PA Capitol Digest Blog

John Dawes, Executive Director of the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds, received the PA Land Trust Association’s 2015 Lifetime Conservation Leadership Award during its annual Conference in Gettysburg Thursday.

Senate Hearing Offers Incomplete, Misleading Picture Of Water Quality Cleanup Efforts

The Senate Republican Policy Committee Wednesday held a hearing for the purpose of touting Senate Bill 724 (Vogel-R-Beaver) and Bion Environmental Technologies as the solution to reducing nutrient pollution and meeting Pennsylvania’s Chesapeake Bay commitments.

Bion: We Don’t Have To Pay Back PennVEST Loan, But We Could With PennVEST $$$

Bion Environmental Technologies attempted Monday to respond to critics of Senate Bill 724 (Vogel-R-Beaver), which threatens to derail current clean water restoration efforts and divert critical funding from proven science-based practices, while favoring proprietary, corporate-backed and costly manure technologies.

DEP Now Accepting Applications For Growing Greener Watershed Restoration Grants

The Department of Environmental Protection is now accepting applications for its 2015 Growing Greener Plus Watershed Protection and Restoration Grants Program. Applications will be accepted until July 10. (formal notice)

DEP Offers Rebates For Alternative Fuel Vehicles

The Department of Environmental Protection is again offer rebates to consumers who purchase plug-in hybrid electric, natural gas fueled, hydrogen fueled, propane and other alternative fuel vehicles through its Alternative Fuels Incentive Grant Program. (formal notice)

The rebates will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis until December 31. For more information, visit the Alternative Fuels Incentive Grant Program webpage.

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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.

PA Environment Digest was the winner of the PA Association of Environmental Educators' 2009 Business Partner of the Year Award.

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PA Courts: Medical Malpractice Case Filings Reach 14-Year Low

The number of medical malpractice case filings dipped last year to the lowest point since statewide tracking began in 2000.

The latest available figures compiled by the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts show there were 1,463 new cases filed in Pennsylvania’s civil courts in 2014, marking the fewest ever recorded.

The latest filings represent a 46.5 percent decline from the number posted in the “base years” of 2000-2002. In Philadelphia, the state’s judicial district with the largest caseload, the decline has been 68.3 percent during the same period.

The base years are the period just prior to two significant rules changes made by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. The first change required attorneys to obtain from a medical professional a “certificate of merit” that establishes that the medical procedures in a case fall outside acceptable standards.

A second change required medical malpractice actions to be brought only in the county where the cause of action took place — a move aimed at eliminating so-called “venue shopping.”

The number of jury verdicts grew slightly to 127 last year from 110 in 2013; however, that’s roughly a third of the 326 jury verdicts seen in 2000. It also was the third lowest number of jury verdicts in the 14-year reporting period.

The data also shows slightly more than 81 percent of the verdicts in 2014 were for the defense. One of the only two reported non-jury verdicts during the year was for the defense.

For a more complete look at Pennsylvania’s medical malpractice case information, visit the PA Courts website and click on Med Mal Dashboard.