April 22, 2016

April 25 PA Environment Digest

The April 25 PA Environment Digest is now available.  Here are just a few of the headlines--

The Independent Regulatory Review Commission voted 3 to 2 to approve DEP’s final Chapter 78 (conventional) and 78a (unconventional, Marcellus Shale) drilling regulations at its meeting Thursday after 7 hours of hearing from DEP and those opposing and supporting the rulemaking.

The Secretaries of the departments of Environmental Protection and Conservation and Natural Resources joined the PA Environmental Council Tuesday in honoring the 13 recipients of the Governor’s Awards for Environmental Excellence at a dinner in Harrisburg.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation in Pennsylvania has received the prestigious Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence for helping landowners plant thousands of trees, reduce pollution of rivers and streams, and improve water quality in the Commonwealth.

These remarks were delivered Thursday at the 10th Annual Conference of The Society of Women Environmental Professionals - Capital Chapter at Central Penn College Conference Center near Harrisburg by David E. Hess who served as Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection for Governors Tom Ridge and Mark Schweiker.
The remarks touch on the challenges faced by the environmental movement in the 46 years since the first Earth Day.

Earth Day is a good time for reflection, and PA Environment Digest thought it would be a good time to reflect on the kinds of programs, initiatives and services funding cuts have eliminated in the last 13 years.  Both political parties need to take the responsibility for 13 years of rolling back environmental protection programs.

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission Monday released a new report on consumptive water use by the natural gas industry which showed from July 2008 to December 2013 the industry used a total of 13.4 billion gallons of water from surface, ground and other sources averaging about 6.7 million gallons per day.

The 2016 PA Abandoned Mine Reclamation Conference will be held from June 22 to 23 at the Indiana University of PA Kovalchick Conference Center in Indiana, PA.  The theme of this year’s Conference is Economics and the Environment.

PA Secretary of Education Pedro A. Rivera Friday congratulated Park Forest Elementary School in State College, Slippery Rock University, and the School District of Jenkintown in Montgomery County for being named Green Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education.

The Environmental Quality Board Tuesday approved proposed fee increases for radon certification and a 50 percent increase in fees for the licensing and inspection of radioactive materials for public comment.

The PA Resources Council Thursday announced it will now accept TVs at its remaining Hard to Recycle Collections Events as a result of a change in DEP policy to allow groups to charge fees for recycling those items.

The Department of Environmental Protection published a notice in the April 23 PA Bulletin announcing the next update to its Air Quality Program fees will include fees on greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide, if EPA’s Clean Power Climate Plan is upheld in court.
The notice also clarified that its existing Air Quality fees do not apply to carbon dioxide, hydrofluorocarbons, methane, nitrous oxide, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride.

Eleven residents, business owners, and organizations from across the Pennsylvania Wilds region will be recognized with awards later this month for their contributions helping grow the region’s nature and heritage tourism industry.

The Citizens Voice reported Thursday Patrick J. Solano will be recognized by the Pennsylvania Society with its prestigious Distinguished Citizen of the Commonwealth Award.  Click Here to read the entire article.

To read the Digest, visit: www.PaEnvironmentDigest.com.  Click Here to print the entire Digest.

PA Environment Digest is edited by David E. Hess, former Secretary Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, and is published as a service of Crisci Associates.


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Questions?: Send email to David Hess at: DHess@CrisciAssociates.com