Friday, March 22, 2013

March 25 PA Environment Digest Now Available

The March 25 PA Environment Digest is now available.  Click Here to print entire Digest.

DEP Secretary Mike Krancer Leaving For Blank Rome Law Firm Energy Practice

Gov. Tom Corbett Friday announced Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Mike Krancer will step down April 15 to return home to Montgomery County to practice law.
E. Christopher Abruzzo, deputy chief of staff for Gov. Tom Corbett, will serve as acting secretary. Abruzzo, who works closely with Krancer and the DEP staff in his position as deputy chief of staff, will hold both positions until Corbett names Krancer’s successor.
“Secretary Krancer has been an invaluable member of our team and I am grateful for his service,’’ Corbett said. “His impressive efforts at DEP have taken the agency back to basics, protecting the environment and making the permitting process more efficient.
“His guidance on a variety of issues related to the environment has been vital,” Corbett said. “DEP has been in good hands under his leadership.”
Corbett appointed Krancer to his cabinet in January 2011, where Krancer oversaw many major initiatives, including the reorganization of the agency, which created an Oil and Gas deputate and improved consistency statewide in enforcing that industry’s regulations.
Krancer also oversaw the Permit Review Process and Permit Decision Guarantee, which have brought timeliness and consistency to the permitting process for all agency-regulated activities.
In April 2011, Krancer and the governor issued a call to Marcellus Shale operators to stop delivering shale gas drilling wastewater to plants that were not equipped to fully treat it, which resulted in a sea change overnight and improved the health of Pennsylvania’s waterways.
Krancer also made brownfields redevelopment and abandoned mine reclamation projects around the state a priority and oversaw the implementation of the Covered Device Recycling Act.
Krancer and his agency were also instrumental in facilitating new investments and potential investments around the state, including his role in Governor Corbett’s team efforts to save the three southeastern Pennsylvania refineries and attract to them new environmentally responsible investors, employers and projects.
Krancer also had the opportunity to testify as an expert before several U.S. Congressional committees on many topics.
“Serving Gov.  Corbett and DEP has been the greatest honor of my career,’’ Krancer said. “Pennsylvania is well on its way to becoming the focal point of an American energy revolution, and I am grateful to the governor for giving me this  role in assuring that natural gas and energy development happen in an environmentally sound and responsible manner.
“I owe a tremendous amount of thanks and appreciation to all of the talented, dedicated, hard-working professionals at DEP with whom I have been privileged to work as their Secretary,” he said.
DEP has 2,633 employees and a $655 million budget.
Krancer will rejoin his former law firm, Blank Rome LLP, an international law firm based in Philadelphia.
In addition to his previous legal work at Blank Rome, Krancer, 55, of Bryn Mawr, Montgomery County, served as a judge on the state’s Environmental Hearing Board for 10 years, including four years as chief judge and chairman. He has also worked as an attorney for Exelon Corp.
A graduate of the University of Virginia, Krancer earned his law degree from Washington and Lee University.
“I appreciate Mike’s unwavering commitment to this job, knowing that it took him away from spending quality time with his wife and children,’’ Corbett said. “While I am sorry to lose his expertise in the administration, I am glad this is an opportunity for him to go back home.”
In an email to DEP employees announcing he was moving on, Secretary Krancer said:
Dear Colleagues,
It is with mixed emotions that I tell you that I am leaving this great agency as of mid-April to go back to my home in Southeastern Pennsylvania.  I will be rejoining the law firm that I left in 1999 when I entered into my first stint in government service.
It has been the utmost privilege and honor to lead you and to work along side with you in our most important mission of protecting human health and the environment.  For over two years I have witnessed first-hand the hard work, passion and commitment to excellence the employees of this agency display on all fronts every day.  I feel that no leader of any organization has been as blessed as I have been over the past two plus years with the greatest of teams.
I want to personally give each and every one of you a heartfelt thank you for everything you have done during my time here.  I will miss all of you as colleagues but I feel a kinship and affection toward each of you that will never die.
-- Mike
Blank Rome Announcement
The Blank Rome law firm put out this announcement on Secretary Krancer--
Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection Michael L. Krancer is re-joining Blank Rome LLP as a partner in the firm's Philadelphia office.  With more than two decades of energy industry and public policy experience, Mr. Krancer will chair the firm's Energy, Petrochemical and Natural Resources Practice, enhancing the firm's existing energy and public policy talent and advising US and global energy clients in the full range of legal, public policy, government relations, state and federal regulatory, financial, corporate, and labor matters.  
"Secretary Krancer is one of the country's most prominent and forward-thinking leaders in energy policy, development and regulation," said Alan J. Hoffman, Blank Rome co-chairman and managing partner.  "Michael's practical experience at the highest levels of strategic state and federal government policymaking and government relations will significantly enhance our capabilities, particularly regarding the Marcellus and Utica Shale Plays and, accordingly, we expect he will be spending a lot of time in western Pennsylvania."
"The rapid move towards American energy self-sufficiency has created new opportunities for our nation," said Mr. Krancer. "The eyes of the world are on Pennsylvania and Appalachia in particular as a focal point of this paradigm shift in the energy landscape. Blank Rome understands the new energy and natural resources reality in Pennsylvania and throughout the world, and it has tremendous intellectual assets with which to help clients navigate this complicated and evolving industry landscape.
"A key asset of Blank Rome's energy industry practice is our ability to leverage the expertise of practitioners in all of our offices to form cross-border, cross-practice teams," added Mr. Krancer. "Our lawyers and policy specialists in Houston and Philadelphia, for example, have enabled us to advise a range of Texas-based oil and gas firms making substantial investments in Pennsylvania.  In New York, we advise energy businesses on the structuring of financial derivatives to manage their risk, and in Washington, DC, the firm advises clients on the gamut of federal industry regulation and public policy issues. From every point of our international footprint, from Blank Rome's offices in China and Los Angeles to our presence in Texas, in New York, and in Pennsylvania, where so much of the energy industry is focused on developing new resources, we are well-situated to serve energy clients.
"I deeply appreciate the opportunity that Gov. Corbett gave me to lead the Department of Environmental Protection.  I am also truly excited to return to Philadelphia and my friends and partners at Blank Rome," concluded Mr. Krancer.
NewsClips:
Krancer On Why He’s Leaving DEP
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Feature: 100th Anniversary Of The 1913 Flood, Nightmare In Sharon, PA

By: Jeff Satterly, HistoricNaturalDisaster.com
The week of March 21st through March 26th marks the 100 year anniversary of one of the greatest – and least known - natural disasters to ever hit the United States.

This week in 1913, a series of storms and floods ravaged much of the Midwest and parts of New England that left hundreds of people dead and thousands more homeless while causing damage to property in the billions of dollars.
(Photo: 1913 flooding in Exposition Park, Pittsburgh.)
In Pittsburgh and most other parts of Pennsylvania in the storms’ path, the death counts were much lower than they had been in neighboring Ohio since word of the flooding coming from the west gave Pennsylvania residents a few days of warning.
The financial losses and damage to infrastructure were still substantial, however, particularly to railroads like the Pennsylvania Lines, who estimated storm-related losses equivalent to about $83 million in today’s dollars.
One town in Pennsylvania that seems to have been hit the hardest by the storm was the sleepy, industrial town of Sharon.
Located in the Shenango River Valley, Sharon was a quiet town of about 18,000. On March 23, Easter Sunday of 1913, the sleepy town received a rude wakeup call. The rains from the east had rapidly filled the Shenango River, which spilled over its banks and into the streets of Sharon.
Some areas of the town were filled with water 18 feet deep. The town’s residents, taken by surprise and unprepared for the flood, were forced to the roofs of their houses to escape the rising waters.
Soon after the scope of the flooding became clear, the town went into rescue mode. Local factories that weren’t completely flooded began producing boats, and as quickly as they could be made, a crew of volunteers would be assembled and sent out to rescue those trapped on their roofs.
It was thanks largely to the quick response by these groups of volunteers that hundreds of otherwise doomed residents were able to be saved.
Relief supplies weren’t delivered to Sharon until 4 days after the flood because miles of railways and bridges had been damaged or destroyed. When the mayor of Sharon reached out to the government for aid, it’s said that he was told “Dayton first, Sharon can take care of itself”, since Dayton Ohio was the largest and most populous city affected by the flooding.
But take care of itself Sharon did, with all able bodied men put to use in the city cleaning up and repairing what remained, and the streets were in full use just a week later. The damage to Sharon was around $2 million ($45.7 million in 2013 dollars), but they were luckier than some, having only lost one citizen to the flood.
Thanks so much to David Hess for letting us share a piece of this historical project with his readers. We’re humbled by the interest in this project, and we really hope you enjoyed this snippet of Pennsylvania history!
We’d also like to thank some of the great archives and archivists who have done so much to work toward helping preserve the amazing history of the 1913 flood, including the Dayton Metro Library and historian Trudy Bell. The amount of history compiled at these two websites is amazing.
Mapping History Contest
Lastly, thanks to Jason from InsuranceTown.com, who lent us some of the resources we used to help prepare content for the web and publish our blog, and inspired our Mapping History Contest.
Don’t forget to check out HistoricNaturalDisasters.com for more images, and for information on our Mapping History Contest– help us figure out the locations pictured in historic photos from 1913 and you could win $100!
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Analysis: Ironic Statement By Former DEP Secretary Hanger On Krancer’s Leaving

John Hanger, former Secretary of DEP under Gov. Rendell and announced Democratic candidate for Governor, released a statement today on the resignation of DEP Secretary Mike Krancer overflowing with irony.
He said, in part, “DEP’s ability to carry out its mission of protecting public health and the environment has been severely compromised by budget cuts to an already spare budget. But Corbett’s ideological opposition to adequate government funding also prevented DEP from moving forward with increases to fees for reviewing permit applications.
“Corbett’s DEP has failed to adequately regulate gas drilling and taken combative stances when citizens present the agency with legitimate concerns and problems.  The agency has been hostile to renewable energy and has failed to take action to clean up pollution in the Susquehanna River.”
And finally, “Morale at DEP is at devastatingly low levels.”
During the tenure of Gov. Rendell and his two DEP Secretaries, DEP was given jobs that strayed significantly from its core mission of clean air, pure water and protecting the natural resources of the Commonwealth and focused almost entirely on promoting alternative energy.
For eight straight years Gov. Rendell's proposed budget included cuts for the departments of Environmental Protection and Conservation and Natural Resources.  A total of $1.3 billion was cut or diverted from environmental programs to balance the General Fund budget or given to programs that could not get funding on their own.
The FY 2009-10 budget cuts alone required DEP and DCNR to furlough or eliminate 333 full time positions.  DCNR had to eliminate or reduce hours for 1,131 seasonal workers, putting appropriations for DEP at 1994 levels and for DCNR at 1995-96 levels.  And Gov. Rendell bragged about those funding levels.
Complement levels at DEP were reduced from 3,211 in FY 2002-03 to 2,835 now (January 2011), even less if you take out the 105 positions DEP added for the Marcellus Shale drilling inspection and permit program.  2,591 of the present 2,835 are now filled positions, the others are vacant.
In addition, over 100 DEP Air, Waste and Water Quality field staff use all or part of their time to act as managers for federal stimulus projects, projects funded by the Energy Harvest and PA Energy Development Authority programs taking time away from permit reviews, inspections and compliance activities.
Complement levels at DCNR were 1,391 in FY 2002-03 to 1,389 positions of which 1,289 positions are filled.
During the last eight years of the Rendell Administration, DEP's General Fund budget has been cut by 40.9 percent ($245.6 million to $147 million), DCNR by 23.7 percent  ($108.8 million to $82.4 million) and the Department of Agriculture by 35.2 percent ($76.1 million to $62.8 million) from the FY 2010-11 to FY 2002-03 budget.
One result of these cuts was a backlog of 11,000 permits left on DEP’s desks when Gov. Rendell left office.
These are the deep holes the Corbett Administration found when they came into office two years ago.
In addition, the Corbett Administration did not dismantle or divert the renewable energy programs put in place by Gov. Rendell, unlike what the Rendell Administration did to dismantle and dilute the Growing Greener Program which was making real, lasting improvements in the environment across the Commonwealth.
Hijacking the Growing Greener Program to help fund parking garages in Scranton, among other non-environmental cleanup expenditures, set back the state’s efforts to address pollution in the Susquehanna River and every stream and unnamed tributary in the Commonwealth.
Morale of not only DEP staff, but the whole environmental community engaged in watershed restoration and real environmental cleanups were devastated by the actions of the Rendell Administration.
Some of the Growing Greener Program was, in fact, restored with the adoption of Act 13 and the imposition of Marcellus Shale well fees in 2012 by the General Assembly and Gov. Corbett.
The Corbett Administration also carried forward each and every permit fee increase proposed in the waning days of the Rendell Administration, except for some fees under the drinking water program.  There were some changes, yes, but by-and-large they were all finalized.
DEP is also reviewing the adequacy of the current Marcellus Shale drilling permit fee this year and will likely propose an increase there as well.
Let’s not forget, it was also the Rendell Administration that dismantled the citizen water monitoring program and the PA Senior Environment Corps which at its peak involved 11,000 volunteers across the state to check water quality.
The Rendell Administration also dismantled the PA Center for Environmental Education which coordinated and promoted environmental education efforts across the state.
It was also the Rendell Administration which threw away 18,000 requests within weeks of taking office from citizens trying to learn how they could recycle more, save energy, prevent pollution and cleanup their local watersheds.  
No administration’s environmental record is perfect, but the truly historic scale of the budget cuts, staff reductions and the dismantling of real environmental cleanup programs by the Rendell Administration is the worst rollback of real environmental programs the Commonwealth has ever seen.
Click Here for a review of the environmental record of the Rendell Administration.
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DEP Secretary Mike Krancer Leaving For Blank Rome Law Firm

Gov. Tom Corbett Friday announced Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Mike Krancer will step down April 15 to return home to Montgomery County to practice law.
E. Christopher Abruzzo, deputy chief of staff for Governor Tom Corbett, will serve as acting secretary. Abruzzo, who works closely with Krancer and the DEP staff in his position as deputy chief of staff, will hold both positions until Corbett names Krancer’s successor.
“Secretary Krancer has been an invaluable member of our team and I am grateful for his service,’’ Corbett said. “His impressive efforts at DEP have taken the agency back to basics, protecting the environment and making the permitting process more efficient.
“His guidance on a variety of issues related to the environment has been vital,” Corbett said. “DEP has been in good hands under his leadership.”
Corbett appointed Krancer to his cabinet in January 2011, where Krancer oversaw many major initiatives, including the reorganization of the agency, which created an Oil and Gas deputate and improved consistency statewide in enforcing that industry’s regulations.
Krancer also oversaw the Permit Review Process and Permit Decision Guarantee, which have brought timeliness and consistency to the permitting process for all agency-regulated activities.
In April 2011, Krancer and the governor issued a call to Marcellus Shale operators to stop delivering shale gas drilling wastewater to plants that were not equipped to fully treat it, which resulted in a sea change overnight and improved the health of Pennsylvania’s waterways.
Krancer also made brownfields redevelopment and abandoned mine reclamation projects around the state a priority and oversaw the implementation of the Covered Device Recycling Act.
Krancer and his agency were also instrumental in facilitating new investments and potential investments around the state, including his role in Governor Corbett’s team efforts to save the three southeastern Pennsylvania refineries and attract to them new environmentally responsible investors, employers and projects.
Krancer also had the opportunity to testify as an expert before several U.S. Congressional committees on many topics.
“Serving Governor Corbett and DEP has been the greatest honor of my career,’’ Krancer said. “Pennsylvania is well on its way to becoming the focal point of an American energy revolution, and I am grateful to the governor for giving me this  role in assuring that natural gas and energy development happen in an environmentally sound and responsible manner.
“I owe a tremendous amount of thanks and appreciation to all of the talented, dedicated, hard-working professionals at DEP with whom I have been privileged to work as their Secretary,” he said.
DEP has 2,633 employees and a $655 million budget.
Krancer will rejoin his former law firm, Blank Rome LLP, an international law firm based in Philadelphia.
In addition to his previous legal work at Blank Rome, Krancer, 55, of Bryn Mawr, Montgomery County, served as a judge on the state’s Environmental Hearing Board for 10 years, including four years as chief judge and chairman. He has also worked as an attorney for Exelon Corp.
A graduate of the University of Virginia, Krancer earned his law degree from Washington and Lee University.
“I appreciate Mike’s unwavering commitment to this job, knowing that it took him away from spending quality time with his wife and children,’’ Corbett said. “While I am sorry to lose his expertise in the administration, I am glad this is an opportunity for him to go back home.”
NewsClips:
Krancer To Resign As DEP Secretary
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Friday NewsClips

Harley-Davidson Receivers Governor’s Environmental Award
Click Here for PA Capitol Digest NewsClips
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Thursday, March 21, 2013

Susquehanna Water Science Forum October 7-8, Call For Abstracts, Student Posters

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission will host the first-ever Susquehanna Water Science Forum on October 7-8 at the Radisson Hotel in Harrisburg.
The Forum will bring together researchers and water resource managers to share current water resource research, prioritize research needs and better coordinate research activities in the Susquehanna River Basin. Public and private interests will focus on applied research in aquatic ecosystem management, providing a catalyst for continued coordination and development.
All interested parties, including professionals and students, are invited to submit an abstract to present a paper.  Students also can submit a poster.  Abstracts and posters should address these questions--
-- What are the greatest threats (stressors) to the integrity of aquatic ecosystems?
-- How do we evaluate the effects of stressors on aquatic ecosystems (watersheds)?
-- How can water manager balance competing uses to ensure long-term sustainability of the basin’s water resources, economy and ecosystem services?
-- How can water managers use science to achieve balanced policy and regulations?
Instructions on submitting abstracts and student posters, a tentative agenda and registration information are available at the Susquehanna Water Science Forum webpage.
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Commonwealth Financing Authority Accepting Flood Mitigation Project Applications

The Corbett Administration announced Thursday the Commonwealth Financing Authority will begin accepting applications for a program established by the Act 13 Marcellus Legacy Fund to support flood mitigation throughout the state.  
The deadline for applications is July 31 for consideration at the November 13 CFA meeting.
The CFA offers other project funding opportunities under Act 13, including: abandoned mine, watershed, recreation funding, alternative, clean energy funding, high performance building funding and PennWorks Program water supply, wastewater infrastructure funding.
"Act 13 reaffirms Gov. Corbett's commitment to responsible natural gas development here in Pennsylvania," Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary C. Alan Walker said.
"The CFA has now successfully implemented six of the seven programs created by the Act 13 Marcellus Legacy Fund to provide critical resources to local governments for flood mitigation and environmental conservation projects."
The CFA funding to assist with flood mitigation projects is part of the $14.5 million made available this year to fund seven Marcellus Shale Legacy Fund programs.
At its February meeting, the CFA approved guidelines for abandoned mine drainage, abatement and treatment, watershed restoration and protection, water quality data, greenways, trails and recreation, and orphan and abandoned well plugging programs in the state.  
Act 13, which Gov. Corbett signed into law in 2012, authorized counties to impose an impact fee on unconventional natural gas wells.
Last year, the fee generated more than $204 million that is benefiting every Pennsylvanian. The majority of the revenues are distributed to local governments where drilling is taking place, with the remainder of the money used for statewide programs or distributed to counties based on population.
The flood mitigation guidelines approved by the CFA will make funding available to: acquire land, rights-of-way, and easements necessary to construct eligible projects. Eligible projects include construction, improvement, expansion, repair or rehabilitation of flood control projects; engineering costs; inspection costs; and permitting fees.  
The $14.5 million in CFA funding is in addition to $10.9 million in impact fee funding for conservation and recreation programs that has already been distributed to counties, as well as $7.2 million to the state's Growing Greener fund.
Applicants can begin applying immediately under the new guidelines for the Act 13 Programs through DCED's electronic single application system.
The programs are administered jointly by the Department of Community and Economic Development, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and the Department of Environmental Protection, under the direction of the CFA and DCNR.
Notify Your Legislators: If you plan to apply for funding under this program, PA Environment Digest strongly urges you to notify your local House and Senate member that you have applied and make sure they know how important it is to you.
For more information, visit the Commonwealth Financing Authority website.  Eligible applicants are encouraged to contact Brian Eckert or Matthew Karnell at 717-787-6245 to discuss potential projects before commencing the application process.
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Thursday NewsClips

Both Sides Agree On Tough New Fracking Standards
Click Here for PA Capitol Digest NewsClips
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Wednesday, March 20, 2013

CBF: DEP's River Sampling Plan, Webpage Positive First Step

Harry Campbell, Pennsylvania Executive Director for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation issued this statement following the public release of the Department of Environmental Protection’s work plan to study the Susquehanna River. Portions of the study will focus on areas of the River or its tributaries where smallmouth bass reproduce.
“DEP’s newly launched “Susquehanna River Study Updates” webpage is a positive first step toward sharing science and data to educate the public and build awareness about the plight of the smallmouth bass population.
“CBF and American Rivers recently called on DEP to commit to a clearly defined public engagement process that provides updates on the study and the progress, and to publicly share their data and findings throughout the process.  We are pleased that our request has been acted upon.
“While this news is encouraging, we will continue to call on DEP and their partners to seek the answers and take actions to resolve the issues in the Susquehanna. We continue to believe the impairment listing of the Lower Susquehanna River would galvanize state, federal, academic, and nonprofit efforts to study and solve the problem. Many scientific questions remain, but one thing that is certain is that an entire fishery may be in jeopardy and time is of the essence if we are to turn things around.”
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