bureaus of state parks and forestry, as well as other outdoor recreation facilities, a chance to showcase what they offer to so many across Pennsylvania," Ferretti said. "Pennsylvanians are urged to get out and enjoy our 120 state parks, 2.2 million acres of state forestland, and thousands of local parks and recreation venues."
Gov. Tom Corbett gave the effort strong momentum when he proclaimed June 2014 as Get Outdoors Month and June 14, as Get Outdoors Day in Pennsylvania.
"Hundreds of events throughout the month are showcasing our special outdoor spaces," Ferretti said. "We are so fortunate to have plenty of opportunities to explore, and these events allow people to discover places they have never been or participate in new recreations."  
The month-long observance underscores the work of DCNR, other state agencies, and outdoors-oriented groups and businesses to fuel or renew participation in outdoors activities, as noted in Corbett's proclamation:
"Through the Get Outdoors PA program, citizens across the state can be connected to hundreds of outdoor recreation events to suit their recreational interests. Led by experienced trip leaders, these events provide safe, fun and close-to-home opportunities for healthy outdoor recreation."
Fishing, wildlife watching, kayaking, hiking, biking and special tips for first-time campers are just a few of the Get Outdoors PA activities planned throughout the state.
Several locations are hosting Get Outdoors PA events on June 14 in celebration of Get Outdoors Day. For those and other events, visit Get Outdoors PA.
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House Environmental Committee To Consider Senate Oil & Gas Royalty Bills June 4

The House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee is scheduled to meet on June 4 to consider three Senate bills addressing oil and gas well royalty issues.  The bills include--
-- Senate Bill 1236 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) authorizing royalty interest owners of oil and gas wells to inspect records of gas companies to verify proper payments;
-- Senate Bill 1237 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) prohibiting gas companies from retaliating against royalty interest owners of oil and gas wells by terminating their lease agreement-- Senate Fiscal Note; and
-- Senate Bill 1238 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) requiring gas companies to fill a satisfaction piece in the county Recorder of Deeds office when oil and gas leases are terminated-- Senate Fiscal Note.
The meeting will be held in Room B-31 of the Main Capitol starting at 10:00.
Rep. Ron Miller (R-York) serves as Majority Chair of the Committee and Rep. Greg Vitali (D-Delaware) serves as Minority Chair.
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Budget Preview: 28 Days Before State Budget Deadline, Will Zack And Miri Get A Raise?

The deadline to have a state General Fund budget in place is July 1.  When the Senate and House return to session on June 2 they will have 28 days left before a budget should be done.
The Independent Fiscal Office said in its most recent estimates state revenues are projected to be down $608 million for FY 2013-14 and another $990 million for FY 2014-15 totaling a nearly $1.6 billion budget hole.
Actual fiscal year-to-date General Fund collections are down $424.5 million, according to April’s revenue figures.  On June 2 we should get the latest figures on May revenues which will shed more light on the deficit Senate and House Republicans and Gov. Corbett will have to deal with.
On the cutting costs side (which no one really likes to do because it offends people, especially in an election year) there is the clear need to reduce state employee and school employee pension costs which go up even more dramatically in the coming years.
Competing plans have been introduced, hearings have been held, actuarial notes prepared, analyses written, but other than killing a lot of trees, not much progress has been made.
Suggestions for filling the budget gap come in several flavors, each of them bitter to one group or another-- a new severance tax on natural gas production (opposed by 95 percent of Republicans), potentially expanding gaming in the state (could be, but will be a heavy lift on where extra revenues will go), some form of liquor privatization (which Senate and House Republicans don’t agree on and never have) and expanding Medicaid to take advantage of short-term federal funding for the program (which Democrats love, and Republicans and the Governor oppose).
Gov. Corbett last week also issued a new Executive Order outlining the ground rules for leasing additional State Park and State Forest lands which he estimates may bring in up to $75 million to fund park and forest projects.  He quickly notes neither his current budget nor his Enhanced Penn’s Woods initiative rely on this additional funding.
There’s always the chance the General Assembly will cobble together some income by raiding some special funds that are still somewhat healthy.  In years past they raided the Mcare Medical Malpractice Insurance Fund, the Storage Tank Indemnification Fund, the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund, the Oil and Gas Fund, the Recycling Fund and more.
Of course they can also do things like delay payments to nursing homes, municipalities, school districts and other payees by three months or six months to push the payments into the another fiscal year and use other one-time gimmicks.
Shading revenue projections is another popular, honored tactic.
They also sometimes go the other way, like the serious proposal to increase the PA Film Development Tax Credit from its present $60 million a year to whatever Zack & Miri want by removing the cap on the credit.  Zack & Miri?
Yes, the PA Film Tax Credit has supported the making of some very memorable movies, like the 2008 classic Zack & Miri Make A Porno.
During budget season, folks can be very, very creative.
Last year, with a somewhat smaller budget hole, the House did not pass its first General Fund budget bill until June 12 and took final action on June 30, with the follow-on budget implementing bills coming much later.
In 2012, the Senate was the first to pass a budget bill on May 9 and the House passed the final version on June 28, with the implementing bills.
For three years, one of the Corbett Administration’s mantras has been passing an on-time budget before July 1 (or just slightly before).  We’ll see how close they come this year.
Lots of work to be done.
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PEC Opposes Bill Mandating Different Environmental Safeguards For Conventional Wells

The Pennsylvania Environmental Council Tuesday sent a communication to the Pennsylvania State Senate to express its opposition to the recently introduced Senate Bill 1378 (Scrantai-R- Jefferson, Hutchinson-R-Venango) (P.N. 2053).
Paul King, President and CEO of PEC, made the following statement in association with the communication: “Senate Bill 1378 is a step in the wrong direction. At a time when we are still waiting for promulgation of new natural gas regulations from a law that passed more than two years ago, this legislation seeks to further limit protection standards.
“As many natural gas operators have done at their own initiative, including in cooperative fashion through the Center for Sustainable Shale Development, we should be looking for ways to improve performance and protection – not carving out new exemptions.
“If Pennsylvania truly wants to be a leader in responsible resource development, the General Assembly should promptly reject Senate Bill 1378.”
The text of the communication follows:
“On behalf of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, I am writing to express our strong opposition to Senate Bill 1378 (P.N. 2053) – which would establish the “Pennsylvania Conventional Oil and Gas Well Regulations Act.”
“Senate Bill 1378 directs the Department of Environmental Protection and Environmental Quality Board to establish separate regulations for conventional and unconventional gas wells in Pennsylvania. This requirement would extend to all environmental protection laws in the Commonwealth.
“Both conventional and unconventional wells pose potential risks to human health and the environment, including on or off site spills of wastewater or other contaminants, erosion and sedimentation issues, methane migration from subsurface disturbance, air emissions, and other impacts. Despite Senate Bill 1378’s assertion, conventional well development is not inherently “benign”.
“Senate Bill 1378’s flaw is compounded by the fact that the legislation follows an artificial distinction between “conventional” and “unconventional” gas wells. The bill distinguishes “conventional” and “unconventional” operations solely by depth of the target formation – below the Elk Sandstone or its geologic equivalent.
“Here’s why this is so important: this distinction does not account for the technology or technique (for example, hydraulic fracturing) used by an operator. In fact, Senate Bill 1378 goes a step further to expressly state that the technology or design of a well is inconsequential to its characterization as “conventional” or “unconventional”(see, for example, page 2, line 23 of the legislation).
“Therefore, pursuant to this legislation, any operator, regardless of the size of the company, could conduct high volume fracturing at shallow depths and still be deemed “conventional” – and thus subject to reduced protection standards. It bears noting that fracturing at shallower formations can pose even greater risks to ground and drinking water resources.
“This arbitrary distinction, which has it roots in Act 13 of 2012, is wholly inappropriate as a benchmark for setting environmental protection standards.
“Senate Bill 1378 creates a new and potentially vast exemption for natural gas operations, undercutting necessary environmental protections for on-site containment, drinking and surface water protection, air emissions, and other siting and control standards.
“This legislation goes directly against the import of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision last December with respect to Act 13 and the sufficiency of environmental protection in regulating natural gas development.
“The General Assembly should not violate the public trust by taking steps to further weaken the protections afforded to its citizens and environment.
“We ask that you oppose this legislation. Thank you for your consideration.”
Background: Conventional Well Drilling In PA By PA Environment Digest
Conventional oil and gas wells are a significant threat to Pennsylvania’s environment if not properly regulated and increasingly fracking is used to get more production out of conventional oil and gas wells, just like unconventional Marcellus Shale wells.
Since 1859 some 325,000 conventional oil and gas wells have been drilled in Pennsylvania, of which an estimated 200,000 wells are abandoned and unplugged creating a pathway for air, soil and ground and surface water pollution throughout the state.
It has only been since 1956 the state has required permits for new drilling operations.  It was not until 1984 when well operators were required to plug non-producing wells they drilled and standards were set for well construction and operation.
The environmental threat from improperly constructed and plugged conventional oil and gas wells was so great that the 1984 law Oil and Gas Act created the Abandoned and Orphaned Well Program.  
Some funding for abandoned well plugging was provided in the 1984 law, however it was expended in the original Growing Greener Program and supplemented in the 2012 with the Act 13 law regulating unconventional oil and gas wells.
The General Assembly was clearly concerned enough by conventional oil and gas drilling in the past to establish environmental standards and find ways to deal with the environmental hazards they create.
Legislation identical to Senate Bill 1378 is expected to be introduced in the House shortly.
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Former Rendell Officials Now Say Marcellus Natural Gas Drilling Exploited State Forests

StateImpact, the Patriot-News, Post-Gazette and the Citizens Voice Thursday reported former DCNR officials in the Rendell Administration now say the leasing of 137,000 acres of State Forest land for drilling exploited State Forests as a “cash cow.”
The remarks were made during the first day of arguments before Commonwealth Court in a lawsuit the PA Environmental Defense Fund filed against the Rendell and Corbett Administrations over the transfer over $383 million in proceeds in DCNR’s Oil and Gas Fund to balance the state General Fund.
Capitolwire.com provided a preview of the Court hearing Tuesday.
The newspapers reported testimony and documents entered into evidence for the lawsuit said Michael DiBerardinis, Rendell's DCNR Secretary at the time, sent Rendell a memo on March 27,  2009,  in which he told the governor: "Wholesale leasing will damage our State Forest landscape. It would scar the economic, scenic, ecological, and recreational values of the forest - especially the most wild and remote areas of our state in the Pennsylvania Wilds."
Jim Grace, former State Forester with DCNR noted the Rendell leases in 2010 set "a terrible precedent" by ordering the exploitation of the state forest for quick cash regardless of the impacts.
"It's dictating from outside how many acres should be developed without considering any of the other uses," said Grace, which flies in the face of the mission of DCNR and might possibly violate the state's role of trustee of the public resources under the terms of Article 1 Section 27 of the state constitution.
Former DCNR Secretary John Quigley under Rendell  echoed Grace: "We determined (additional leasing) was not in the best interests of the Commonwealth, and yet we were ordered to do two more rounds of leasing."
Quigley added a provision inserted in the 2009 Fiscal Code requiring more leasing of State Forest land to generate $180 million in revenue to balance the state budget was "an effective repeal of the 1955 oil and gas lease fund act.”
"We were being forced to raise almost another quarter billion dollars without regard to the agency's mission," said Quigley. "The governor and General Assembly were coming very close to slaughtering the cash cow."
Quigley and DCNR did offer another 31,968 acres of State Forest for leasing in November of 2009.
He said in a press release at the time, "Our approach to making state lands available for natural gas drilling has always been to limit the impact on the surface and on other uses of the land. We've been exceptionally mindful of our obligations as we developed this plan to balance our environmental responsibilities and the budget."
He went on to explain, that "For about a year, DCNR has been working to prepare a lease sale. We chose these tracts of land after extensive environmental reviews to protect the health of the forest now and in the future, to allow for gas and timber extraction and public recreation, and to keep ecosystems intact that support a diversity of wildlife and plants. In total, these tracts represent a little more than 1.5 percent of our total state forest land.”
During a hearing of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee in 2009 after the announcement of additional acreage for leasing, Quigley said DCNR does not have the resources to police State Forest Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling as it ramps up over the next few years.
In March of 2010 the PA Environmental Defense Fund gave notice of its intent to file a lawsuit to prevent the leasing and transfer of funds saying, "The Foundation believes and avers that your (Rendell Administration’s) proposal to lease additional State Forest land to supplement the Budget for the Commonwealth for the year 2010 with $180,000,000 is a decision that will risk the ecological integrity of our State Forest system and is therefore an unlawful decision by you under Article I, Section 27 of Pennsylvania's Constitution,” John Childe, attorney for the PA Environmental Defense Fund, explained.
He added, "This Amendment provides self-executing rights to all the people of the Commonwealth, and enumerates a duty as trustee over Pennsylvania's public lands, for the benefit of all the people of the Commonwealth.  As governor of the Commonwealth you bear the specific responsibility for ensuring the rights and protection set forth in this Amendment.  These rights are mandatory, not discretionary.  You do not have the authority to violate them.
"As you know, the purpose of the Oil and Gas Lease Fund, the legislatively created fund where money from leasing state lands for oil and gas exploration is required to be invested, is to protect and preserve the Commonwealth's State Forest System and not to supplement the State Budget.
"As you are also aware, there is no need to require additional leasing of State Forest land.  The imposition of a Severance Tax would more than make up for the proposed leasing.”
The Defense Fund actually filed the lawsuit in March of 2012.
The practice of supporting State Park and State Forest operations through transfer from the OIl and Gas Fund begun under the Rendell Administration was continued under Gov. Corbett who proposed in February to transfer up to $75 million from the Oil and Gas Fund to support park and forest operations.
The Commonwealth Court hearing is to resume on Monday and Tuesday.
NewsClips:
Bumsted: Handicapping A Shale Extraction Tax
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Delaware County High School Team Claims State Envirothon Honors

Students of Penncrest High School in Delaware County walked off with first-place honors after competing May 20 and 21 in the 31st Pennsylvania State Envirothon at Susquehanna University and PPL Montour Preserve.
The 2014 state champions scored 522.33 points of a possible 600 while competing this year with student teams from 64 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. Other winning teams and their scores were:
Second Place, YHSA Homeschoolers, York County, with a score of 520; third, Carmichaels Area High School, Greene County, 510; fourth, Palmyra Area High School, Lebanon County, 482; fifth, Downingtown East High School, Chester County, 481.33; sixth, Redbank Valley High School, Clarion County, 473; seventh, Neshaminy High School, Bucks County, 453.67; eighth, Central Valley High School, Beaver County, 447.33; ninth, Blue Mountain High School, Schuylkill; 446.67; and tenth, Lewisburg Area High School, Union County, 445.67.
At the Envirothon, five-member teams participate in a series of field station tests focusing on five topic areas: soils and land use, aquatic ecology, forestry, wildlife and environmental issues. The 2014 current environmental issue focused on Sustainable Agriculture/Buying Local.
The teams also prepared and delivered oral presentations to panels of judges who evaluate each team on its problem-solving capabilities, oral presentation skills and recommendations to help solve the specific environmental challenge, which relates to the current environmental issue.
Participating teams represented the best and the brightest of the thousands of high school teens who have competed in county Envirothon competitions sponsored by conservation districts from across the state.
At the state level, the Envirothon is sponsored by Pennsylvania’s sixty-six conservation districts, the State Conservation Commission, and the PA Association of Conservation Districts. The program is managed by a board of directors representing those sponsors.
Technical expertise is provided by the following: Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Game Commission, Fish and Boat Commission, U.S.D.A. Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Pennsylvania Farmers Union.
Sponsors and partners of the 2014 Envirothon are: PPL Corp., Marcellus Shale Coalition, Shell Oil Co., Air Products Foundation, Philadelphia Insurance Companies, Access Midstream, Canon USA, Envirothon, departments of Agriculture, Environmental Protection, and Education, Pa. Trappers Association, Pa. Association of Conservation Districts, and the State Conservation Commission.
The Hershey Co., Dwight Lewis Lumber, Lewis Lumber Products, PPL, and Cargill are corporate station sponsors.
Winners of the 2014 Pennsylvania Envirothon state competition will be recognized as the state champions and will receive additional scholarship funding or an educational excursion on the Chesapeake Bay.
The Pennsylvania Envirothon awarded scholarships to the first, second, and third place teams. The scholarships were sponsored by Pennsylvania’s County Conservation Districts and Pennsylvania Envirothon. Each of the top ten teams received a plaque and other prizes.
For more information on the Envirothon program, contact your county conservation district, visit the Pennsylvania Envirothon website, call 814-623-8099 or send email to: paenvirothon@pennswoods.net.
(Reprinted from the May 28 DCNR Resource newsletter.)
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Northeast U.S. Forestry Group Honors DCNR Forester Mark Lewis

Accomplishments in cooperative forest management have earned a Bureau of Forestry employee Mark Lewis prestigious honors from the Northeastern Area Association of State Foresters.
Lewis, a service forester with the Cornplanter State Forest District based in Warren County, has been named the 2013 recipient of the association’s CFM Forester of the Year Award, recognizing “outstanding dedication and professional work of the state service foresters” in a 20-state region comprising the regional organization.
"I am very honored to have been selected for the 2014 CFM Forester of the Year award, and I am proud to represent DCNR and the Bureau of Forestry,” said Lewis, “The work being done by CFM foresters in Pennsylvania and throughout the Northeast states is tremendous and far-reaching. To be counted among such company is humbling. I am grateful to all those who have helped and encouraged me throughout my tenure with the bureau."
Lewis was picked from among six candidates from the Northeast who were selected for their stellar work in 2013 and throughout their forestry careers. The award was determined by the association’s Cooperative Forest Management Committee for notable achievement in “sustainable forest management;” contributions to the forestry profession, and community involvement.
“We are most fortunate to have someone of Mark’s qualifications and dedication working in the district and representing the Bureau of Forestry as he performs his outreach duties for the general public, and specifically the private forest landowners of Crawford County,” said Cecile Stelter, Cornplanter district forester, and Lewis’ immediate supervisor. “I appreciate the national recognition this award brings to both the bureau’s service forester program and Mark’s stellar achievements.”
Employed by the bureau since 1991, Lewis directs a variety of private land and community programs and initiatives within Crawford County. For the first eight years of his career, he was assigned as a service forester in Venango and Forest counties.
“Mark Lewis has been an active and dedicated service forester for over 22 years and is well-known within his service area and the Cornplanter Forest District,” said DCNR’s Deputy Secretary of Parks and Forest Dan Devlin. “He always offers the highest quality guidance to landowners and has the uncanny ability to relate to landowners, regardless of their age, knowledge level, sex, race or number of acres owned."
Lewis has approved over 120 private Forest Stewardship Plans; has seen his Riparian Tree Planting program enter its 14th year; and oversees the district’s gypsy moth suppression program. A resident of Meadville, he is a popular fixture at community, civic and professional events.
Lewis received his award at a mid-May conference of the Northeastern Area Association of State Foresters, held in Stowe, Vt.
(Reprinted from the May 28 DCNR Resource newsletter.)
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