Pa Environment Digest April 9, 2018

Issue #719 Crisci Associates, Harrisburg, PA April 9, 2018
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William Penn Foundation Announces $42 Million In New Funding For Delaware River
Watershed Initiative
The William Penn Foundation Wednesday

announced $42 million in new funding over the next
3 years for the Delaware River Watershed Initiative,
which stands among the country’s largest
non-regulatory conservation efforts to protect and
restore clean water.
The DRWI is a collaborative effort involving 65
non-governmental organizations working together at
an unprecedented scale to protect and restore clean
water in the Delaware River watershed, the source of
drinking water for 15 million people in
Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Delaware.
As the lead funder to date, the William Penn Foundation’s investment in the DRWI now
totals more than $100 million.
Leadership by public agencies and NGOs at the state and local levels is critical to
continuing the momentum of environmental gains achieved over the past several decades.
The DRWI’s bottom-up approach represents a strategic path forward for the Delaware
River watershed and other major watersheds across the country; it is a nationally significant
model that demonstrates the power of an organized, independent, NGO-driven approach that
encourages partnership among the public, private and philanthropic sectors and is rooted in local
communities.
In the Delaware River watershed, about half of the pollution in the system’s waterways is
the result of nonpoint source pollution from myriad places, therefore inherently difficult to
address through regulation alone.
Rapid population growth and resulting urban and suburban sprawl are driving significant
impacts to the watershed by shrinking and fragmenting forests that are critical to protecting clean
water.
Runoff from paved surfaces and agricultural fields carry pesticides, chemicals and other
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toxins into our streams and rivers. These growing problems will threaten drinking water for
millions of people every day if left unaddressed.
“When we led the creation of the DRWI, our intent was to serve as a catalyst for
accelerated watershed protection in our region,” said Janet Haas, Board Chair of the William
Penn Foundation. “We wanted to build a framework that would harness the enormous capacity
of conservation organizations to work together on a shared approach, and to see whether that
critical mass could affect greater change. The result is a model that will not only have an effect
in the Delaware River watershed, but also will provide a model that can be replicated in other
watersheds tackling similarly complex issues.”
Launched in 2014, the DRWI mobilized local and regional organizations to collaborate at
an unprecedented scale in an effort to accelerate conservation. The DRWI is guided by strong
science and data; partners methodically assess water quality by monitoring more than 500 sites in
the watershed. The resulting data drives decision-making.
Over the past four years, DRWI partners have initiated projects that collectively will
strategically protect 19,604 acres and restore an additional 8,331 acres to reduce the impacts of
pollution.
Partners have also leveraged $72.7 million in additional public and private funds. The
effort has also resulted in major collaborations to better target conservation, share data, and
develop new modeling and monitoring tools with both regional and national applications.
Equipped with the learning and data from the past four years, organizations receiving this
additional $42 million, three-year investment will build on the initial successes of the initiative to
protect and restore an estimated 43,484 additional acres and continue science-driven,
data-informed efforts to secure clean, abundant water in the watershed.
“Our extensive monitoring produces real-time data on water quality, and the tools
developed through the DRWI have essentially created a feedback loop where we can analyze the
potential impacts of projects across the watershed in order to pinpoint areas of greatest potential
change, and measure whether our efforts had an effect on the water,” said Roland Wall, Senior
Director for Environmental Initiatives at the Academy of Natural Sciences. “Eventually, we can
amplify those results to mobilize widespread action grounded in high-quality science.”
The Delaware River basin is a densely populated region, providing drinking water to over
5 percent of the U.S. population. Yet it still contains many famously beautiful landscapes—the
Catskills, Poconos, Delaware Water Gap, New Jersey Highlands and Pinelands, and the historic
Lehigh, Schuylkill, and Brandywine River Valleys.
The challenges to clean water facing this 13,500 square mile watershed are diffuse, and
there are many things private landowners and local municipalities can do on their own to help
solve these problems.
The DRWI is addressing widespread sources of pollution that collectively have major
impacts on water quality in our rivers and streams: erosion and runoff from deforested acres in
the basin headwaters; polluted runoff from agricultural fields; flooding and polluted stormwater
from developed areas; and depletion of the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer in southern New Jersey.
The DRWI assembles strong players in the conservation field in the Delaware Basin, and
provides them with strategic opportunities and resources to work together in specific geographies
within the watershed to accelerate conservation.
Together these partners are addressing complex issues by protecting land, restoring
streams, testing innovative approaches in these geographical “laboratories,” and monitoring
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results over time.
To complement their on-the-ground conservation work, partners are working side-by-side
to improve planning processes, develop new sources of revenue, and involve local communities
and municipalities through communications.
A steering committee of leading conservation organizations comprising the Academy of
Natural Sciences of Drexel University, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the Open
Space Institute, and the Institute for Conservation Leadership provides technical assistance to 60
additional national and regional partners.
“What is being tested through the Delaware River Watershed Initiative – both the
collaboration and the marrying of strategies that can be measured through water quality
improvements – could have implications for generations to come,” said Dianne Russell,
President of Institute for Conservation Leadership. “Working together, partners are connecting
each other’s strengths and abilities to concentrate their efforts, resulting in both tangible change
and the weaving together of relationships and capacities that will have other benefits to the
environment and the people in the Delaware River Basin. The approach being tested in these
‘laboratories’ has the potential to expand to other locations across the watershed and beyond in
the future.”
“Protecting headwaters forests, which absorb, store and recharge ground water and filter
out pollutants, is the first and best way to ensure clean water in the Delaware River Basin,” said
Kim Elliman, president and CEO of the Open Space Institute. “The Open Space Institute is
pleased and honored to join with the region’s land trusts as we intensify our collective efforts to
protect important forestland in places like the Upper Lehigh, the Schuylkill Highlands and Pine
Barrens, and riparian forested buffers on farms. By targeting our efforts and leveraging other
private and public investments, we can help maintain the extraordinary natural infrastructure that
keeps our water clean and sustains a rich ecosystem as well as vibrant recreational economy in
this unique place.”
“NFWF launched the Delaware River Restoration Fund to foster water quality
improvements and habitat restoration in targeted regions of the watershed in 2014,” said Jeff
Trandahl, executive director and CEO, NFWF. “A major part of the Delaware River Watershed
Initiative, since the Fund’s inception, we have invested $8.5 million in 55 projects, leveraging
over $28 million in additional conservation resources, for a total conservation impact of more
than $36 million in just four years. We are proud to be a part of this dynamic partnership and
look forward to the next three years of delivering restoration in the Delaware watershed.”
DRWI Highlights To Date
Since 2014, the the organizations participating in DRWI have made substantial progress
that positions them to continue accelerating the rate of conservation in years to come. These
achievements include:
-- Using science to prioritize work: Partners determined eight priority places in which to
concentrate their conservation efforts, where scientific data showed the highest potential for
improved water quality.
-- Collaboration: Dozens of conservation organizations collaborated to develop shared work
plans for their efforts in those eight places, where they are pooling their resources and
concentrating efforts for greater impact.
-- Baseline assessment: The Academy of Natural Sciences brought its scientific expertise to
analyze stream conditions in the eight priority areas, establishing a critically important baseline
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against which to measure impact.
-- Ongoing monitoring: Water quality is continually measured within these eight areas to detect
changes in stream quality and assess impact over time, harnessing the capacity of academics,
professionals, and citizen scientists.
-- Conservation: Partners collectively protected 19,604 acres of important headwater forests to
protect already-clean waterways and restored an additional 8,331 acres to reduce the impacts of
pollution from agriculture and stormwater on impaired streams.
-- New technology: Expert data scientists developed nationally significant new tools to help
practitioners find the best places to further concentrate conservation in the future:
WikiWatershed and the Stream Reach Assessment Tool. These tools were used to identify
project areas for the newly funded phase of the Initiative.
Click Here for a list of participating organizations.
For more information on this initiative, visit the William Penn Foundation’s Delaware
River Watershed Initiative webpage.
NewsClips:
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Registrations Now Being Accepted For June 15-23 Delaware River Sojourn
[Posted: April 4, 2018]
Delaware River Watershed Initiative: Suburban Philadelphia Partners Build On

The William Penn Foundation Wednesday

announced $42 million in new funding over the
next 3 years for the second phase of the Delaware
River Watershed Initiative.
Already among the country’s largest
non-governmental conservation efforts to protect
and restore clean water, the DRWI is a
4
first-of-its-kind regional collaboration involving 65 non-governmental organizations working
together to protect and restore the Delaware River and its tributaries, which provide drinking
water for 15 million people in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Delaware.
DRWI partners are organized geographically into eight local working groups, each
focused on water quality issues specific to their respective communities.
In suburban Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Environmental Council is leading a
collaboration of community-based watershed organizations and technical experts from Temple
and Villanova Universities, which has been working since 2014 to protect clean water through
research and targeted, data-driven interventions.
With the renewal of DRWI funding, this work can now continue for another three years.
Collectively the suburban Philadelphia collaborative has built $4.7 million of new
stormwater control measures at dozens of sites across the watershed.
Projects have slowed and infiltrated polluted stormwater, stabilized stream banks, and
restored forest buffers along streams that act as natural filters.
Additionally, partners have monitored water quality at 108 sites, trained more than 300
volunteers as stream monitors, and rallied thousands of citizens to donate 9,000 hours at
cleanups, tree plantings, and clean water educational events.
At a time when the federal government is redefining its role in environmental protection,
leadership by public agencies and NGOs at the state and local levels is more important than ever
to keep our water clean.
Though federal policies such as the Clean Water Act have successfully reduced pollution
in waterways nationwide over the past several decades, recent rollbacks of protections, and
budget cuts for the federal Environmental Protection Agency, threaten to slow or reverse
progress.
In the face of these challenges, the DRWI’s bottom-up approach represents a strategic
path forward for the region, demonstrating the power of organized, independent,
nonprofit-driven cooperation among communities and the philanthropic sector.
“By design, The Delaware River Watershed Initiative aligns the work of 65 organizations
in the watershed to accelerate conservation,” said Andrew Johnson, program director for
Watershed Protection at the William Penn Foundation. “The Initiative is rooted in the strength of
these organizations individually and in their ability to collaborate using science to target the most
important places for conservation. Together they are protecting and restoring those places,
measuring the impact of their efforts on local streams, and learning collectively to improve their
work.”
Across the Delaware River basin, WPF’s strategy of catalyzing cooperation among local
and regional groups has already yielded remarkable results.
In just over three years DRWI partners have strategically: initiated projects that will
protect 19,604 acres and restore an additional 8,331 acres, and monitored and sampled water
quality at more than 500 sites across four states.
This additional $42 million, three-year investment builds on initial successes to protect
and restore an estimated 43,484 additional acres and continue science-driven, data-informed
efforts to secure clean, abundant water in the basin.
“WPF’s leadership has really established a new paradigm in watershed protection,” said
PEC President Davitt Woodwell. “We are thrilled to be a part of it and look forward to even
greater success in the coming years.”
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Threats to the Delaware River basin are significant, demanding a concerted response
from private landowners and local officials to protect our natural resources.
The DRWI is tackling widespread pollution sources that harm clean water in our rivers
and streams: erosion and runoff from deforested acres in headwaters; polluted runoff from
agricultural fields; flooding and polluted stormwater from cities and suburbs; and a depleted
aquifer in southern New Jersey.
These growing problems will threaten drinking water for millions of people every day if
left unaddressed.
“The upstream suburban Philadelphia team is excited to build on past success as we focus
more on restoration projects and outreach strategies to improve our communities and reverse
decades of water quality degradation,” said Patrick Starr, executive vice president of PEC. “The
Delaware River Watershed Initiative is a powerful catalyst for working together more effectively
to achieve maximum impact and lasting change that will benefit current and future generations.”
The upstream suburban Philadelphia collaborative comprises six watershed conservation
organizations, two regional environmental nonprofits, a multi-municipal collaborative, and two
academic partners. The region includes parts of five watershed areas, encompassing 36
municipalities and approximately 400,000 residents.
Collaborative partners include the Darby Creek Valley Watershed Association, Eastern
Delaware County Stormwater Collaborative, Friends of Poquessing Watershed, Lower Merion
Conservancy, Pennsylvania Environmental Council, Pennsylvania Resources Council,
Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust, Temple University, Tookany/Tacony-Frankford
Watershed Partnership, Villanova University and Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association.
NewsClips:
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Delaware River Watershed Initiative: Middle & Upper Delaware Partners Build On
The William Penn Foundation Wednesday announced $42

million in new funding over the next 3 years for the second
phase of the Delaware River Watershed Initiative.
The DRWI is a first-of-its-kind collaboration involving 65
non-governmental organizations working together to
protect and restore the Delaware River and its tributaries,
which provide drinking water for 15 million people in
Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Delaware.
At a time when the federal government is redefining its role
in environmental protection, leadership by public agencies
and NGOs at the state and local levels is more important than ever to keep our water clean.
Federal policies over the past several decades such as the Clean Water Act have
successfully reduced pollution in waterways nationwide, yet recent rollbacks of protections, and
budget cuts for the federal Environmental Protection Agency, threaten to slow or reverse
progress.
River basin. It is a nationally significant model that demonstrates the power of an organized,
independent, non-profit-driven approach that encourages partnership between communities and
the philanthropic sector.
At its 2014 launch, the DRWI catalyzed local and regional groups to accelerate
conservation efforts. The DRWI stands out as a basin-scale program driven by non-profits and
guided by science.
In the Upper Delaware River region of Pike and Wayne Counties, PA, initial funding has
supported the protection of lands like Tri-Angle Farm, 50 forested acres in Pike County, PA with
a mixture of hemlocks, oaks, and maple trees providing important habitat for a variety of
wildlife.
The hemlocks provide important shade over the stream that runs through the property—a
tributary of Dingmans Creek, whose clean waters flow directly into the Delaware River and is
designated as a high quality cold water fishery for the habitat it provides for trout.
Most importantly, the property is adjacent to the 70,000-acre Delaware Water Gap
National Recreation Area and close to the Delaware State Forest and a nearby network of other
privately conserved properties.
This protected property now helps to create a corridor of unbroken, protected habitat
which is important for the safe nesting and migration of birds and wildlife.
In addition, in Wayne County, 200 forested acres recently protected will also protect the
water flowing from Lake Elizabeth into the Lackawaxen River and eventually to the Delaware
River—while the lands remain in private ownership.
These successes have inspired others to take action to protect their land, and the
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Delaware Highlands Conservancy and its partners look toward the next phase of funding support
with plans to protect thousands of additional unfragmented acres of forests, lakes, and wetlands
among the Little Bushkill Creek in Pike County, with additional funding support provided by the
Forest Legacy Program.
Protected forestlands provide clean drinking water, wildlife habitat, and sustainable local
jobs in the Upper Delaware River region, while conserving an important part of our region's
history for future generations.
The Initiative provides a replicable model that can be used to improve water health across
the country.
left unaddressed.
work.”
Partners working collaboratively in the Middle and Upper Delaware River region include
the Brodhead Watershed Association, Delaware Highlands Conservancy, East Stroudsburg
University, Natural Lands, Orange County Land Trust, Pocono Heritage Land Trust, the Pinchot
Institute for Conservation and The Nature Conservancy - Pennsylvania.
NewsClips:
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Success
New Contest Opens

The William Penn Foundation Wednesday announced $42

million in new funding over the next 3 years for the
second phase of the Delaware River Watershed Initiative.
The Brandywine-Christina Watershed Partners are
leading a major project to protect clean water in the
Brandywine-Christina Watershed, as members of the
Delaware River Watershed Initiative.
The DRWI is a first-of-its-kind collaboration
involving 65 non-governmental organizations working
together to protect and restore the Delaware River and its tributaries, which provide drinking
water for 15 million people in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Delaware.
River basin. It is a nationally significant model that demonstrates the power of an organized,
independent, non-profit-driven approach that encourages partnership between communities and
the philanthropic sector.
Tasked with leading one of the eight targeted areas identified by the DRWI as priority
zones—where interventions could significantly safeguard or improve clean water—the
Brandywine-Christina Watershed Partners consist of the Brandywine Conservancy, Brandywine
Red Clay Alliance, Natural Lands, Stroud Water Research Center, The Nature Conservancy in
Delaware and the University of Delaware Water Resources Center.
Recently the Partners completed work on a four-year Phase 1 watershed protection and
restoration project funded in part by the William Penn Foundation as part of the DRWI.
Under the grant, the Partners focused on land protection, agricultural restoration through
the implementation of Best Management Practices (BMPs), in-stream restoration, and
improvement of municipal regulations to better protect water resources.
These activities were concentrated in six targeted focus areas within the Brandywine-
Christina Watershed, which consists of the headwater sections of the Brandywine River, Red and
White Clay creeks, Little Buck Run, Sharitz Run (a tributary of Doe Run) and Plum Run.
During Phase 1, the Brandywine-Christina Watershed Partners preserved 19 farms,
covering 1,243 acres with nine miles of streams.
Over eight miles of stream bank fencing was installed and they collectively planted over
34,500 trees along 22 miles of streams, creating over 123 acres of stream side buffers.
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The Partners also implemented 185 separate agricultural BMPs on 44 critical farms in
sensitive headwater areas.
Additionally, the Partners were successful in helping six local municipalities to adopt
riparian buffer ordinances, setting minimum set-back, management and site maintenance
standards for developing properties with streams.
Together—leveraging funds already received through the DRWI—the Partners raised
over $19.3 million in non-William Penn Foundation funding over the four-year Phase 1 period to
complete these tasks.
“Over the past four years, the Brandywine-Christina Watershed Partners have achieved
amazing successes in protecting and restoring water quality in our watershed. This would not
have been possible without the support of the William Penn Foundation and the Partners working
closely together as a team,” said David Shields, Associate Director of Land Conservation for the
Brandywine Conservancy and coordinator of the Brandywine-Christina Watershed Partners. “We
look forward to working together over the next three years, building on what has been
accomplished to date.”
A publication entitled “Brandywine-Christina State of the Watershed Report” will be
issued at a Clean Water Conference on May 3, 2018, where the Partners will share their work
and findings with conservationists and policy makers.
Going forward under the Foundation’s DRWI Phase 2 grants, the Partners intend to
concentrate on four of the focus areas, excluding Little Buck and Sharitz Runs, and continue
their work by protecting 17 additional farms covering 890 acres with agricultural conservation
easements, planting at least 10.5 miles of forested stream buffers, and implementing a full suite
of agricultural BMPs on 41 farms.
Approximately one-and-a-half miles of streams are expected to be restored, and dozens
of municipalities will receive planning and technical assistance.
To accomplish this work, the Partners will seek to raise over $9.7 million in non-William
Penn Foundation funding from public and private sources.
In addition, a new conservation funding mechanism is proposed—the Brandywine-
Christina Healthy Water Fund—which is projected to secure up to $10 million in new capital
funding through investments by the watershed’s downstream beneficiaries in upstream land
restoration and protection measures to protect and restore water quality.
conservation efforts.
The DRWI stands out as a basin-scale program driven by non-profits and guided by
science. In just over four years DRWI partners have strategically:initiated projects that will
The Initiative provides a replicable model that can be used to improve water health across
the country.
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left unaddressed.
work.”
NewsClips:
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New Contest Opens
Delaware River Watershed Initiative: Natural Lands Highlights Past, Future Work
Natural Lands, based in Delaware County, is leading a

major project to protect clean water in the region as a
member of the Delaware River Watershed Initiative lead
by the William Penn Foundation.
The DRWI’s bottom-up approach represents a strategic
path forward for the Delaware River basin. It is a
nationally significant model that demonstrates the power
11
of an organized, independent, non-profit-driven approach that encourages partnership between
communities and the philanthropic sector.
“The thousands of miles of our region’s rivers and streams literally connect us all. These
waterways are the lifeblood of the Mid-Atlantic, supplying drinking water and jobs for millions
of us,” said Molly Morrison, president of Natural Lands. “We have come a long way from the
polluting times of the industrial revolution, but there are still grave threats to our watershed.
Natural Lands is honored to be part of this ground-breaking effort to protect forested headwaters,
increase access to nature, and ensure clean water for us all.”
conservation efforts. The DRWI stands out as a basin-scale program driven by non-profits and
guided by science.
Because of its broad reach across the watershed and long history—65 years and
counting—Natural Lands was asked to play an integral role in five of the eight priority areas
within the watershed.
In the Brandywine-Christina region, Natural Lands has partnered with Brandywine
Conservancy to assist six townships with progressive zoning that restored trees to “riparian
buffers” along streams.
Going forward, Natural Lands will focus on partnering with other organizations in the
DRWI to assist at least five municipalities in implementing local stormwater management plans,
and adopting open space plans and land use regulations that conserve water quality.
In the Schuylkill Highlands region—which covers the area around Reading, Pennsburg,
and Pottstown—Natural Lands has:
-- Permanently protected 2,000 acres of land,
-- Worked with multiple DRWI partners to develop the Schuylkill Water Stewards program and
train more than 50 volunteers in water monitoring, and
-- Hosted a workshop for 50 municipal staff, officials, and consultants focused on green
stormwater infrastructure, redevelopment, and parking area greening.
Going forward, the organization will focus on protecting an additional 2,000 acres of
land, and work with municipalities to create open space and green stormwater infrastructure
plans, update ordinances pertaining to zoning and subdivision land land development plans, and
hold a workshop focused on tools to implement water protection measures.
In the Poconos-Kittatinny region, Natural Lands has:
-- Assisted communities with updating zoning codes to better protect natural resources and
encourage innovate stormwater practices, and
-- Hosted workshops for municipal officials focused on ordinance updates and land use measures
designed to improve or maintain water quality.
Going forward, the organization’s efforts will focus on saving open space in Monroe
County; updating local ordinances to boost water quality protections; and hosting additional
municipal training workshops on topics such as green infrastructure, public lands stewardship,
and conservation design.
In the Upper Lehigh region, Natural Lands has:
-- Added 148.76 acres of permanently protected land to its Bear Creek Preserve, and
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-- Helped five municipalities adopt zoning regulations that improve water quality, including
standards for new residential development with open space, and greening of commercial parking
lots.
Going forward, Natural Lands will focus on saving another 500 acres of land; and assist
at least seven more municipalities with plans, programs, and land use regulations that conserve
natural areas and water quality, thereby augmenting land protection efforts.
In the Kirkwood-Cohansey Aquifer region, Natural Lands has assisted with the
permanent protection of 119 acres of forest adjacent to Sunset Lake and of a 417-acre property
that was the former Sheppard’s Mill Girl Scout Camp.
Going forward, Natural Lands’ efforts will include helping Woodstown High School’s
ecology program expand to include an advanced placement class focusing on water quality and
quantity issues.
The William Penn Foundation Wednesday announced $42 million in new funding over
the next 3 years for the second phase of the Delaware River Watershed Initiative.
The DRWI is a first-of-its-kind collaboration involving 65 non-governmental
organizations working together to protect and restore the Delaware River and its tributaries,
which provide drinking water for 15 million people in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and
Delaware.
efforts to secure clean, abundant water in the basin. The Initiative provides a replicable model
that can be used to improve water health across the country.
and streams: erosion and runoff from deforested acres in headwaters, polluted runoff from
agricultural fields, flooding and polluted stormwater from cities and suburbs, and a depleted
left unaddressed.
work.”
For more information on programs, initiatives and upcoming events, visit the Natural
Lands website. Click Here to sign up for regular updates from Natural Lands and Like them on
Facebook. Click Here to support their activities.
Click Here for a list of DRWI participating organizations.
NewsClips:
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New Contest Opens
The Delaware River Basin Commission Wednesday

issued a statement saying it has no set schedule for
finalizing its proposed ban on fracking in the
watershed. It also made available the comments
submitted as part of its public comment period on
the proposed moratorium.
“The Commission will take time to review and
consider the oral comments and written submissions
received, determine whether any changes based on
the comments are appropriate, and prepare a
response document. There is no set schedule for a
vote by the Commissioners to adopt final rules. As
always, the Commission may adopt final rules only
at a duly-noticed public meeting.”
Click Here to review the 8,687 comments the Commission received online and the 227
oral comments made as part of six public hearings on the proposal.
For more information and a copy of the proposal, visit DRBC’s Public Comment Period
Notice webpage.
For more information on programs, initiatives and upcoming events, visit the Delaware
River Basin Commission website. Click Here to sign up for regulator updates. Follow DRBC
on Twitter. Visit them on YouTube.
NewsClips:
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Related Stories:
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New Contest Opens
EQB To Consider Final Drinking Water Fee Increases, Review Report On Oil & Gas
Drilling Fees April 17
The Environmental Quality Board meets April 17 to consider final regulations increasing Safe
Drinking Water Program fees and to hear a report on the adequacy of current Oil and Gas
Program fees.
Safe Drinking Water
The final recommended Safe Drinking Water Program fees will generate approximately
$7.5 million annually and will account for nearly 50 percent of the program’s state funding. The
fees will augment the $7.7 million in funding currently coming from the state’s General Fund.
By increasing fees, DEP hopes to hire up to 33 additional staff in the Safe Drinking
Water Program to address major deficiencies in the program identified by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency.
The final fees to be considered by the Board still use population served by water systems
as basis for assessing the fees.
The final regulation also makes other changes to the Safe Drinking Water Program,
including to provisions related to the lead and copper requirements for drinking water, provisions
for general permits to simplify permitting and other changes.
Oil & Gas Fees
The Board will also hear a presentation on a report on the adequacy of DEP’s Oil and
Gas Regulatory Program fees that demonstrates current oil and gas well fees will not generate
adequate income to support the program starting in FY 2019-20, despite reductions in program
staff and operating expenses.
In a permit reform proposal white paper released in January, DEP said the Oil and Gas
Program is running a $600,000 per month deficit and would soon propose regulation changes to
15
increase the well permit fee from $5,000 per well to $12,500 per well.
Also on the agenda is a final regulation setting emission limits on volatile organic
compounds from industrial cleaning solvents and additional RACT requirements for major
sources of nitrogen oxide and VOCs.
The meeting will be held in Room 105 of the Rachel Carson Building starting at 9:00.
For more information and available handouts, visit the Environmental Quality Board
webpage or contact Laura Edinger at 717-772-3277 or send email to: ledinger@pa.gov.
NewsClips:
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Pittsburgh Residents File First Pittsburgh Water Authority Complaints
Landslide, Water Main Break Force Evacuations In East Pittsburgh
Residents Urged To Get Water Well Testing Done Near New Drilling Waste Injection Well
PA Superior Court: Taking Natural Gas Without Permission From Neighboring Property
Is Trespass, Overturning Rule Of Capture For Unconventional Gas Wells
The PA Superior Court Monday issued an opinion saying Southwestern Energy drilling company
trespassed on the property of Susquehanna County landowners by taking natural gas from an
adjacent property without permission through its unconventional drilling operations.
Members of the Briggs family own about 11 acres of land adjacent to an unconventional
natural gas well operated by Southwestern Energy since 2011 in Harford Township,
Susquehanna County.
The Briggs family did not lease their mineral rights to Southwestern for development.
Southwestern Energy argued and a lower court agreed there was no trespass because of
the “rule of capture.” Rule of capture means the first person to capture a natural resources owns
that resource under English common law. It can be applied to groundwater or natural resources
like oil and gas. Click Here for a Penn State Law presentation on the issue.
The Court ruled prior cases involving the rule of capture do not apply to unconventional
natural gas drilling because hydraulic fracturing is not the same as oil and natural gas freely
migrating from a reservoir and across property lines.
The Court said--
“Unlike oil and gas originating in a common reservoir, natural gas, when trapped in a
shale formation, is non-migratory in nature. Shale gas does not merely “escape” to adjoining
land absent the application of an external force.
“Instead, the shale must be fractured through the process of hydraulic fracturing; only
then may the natural gas contained in the shale move freely through the “artificially created
channel[s].”
“Further, we are not persuaded by the Coastal Oil Court’s rationale that a landowner can
adequately protect his interests by drilling his own well to prevent drainage to an adjoining
property.
“Hydraulic fracturing is a costly and highly specialized endeavor, and the traditional
recourse to “go and do likewise” is not necessarily readily available for an average landowner.
Additionally, while we are cognizant that establishing the occurrence of a subsurface trespass
determining the value of natural gas drained through hydraulic fracturing will present evidentiary
16
difficulties, see Coastal Oil, 268 S.W.3d at 16, we do not believe that such difficulty, in itself, is
a sufficient justification for precluding recovery.
“We additionally echo the concern raised in both the Coastal Oil dissent and Stone that
precluding trespass liability based on the rule of capture would effectively allow a mineral lessee
to expand its lease by locating a well near the lease’s boundary line and withdrawing natural gas
from beneath the adjoining property, for which it does not have a lease.
“In light of the distinctions between hydraulic fracturing and conventional gas drilling,
we conclude that the rule of capture does not preclude liability for trespass due to hydraulic
fracturing.
“Therefore, hydraulic fracturing may constitute an actionable trespass where subsurface
fractures, fracturing fluid and proppant cross boundary lines and extend into the subsurface estate
of an adjoining property for which the operator does not have a mineral lease, resulting in the
extraction of natural gas from beneath the adjoining landowner’s property.
The Court remanded the case to lower court to allow for the Briggs family to fully
develop their trespass claim, including any estimates of the extent of the trespass and how far the
subsurface fractures extended from the unconventional gas well.
Click Here for a copy of the opinion.
This decision can be appealed to the PA Supreme Court, but they are not automatic and
very few appeals are ever granted.
This is another court decision people will be chewing on for a while.
NewsClips:
Legere: PA Superior Court Defines Some Fracking As Trespassing
Susquehanna County Fracking Suit Could Have Statewide Impact
PA Superior Court Rules Fracking Natural Gas From A Neighboring Property Is Trespassing
PA Superior Court Opens Door To Trespass Claims Against Drilling Companies
Court Ruling Sets Course To End Uncompensated Natural Gas Extraction In State
Gov. Wolf Proclaims Everyone Plays A Part In Keeping Pennsylvania Clean Earth Day
Theme
Gov. Tom Wolf Thursday published a proclamation setting

the 2018 Earth Day theme as “Everyone Plays A Part In
Keeping Pennsylvania Clean” to encourage all citizens to
become engaged in their local communities and join efforts
to help maintain and improve Pennsylvania’s urban and
rural environments.
The text of the proclamation follows--
WHEREAS, Pennsylvania’s 2018 Earth Day theme
is “Everyone Plays a Part in Keeping Pennsylvania Clean,”
which acknowledges the Commonwealth’s commitment to
raising awareness and encouraging Pennsylvanians to
examine their personal impact on the environment; and
WHEREAS, the first Earth Day was enacted in 1970 and engaged over 20 million
Americans to advocate for a cleaner environment; and
17
WHEREAS, Earth Day now has become a world-wide event and has highlighted some of
the most critical environmental issues on the world stage; and
WHEREAS, Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection, Department of
Conservation and Natural Resources, Department of Agriculture, Department of Transportation,
Fish and Boat Commission, and Game Commission have an enormous responsibility to the
citizens of the commonwealth, and work year-round to ensure Pennsylvania’s water, air, and
land are protected; and
WHEREAS, Pennsylvania is blessed with a wealth of bountiful woodlands and
waterways, often most visibly showcased in our 121 state parks and more than 2.2 million acres
of state forests, and other public lands that enrich the lives of both residents and visitors alike,
providing irreplaceable habitat for countless flora and fauna, sustainable natural resources, and
many scenic recreational opportunities; and
WHEREAS, Pennsylvania’s commonwealth agencies challenge every resident of the
Commonwealth to help in conserving and protecting the environment via green activities, such
as recycling, water and energy conservation, tree planting, and active education about
environmental issues; and
WHEREAS, Pennsylvania supports projects that demonstrate and encourage energy
conservation, sustainability, and the usage of renewable energy; and
WHEREAS, special Earth Day events are offered throughout the Commonwealth to
encourage residents to identify what they can personally do to protect the environment and make
Pennsylvania a cleaner and greener state.
THEREFORE, in special recognition of the efforts and dedication of the
Commonwealth’s state agencies and volunteers, I, Tom Wolf, Governor of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania, do hereby proclaim April 22, 2018, as EARTH DAY. I encourage all citizens to
become engaged in their local communities and join efforts to help maintain and improve
Pennsylvania’s urban and rural environments.
Resolutions designating Earth Day and Earth Week have been introduced in the House--
House Resolution 715 (Murt-R-Montgomery) and House Resolution 765 (McCarter-D-
Montgomery).
Agency Earth Day Links:
DEP Resources For Earth Day
DCNR: Earth Day Events
Find Or Organize A Cleanup Thru The Great American Cleanup Of PA
PennDOT: Roadside Beautification
Related Stories:
PEC: Volunteers Needed to Plant Trees In Clearfield, Luzerne, Northumberland And Somerset
County At The Flight 93 Memorial
CBF-PA: Sign Up Today For One Of 17+ Tree Planting Events In Pennsylvania
PA Horticultural Society, Penn State Extension, Tree Pittsburgh Offer Tree Tender Classes
PEC, Partners: Volunteers Needed At Illegal Dump Cleanup In Susquehanna County April 28-29
Construction Junction In Pittsburgh Hosts Special Earth Month Events In April
Volunteers Needed For Minister Valley Wilderness Stewardship Days April 21-11 In The
Allegheny National Forest
Find Or Organize A Cleanup Thru The Great American Cleanup Of PA
18
Bills On Governor's Desk
The following bills were given final approval by the Senate and House and are now on the
Governor's desk for action--
Farm High Tunnels: House Bill 1486 (Zimmerman-R-Lancaster) exempting agricultural

high-tunnel structures from the Stormwater Management Act (House Fiscal Note and summary).
Senate/House Agenda/UPDATED: Session Schedule/Gov’s Schedule/ Bills

Introduced
Here are the Senate and House Calendars for the next voting session day and Committees
scheduling action on bills of interest as well as a list of new environmental bills introduced--
Bill Calendars
House (April 9): House Bill 1401 (DiGirolamo-R-Bucks) which amends Title 58 to impose a
sliding scale natural gas severance tax, in addition to the Act 13 drilling impact fee, on natural
gas production (NO money for environmental programs) and includes provisions related to
minimum landowner oil and gas royalties; House Bill 1412 (Barrar-R-Delaware) proposing a
regulatory framework to encourage energy storage and microgrids to improve electric grid
resiliency during disaster emergencies and other circumstances; House Bill 1446 (Quinn-R-
Bucks) encouraging infrastructure for electric and natural gas fueled vehicles; House Resolution
284 (Moul-R-Adams) urging Congress to repeal the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s
MS4 Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program (sponsor summary). <> Click Here for full
House Bill Calendar.
Senate (April 16): Senate Resolution 104 (Bartolotta-R-Washington) resolution urging the
Governor to end the moratorium on new non-surface disturbance natural gas drilling on state
forest land (sponsor summary); House Bill 544 (Moul-R-Adams) further providing for liability
protection for landowners opening their land for public recreation; House Bill 913 providing for
the adoption of stormwater fees by incorporated towns; House Bill 914 providing for the
adoption of stormwater fees by boroughs; House Bill 915 providing for the adoption of
stormwater fees by first class townships; and House Bill 916 providing for the adoption of
stormwater fees by Cities of the Third Class; House Bill 1341 (Pyle-R-Armstrong) further
providing for training and certification of emergency medical personnel responding to
bituminous deep mine accidents (House Fiscal Note and summary); House Bill 1550
(Klunk-R-York) changing restrictions on preserved land to allow for an additional residence
(House Fiscal Note and summary). <> Click Here for full Senate Bill Calendar.
Committee Meeting Agendas This Week
House: the Consumer Affairs Committee meets to consider House Bill 1782 (Delozier-R-
Cumberland) providing for alternative ratemaking mechanisms for electric and natural gas
19
distribution companies related to renewable and other new energy technologies (sponsor
summary). <> Click Here for full House Committee Schedule.
Senate: <> Click Here for full Senate Committee Schedule.
Bills Pending In Key Committees
Check the PA Environmental Council Bill Tracker for the status and updates on pending state
legislation and regulations that affect environmental and conservation efforts in Pennsylvania.
Bills Introduced
The following bills of interest were introduced last week--
Regulating Groundwater: House Bill 2222 (Moul-R-Adams) requires the Department of

Environmental Protection replace the interstate Delaware and Susquehanna River Basin
Commissions in the regulation of groundwater and extend that authority statewide (sponsor
summary). Click Here for more.
Clean Streams Week: House Resolution 787 (McCarter-D-Montgomery) designating the week
of April 16-22 as Clean Streams Week (sponsor summary).
Session Schedule
Here is the latest voting session schedule for the Senate and House--
Senate
April 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, [Canceled- 30]
May [Canceled -1, 2] 21, 22, 23
June 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29
House
April 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 30
May 1, 2, 22, 23
June 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30
Governor’s Schedule
Gov. Tom Wolf's work calendar will be posted each Friday and his public schedule for the day
will be posted each morning. Click Here to view Gov. Wolf’s Weekly Calendar and Public
Appearances.
News From The Capitol
House Resolution Introduced To Designate April 16-22 Clean Streams Week In PA

20
A resolution was introduced by Rep. Stephen McCarter
(D-Montgomery) Tuesday to designate the week of April
16 to 22 as Clean Streams Week in Pennsylvania.
House Resolution 787 has 22 co-sponsors from both
parties. The text of the resolution follows--
A RESOLUTION
Designating the week of April 16 through 22, 2018, as
"Clean Streams Week" in Pennsylvania.
WHEREAS, There are more than 62,000 streams in this
Commonwealth covering nearly 83,000 miles that provide
drinking water, recreational opportunities, natural beauty and habitat for Pennsylvania's wildlife;
and
WHEREAS, The Commonwealth's Clean Streams Law was passed by the General
Assembly in 1937 to preserve and improve the purity of the waters of this Commonwealth for
the protection of public health, animal and aquatic life, industrial consumption and recreation;
and
WHEREAS, Streams and rivers are an important source of drinking water for
Pennsylvania residents, making clean streams vital to this Commonwealth's water security; and
WHEREAS, Fishing in Pennsylvania's streams is a popular pastime and is part of an
outdoor recreation industry that contributed more than $20 billion in consumer spending to this
Commonwealth's economy in 2016; and
WHEREAS, Trout populations serve as an indicator of a stream's overall health; and
WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and Trout Unlimited are
currently working together to classify all of Pennsylvania's streams based on trout habitat; and
WHEREAS, The flora and fauna found in streams are the foundation of a healthy
ecosystem; and
WHEREAS, Excessive agricultural runoff of nutrient-rich soil into streams can damage
ecosystems and create "dead zones" from algae blooms; and
WHEREAS, Agricultural runoff is a major contributor to the degradation of the
Chesapeake Bay; and
WHEREAS, Pennsylvania has already spent billions of dollars on Chesapeake Bay
cleanup and is obligated to spend billions more; and
WHEREAS, According to the Department of Environmental Protection, nearly 20,000
miles of Pennsylvania's waterways are considered impaired, mostly from agricultural runoff and
acid mine drainage; and
WHEREAS, According to the United States Geological Survey, more than 3,000 miles of
streams in this Commonwealth are contaminated by acid mine drainage, with many of the
impacted streams containing no fish; and
WHEREAS, Storm water runoff is another major source of water pollution in this
Commonwealth; and
WHEREAS, During rainstorms, litter, motor oil, antifreeze and other chemicals,
including salt used to treat roadways in the winter, washes off roads and into storm drains,
eventually polluting our streams and rivers; and
WHEREAS, The Congress of the United States recently overturned the United States
21
Department of the Interior's Stream Protection Rule, which regulated waterway contamination
from surface coal mining; and
WHEREAS, The Federal Government has sought to change the definition of "waters of
the United States" covered under the Clean Water Act so that certain small streams, headwaters
and wetlands are no longer included; and
WHEREAS, The health of our waterways is crucial to the well-being of this
Commonwealth; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate the week of April 16 through
22, 2018, as "Clean Streams Week" in Pennsylvania.
Click Here for a sponsor summary.
(Photo: Worlds End State Park, Sullivan County.)
Bill Would Require DEP To Replace Delaware, Susquehanna River Basin Commissions In
Regulating Groundwater
Rep. Dan Moul (R-Adams) Thursday reserved House Bill 2222 for the purpose of introducing
legislation to have the Department of Environmental Protection replace the interstate Delaware
and Susquehanna River Basin Commissions in the regulation of groundwater and extend that
authority statewide.
The bill would also require DEP to submit any new or amended regulations to regulate
groundwater to the House and Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committees for their
approval before the regulations could be promulgated.
This procedure is substantially different from the detailed review procedures established
under the Regulatory Review Act which requires no legislative approval before regulations are
allowed to proceed.
In a co-sponsor memo circulated to House colleagues in February, Rep. Moul said,
“Currently, there are several entities that issue this type of [groundwater] regulation including the
DEP and the Susquehanna and Delaware River Basin Commissions.
“This joint authority often requires water users to engage in duplicative efforts in
attempting to comply with overlapping regulations, leading to great expense to the water users in
our communities.”
[Note: DEP has no statutory authority to regulate the withdrawal of groundwater. It only
has authority to regulate the withdrawal of water by supply water companies from surface water
sources.
[DEP can only collect information on how much water is being withdrawn from surface
and ground water sources under the Water Resources Planning Act of 2002.
[In fact, the 2002 Act specifically says, “Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to
authorize a delegation to the Statewide committee or the department of any power to regulate,
control or require permits for the withdrawal or use of water.”
[In addition, no state or federal statutory authority exists to regulate the withdrawal of
ground or surface water from sources in the Ohio River Watershed in the entire Western part of
the state.
[Both the Susquehanna and Delaware River Compacts has explicit authority to regulate
ground and surface water withdrawals in their respective areas.]
22
Rep. Moul’s memo went on to say, “My legislation would make DEP the exclusive
authority to regulate groundwater within the Commonwealth and to impose fees, fines or
penalties on the use, withdrawal, or retention of groundwater.”
The idea for this legislation came from a series of hearings by the House State
Government Committee last year prompted by Rep. Moul who alleged the Susquehanna River
Basin Commission fees and other requirements went beyond its authority.
Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler), Majority Chair of the Committee, went so far as to say
the members of the General Assembly who originally adopted the Susquehanna River Basin
Compact were either incompetent, negligent or corrupt.
Click Here for a sponsor summary. No bill text is yet available online.
Related Story:
Rep. Metcalfe: PA Leaders That Adopted Susquehanna River Basin Compact Were Incompetent,
Negligent Or Corrupt
House Committee Meets April 11 On Alternative Ratemaking Bill To Encourage

Conservation, Renewable Energy
The House Consumer Affairs Committee is scheduled to meet April 11 to consider House Bill
1782 (Delozier-R-Cumberland) authorizing alternative ratemaking for electric and natural
distribution companies to encourage energy efficiency improvements, distributed and renewable
energy projects (sponsor summary).
The Committee held a hearing on the legislation November 20 and heard a variety of
conflicting comments on the proposal.
Public Utility Commissioner Andrew Place told the Committee the Commission has been
actively studying the alternative ratemaking issue since it approved a Secretarial Letter in
December of 2015 soliciting comments on the issue.
Place said the PUC is neutral on the legislation, but urged the Committee to review the
language of the bill to determine how to resolve conflicts with existing law on issues like
improper single-issue ratemaking, retroactive ratemaking and violation of the just and reasonable
rate standard.
Terry Fitzpatrick, President of the Energy Association of PA, said his group supports the
legislation because it modernizes the state’s current utility ratemaking system, but notes the bill
does not mandate alternative ratemaking and the flexibility for more competitive pricing of
energy.
Greg Dudkin, President of PPL Utilities, supported the legislation saying decoupling with
multi-year rates will best provide for consumers because of the reliability of pricing,
price-adjustment refunds and accessibility to energy conservation measures. Click Here for
more.
Bill Roland, Director of Government Affairs for Peoples Natural Gas, said they see
House Bill 1782 as a way to help customers and expand the economy, adding because of the
changing dynamics of energy use, flexibility in pricing is needed for customers.
Eric Miller, Director of Policy for the Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance, said the
legislation is a critical step to getting away from a rate model that compensates utilities based on
how much energy they sell and not necessarily the other services like energy conservation.
23
Tanya McCoskey, Acting PUC Consumer Advocate, said alternative ratemaking
mechanisms “pose significant risks to Pennsylvania ratepayers by disrupting this careful
balance” of utility benefits and consumer protections.
John Evans, PUC Small Business Advocate, echoed McCoskey’s concerns and said the
legislation is not needed.
John Cox, Director of Rates and Regulatory Affairs at PA American Water, also
supported the bill recommending the bill be expanded to operators of water and wastewater
facilities.
He added because of the overall decrease in water use, the current utility rate structure
penalizes conserving water because the price minimizes the effect of being resourceful.
Decoupling also limits rate shock and provides revenue directly for infrastructure improvements.
The meeting will be held in Room B-31 Main Capitol and will be called Off the Floor
Wednesday when the House takes a break. Committee meetings are typically webcast through
the House Republican Caucus website.
Rep. Robert Godshall (R-Montgomery) serves as Majority Chair of the Committee and
can be contacted by calling 717-783-6428 or sending email to: rgodshal@pahousegop.com. Rep.
Thomas Caltagirone (D-Berks) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by calling
717-787-3525 or sending email to: RepCaltagirone@pahouse.net.
Related Story:
House Committee Hears Conflicting views On Alternative Natural Gas, Electric Ratemaking
Proposal
The Feds
EPA Directly Soliciting Applications For Water Infrastructure Project Loans
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week announced it is now accepting applications
for an estimated $5.5 billion in loan funding for water and wastewater infrastructure projects,
including green infrastructure projects, under the federal Water Infrastructure Finance and
Innovation Act. The deadline for letters of interest is July 6.
Eligible applicants include local, state, tribal, and federal government entities,
partnerships and joint ventures; corporations and trusts; nonprofit groups and Clean Water and
Drinking Water State Revolving Fund programs.
Eligible projects include--
-- Any projects eligible for Clean Water-- including green infrastructure projects-- and Drinking
Water State Revolving Fund program funding;
-- Enhanced energy efficiency projects at drinking water and wastewater facilities;
-- Brackish or seawater desalination, aquifer recharge, alternative water supply, and water
recycling projects;
-- Drought prevention, reduction, or mitigation projects;
-- Acquisition of property if it is integral to the project or will mitigate the environmental impact
of a project; and
-- A combination of projects secured by a common security pledge or submitted under one
application by an SRF program.
24
Minimum project size--
-- $20 million: Minimum project size for large communities;
-- $5 million: Minimum project size for small communities (population of 25,000 or less); and
-- 49 Percent: Maximum portion of eligible project costs that WIFIA can fund.
WIFIA is being managed by program staff located in EPA headquarters. All questions
should be directed to EPA headquarters staff at: wifia@epa.gov, and all application materials
will be submitted to EPA headquarters. EPA regional staff may assist with the process including
coordination with State Revolving Fund programs in their region.
For all the details, visit EPA’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act webpage.
GAO Report: Pennsylvania Better Positioned To Guarantee Active Mines Are Reclaimed
Due To Bonding Changes
A federal GAO report released Thursday reported a 2010 federal review of the Department of
Environmental Protection’s coal mining reclamation bonding program found it did not result in
requiring enough bonding from current mining companies to guarantee their sites could be
reclaimed if the operator walked away.
The report said the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement and
DEP agreed on a plan to correct those problems in 2014 and by October of 2017 DEP reported
all but two active mining companies complied with requests to post additional bonds to more
adequately cover reclamation of their sites.
The weakness identified in DEP’s program was the fact the agency had not been
calculating how much bonding was needed based on the actual size of the areas excavated for
mining. That has since been corrected.
Pennsylvania holds the third highest total of mining reclamation financial assurance in
the nation, behind Wyoming and Texas, but is second in the amount of surety bonds.
The primary recommendation of the report was to eliminate the self-bonding option for
coal mining companies because of the difficulties mining states and the federal government have
in assuring funds will be there if reclamation must be done.
Pennsylvania does not allow mining companies to self-bond for land reclamation, based
on the experience the Commonwealth has had with several cycles of boom and bust for the coal
mining industry.
Click Here for a copy of the report.
[Note: Congress is still considering whether or not to permanently fund abandoned mine
reclamation/ economic development projects under the RECLAIM initiative.
[Congress must also reauthorize the federal Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program per
ton fee that provides the funding for abandoned mine reclamation projects. The fee is due to
expire in 2021.]
NewsClip:
Turtle Creek Pollution May Impact Trout Stocking
Related Stories:
Gov. Wolf Announces $25 Million In Funding For 12 Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation
Projects
Latest Blacklick Creek Watershed Assn Newsletter Tells History Of The Group In Indiana,
25
Cambria Counties
PA Attorney General Joins Other States In Suing EPA Over Controlling Methane
Pollution
Attorney General Josh Shapiro Thursday joined other states in filing a

lawsuit against the Trump Administration for ignoring its legal duty to
control emissions of methane – an extremely potent greenhouse gas –
from existing oil and gas operations.
Specifically, the suit charges that U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt has violated the
federal Clean Air Act by unreasonably delaying its mandatory
obligation under the Act to control methane emissions from these
operations.
The lawsuit was filed by a coalition of 15 Attorneys General
and the City of Chicago.
“Methane is one of the most dangerous greenhouse gases. By
filing this lawsuit, I am ensuring the EPA does its job, as mandated by Congress and the Clean
Air Act, to appropriately limit this major contributor to climate change,” Attorney General Josh
Shapiro said. “EPA officials don’t have to like the law, but they cannot ignore their legal
obligations and compromise the health and safety of Pennsylvanians.”
Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas, warming the climate about 80-times
more than carbon dioxide over a 20-year timeframe. Oil and gas operations – production,
processing, transmission, and distribution – are the largest single industrial source of methane
emissions in the U.S. and the second largest industrial source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions
behind only electric power plants.
Pennsylvania is the second largest natural gas production state in the country, leading to a
high level of methane emissions. Analysts estimate 520,000 tons of methane are emitted in the
Commonwealth each year, primarily from outdated and malfunctioning equipment.
Methane poses a significant amount of health risks for Pennsylvanians, including asthma
and heart and lung disease. The childhood asthma rate in Philadelphia is more than twice as high
as the national average.
Minority and low-income communities are particularly affected by methane pollution. In
Pennsylvania, more than 40 percent of residents living in counties with oil refineries are
African-American, while African-Americans make up less than 12 percent of the
Commonwealth’s total population.
In June 2017, a coalition of 15 Attorneys General pledged to sue if, within 180 days, EPA
failed to issue methane standards for existing sources in the oil and gas industry. More than 180
days have passed and the Trump EPA has failed to take action on issuing the required standards.
In the lawsuit, the coalition cites clear statutory language, Congressional intent,
established Agency practice, and the large contribution that existing sources make to methane
emissions as support for their contention that EPA is obligated to act “without delay” to finalize
controls on methane emissions from existing oil and natural gas sources.
The EPA has known since at least 2009 that methane endangers public health and
26
welfare, and has long had ample data on cost-effective measure for controlling methane
emissions from oil and natural gas sources, for example, through the Natural Gas STAR
Program, which started in 1993.
The coalition argues that the EPA’s failure to establish guidelines for controlling methane
emissions from existing sources in the oil and gas industry is an “unreasonable delay” in
performing a mandatory duty under the Clean Air Act.
The suit asks the court to direct EPA to propose and adopt the methane regulations
required by the Act for oil and gas operations, following an expeditious deadline established by
the court.
“The EPA is obligated to comply with the law and control methane emissions,” Attorney
General Shapiro said. “There is no excuse for their delayed action. Research has proven we can
control emissions from existing sources while also saving Pennsylvania consumers money.”
The suit,was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
In addition to Pennsylvania Attorney General Shapiro, it was filed by the Attorneys
General of California, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New
Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia,
as well as the City of Chicago.
Click Here for a copy of the lawsuit.
NewsClips:
Sisk: Poll: Climate Change Causing Problems For Significant Number Of Pennsylvanians
DEP Joins Other States To Oppose Rollback Of Vehicle Fuel Economy Standards
EPA Moves To Weaken Vehicle Fuel Efficiency Rules
Editorial: Trump’s EPA Rollback Of Vehicle Clean Air Standards Means Dirtier Air
Lackawanna State Park To Host Global Warming Talk With Aquatic Biologist Ed Perry April 12
Steyer Climate Alliance Hits PA Roadblock After Trump Ditched Paris Accord
Federal Judge Stays Methane Rule Litigation While Government Reconsiders Rule
Related Stories:
DEP Joins 9 Other States, DC In Opposing EPA Rollback Of EPA Vehicle Fuel Efficiency
Standards
AG Shapiro Joins Other States To Take Legal Action To Protect Fuel Efficiency Standards
AG Shapiro, DEP Join 14 States In Lawsuit Against EPA’s Delay In Federal Ozone Standard;
EPA Withdraws Delay
PA Attorney General, 13 Others Intervene In Lawsuit Against EPA On Reducing Oil & Gas
Methane Emissions
PA Attorney General, 10 Other AGs Sue DOE Over Stalled Energy Efficiency Rules
AG Shapiro Joins 19 Govt. Leaders Vowing To Support Paris Climate Accord
Pennsylvania, 12 Other States Challenge Rollback Of Federal Vehicle Emission Standards
DEP Joins 9 Other States, DC In Opposing EPA Rollback Of EPA Vehicle Fuel Standards
Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell

joined environmental agency leaders in 9 other states and the District of
Columbia Monday in opposing the rollback of EPA's vehicle emission
standards.
27
The April 2 letter was signed by the states of Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware,
Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and
Washington, and the District of Columbia.
In addition, Gov. Tom Wolf issued this statement Wednesday on the issue-- “The EPA’s
plan to weaken fuel economy standards hurts Pennsylvania's consumers, workers, and everyone
who wants to breathe cleaner air. Fuel economy standards are lowering gas bills, spurring
innovation to create jobs, keeping air cleaner, and creating demand for cleaner domestic energy
and renewable technology.
“The current standards have led to the development of new technologies, manufacturing
innovation, and new jobs throughout the U.S., while reducing consumer expenditures on
gasoline. These standards were developed with substantial public input and rely on scientific
evidence to promote advanced vehicle technologies and reduce air pollution, while saving
Pennsylvanians at the pump.
“Rolling back these standards will cost consumers every time they fuel up and is another
example of the Trump Administration’s disregard for its responsibility to protect the health and
safety of American citizens. At a time when advanced manufacturers are expanding in
Pennsylvania and developing the next generation of clean vehicle technologies, we need to
encourage innovation, not turn back the clock. I strongly urge the EPA to prioritize public health
over special interests and abandon this reckless plan to roll back fuel savings standards.”
The text of the April 2 letter follows--
Dear Administrator Pruitt:
As the environmental agency heads for the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland,
Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, and
the District of Columbia, we write to express our deep concern with your decision to initiate
rulemaking to weaken the national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for model year
(MY) 2022-2025 light-duty vehicles.
This decision does not comport with a thorough technical record demonstrating the need
for and feasibility of these critical environmental standards. Any weakening of the standards
would increase pollution from cars and light trucks, with adverse public health and
environmental impacts.
Further, it would come at a high cost to consumers forced to pay more at the pump. We
strongly urge EPA not to proceed with a new rulemaking, and to leave in place the light-duty
vehicle regulations as finalized in 2012.
These standards, which were established after exhaustive technical analysis and with the
full support of industry and states, could in fact be stronger, as improvements to advanced fuel-
saving technologies continue to be introduced at a faster pace than envisioned in the rule.
States and our nation need to continue to increase efforts to reduce air pollutant
emissions, and cars and trucks are among the largest source of these contaminants.
The U.S. has always been a world leader in the automobile industry, and part of this
success has been the result of government promoting the most advanced vehicle technologies.
The fundamental principles of cooperative federalism that are embodied in the Clean Air
Act (CAA) and other federal environmental statutes recognize the important right of states to go
beyond federal requirements when necessary to protect the public health and welfare of their
citizens.
We strongly urge you to respect California’s independent authority under CAA § 209(b)
28
to set its own motor vehicle standards and the right of other states under CAA § 177 to adopt
those standards to meet our environmental challenges.
California’s special role has been recognized for the past half century by EPA
Administrators on a bipartisan basis and has been a vital part of the architecture of our nation’s
response to air pollution.
In granting a waiver for California’s existing light-duty vehicle GHG standards, EPA has
already determined that California met its burden under § 209(b). An even stronger waiver case
exists today based on the expanding body of scientific evidence establishing the nexus between
human activity and climate change.
Moreover, there continues to be Congress granted in § 177 to other states to adopt and
enforce California standards that are more broad bipartisan support for the authority protective of
public health and welfare.
For these reasons, we strongly urge you to leave both EPA’s current GHG standards for
MY 2022-25 and California's waiver intact.
Click Here for a copy of the letter.
NewsClips:
News From Around The State
Bay Journal: States Lagging Badly In Planting Streamside Trees In Chesapeake Bay
Watershed
By Timothy B. Wheeler, Chesapeake Bay Journal
For all of the recent good news about the

Chesapeake Bay, including declines in nutrient
pollution and the resurgence of underwater
grasses, there’s one trend that’s far from positive.
For the last decade or so, the federal-state
restoration effort has missed its targets — badly
and consistently — for planting new forests along
streams and rivers throughout the Bay watershed.
Why does that matter, when the Chesapeake
seems to be recovering? Because without the
pollution-cleansing power of more streamside
forests, the Bay cleanup could falter, short of its
goal of all but eliminating oxygen-starved dead zones where fish, crabs and oysters struggle to
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breathe. Many of the watershed’s degraded streams and rivers won’t regain their health, either.
“We are not getting new buffers in the ground at anything like the pace that is necessary,”
acknowledged Rebecca Hanmer, chair of the Chesapeake Bay Program’s forestry workgroup.
She’s a former director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Bay Program Office,
now retired.
To complete the marathon cleanup begun 35 years ago, the Bay watershed states have all
pledged to greatly increase the amount of streamside forests, also known as riparian forest
buffers, to capture excess nutrients and sediment that are still impairing the estuary.
In the most recent Bay Watershed Agreement signed in 2014, the six watershed states
and the federal government vowed to “restore 900 miles per year of riparian forest buffer and
conserve existing buffers.”
They haven’t even come close. In 2015, the six states together managed just 64 miles of
new buffers. There was a tenfold increase in 2016, but only because Pennsylvania added a bunch
of previously planted but uncounted buffers that were turned up by a Penn State survey of farms.
Preliminary figures for 2017 are around 70 riparian miles.
The reasons for the failure are complex, and vary by state and even by year, those
involved say. Here are the three big factors:
-- Farmers are reluctant to take cropland out of cultivation, given fluctuating commodity prices.
-- Some farmers dislike the red tape, complications and long-term commitments involved in
getting government payments for taking land out of production and planting buffers.
-- Federal and state funding to pay farmers for forest buffers has fluctuated along with the
staffing to help farmers navigate the process.
Forests are the vital organs of the Bay watershed. Besides providing food and shelter to
birds and other wildlife, they act as natural sponges, soaking up rainfall, trapping polluted runoff
and stabilizing soil that would otherwise wash into waterways.
When the English settler John Smith led an exploration of the Bay in the early 1600s, the
Chesapeake watershed was about 95 percent forested, researchers estimate. Much of what ails
the Bay today can be tracked to the removal of that forest to make way for farming and
development.
Buffers Among The Best BMPs
But where they still exist, streamside forests can reduce the amount of nutrient pollution
entering waterways from 30–90 percent, according to the Bay Program. And more than half of
the region’s native species, including wood ducks, bald eagles, turtles and amphibians, depend
on such wooded areas for food, shelter and access to the water.
Of the many different “best management practices,” or BMPs, landowners could adopt to
improve water quality in the Bay watershed, planting and maintaining forested stream buffers
rank at or near the top because of the unparalleled range of ecological benefits they provide.
In addition to reducing pollution, they dramatically improve stream health by stabilizing
banks, shading streams and cooling the water so it’s more habitable for fish and other creatures.
Tree roots, branches and leaves falling in streams also offer habitat, as well as food for the base
of the aquatic food chain.
“The riparian forest buffer is the king of BMPs,” said Ann Swanson, executive director of
the Chesapeake Bay Commission, a legislative advisory body.
The Chesapeake Executive Council, which guides the restoration effort, first called for an
effort to enhance and restore riparian buffers in 1994, and set its first regional goal in 1996: to
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plant 2,010 miles by 2010. The federal Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, which has
become the workhorse of the buffer effort, was launched in Maryland the next year and spread to
the rest of the Bay states shortly afterward.
Administered by the Farm Service Agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, CREP
gives farmers an annual payment for voluntarily removing environmentally sensitive land from
production and putting in grass, trees or other vegetation.
The amount varies by location, soil type and tree species planted; in Maryland, payments
range from a low of $80 per acre to $400, with an average payment of $250.
Farmers also get a bonus payment of $100 an acre when they sign a 10– or 15-year
contract to put in the buffer. They get mostly if not fully reimbursed for the cost of the plantings
and receive an additional payment once the seedlings have been in the ground and survived a
couple years.
Early on, the incentives offered by CREP spurred a flood of signups to plant new buffers,
which reached a peak of about 1,100 miles of new riparian buffers across the watershed between
2002 and 2003. After reaching the initial goal of 2,010 miles, federal and state agencies then
called for enough buffers to cover 70 percent of the watershed’s riparian areas.
“We had big eyes,” recalled Anne Hairston-Strang, associate director of the Maryland
Forest Service. But the campaign never achieved the 2003 level of plantings again.
“In the beginning, we made extraordinary progress in protecting riparian buffers,”
Swanson said, “and all of the states adopted initiatives that tried to protect and enhance those
buffers. But over time, the interest level has waned.”
CREP changed its incentive structure over time and suffered an interruption when
Congress dragged its feet in reauthorizing the federal Farm Bill. That caused extensive delays in
2013 and 2014 in getting farmers enrolled and trees planted, according to a 2015 Bay Program
management strategy for forested buffers.
“There’s just been hiccups in these programs,” said Craig Highfield, director of the
Chesapeake forests program at the nonprofit Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay.
State funding has gone hot and cold, too: CREP requires a partial match from state and
other sources, and some states haven’t provided it consistently.
Virginia temporarily ran out of money to match federal CREP funds, Highfield said. And
last year, Maryland didn’t put any of its agricultural cost-share funds toward riparian buffers, a
lapse that has since been corrected.
Sally Claggett, the U.S. Forest Service liaison to the Bay Program who’s tracking the
buffer effort, called the glitches “frustrating… It really takes so many things to go well. It’s
almost like a marriage, there’s so many people involved, so many cross-cultural relationships.
It’s easy for things to break down, and when I’m looking across six states, different things break
down.”
Virginia focused for a while on a campaign to get farmers to fence their livestock out of
streams, which would reduce erosion and pollution from animals wading in the water. The state
offered an unusually generous 100-percent reimbursement for those projects but didn’t tie them
to planting trees along the fenced-off streams.
“Fencing the stream off is great, but if you put trees in there, you’ve got eight times more
potential to clean the water,” said Bobby Whitescarver, a farmer in Swoope, VA, who’s an
ardent advocate for both fencing streams and planting forested buffers.
But combining the two, some say, would have been too hard to pitch to farmers.
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Some say the drop in CREP signups after 2003 has less to do with funding and instead is
related to more deep-seated problems — that the “low-hanging fruit” of motivated,
conservation-minded farmers had already enrolled.
Others shunned the program because higher commodity prices meant they could earn
more by raising crops up to the stream’s edge than they could get in payments from CREP. And
some farmers chafed at the paperwork to sign up, as well as the requirement that they maintain
the buffer.
“One of the things that farmers don’t like, particularly, is red tape,” Whitescarver said.
Even with those hurdles, the relatively low cost of forest buffers and their multiple benefits have
kept states looking to maximize their spread.
Bay watershed states leaned heavily on forested buffers in the plans they submitted
several years ago for complying with the EPA’s Bay “pollution diet,” formally known as the
Total Maximum Daily Load.
In fact, because of buffers’ nutrient– and sediment-removing capacity, they collectively
projected planting even more than the 2014 Watershed Agreement called for — 295,000 acres by
2025. At 12 acres per riparian mile, that comes out to about 1,100 miles of riparian forest
annually.
Resistance To Streamside Forests
While Pennsylvania and Virginia both pledged to make big gains in forested buffers to
meet their TMDL obligations, Maryland promised a modest increase. Hairston-Strang of the
state forest service said that’s because Maryland farmers were canvassed and expressed little
interest in planting trees in their fields, even if mostly reimbursed.
Resistance to streamside forests is particularly strong on the Eastern Shore, where many
have been willing to install grassy buffers but not trees along streams and drainage ditches.
Research has indicated streamside forests soak up two to eight times more nutrients in runoff
than do grassy strips along waterways.
Hairston-Strang said she understands why Shore farmers don’t embrace forested buffers:
The trees interfere with the cleaning and maintenance of ditches that were created to drain their
low-lying fields.
“How do you do something like ditch maintenance when you have trees and limbs [to
work around]?” she asked. “It makes it harder.”
Even as states ponder how to increase buffer acreage, the initiative faces new challenges
— the potential loss of existing buffers, and questions about their effectiveness.
CREP contracts signed 10 or 15 years ago are expiring, and only about half are being
renewed, according to the Bay Program. In fiscal year 2017, preliminary figures indicate that
landowners signed contracts for about 850 acres of land.
But the federal Farm Service Agency, which handles the CREP contracts, reports that
contracts covering more than four times as much land — nearly 3,700 acres — were left to
expire.
Much of that land may remain in forest, in some cases preserved with conservation
easements. But the scramble is on to re-enroll eligible buffers and prevent losing what’s been
planted.
Buffers Require Maintenance
It’s also been a struggle to see that buffers survive. A study led by the Maryland
Department of Natural Resources of about three dozen buffers found approximately 50 percent
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of the seedlings planted died after five years because of drought, grass overgrowth and lack of
maintenance.
Establishing and maintaining buffers for 10–15 years has proven to be more difficult and
expensive than once thought, and it has hindered participation in CREP because the burden has
fallen largely on farmers. CREP helps Pennsylvania farmers pay for maintenance, but other Bay
states do not.
Meanwhile, a survey led by Penn State and the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service
found that some forested buffers aren’t doing as good a job of capturing nutrients and sediment
as expected.
Researchers looked at 149 buffer sites across the watershed and found that the
effectiveness of some is undermined by the channelization of water draining the fields, so it
bypasses the forested strip or conveys water to the stream too quickly for much filtering to take
place.
On Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the issue is manifest. In the Tuckahoe Creek watershed,
much of the farmland consists of former wetlands that are drained through an extensive network
of ditches to make the land dry enough to raise crops.
On one field, the research team found the streamside forest removing only about half as
much sediment as it could have, and half to two-thirds of the nutrients possible if the buffer had
not been compromised.
“The farmer needs to get this land drained for production, and they’re going to do what
they need to do to get the water moving off the land,” said Greg McCarty, a research scientist
with the Agricultural Research Service in Beltsville, MD. But, he added, “If you’ve got
concentrated flow through a buffer, then water has very little interaction with the buffer.”
As work continues to maximize the benefits of forested buffers, the region still faces an
ongoing challenge to increase their spread. Details may be included in the states’ new Watershed
Implementation Plans, due by the end of 2018, which lay out the steps for reaching 2025
pollution reduction goals.
“So, now,” said the Bay Commission’s Swanson, “we’re really at a crossroads. Can we
fix the disincentives to once again put us on a path to more forest buffers, or do we opt for
another best management practice?”
Recently, there’s evidence that the 70 percent buffer coverage goal set years ago was too
low — high-resolution, land use imaging has shown that as much as 69 percent of the Bay
watershed already has streamside forests. Those involved in the effort say the goal was more
aspirational than real, and it’s clear that more needs to be done.
The latest land cover analysis indicates there are 1.4 million acres of riparian turf, pasture
and cropland lacking buffers across the watershed.
So, state agencies are tweaking their buffer initiatives. In Pennsylvania, state officials are
looking to retool and ramp up their efforts. The state has led the watershed in new buffer
creation, but it also has the most ambitious goal — 95,000 acres by 2025.
To overcome farmers’ objections to federal red tape or to taking land out of production,
the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is funding “multifunctional
buffers,” planted with trees and shrubs that can generate income by producing nuts, berries,
willows and energy crops.
In early March, state officials announced they were awarding $1.1 million to the first
eight recipients under the new approach.
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“Our ambitions go beyond the Chesapeake Bay watershed and the TMDL,” said DCNR
Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn. “We would like to establish this as a normal landscape feature in
Pennsylvania.”
Expanding Outreach
Meanwhile, states are modestly increasing staff, often with the help of existing federal
funds, to expand outreach to farmers, target environmentally important areas and help with
buffer maintenance.
Federal agencies also are tinkering with the incentives and options in CREP and other
programs to provide more incentives and flexibility for farmers.
Nonprofit groups are stepping up their efforts as well. The James River Association, for
instance, has organized a “tree-athlon,” teaming up with a pair of soil and water conservation
districts and enlisting volunteers to plant 3,000 native trees and seedlings this spring on eight
farms in Amherst, Nelson and Albemarle counties.
The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, in collaboration with a host of public and private
partners, aims to entice more farmers by offering vouchers to pay for other conservation
practices.
For every acre of riparian forest planted through federal or state cost-share programs, the
farmer gets $3,000 to $4,000 toward practices such as buffer maintenance and barnyard runoff
controls.
So far, 140 acres of forest buffers have been planted in Maryland, and the program
recently expanded to Augusta County, VA.
Despite such moves, it’s not clear that enough is being done to plant 900 miles of buffers
this year or the next, much less the 1,100 miles annually the states pledged to comply with the
Bay TMDL.
10 Million More Trees In PA
“It’s not like there’s just nothing happening, but it’s not happening fast enough,” said Bill
Chain, Pennsylvania agricultural program manager for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. “We
need to put in some accelerators.”
One possible accelerator may come in April, when the Bay Foundation is expected to
announce a broad-based campaign aimed at enlisting state and local governments, businesses and
individuals in an effort to plant 10 million trees by 2025 across Pennsylvania.
If all of them are planted on streamsides, that could create 4,000 miles of riparian buffer
— half of what the state has pledged to do under the Bay TMDL.
[Note: The Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership will kick-off its initiative on April 24.
30 partners will plant over 11,000 trees at over 50 sites during the first week of the initiative in
Pennsylvania’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. In addition, Chesapeake Bay
Foundation-PA restoration staff will organize planting events for an additional 19,000 trees. The
Partnership is working with Pennsylvania nurseries to provide all the trees planted in this
initiative.]
All efforts to date rely heavily on federal funding, particularly CREP. But under the Farm
Bill, there’s a nationwide cap on how many acres CREP can pay for, and it’s nearly been
reached.
As Congress works on reauthorizing the Farm Bill later this year, state officials and
others have called for CREP to be expanded, streamlined and made more flexible.
Hanmer, chair of the Bay Program’s forestry workgroup, said she and other buffer
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advocates plan in May to brief policy makers on the challenges facing an effort they consider
critical to completing the restoration of the Chesapeake.
“We’re a long way from where we want to be,” said Ben Alexandro, water policy
advocate for the Maryland League of Conservation Voters. “We need to kick it up a notch or
two.”
PA Buffer Grants
DCNR is now accepting applications for Community Conservation Partnership Program
grants which include planting forested stream buffers. Applications are due April 11. Click
Here for more information.
For more information on Pennsylvania efforts to reduce pollution in the Chesapeake Bay
Watershed, visit DEP’s PA’s Chesapeake Bay Plan webpage.
NewsClips:
Bay Journal: States Lagging Badly In Planting Streamside Trees In Chesapeake Bay Watershed
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PEC: Volunteers Needed To Plant Trees In Clearfield, Luzerne, Northumberland And Somerset
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation-PA is urging

Pennsylvanians to help plant trees at one of the
many tree planting events groups are scheduling in
the PA portion of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
April 13 to May 5.
Trees provide food and shelter for wildlife,
cleaner air and cooler summer temperatures,
increase property values, and reduce polluted
runoff.
These plantings are critical to our clean
water efforts, capturing and filtering out pollution
before it enters our streams and tributaries, and
helping alleviate flooding by stabilizing the soil.
CBF-PA is partnering with local organizations to plant a record number of trees this
spring. But we need your help!
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Find a tree planting event near you! These events are suitable for adults, families, and
community groups. Please dress for the weather—the events are rain or shine.
Here are some towns where they are looking for volunteers:York, Spring Mills,
Middletown, Mechanicsburg, Falls, Woodward, Dallas, Aaronsburg, Mehoopany, Coburn,
Jonestown, Lebanon, Schaefferstown, Enola, Noxen, Waynesboro.
Click Here to find a map of events, contacts and registration information.
For more on Chesapeake Bay-related issues in Pennsylvania, visit the Chesapeake Bay
Foundation-PA webpage. Click Here to sign up for Pennsylvania updates (bottom of left
column). Click Here to support their work.
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PEC: Volunteers Needed To Plant Trees In Clearfield, Luzerne, Northumberland And

Somerset County At The Flight 93 Memorial
The PA Environmental Council, the Department of

Conservation and Natural Resources and the National
Park Service are inviting volunteers to help plant trees in
Pinchot State Forest in Luzerne County April 20, Weiser
State Forest in Northumberland County April 20, in
Moshannon State Forest in Clearfield County on April 20
and 21 and at the Flight 93 Memorial in Somerset County
April 27 and 28.
Celebrate Earth Day by grabbing your boots or
study shoes to help plant trees. Tools, food and supplies
will be supplied. These events will be held rain or shine.
Pinchot State Forest
Volunteers should meet in Pinchot State Forest at Avondale Hill Road in Plymouth,
Luzerne County at 9:00 a.m. on April 20. Click Here for more information or to sign up or
contact Palmira Miller by sending email to: pmiller@pecpa.org or call 570-592-7876.
Weiser State Forest
Volunteers should meet in Weiser State Forest at the Roaring Creek Parking Area,
PA-54, Coal Township, Northumberland County at 8:00 a.m. on April 20. Click Here for more
information or to sign up. Questions should be directed to Laura Bray at 412-481-9400 or send
email to: lbray@pecpa.org.
Moshannon State Forest
Volunteers should meet in the Moshannon State Forest at 3372 State Park Road, Penfield,
Clearfield County on April 20 (8:00 to 2:00) and April 21 (7:00 to 1:00). Click Here for more
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information or to sign up. Questions should be directed to Laura Bray at 412-481-9400 or send
email to: lbray@pecpa.org.
Flight 93 Memorial
The Friends of Flight 93, National Park Service and the National Park Foundation are
coordinating 2 days of reforestation efforts at the Flight 93 Memorial, 6424 Lincoln Highway,
Stoystown, Somerset County on April 27-28.
They hope to reseed 150,000 trees that will eventually result in large areas of new forest
at the memorial.
Click Here for more information.
For more information on programs, initiatives and special events, visit the PA
Environmental Council website, visit the PEC Blog, follow PEC on Twitter or Like PEC on
Facebook. Visit PEC’s Audio Room for the latest podcasts. Click Here to receive regular
updates from PEC.
(Photo: Tree planting at the Flight 93 Memorial.)
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PEC: Pocono Forests & Waters Conservation Mini-Grant Applications Due May 1
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March In Case You Missed It Now Available From PA Environmental Council
PA Horticultural Society, Penn State Extension, Tree Pittsburgh Offer Tree Tender
Classes
The PA Horticultural Society, Penn State Extension

and Tree Pittsburgh will hold Tree Tender classes
between now and the end of the year. Here’s a
rundown.
PA Horticultural Society
The PA Horticultural Society will hold a series of
community Tree Tender classes in Bucks, Chester,
Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties
starting in April and running through October.
PHS Tree Tenders® is at the forefront of the urban
tree movement across the country, and is one of the
oldest, most respected volunteer urban tree planting and stewardship programs in the world.
Volunteers need to attend 3 sessions for 9-hours of training which covers tree biology,
identification, planting, proper care, and working within your community to be certified as a
community Tree Tender.
The PHS Tree Tender training sessions will be held--
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-- Bucks County: September 25, October 2, 9, Penndel Borough Hall, 300 Bellevue Avenue,
Penndel, 6:00 to 9:16 p.m.
-- Chester County: April 24, May 1, 8, Westtown School, 975 Westtown Road West Chester,
6:00 to 9:16 p.m.
-- Delaware County: September 17, 24, October 1, Swarthmore College, Wister Educ. Center
500 College Avenue Swarthmore, 6:00 to 9:16 p.m.
-- Montgomery County: May 10, 17, 24, Souderton Mennonite Homes, 207 West Summit
Street, Souderton, 6:00 to 9:16 p.m.
-- Philadelphia: May 9, 16, 23, PA Horticultural Society, 100 North 20th Street, Philadelphia,
5:45 - 9:00 p.m.
-- Philadelphia: October 3, 10, 17, PA Horticultural Society, 100 North 20th Street,
Philadelphia, 5:45 - 9:00 p.m.
Click Here to register and for all the details. Questions should be directed to Mindy
Masline for the Philadelphia sessions at 215-988-8844 or send email to: mmaslin@pennhort.org
or for the sessions in the other counties to Barley Van Clief at 215-988-8793 or send email to:
bvanclief@pennhort.org.
For more information and other resources, visit PHS’s Tree Tenders webpage.
Penn State Extension
Tree Tender training sessions will be held by Penn State Extension at these locations and
dates--
-- Huntingdon County: May 12: Penn State Extension, Juniata College, Brumbaugh Academic
Center, 1700 Moore Street, Huntingdon. 9:00 to 4:30, Click Here to register;
-- Cambria County: May 19: Penn State Extension, 814 Worx, Feeder Canal Building, 647
Main Street, Johnstown, 9:30 to 4:30, Click Here to register; and
-- Lancaster County: June 22: Southeast Agricultural Research & Extension Center, 1446
Auction Road, Manheim, 8:00 to 4:00, Click Here to register.
For more information, contact Brian Wolyniak by sending email to: bjw229@psu.edu or
call 412-482-3455
Tree Pittsburgh
Tree Tender training sessions will be held by Tree Pittsburgh at these locations and
dates--
-- May 30, June 6, June 13: Penn State Center, Downtown Pittsburgh, 5:30 to 8:30, Click Here
to register;
-- September 8: Environmental Charter School, Regent Square, Pittsburgh, 9:30 to 4:30, Click
Here to register; and
-- December 1: Tree Pittsburgh Campus, Upper Lawrenceville, 9:30 to 4:30, Click Here to
register.
For more information, contact Joe Stavish at by sending email to: joe@treepittsburgh.org
or call 412-781-8733.
Tree Resources
Visit DCNR’s TreeVitalize webpage to learn more about community tree management in
other parts of Pennsylvania or Penn State Extension’s Community Forests webpage.
For more information on programs, initiatives and upcoming events, visit the PA
Horticultural Society website, Like PHS on Facebook, Join PHS on Instagram and Follow on
Twitter. Click Here to sign up for regular updates from PHS. Click Here to become a member.
38
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Landstudies: Why Runoff Controls Are An Essential Component Of MS4 Stormwater

Plans
A Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System

(MS4) Stormwater Plan is made up of a series
of stormwater management facilities, inlets,
pipes, swales, and outfalls that collect and
convey stormwater.
Ultimately, many of these discharges end up in
local waterways, where runoff, if polluted, can
affect water quality.
Part of an MS4 community’s permit requires
the creation, implementation, and enforcement
of a Construction Site Runoff program under Minimum Control Measure (MCM) 4 to keep
polluted stormwater runoff from construction sites associated with new development or
redevelopment.
What a municipality needs to consider is there is also a relationship with construction
sites and illicit discharges (MCM 3).
The Impact of Sedimentation
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, sediment tends to be the main
pollutant of concern related to construction site runoff.
The agency found that sedimentation impairs approximately 84,503 river and stream
miles (12 percent of the assessed river and stream miles and 31 percent of the impaired river and
stream miles) in the country.
Sediment can come from agriculture, urban runoff, construction, and forestry; however,
sediment runoff rates from construction sites are usually 10 to 20 times greater than those of
agricultural lands and can contribute more sediment to streams in a short time period than can be
deposited naturally during several decades.
The build-up of sediment and other pollutants from construction sites can cause physical,
chemical, and biological problems for our waterways.
Other things an MS4 permittee considers are inlet protection. Asking questions like “are
entry points to the MS4 susceptible to discharges from the construction site?” If so, “are the
inlets protected by the site operator?” At the end of the day, a municipality is concerned with the
nature of discharges entering their systems.
What is Required of MS4 Communities?
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MS4 communities need to show the EPA and PA Department of Environmental
Protection that they are making good-faith and effective efforts to educate developers and other
construction site operators of the many ways to prevent runoff from leaving their site and have
plans in place to correct situations where runoff does get into the MS4.
In Pennsylvania, the Lancaster County Conservation District facilitates the approved
“Qualifying Local Program” to issue permits. Since municipalities are the MS4 permit holders
and the entity with legal authority, they are responsible for permit compliance.
The following are guidelines the EPA has created for MS4 communities to follow:
-- Create an ordinance or other regulatory means of requiring the implementation of proper
erosion and sediment and waste controls on construction sites of one acre or more in size.
-- Review construction site plans before any ground has been broken to determine potential water
quality impacts and track progress throughout the construction phase.
-- Develop site inspection and enforcement of control measures procedures. Procedures could
include how to identify priority sites for inspection and enforcement (based on type and scale of
construction activity, site topography, soil characteristics, etc.).
-- Use the ordinance/regulatory mechanism to outline compliance steps and sanctions (typically a
warning and education followed by escalating enforcement procedures).
-- Incorporate a process for receiving, tracking, and considering public comments, suggestions,
and concerns on the program and specific construction sites.
-- Determine appropriate best management practices (BMPs) and measurable goals for the
program.
Creating Measurable Goals
An MS4 community’s stormwater management plan (SWMP) should contain measurable
goals for each of the MCMs, which will help show that efforts are working when it comes time
to submit the annual MS4 permit report.
For MCM 4, one measurable goal could be that at least 80 percent of construction sites
are compliant by implementing and maintaining their BMPs.
Educational efforts, like educating construction site operators and contractors about
proper selection, installation, inspection, and maintenance of on site stormwater BMPs, are an
example of what could be used to reach this goal which is measured through inspections.
If less than 80 percent of construction sites are compliant, than this is an indicator that the
educational approaches need to be modified.
Implementation steps and milestones are used to provide baseline numbers to help
measure against effectiveness. Examples of these include, tracking the number of educational
pamphlets distributed, the number of operators in attendance at training events, and the number
of participants in online webinars.
MS4 communities can encourage more participation in educational efforts by decreasing
permit fees for contractors who can show that they attended a training.
Project Example
The Brubaker Run – Lime Spring Square development project in East Hempfield
Township, Lancaster County, showcases the importance of MCM 4.
The site is 98-acres and will contain a mix of industrial, commercial, retail, office space,
and a community park. Brubaker Run flows through the site, so keeping sediment-laden runoff
out of the stream is essential to making sure the construction activities do not impact East
Hempfield Township’s MS4 permit.
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East Hempfield Township is doing their part with MCM 4 implementation; they have an
ordinance in place, have reviewed the site plans for the Lime Spring Square development, and
continue to track progress on the site to ensure Oak Tree Developers and their contractors are
properly installing and maintaining the BMPs.
Should an issue arise, the municipality will work with the developer to quickly remedy
the situation.
To learn more about the Brubaker Run – Lime Spring Square project and see drone video
footage of the site, Click Here.
Final Thoughts
By educating construction site operators and contractors about the importance of on-site
stormwater BMPs, an MS4 community not only ensures compliance with state and federal
regulations, but also gains peace of mind that local waterways will not face the threat of
sedimentation and other pollutants from construction site activities.
More information on MCM 4, as well as examples of checklists, procedures, and other
relevant documents can be found here.
For more information, visit the LandStudies website or contact Christine Le,
717-726-4440 or send email to: christine@LandStudies.com. Click Here to sign up for green
infrastructure updates. LandStudies is certified as a Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE),
Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) based in
Lititz, Lancaster County. Follow LandStudies on Twitter, Like them on Facebook. Click Here
for the latest LandStudies newsletter.
(Photo: Brubaker Run-Lime Spring Square, Lancaster County.)
Related Stories:
Runoff
Bay Journal: Removing Legacy Sediment Reduces Runoff Pollution, Restores Habitat
Bay Journal: Brunner Island Power Plant To Convert From Coal To Natural Gas, Will
Reduce Water, Air Pollution
By Donna Morelli, Chesapeake Bay Journal
The Brunner Island power plant near Harrisburg--

blamed for being one of the most polluting plants in the
nation, as well as for several Susquehanna River fish
kills-- will convert from using coal to natural gas by the
end of 2028.
The 56-year-old facility, which rises from the
west shore of the river between York and Lancaster
counties, has long been criticized by residents,
environmental groups and nearby states for polluting the
air and water.
41
The agreement was brokered as a settlement between Talen Energy, the plant’s
Allentown, PA-based owner, and the Sierra Club, a nationwide environmental group. The Sierra
Club announced in February its intent to sue Talen for Brunner’s alleged violations of several
federal water pollution abatement laws and Pennsylvania’s Clean Streams Law.
Talen denies the Sierra Club allegations, stating that it is in compliance with state and
federal laws, but agreed to sign a consent decree to avoid a lawsuit.
In return, the Sierra Club is prohibited from participating in any current or future policy
discussions, permitting issues or lawsuits-- including funding another organization to support
such challenges-- that involve any of the club’s allegations against Talen.
The consent decree, which becomes legally binding in April, calls for the plant to operate
exclusively on natural gas by 2029.
As a first step, Brunner will operate only on natural gas during the peak ozone season,
from May 1 through Sept. 30, beginning in 2023. Its use of coal will end completely by Dec. 31,
2028.
The Sierra Club’s actions against Brunner are part of its national Beyond Coal Campaign,
which seeks to retire coal-burning plants and replace them with cleaner, renewable energy such
as wind and solar. The club aims to retire one third of the coal-fired plants in the United States
by 2020.
“We think that getting the plant to stop creating more ash and achieving the other air,
water and climate benefits associated with phasing out coal are a net benefit for public health and
the environment,” said Emily Pomilio, spokeswoman for the Sierra Club. “And having this
agreement in place allows us to focus our efforts on speeding the transition to clean, renewable
energy system wide.”
Todd Martin, media relations manager for Talen, said that the company had intended to
make a full conversion to natural gas and the consent decree only specifies when and how it will
happen.
Talen retrofitted Brunner for the capacity to burn either natural gas or coal in 2017.
“From our perspective, the agreement with the Sierra Club is an important development
that resolves potential environmental litigation before it’s even been filed,” Martin said. “A key
aspect of this settlement is the ‘global’ nature of the agreement with the Sierra Club, which fully
resolves all pending claims, as well as potential claims that could have been brought against
Brunner Island at the time of the settlement.”
Pollution from the Brunner Island plant, including the emission of nitrogen oxides, has
been a concern for decades.
Nitrogen oxides are a group of gases that contribute to ozone pollution, which causes
respiratory problems in some people and contributes to the atmospheric deposition of nitrogen in
waterways. Nitrogen oxide emissions are also a major source of the nitrogen that fouls the Bay’s
water quality.
The Sierra Club and the Union of Concerned Scientists petitioned state regulators to
require Brunner to control nitrogen oxide emissions when the state tightened up standards on the
pollutant in 2015.
Brunner was exempted from those standards because it doesn’t have the equipment
needed to reduce nitrogen oxides-- it is the only large coal-burning electric generator in
Pennsylvania without it.
The state Department of Environmental Protection extended the exemption because
42
Brunner’s pending switch to natural gas is expected to resolve the problem.
Connecticut and Delaware have also accused the plant of contributing to air pollution
problems in their states. Both petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for
resolution, and later sued the agency to force a solution. In February, after a federal judge
ordered the EPA to act on Connecticut’s petition, the agency announced that the plant’s
conversation to natural gas makes further action unnecessary.
Water pollution from the Brunner Island plant has been a concern, too.
Several fish kills have taken place near the plant’s discharge area since the 1980s, the
most recent in 2016 when 12,000 fish were found dead in a channel. After a yearlong
investigation, the DEP fined Talen $25,000 for the incident.
The Sierra Club court papers also claim that Talen is improperly storing coal ash and
other byproducts of coal-burning on site in unlined pits.
Coal ash is a waste product from burning coal mixed with other substances that are
washed from stacks and pollution-control devices. The group’s court papers assert that Brunner
produces approximately 671,000 tons of coal ash every year.
Talen’s own monitoring data is noted in the Sierra Club’s claim that contaminants
associated with the waste-- such as arsenic, manganese, iron and boron-- have been leaching into
groundwater and ultimately into the Susquehanna River.
The Brunner plant was also involved in a different settlement related to outdated
discharge permits. The permits in question are for the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System, required by any facility that discharges pollutants into a water body with established
pollution limits.
Brunner’s permit has not been updated in 10 years and therefore does not reflect more
recent updates in regulations.
The Sierra Club and the Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper filed a notice to sue the DEP
for allowing Brunner and nine other power plants to operate under outdated regulations. As a
result, the DEP has agreed to draft new permits by 2018 and make them official by 2019.
“Brunner Island last updated its permit in 2006,” said Ted Evgeniadis, the Lower
Susquehanna Riverkeeper, adding that the DEP had proposed extending their current permits
until 2022 or 2023. “That [not updating] is a permit to pollute.”
Neil Shader, DEP press secretary, said the permit delays began in a prior administration.
The current leadership became aware of the delay as a result of the legal action brought by
outside groups and agreed to issue current permits reflecting the most current regulatory
requirements.
Evgeniadis said he would like to see the permits set stricter limits on pollution. He would
also like to see Brunner’s coal ash pits cleaned up and limits on heavy metals in discharge
waters, but he acknowledged that some of those issues are outside of the scope of an NPDES
permit.
He said that the Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association is committed to filling the
void left by the Sierra Club’s legally enforced silence on Brunner Island.
“The Sierra Club loaded the bases for us,” Evgeniadis said. “Now that they can no longer
comment, it’s up to us to continue to advocate for ending pollution on Brunner Island.”
[Note: For more information on Pennsylvania efforts to reduce pollution in the
Chesapeake Bay Watershed, visit DEP’s PA’s Chesapeake Bay Plan webpage.]
NewsClips:
43
Related Stories:
DEP Holds April 25 Hearing On Water Quality Permit For Brunner Island Power Plant, York
County
Talen Energy, Sierra Club Agreement Requires Brunner island To Operate On Natural Gas
During Summer Ozone Season, End Use Of Coal
Settlement With DEP On 10 Coal-Fired Power Plants Will Require Updating Water Quality
Permits
DEP Assesses $25,898 Penalty Against Brunner Island For January Fish Kill
Penn State Law Students To Facilitate Forum On Water Quality, Quantity Issues April 18
In Centre County
The Spring Creek Watershed Commission will hold a

Forum on Understanding and Stewarding Water Quantity
and Quality in the Spring Creek Watershed at 6:30 p.m.
on April 18 at the Central Pennsylvania Institute of
Science, 540 North Harrison Road, Pleasant Gap, Centre
County.
The forum is free and members of the public are
encouraged to attend. Registration is available on the
Penn State Law website.
Facilitated by Penn State Law senior lecturer Lara
Fowler and the students in her environmental mediation
class, the forum is being held to bring people together to identify issues and think about what the
future might look like for the Spring Creek watershed.
This initial Forum will help set the stage for additional work in 2018 and beyond on a
watershed plan for Spring Creek.
Fowler and her students will be conducting a series of interviews prior to the forum. To
participate in these interviews, individuals should email Fowler at lbf10@psu.edu.
The community is also invited to participate in an online forum in advance of, and after,
the April 18 event. The online forum is being run through a program called Placespeak. Click
Here to participate, visit and follow the instructions for creating a profile and logging into the
discussion.
Contact information and data gathered through this online process will be used only to
invite participants to further discussions and to inform the Watershed Commission’s future
watershed planning process.
For more information on this initiative, visit the Spring Creek Watershed Commission
website.
(Reprinted from Penn State News.)
44
Susquehanna U. Research Finds Brook Trout Populations Down In Upper Susquehanna

Watershed Due To Natural Gas Development
New research from Susquehanna University's

Freshwater Research Initiative finds that brook
trout populations suffered most as a result of
natural gas development if their habitats were
already made fragile by other land uses.
They also predicted future loss of brook trout
if natural gas development continues unabated.
Jonathan Niles, director of Susquehanna's
Freshwater Research Initiative, is a co-author
of Brook Trout Distributional Response To
Unconventional Oil And Gas Development:
Landscape Context Matters, published in the latest edition of the journal Science of the Total
Environment.
Niles, along with researchers from West Virginia and Loyola universities and the U.S.
Geological Survey, assessed the role of landscape context, or pre-existing natural habitat quality,
in predicting the response of brook trout to natural gas development.
Researchers compiled 2,231 brook trout collection records from 2006 to 2013 from the
Upper Susquehanna River Watershed. Niles and his students, through their work with the Fish
and Boat Commission's Unassessed Waters Initiative, provided some of the data.
Researchers found that the streams most impacted by natural gas development were
already endangered due to pre-existing land uses such as agriculture, residential and commercial
development, or historic mining.
The additional stress of natural gas development, researchers predict, will further
decimate brook trout populations.
"What this tells us is that we're dealing with ecosystems that are already challenged,"
Niles said. "Our results could be used to guide regulatory and conservation decisions by
identifying streams in which additional stress will likely result in an adverse result for brook
trout populations."
Some of the samples examined by researchers were collected from streams pre- and
post-natural gas development.
Of those samples, 13 percent lost brook trout after the occurrence of natural gas
development.
"Some of the best things we can do from a landscape context is to better situate roads,
limit duplication of pipelines that are crossing streams and reduce the size of well pads," Niles
said. "This is especially the case where the landscape has gone from forested to more impervious
surfaces, as those changes can impact brook trout."
Click Here to read a copy of the article.
Susquehanna's Freshwater Research Initiative provides field-based measurements of the
ecological health of the Susquehanna River watershed to state environmental agencies,
conservancies, nonprofits and the public; and collaborates with more than 45 nonprofit groups,
45
government agencies, and colleges and universities within the Susquehanna River and
Chesapeake Bay watersheds.
The FRI trains Susquehanna University students for careers in environmental research
and conservation in both field and laboratory settings.
For more information on their research, visit Susquehanna University's Freshwater
Research Initiative webpage.
NewsClips:
Frye: Tips For Attracting Backyard Wildlife, Getting Kids Interested In Nature
Saturday Marks PA’s Second Mentored Youth Trout Day
Kids Get First Chance For Trout On April 7 Youth Day
Hayes: Teaching Today’s Children To Fish Far From Child’s Play
Celebrating Funds For Save The Lake In Boiling Springs
Young Angler Hits Gold 4 Times In An Hour On Mentored Youth Trout Day
Schneck: Trout Anglers Crows Streams, Lakes For Opening Day
Crable: Anglers Take To Lancaster Waterways For Regional First Day Of Trout Season
Trout Season Opens In Most Of The Midstate
Annual Rite Of Spring: Helping Fish & Boat Agency Stock Trout
Some Of State’s Biggest Fish Caught In 2017 Were In Southwest PA
Stroud Water Research Center: How Does Climate Change Affect Your Watershed April
12
The Stroud Water Research Center will host a How Does

Climate Change Affect Your Watershed program on April
12 at the Stroud Water Research Center Meetinghouse at
970 Spencer Road in Avondale, Chester County starting at
6:00 p.m.
Join Diana Oviedo-Vargas, Ph.D., Stroud Center scientist in
the Biogeochemistry group, as she answers this question
and explores the role of streams and rivers in the global
carbon cycle.
Learn more about greenhouse gas emissions from our
waters, their feedbacks on climate, and how the work of Stroud Center’s scientists can help us
understand and mitigate some of the consequences of the changing climate on aquatic
ecosystems.
There is also an Education Open House in the Moorhead Environmental Complex
beginning at 6 p.m.
The program is sponsored by Citadel Federal Credit Union and the Victory Brewing
Company.
Click Here for all the details and to RSVP.
For more information on programs, initiatives and special events, visit the Stroud Water
Research Center website, Click Here to subscribe to UpStream. Click Here to subscribe to
Stroud’s Educator newsletter. Click Here to become a Friend Of Stroud Research, Like them on
46
Facebook, Follow on Twitter, include them in your Circle on Google+ and visit their YouTube
Channel.
(Photo: Dr. Diana Oviedo-Vargas.)
NewsClips:
Related Stories:
Global Warming: The Science & Impacts On PA Fish & Wildlife April 12, Scranton
Penn State Underground Carbon Sequestration Research Receives $2.5 Million DOE Grant
Winning Entry In What The Delaware River Means Contest Captures The Beauty Of The
River, New Contest Opens
The Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed Friday

announced the winner of the What The Delaware River
Means Beauty Contest-- Karen Harmon for her photo of
the Frenchtown- Uhlerstown Bridge.
“I’m very excited, I’ve never won a contest before – or
entered one,” Karen laughed. Karen lives in Frenchtown,
New Jersey, just a short walk from the Delaware River
and the Frenchtown-Uhlerstown Bridge.
As Karen describes, the photo was taken during a perfect,
snowy, and quiet evening, with no one else around – just
her and the Delaware.
Karen is an amateur photographer who has enjoyed the Delaware’s beauty since moving
to the area in the early ‘90s and has made the River the subject of hundreds of her photographs.
“It's just gorgeous... I love looking at it, I love playing in it,” Karen reflects. The way
Karen is captured by the Delaware’s natural beauty makes it fitting that Karen would win the
Delaware River Means Beauty contest.
New Contest Running
The Delaware River Means campaign wants to know “What does the Delaware River
mean to you?” The answer to this is explored, as we wrote about previously, through four
separate contests: Fun, Beauty, Togetherness, and History.
This is how it works: enter your photo and story, share your entry on social media, and if
your entry gets the most votes, you win a special prize for that contest.
There are still two contests to go before the campaign ends: Togetherness and History.
Winners of each of the four contests are also entered into a drawing for the grand prize of a
stand-up paddle board.
The Delaware River is a source of fun, beauty, togetherness, and history for those within
47
the watershed and beyond. You can now enter your photo and story to the Delaware River
Means “Togetherness” contest and voting has also officially begun.
Your photo and story about how the Delaware River Watershed has brought people
together could you win a Marmot Halo tent. This tent holds up to 6 people and is perfect for
families, friends, and anyone who wants to spend some time together in the great outdoors.
Keep the spirit of togetherness alive by sharing your memories on the Delaware River
Means website. All entries in the Togetherness contest will also be entered to win the grand
prize: a stand-up paddleboard package!
Winners will be announced on or about June 19.
Click Here for more information on the contests.
For more information on programs, initiatives and upcoming events, visit the Coalition
for the Delaware River Watershed website.
NewsClips:
Related Stories:
Success
Success
DEP Invites Comments On TMDL Plans For Streams In Fulton, Juniata Counties
The Department of Environmental is inviting comments on a proposed Total Maximum Daily

Load Plans for Spring Run in Fulton County and Warble Run in Juniata County (April 7 PA
Bulletin page 2009).
The deadline for comments is May 7. To submit comments or request a copy of any of
the proposed TMDLs contact Scott Alexander, Water Program Specialist, Bureau of Clean
Water, Central Office, Department of Environmental Protection, Rachel Carson State Office
Building, Harrisburg, PA 17105, (717) 772-5670, salexander@pa.gov.
Copies of the TMDL plans are available on DEP’s TMDL webpage.
48
DEP Extends Deadline For Comments On Guidance On Alternative Onlot Septic Systems
To May 8
The Department of Environmental Protection Saturday extended the comment period on two
proposed technical guidance documents to implement Act 26 related to considering alternative
onlot septic systems in Act 537 sewage planning to May 8. (formal notice)
Act 26 amended Act 537 to allow alternate onlot systems to satisfy sewage planning
requirements in the establishment of new lots. It also required the Department to evaluate the
latest scientific, technical and field-testing information concerning alternate systems and to
evaluate the existing alternate systems based on that information. Act 26 became effective on
September 18, 2017.
The proposed technical guidance includes--
-- DEP ID: 385-2207-001. Act 537 Program Guidance; Site Suitability and Alternatives
Analysis Guidelines for New Land Development Proposing Onlot Sewage Disposal. The
Department considers a wide range of available onlot sewage system technologies, including
emerging technologies, in the Act 537 new land development planning process.
This authorization is contingent upon the applicability of given technology to site
conditions and assurance and availability of adequate operation and maintenance support
mechanisms.
The existing regulations do not allow for the consideration of alternate system to
establish general site suitability.
The purpose of this guidance is to provide a systematic approach to site suitability
determinations and sewage facilities alternatives analysis when encountering marginal conditions
for the long-term use of onlot sewage systems or when incorporating alternate onlot sewage
disposal technologies into the Act 537 new land development planning process described in 25
Pa. Code Chapter 71 (relating to administration of Sewage Facilities Planning Program).
This guidance covers the onlot sewage planning process in general and not just alternate
system planning.
-- DEP ID: 385-2208-003. Draft Onlot Wastewater Technology Verification Protocol. The
revised guidance establishes the scientific, technical and field-testing standards for alternate
onlot systems. Much of the existing guidance has been completely changed or removed.
Interested persons may submit written comments on this Draft Technical Guidance
Document through May 8.
Commentators are encouraged to submit comments using the Department's online
eComment website or by email to: ecomment@pa.gov. Written comments may be mailed to the
Technical Guidance Coordinator, Department of Environmental Protection, Policy Office,
Rachel Carson State Office Building, P.O. Box 2063, Harrisburg, PA 17105-2063.
Questions should be directed to Brian Schlauderaff, 717-772-5620 or send email to:
bschlauder@pa.gov.
Click Here for copies of the draft guidance.
For more information on sewage facilities planning, visit the DEP Act 537 Sewage
Facilities Program webpage.
NRCS-PA State Technical Committee Meeting In Harrisburg April 18
49
The U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service-PA invites the public to attend the
Pennsylvania State Technical Committee meeting on April 18 at the USDA State Office in
Harrisburg.
Quarterly State Technical Committee Meetings are held to discuss natural resources
conservation in Pennsylvania and provide recommendations to NRCS on the implementation of
Farm Bill programs.
April's meeting will include updates on 2018 conservation programs, a presentation on
"Helping farmers adapt to storms, floods and droughts," and an overview of a Conservation
Innovation Grant phosphorus project by representatives from Trout Unlimited.
The meeting will be held at the NRCS-PA State Office Conference Room at 359 East
Park Drive, Harrisburg starting at 1:00. To attend via teleconference, call 1-888-844-9904 with
access code 6941559.
For more information on financial and technical assistance available and other upcoming
events, visit the NRCS-PA webpage.
NewsClips:
Ag Secretary: Milk Marketing Board To Consider Reforms In Milk Downturn
PA Dairy Farms Roiled By Dean Foods Pullout
Editorial: Local Dairy Producers Deserve State Aid, Action
Philadelphia Failing To Deliver On Community Garden Promises
Master Gardener To Offer Tips On Growing Plants From Seeds April 7
Will Land Bank Save North Philly Nuns’ Community Garden?
Projects
Gov. Tom Wolf Friday announced the approval

of $25 million in funding for environmental
cleanup and revitalization projects at 12
abandoned mine land (AML) locations in
fourteen municipalities across Pennsylvania.
“These projects demonstrate my
administration’s strong commitment to assisting
Pennsylvania communities in overcoming the
challenges of abandoned mine land,” Gov. Wolf
said. “While it protects public health and safety
through environmental cleanup, the
disbursement of this funding will also support the creation of thousands of jobs, create new
residential and business opportunities, and revitalize communities and outdoor recreation spaces
that attract people and improve quality of life. I’m thrilled that we could support these important
projects.”
The approved abandoned mine cleanup projects will help eliminate public health and
safety hazards and improve stream, groundwater, and land quality.
The local community and economic development projects include: a regional airport
50
expansion, new business parks, a residential development, reuse of coal waste in electricity
generation, and outdoor sports and recreation amenities, such as trails, ballfields, and fishing.
“Mine reclamation is the exacting process of removing acid mine drainage from streams,
neutralizing acidity in the soil; removing dangerous mine highwalls; stabilizing sinkholes; and
addressing other hazards,” said Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick
McDonnell. “But ‘mine reclamation’ ultimately means a renewal of possibility for coal
communities, and this can be a game-changer.”
The DEP Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation solicited proposals and selected
projects based on federal guidelines and project benefits. DEP also provides or assists with the
technical expertise needed to restore land, water, and air quality at the abandoned mine sites.
The Wolf Administration is leading the coordination of more than 30 local organizations,
businesses, and individuals to accomplish these important projects in an impactful way.
Project funding comes from the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and
Enforcement (OSMRE) 2017 AML Pilot Program, which specifically targets abandoned mine
cleanup projects that are linked to local community and economic development goals.
“OSMRE is pleased to partner with Pennsylvania’s AML Program to implement these
AML Pilot Program projects to reclaim abandoned mine sites and provide local economic
revitalization and community development benefits,” said Thomas Shope, OSMRE Appalachian
Regional Director.
The list of 2017 AML Pilot Projects includes:
-- Beaver County
-- Zelienople Municipal Airport expansion, Franklin Township: Over 3,400 feet of mine
highwall and a 12-acre hillside obstruction will be removed. The runway will be extended,
adding more flight options and about 25 new jobs.
-- Cambria County
-- Stineman refuse pile reclamation/Path of the Flood Trail extension, South Fork Borough
and Adams Township: Twenty acres of coal refuse will be pulled away from the South Fork
Little Conemaugh River, improving river health. The Path of the Flood Trail will be extended to
the Johnstown Flood Memorial, completing the trail. This will enhance the popular annual trail
race; opportunities for educational tourism, hiking, biking, and kayaking; and related local
commerce.
-- Carbon County
-- Quakake Tunnel acid mine drainage treatment/trout stream restoration/Black Creek
Trail creation, Packer Township and Weatherly Borough: An active treatment system to remove
acid will restore 8 miles of wild trout stream (Quakake Creek and Black Creek). The new Black
Creek Trail will be constructed from Weatherly Borough to Lehigh Gorge State Park, and
opportunities for outdoor recreation and related local commerce will increase.
-- Clearfield County
-- Potts Run acid mine drainage treatment/stream restoration, Knox Township: A passive
treatment system to lower acidity should remove this stream from the impaired waters list and
restore it as a coldwater fishery, improving property values and outdoor recreation opportunities.
-- Lackawanna County
-- Lackawanna College subsidence abatement, Scranton: Filling underground mine voids
under a six-story building that’s part of the new Cornerstone Commons will enable use of the
building for classrooms and other uses, leading to about 90 full- or part-time jobs as well as
51
construction and indirect employment.
-- Luzerne County
-- CAN DO North Park Drive Business Park, Hazle Township: Almost 130 acres of mine
land will be regraded to pre-mining conditions to be developed into seven developable parcels in
the CAN DO Industrial Park.
-- Hollars Hill South AML site and Cranberry Creek Gateway Project, Hazle Township:
About 150 acres of mine spoil, industrial/residential waste, and hazardous structures will be
reclaimed for a community ballfield complex and to allow development of the planned
residential, retail, and commercial development called Cranberry Creek Gateway.
-- Earth Conservancy Bliss Bank 3 Business Park, Hanover and Newport Townships:
Remediation of 55 acres of mined land, including 1,200 feet of dangerous mine highwalls, will
allow the completion of the 220-acre Bliss Bank business park. With active recruitment of
nationwide companies underway, about 1,000 full-time jobs are anticipated.
-- Swoyersville refuse pile/community athletic complex, Swoyersville Borough: In the first
phase of the Swoyersville culm bank reclamation, approximately 15 acres of the 55-acre coal
refuse pile will be removed and remediated, with over 2 million cubic yards of refuse anticipated
to be usable for electricity cogeneration facilities. Floodplain restoration will improve water
quality in the Abrahams Creek Watershed and reduce flooding. Seven acres of the reclaimed
property will be transferred to Swoyersville Borough for development of a new community
athletic complex that will allow multiple teams to play, drawing more people to the borough.
-- Schuylkill County
-- Donaldson Culm Bank Stream Restoration, Frailey Township: Coal waste will be
removed along Good Spring Creek, currently designated as clogged stream land, and repurposed
for local power generation. Nearly 18 acres of floodplain and wetlands will be created, reducing
flooding, and the restored site will become an environmental park with trails.
-- Porter Floodplain restoration, West Brunswick Township: Coal silt will be removed from
10 acres of clogged stream land, processed, and sold as fuel. Water quality in the Schuylkill
River will be improved, and a missing section of the Schuylkill River Trail Network between the
Auburn and Hamburg trail heads will be constructed, increasing opportunities for fishing, hiking,
and other outdoor recreation and related local commerce.
-- Venango County
-- TASA refuse piles/South Sandy Creek restoration, Irwin Township: About 200,000 tons
of acid-forming coal refuse will be excavated and sent to Scrubgrass Generating Station for
electricity generation, enabling the company to add new employees. Elimination of a major
source of AMD to tributaries to South Sandy Creek and Williams Run will improve about 13
miles of stream and improve local groundwater quality. The reclaimed site is anticipated to be
used for agricultural purposes.
Click Here to look at photos of project sites.
[Note: Congress is still considering whether or not to permanently fund mine
reclamation/ economic development projects like these under the RECLAIM initiative.
[Congress must also reauthorize the federal Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program per
ton fee that provides the funding for project like this. The fee is due to expire in 2021.]
For more information, visit DEP’s Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation webpage.
(Photo: Swoyersville Refuse Pile, Luzerne County.)
NewsClip:
52
Related Stories:
GAO Report: Pennsylvania Better Positioned To Guarantee Active Mines Are Reclaimed Due
To Bonding Changes
Cambria Counties
Cambria Counties
The April issue of the Blacklick Creek Watershed

Association in Indiana and Cambria counties tells
the story of how the group started with a local trail
project and moved on to develop some of the most
sophisticated mine drainage treatment systems in
Pennsylvania, building lots of partnerships along
the way.
Here’s their story--
During the planning and construction of the Ghost Town Trail, it became obvious that the
Blacklick Creek was severely polluted by acid mine drainage.
Jim and Laurie Lafontaine extended an open invitation to any interested community
members and local groups to meet at Pine Ridge Park to discuss Blacklick Creek.
A group of local residents (Joan Hawk, Jim Lafontaine, Janis Long, and Ted Pluchinsky)
then gathered to discuss what could be done to clean up the streams.
As a result of these meetings, Blacklick Creek Watershed Association was formed in
1993, as a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization.
At inception, the primary focus was addressing the problems of acid mine drainage
(AMD).
BCWA's first President, Jim Lafontaine, lead the organization through the early,
formative first five years (1993-1998) laying the organizational foundation and structure, which
was highlighted by the watershed hosting a statewide AMD conference in 1996.
His tenure as president gave way to Dr. Robert Eppley (Environmental Scientist, PhD,
Chemistry). Dr. Eppley became very instrumental in securing and managing a number of DEP
Growing Greener and other grants, resulting in the construction of a series of successful passive
AMD treatment systems.
These efforts culminated in the watershed receiving the PaDEP Governors Award for
Environmental Excellence. These systems remain in existence today and stand as Dr. Eppley's
legacy of being a tireless, environmental advocate for the Blacklick Creek Watershed
Association.
BCWA worked with many diverse partners to complete several projects. Some of those
partners include the DEP, PA Game Commission, PA Fish and Boat Commission, county
officials, township officials, conservation districts, Indiana University of Pennsylvania students
and faculty, utilities, and coal mining companies.
BCWA is committed to reduce the effects of AMD in the watershed. The Association has
53
completed 13 mine drainage treatment and reclamation projects in the Blacklick Creek
watershed.
Through the funding of Pennsylvania Growing Greener Grant, EPA 319 Grants, Indiana
County Conservation District Grants, and grants from private industry, BCWA has constructed
passive treatment systems along Coal Pit Run, South Branch Two Lick Creek, Two Lick Creek,
Laurel Run, and Yellow Creek.
There are other positive things happening within the watershed. Indiana County
Conservation District has installed a lime doser at the Lucerne 3A mine site. The Army Corp of
Engineers has constructed a large passive treatment system at the Webster Discharge.
Work continues on the reclamation of abandoned mine lands. There are seven major
refuse piles within the watershed.
Re-mining of the Revloc refuse pile has been completed and re-mining of the Beth
Energy Mine 31, Colver Mine, Loraine Mine, and Lucerne Mine refuse piles continues. There
are only two refuse piles to be re-mined, Vitondale and Tide.
One of the most exciting developments is that the Pennsylvania DEP has proposed to
construct a treatment plant at the Wehrum discharge. This will treat two of the larger discharges
in the Blacklick Creek watershed.
All of the activity within the watershed has had a positive impact on the streams. The
concentrations of iron and aluminum in many of the streams has been reduced. Acidity in many
streams has been reduced, raising the pH of the streams.
Macroinvertebrates are beginning to return in several streams and sections of the major
stream are visually improving.
Click Here to read a copy of the April newsletter.
For more information on programs, initiatives and how you can help, visit the Blacklick
Creek Watershed Association website.
NewsClip:
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In Memoriam: Robert Eppley, Jr. A Passionate Volunteer Restoring The Environment
Projects
GAO Report: Pennsylvania Better Positioned To Guarantee Active Mines Are Reclaimed Due
To Bonding Changes
Keep PA Beautiful Convenient, Affordable Trash Disposal & Recycling Featured In April
PA Boroughs News
An article by Keep PA Beautiful President

Shannon Reiter on Convenient, Affordable
Trash Disposal and Recycling is featured in the
April PA Boroughs Association news
magazine.
Reiter points out while it will be 30 years
this year since the passage of the Municipal
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Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act, many Pennsylvania residents still do not
have access to regular trash disposal services.
She said the time is now to take a comprehensive approach to addressing the state’s waste
and recycling needs and establish a network of convenience centers to ensure universal access to
waste and recycling services.
Between 2005 and 2013 Keep PA Beautiful identified 6,200 illegal dumpsites in the state
that are costly for local governments to cleanup. The average cleanup cost for one of these
dumps is about $2,947 per site.
Reiter says reimagined convenience center drop off sites with per bag fees for trash
disposal and other waste would be particularly beneficial to communities in rural Pennsylvania
where curbside pickup of waste and recyclables is not viable.
“Ensuring universal access to convenient and affordable trash disposal and recycling in
Pennsylvania will help meet the primary objective of Act 101, addressing improper municipal
waste practices that create public health hazards, environmental pollution, and economic loss and
cause irreparable harm to the public health, safety and welfare,” Reiter said.
Click Here to read a copy of the complete article.
For more information on the programs, initiatives and upcoming events affecting
boroughs, visit the PA Boroughs Association website. The 107th Annual Conference of the
Association will be held June 10-13 in Hershey.
Visit DEP’s Recycling In Pennsylvania webpage for more information on recycling
programs across the state.
For more information on programs, initiatives and special events, visit the Keep
Pennsylvania Beautiful website. Click Here to become a member. Click Here to sign up for
regular updates from KPB, Like them on Facebook, Follow on Twitter, Discover them on
Pinterest and visit their YouTube Channel.
Also visit the Illegal Dump Free PA website for more ideas on how to clean up
communities and keep them clean and KPB’s Electronics Waste website.
Sign up now for the 2018 Great American Cleanup of PA and set up your own cleanup
and beautification event from March 1 to May 31.
NewsClips:
Arnold Cleanup Day Set For April 21
Student Volunteers Cleanup Harrisburg City Island
Carr: Penn Hills Groups In Allegheny County Rally to Pick Up Litter Through April
Erie’s Spring Cleanup Program Starts April 1
Op-Ed: Many Opportunities To Cleanup Garbage Of Winter In Erie Area
Crable: What Happens To All The Stuff You Put Out For Recycling In Lancaster?
Centre County Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event April 27-28
Frederick: Earth Matters: Dwell On The Details When It Comes To Recycling
Public Meeting On Synagro Biosolids Plant Deals With Lots Of Issues
Related Stories:
Senate Hearing: E-Waste Recycling Law Broken, 5.1 Million CRTs, TVs Waiting To Be
Recycled In PA
KPB: Act 101 Good At Recycling, Building Safe Disposal, Not So Much On Illegal Dumping,
Education
Renewing Recycling Fee, Illegal Dumping, Fixing E-Waste Recycling Law Key Issues At
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Hearing On Act 101
Get Involved In Plogging Week April 9 to 15 In Philadelphia To Make You And Your
Neighborhood Healthier
Keep Philadelphia Beautiful Offers Cigarette Litter Prevention Micro-Grants
PA Resources Council 2018 Reuse Fest April 21 In Allegheny County
Chester County To Hold Household Hazardous Waste Collection Events April 7, 21
Keep Centre County Beautiful Becomes Newest Keep America Beautiful Affiliate in
Pennsylvania
Get Involved In Plogging Week April 9 to 15 In Philadelphia To Make You, Your

The PA Resources Council and Litter? Not in Philly are

partnering with the Clean Air Council and Philadelphia’s
running community for Plogging Week April 9 to 15.
Plogging takes the Swedish trend of picking up litter
while running to Philly's streets.
Plogging week aims to create awareness around the
effects of litter on our neighborhoods and environment.
All are welcome to join Philadelphia’s Running Groups
as they clean up city streets during their usual weekly
runs.
The West Philly Runners are kicking off a week of Plogging beginning with a run on
April 4. Link to the Facebook announcement for the event.
All runners (and walkers) are welcome to join these events. These events are part of the
build up to the Clean Air Council’s annual Earth Day run – this year on April 22.
Check out the full schedule of events for the week of April 9th.
For more information on programs, initiatives and special events, visit the PA Resources
Council website. Click Here to sign up for regular updates, follow PRC on Twitter or Like them
on Facebook. Click Here for PRC’s Events Calendar. Click Here to support their work.
(Photo: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.)
NewsClips:
Related Stories:
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Keep PA Beautiful Convenient, Affordable Trash Disposal & Recycling Article Featured In
April PA Boroughs News
Pennsylvania
Keep Philadelphia Beautiful is now accepting

applications for Cigarette Litter Micro-Grants
from community-based nonprofit organizations
in Philadelphia working on litter abatement and
prevention. The deadline for applications is
April 20.
The guidelines for this grant can be found
online, and funding will be awarded based on
impact, sustainability, community input &
engagement, feasibility, and the potential for scalability.
This year, Keep Philadelphia Beautiful will be awarding seven $2,500 grants specifically
aimed to prevent cigarette litter. Organizations that have been awarded this grant in the past are
welcome to apply again.
Click Here to apply. Any questions should be directed to Michelle Feldman, Keep
Philadelphia Beautiful Director, by sending email to: michelle@keepphiladelphiabeautiful.org or
call 215-854-4000. You can view all of the questions included in this grant application by
Clicking Here.
Find out more about anti-litter and beautification efforts in Philadelphia, by visiting the
Keep Philadelphia Beautiful website or Facebook page or follow them on Twitter.
NewsClips:
Related Stories:
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Pennsylvania
The PA Resources Council and its partners will hold the 2018 Reuse Fest on April 21 at the
UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh employee parking lot at 55th and Harrison Streets in
Lawrenceville, Allegheny County.
Take advantage of this special event to clean out the closets, the garage and the basement
and share your unwanted items for reuse by local nonprofits.
Stop by ReuseFest to enjoy a special Earth Day celebration featuring food trucks, pop-up
shops, children’s craft projects, giveaways, volunteer sign-up opportunities and much more. All
materials donated during the four-hour event will be reused in some fashion, whether resold,
repurposed or given to those in need in our region and around the world.
This year's collection will support Brother’s Brother, Catholic Charities, Construction
Junction, Dress for Success, Free Store Wilkinsburg, Free Ride, Global Links, Goodwill of
Southwestern PA, Humane Animal Rescue, Off the Floor, Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse
and Trash to Thrash.
All local nonprofits will collect materials for FREE including bikes, medical supplies,
usable building materials, household and kitchen items, gently used furniture and bedding, art
supplies, pet supplies, skateboarding supplies, clothing, business casual shoes/jewelry/purses,
vintage items and much, much more.
“ReuseFest is the perfect way to celebrate Earth Day since this one-of-a-kind collection
event provides an opportunity to responsibly – and conveniently – donate a variety of unwanted
but still usable items to multiple local nonprofits,” according to PRC Regional Director Justin
Stockdale. “All materials donated at ReuseFest will be reused in some fashion, whether resold,
repurposed or given to those in need in our region and around the world.”
New this year: ReuseFest will accept outdoor equipment and apparel (clothing, packs,
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tents, etc.) in collaboration with 3 Rivers Outdoor Co. All outdoor material collected will be
resold on consignment at the 3ROC shop with proceeds benefiting PRC.
“During the past six events, PRC has collected and diverted tens of thousands of pounds
of materials from local landfills,” said Stockdale. “Items donated and reused to benefit the local
community have included everything from canes, crutches and wheelchairs to cat carriers, light
fixtures and literally the kitchen sink.”
The seventh annual ReuseFest is presented by the PA Resources Council in association
with UPMC.
Visit the 2018 Reuse Fest webpage or call 412-773-7156 for a complete list of materials
collected.
For more information on programs, initiatives and special events, visit the PA Resources
Council website. Click Here to sign up for regular updates, follow PRC on Twitter or Like them
on Facebook. Click Here for PRC’s Events Calendar. Click Here to support their work.
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Pennsylvania
The Chester County Solid Waste Authority Tuesday

announced there will be two household hazardous waste
collection events in the County on April 7 in Phoenixville
and on April 21 in Atglen.
The April 7 event will be at the CAT Pickering, Center for
Arts and Technology Campus, (Technical College High
School), 1580 Charlestown Road, Phoenixville and April 21
59
at the Octorara High School Administration parking lot, 226 Highland Road, Atglen.
The collection sites will be open at 9:00 a.m. and will close at 3:00 p.m. sharp.
No more than 220 pounds or 25 gallons of hazardous product per household will be
accepted. Hazardous cleaning and maintenance products will have the following cautionary
words on the label: poisonous, caustic, toxic, flammable, ignitable, corrosive, reactive, caution,
warning, danger or hazardous.
Many items, such as fertilizer or cleaning products, should just be used as they were
designed to be used. Just use it up and don’t buy it again if you are dissatisfied with the product.
The following items will not be accepted: latex paint, used motor oil, tires, asbestos,
explosives, propane, Helium or gas cylinders, household alkaline batteries, PCB’s, medical
waste, unidentified waste, commercial and industrial waste, ammunition, computers, TV’s,
electrical appliances and appliances containing Freon.
Note: Latex paint is not a hazardous waste. Residents should not bring latex paint to
Household Hazardous Waste Collection Events.
Solidify latex paint by either air drying small quantities or pouring the paint into a plastic
trash bag with sawdust, clay-based kitty litter or rags and placing the bag and the open can in the
trash after the paint is solidified. Paint hardener may also be purchased at hardware stores.
Oil based paint only should be brought to a Household Hazardous Waste Collection
Event.
Upcoming Collection Events
Similar events will be held in Chester County on--
-- May 19: Owen J. Roberts Middle School, 881 Ridge Road, Pottstown;
-- June 22: Coatesville Learning Center, 1635 East Lincoln Highway, Coatesville; (Stone wall
entrance-Veteran’s Drive-Same entrance as CAT Brandywine – Route 30 across from Dairy
Queen);
-- September 8: Oxford School District Administrative Building, 125 Bell Tower Lane, Oxford,
(Proof of Residency May Be Required); and
-- October 13: Government Services Center, 601 Westtown Road, West Chester.
Click Here for more information.
Visit the Chester County Solid Waste Authority website.
Residents may also call their municipality or the Chester County Solid Waste Authority
at 610-273-3771 *228 for information on how to properly handle unacceptable materials and for
the other regional collection events scheduled throughout the year.
For more information on waste disposal and recycling, visit the Chester County Solid
Waste Authority website.
NewsClips:
60
Related Stories:
Pennsylvania
PEC, Partners: Volunteers Needed At Illegal Dump Cleanup In Susquehanna County

April 28-29
The PA Environmental Council and its partners are inviting

volunteers to be part of the cleanup of illegal dump sites in
Harmony Township, Susquehanna County on April 28 and 29.
PEC, in partnership with the Friends of Starrucca Creek
and Keep PA Beautiful, will conduct a cleanup of illegally
dumped trash, tires and debris in and throughout Starrucca
Creek.
Volunteers should meet in Stevens Point, at the Harmony
Township Building located at the intersection of Route 1009
and Rockwell Road.
On the morning of the cleanup, volunteers will gather for
registration and instructions. After registration, volunteers will
be provided with work gloves, trash bags and safety vest.
When supplies are distributed, and instructions have been provided, volunteers will begin
the cleanup. Free lunch & dinner will be provided to all participants. This is a rain or shine event.
Families, individuals, scouting groups, 4-H groups, environmental clubs, businesses,
college and university clubs and high school students are invited to be part of this effort.
Click Here to register or for more information. Questions should be directed to Palmira
Miller 570-592-7876 or send email to: pmiller@pecpa.org or Dana Rockwell, 607-765-6087 or
send email to: danarockwell@hotmail.com.
updates from PEC.
NewsClips:
61
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Pennsylvania
Construction Junction in Pittsburgh will host

more than a dozen special Earth Month
events during April in celebration of Earth
Day. Just a few of the special events
include-
-- Stormworks & Nine Mile Run In-Store
Demo of How To Reduce Stormwater
Runoff
-- PittMoss In-Store Demo
-- Handy Andy & HydroBlox In-Store Demo
-- Pittsburgh Redbud Project Seedling Giveaway
-- Shadyside Worms In-Store Info
-- Crash & Burn Metal Art Pop-Up
-- PRC Backyard Composting Class
Click Here for the complete schedule of Earth Month events
The mission of Construction Junction is to support and promote conservation through the
reuse of building materials at its 30,000 square foot store and warehouse at 214 North Lexington
Street in Pittsburgh.
Construction Junction is open from 9:00 to 6:00 Monday through Friday, 9:00 to 5:00 on
Saturday and 10:00 to 5:00 on Sunday.
For more information, visit the Construction Junction website and to sign up for their
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Friday email updates (bottom of the page). You can also call 412-243-5025.
(Photo: Pittsburgh Magazine.)
NewsClips:
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Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
Keep Centre County Beautiful became the 13th Keep

America Beautiful affiliate in Pennsylvania on
January 24. The certification of this new affiliate
marked the culmination of a public-private-civic
partnership process that began in early 2017.
Keep Centre County Beautiful initiated the affiliate
process by conducting Keep America Beautiful’s
Community Appearance Index (CAI), which is done
to gather data annually by surveying a random,
statistical sample of roadways.
Keep Centre County Beautiful based its CAI on town
and rural watersheds. The annual results will be used
to develop a local plan to change attitudes and behaviors regarding litter, recycling,
beautification, and related issues.
Rod Fye, Enforcement Officer for Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority will
serve as Executive Director for the Keep Centre County Beautiful affiliate and Jeia Forsyth, will
serve as the new affiliate’s point person.
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“ Keep Centre County Beautiful is thrilled to be affiliated with the Keep America
Beautiful program, a partnership that will enhance our voice as we educate and service the
community in reduction, reuse and recycling,“ said Rod Fye, affiliate Executive Director.
“Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful congratulates and welcomes Keep Centre County
Beautiful. By affiliating with Keep America Beautiful, Keep Centre County Beautiful will have
access to the tools, resources and program opportunities KAB has to offer,” explained Shannon
Reiter, President of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful.
The organization will be a program of the Centre County Recycling and Refuse
Authority. The group’s overall strategic plan for the next three years includes litter control,
recycling, combating illegal dumping with an emphasis on enforcement and education for
college students.
Jeia Forsyth, Affiliate Coordinator for Keep PA Beautiful, can be reached at
814-238-7005 or send email to: jforsyth@centrecountyrecycles.org.
For more information on programs, initiatives and special events, visit the Keep
Pennsylvania Beautiful website. Click Here to become a member. Click Here to sign up for
regular updates from KPB, Like them on Facebook, Follow on Twitter, Discover them on
Pinterest and visit their YouTube Channel.
Also visit the Illegal Dump Free PA website for more ideas on how to clean up
communities and keep them clean and KPB’s Electronics Waste website.
Sign up now for the 2018 Great American Cleanup of PA and set up your own cleanup
and beautification event from March 1 to May 31.
(Photo: Rod Fye, Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority Enforcement Officer and Dr.
Richard Stehouwer, Authority Chair.)
NewsClips:
Related Stories:
64
Clean Air Council Kicks Off Southwest PA Neighbors For Clean Air Initiative April 12 In
Pittsburgh
The Clean Air Council will kick off a new

Southwest PA Neighbors for Clean Air Initiative
April 12 at the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox
Cathedral, 419 S. Dithridge Street in Pittsburgh
from 6:00 to 9:00.
Love Canal organizer and Nobel Peace Prize
nominee, Lois Gibbs, will give the keynote
address at the Building A Future of Hope and
Promise program.
The initiative, rooted in communities across the
region, will establish at least one hundred groups of ten neighbors to educate one thousand
concerned residents.
The one thousand new citizen leaders will be armed with information about local air
pollution sources and how to address the air quality issues affecting their lives.
“There is a crisis in western Pennsylvania that needs to be addressed right now,” said
Lois Gibbs the primary organizer in Love Canal, winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize
and Heinz award in the Environment, and Nobel Peace Prize nominee. “The Southwest PA
Neighbors for Clean Air Campaign will bring people into community, mobilize them and then
they will take the necessary action to ensure Southwest Pennsylvania has clean air and a healthy
environment in which to live and prosper.”
“Southwest Pennsylvania, particularly Allegheny County, continues to receive poor air
quality grades, said B. David Smith, Clean Air Council Outreach Coordinator. “We are kicking
off this initiative because community members are demanding that industry and government
protect their health, environment, and quality of life - their voices must be heard.”
The Southwest PA Neighbors for Clean Air Initiative is a commitment to to bring
concerned residents together, provide study guides so they can become local experts on the
issues related to pollution in SWPA, mobilize more residents to take action steps to reduce the
impact pollution is having on the health, the environment, and quality of life.
Once activated, these communities will remain engaged to monitor local and regional
projects to hold companies and regulatory bodies accountable.
For more information and to register for the Southwest PA Neighbors for Clean Air
Initiative, send email to Dave Smith at: dsmith@cleanair.org.
More information on programs, initiatives and other upcoming events is available at the
Clean Air Council website.
NewsClips:
Ethanol Groups Bristle As EPA Frees 25 Small Refineries From Biofuels Law
Court Clears Philadelphia Refinery For Chapter 11 EPA Ethanol Settlement
65
PUC Adopts Policy Statement, Creates Working Group On Combined Heat, Power
Technology
The Public Utility Commission Thursday adopted a policy statement geared toward helping
advance the development of combined heat and power (CHP) technology.
The PUC’s Bureau of Technical Utility Services will also set up a CHP Working Group
to engage with stakeholders and encourage the deployment of, and reduce barriers to, CHP
initiatives in the Commonwealth.
CHP captures the waste heat energy that is typically lost through power generation, using
it to provide heating and/or cooling for manufacturing and business.
CHP is an efficient means of generating electric power and thermal energy from a single
fuel source, providing cost-effective energy services to commercial businesses like hospitals,
universities and hotels.
“CHP offers a variety of benefits,” noted Chairman Gladys M. Brown in a supporting
statement at the PUC public meeting,” First and foremost, CHP supports environmental
stewardship through increased efficiency. Also, it provides economic benefits to its adopters
through reductions in energy consumption. Further, it supports reliability and resiliency as a
distributed energy resource.”
The Commission voted 5-0 to adopt the policy statement, which promotes a coordinated
approach to CHP to the benefit of the economy, the environment, and the security of
Pennsylvania residents and businesses.
First proposed and issued for public comment in the winter of 2016, the newly adopted
policy statement is intended to:
-- Promote CHP investments;
-- Encourage electric distribution companies (EDCs) and natural gas distribution companies
(NGDCs) to make CHP an integral part of their energy efficiency and resiliency plans, as well as
their marketing and outreach efforts; and
-- Encourage these companies to design interconnection processes and rates for owners and
operators of CHP facilities.
Under the new policy, EDCs and NGDCs are required to report to the Commission
biennially on CHP development in their service territories, including their efforts to promote
such development.
Commission staff will also provide biennial reports to the Commission summarizing and
analyzing the utility reports, identifying government agency programs providing financial aid
and other support for CHP and making recommendations regarding the development of CHP in
the Commonwealth.
The policy statement becomes effective upon publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
On Jan. 21, 2016, PUC Chairman Brown, on behalf of the Commission, signed a
partnership agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Initiative.
Specifically, the PUC’s partnership agreement pertains to the CHP for Resiliency
Accelerator program, which was launched by DOE to support and expand the consideration of
CHP solutions by states, communities and utilities for their infrastructure needs.
To see all documents related to this issue, visit the PUC’s Docket No.: M-2016-2530484.
66
EPA Honors 4 Pennsylvania Energy Star Partners Of The Year
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S.

Department of Energy Monday announced they will honor
four Pennsylvania Energy Star Partners of the Year
including: Air King America LLC of West Chester; Bimbo
Bakeries of Hazelton; PECO Energy of Philadelphia; and
Ricoh USA Inc. of Malvern.
The four were among 63 Energy Star Partners of the Year
nationally – including Fortune 500 companies, schools,
hospitals, retailers, manufacturers, home builders, and
commercial building owners and operators –- who will be
named Energy Star Partners of the Year for their outstanding contributions to public health and
the environment by demonstrating national leadership in cost-saving energy efficient solutions.
“The 2018 Energy Star Partners of the Year have demonstrated real leadership, showing
how American families and businesses can save energy, save money, and reduce air emissions,”
said EPA Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation Bill Wehrum.
The awards will be presented in Washington, D.C. at the Washington Hilton Hotel on
April 20. EPA Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation Bill Wehrum, together with CMS
Energy CEO Patti Poppe, will deliver keynote presentations.
Air King America, LLC in West Chester, Chester County has been manufacturing
ventilation products for almost 50 years and is dedicated to providing affordable and efficient
ventilation solutions. Air King is receiving Energy Star® Partner of the Year recognition for
designing Energy Star certified exhaust fans and range hoods with real world applications in
mind, and for promoting Energy Star as a key marker of efficiency. Click Here for more on
accomplishments.
Bimbo Bakeries USA in Hazleton, Luzerne County is a baking company whose brands
include Thomas’, Sara Lee, Oroweat, Arnold, Nature’s Harvest, and more. The company has
used Energy Star® tools and guidance to build its energy management program. Bimbo Bakeries
is receiving the Energy Star Partner of the Year recognition for the growth of its energy
management program and leadership in the baking sector. Click Here for more on
accomplishments.
PECO in Philadelphia is an electric and natural gas utility subsidiary of Exelon
Corporation serving 1.6 million electric and 518,000 natural gas customers. Since 2009, PECO
has leveraged Energy Star® in its Smart Ideas program, encouraging businesses and residents to
look to Energy Star to save energy, money and protect natural resources.
PECO is receiving Energy Star Partner of the Year–Sustained Excellence recognition for
notable support of the Energy Star Certified Products and Certified Homes programs. Click
Here for more on accomplishments.
Ricoh USA, Inc. in Malvern, Chester County is a leading provider of document
management solutions, information technology (IT) services, and digital cameras that is fully
committed to sustainability. Ricoh is receiving Energy Star® Partner of the Year–Sustained
Excellence recognition for its outstanding efforts in training, education, and promotion of Energy
Star certified products. Click Here for more on accomplishments.
For more than 25 years, EPA’s Energy Star program has been America’s resource for
67
saving energy and protecting the environment.
In 2016 alone, Energy Star certified products, homes, buildings, and plants helped
Americans save over $30 billion in energy costs and approximately 400 billion kilowatt-hours of
electricity while achieving broad emissions reductions.
Visit EPA’s Energy Star webpage for more information on the program.
NewsClips:
Allegheny Community College South Campus Saves $235,000 On Energy Use
FirstEnergy Generation Files For Bankruptcy Just Before Midnight
FirstEnergy Solutions, the competitive subsidiary of FirstEnergy, along with all FES subsidiaries
and FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company, made a voluntary filing under Chapter 11 of the
United States Bankruptcy Code in order to facilitate an orderly financial restructuring just before
midnight on Saturday, March 31.
This decision was made by FES' board of directors. The filing does not involve
FirstEnergy or its distribution, transmission, regulated generation and Allegheny Energy Supply
subsidiaries.
FirstEnergy Solutions earlier filed a deactivation notice with the PJM Interconnection for
3 nuclear power plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania, including the Beaver Valley Plant in
Shippingport.
They then asked the U.S. Department of Energy for an emergency order directing the
PJM Interconnection to immediately begin negotiations to secure the long-term capacity of
certain nuclear and coal-fired plants in the region citing fuel security and diversity issues.
The PJM Interconnection was quoted by the Washington Examiner as saying, “This is not
an issue of reliability. There is no immediate emergency. Diversity of the fuel supply is
important, but the PJM system has adequate power supplies and healthy reserves in operation
today, and resources are more diverse than they have ever been. Nothing we have seen to date
indicates that an emergency would result from the generator retirements."
"FirstEnergy and its other subsidiaries are not part of this Chapter 11 filing," said Charles
E. Jones, president and chief executive officer of FirstEnergy. "The six million customers of our
regulated utilities will continue to receive the same reliable service, while our regulated
generation facilities will continue normal operations, with the same longstanding commitment to
safety and the environment.
"FirstEnergy will remain focused on creating long-term value for its customers,
employees and shareholders," Jones said. "Becoming a fully regulated utility company should
give FirstEnergy a stronger balance sheet, solid cash flows and more predictable earnings.
Simply put, we will be better positioned to deliver on the tremendous opportunities for
customer-focused growth," he said.
FirstEnergy's management team is being advised by its Restructuring Working Group,
which has been engaged in substantive negotiations with a steering committee of FES
noteholders. These discussions are expected to continue over the next several weeks.
Additionally, the parties have joined an agreement filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court,
68
Northern District of Ohio, for approval to advance an efficient discovery and settlement process.
As of March 31, 2018, FES, all of its subsidiaries, and FENOC will be deconsolidated from
FirstEnergy's financial reporting.
Earlier this year, FirstEnergy announced plans for more than $10 billion in capital
investments in its regulated businesses through 2021.
This includes the company's 10 electric distribution utilities, which serve six million
customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York and
together form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, as well as its
transmission operations, which include approximately 24,000 miles of lines and two regional
transmission operation centers.
FirstEnergy's 3,779 megawatt (MW) regulated electric generation fleet includes four
plants in West Virginia, Virginia and New Jersey. These are the 1,098 MW coal-fired Fort
Martin Plant in Maidsville, W.Va.; the 1,984 MW coal-fired Harrison Plant in Haywood, W.Va.;
487 MW of regulated generation at the Bath County Hydro facility in Warm Springs, Va.; and
210 MW of hydro generation at the Yards Creek facility in Blairstown, N.J.
In late 2016, FirstEnergy announced that it would explore a variety of strategic
alternatives for its commodity-exposed generation business, with a goal of exiting the business
by mid-2018.
In the past year, the company's competitive subsidiaries have sold assets, announced
plans to deactivate generating units, and worked for federal and state support for generating
assets.
At this time, the company's AE Supply subsidiary owns two competitive generation
assets: the 1,300 MW Pleasants Plant in Willow Island, W.Va., and 713 MW of competitive
generation at Bath County Hydro.
The company has announced plans to sell or deactivate Pleasants by the end of 2018, and
the previously announced sale of Bath is on course to close in the first half of the year.
NewsClips:
Trump Says Emergency Aid Sought By FirstEnergy Generation To Be Examined
Trump Says He’s Trying To Save Coal, Nuclear Power Plants With Emergency Powers
Moody’s: Let FirstEnergy Nuclear Plants Close
Bankruptcy Of FirstEnergy Generation Could Have Wide-Ranging Impact
Op-Ed: Nuclear Plant Shutdowns Will Cause Ripples Across PA Economy
AP: FirstEnergy Generation Files For Bankruptcy
Frazier: FirstEnergy Generation Files For Bankruptcy
FirstEnergy Generation Files For Bankruptcy Just Before Midnight Saturday
FirstEnergy Generation Files For Bankruptcy
AP: FirstEnergy Generation Says Power Plants Will Stay Open During Bankruptcy
Murray Coal Fears FirstEnergy Generation Bankruptcy Could Have Ripple Effect
Editorial: Much At Stake In Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Plant
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House-Senate PA Nuclear Energy Caucus Chairs React To FirstEnergy Nuclear Plan
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PennLive.com: Exelon Notifies NRC It Will Close TMI In September 2019
69
Limerick Nuclear Power Plant Starts Refueling Outage In Montgomery County
Feature- 39 Years Ago Pennsylvanians Woke Up To The Accident At Three Mile Island-- 3:53
a.m., March 28, 1979
PUC Changes Date For York County Hearing On Transource Power Line To May 14
The Public Utility Commission Tuesday

announced it has changed the date of one of the
York County hearings on the Transource power
line project to May 14. The original date was May
15.
All the York County hearings will now be held on
May 9 and May 14 at the Airville Volunteer Fire
Department, 3576 Delta Road, Airville, PA,
17302, and will begin at 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.
on both days.
There are no changes to the Franklin County hearings, which will be held on May 22, and
May 23, at the New Franklin Fire Department Social Hall, 3444 Wayne Road, Chambersburg,
PA, 17202. Hearings will be held at 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. on both dates.
PUC Administrative Law Judges Elizabeth H. Barnes and Andrew M. Calvelli will
preside over the public input hearings.
The Transource applications involve transmission line construction projects in York and
Franklin counties, which have resulted in the filing of numerous comments, protests and
petitions to intervene in the case from landowners and other concerned entities.
In addition to the public input hearings, the litigation schedule included in the procedural
order calls for potential site views to occur in May and/or June 2018, depending on weather; the
filing of testimony, starting in late July 2018; evidentiary hearings in December 2018; and the
submission of briefs and reply briefs in February 2019.
For documents related to this case, visit the PUC’s Docket Numbers: A-2017-2640195
and A-2017-2640200.
PUC Holds June 14 En Banc Hearing On Supplier Consolidated Billing By Electricity

Suppliers
The Public Utility Commission Monday announced it will hold an en banc hearing on June 14 to
hear testimony and gather additional information on customer billing practices by competitive
electric generation suppliers, specifically on the legality, merits and potential implementation of
supplier consolidated billing.
Currently, a shopping customer may either receive a separate bill from his or her supplier
or may receive a bill from his or her utility that includes the supplier’s charges.
The PUC’s Office of Administrative Law Judge will facilitate the en banc hearing, which
will begin at 1 p.m. in Hearing Room 1 of the Commonwealth Keystone Building, 400 North
Street, Harrisburg, PA.
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The purpose of this hearing is to permit participants to inform the Commission on the
following issues:
-- Whether SCB is legal under the Public Utility Code and Commission regulations;
-- Whether SCB is appropriate and in the public interest as a matter of policy;
-- Whether the benefits of implementing SCB outweigh the costs associated with
implementation; and
-- Potential alternatives to SCB.
Consistent with the Commission’s Secretarial Letter of March 27, 2018, interested parties
may submit written comments on any listed topics by May 4, referencing Docket Number
M-2018-2645254.
Comments can be mailed to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, Attn:
Secretary, P.O. Box 3265, Harrisburg, PA 17105-3265. Comments may also be filed
electronically through the Commission’s e-File System. Parties should note in their comments if
they are interested in testifying at the en banc hearing.
Upon review and consideration of the comments filed, the Commission will then select
participants representing a diverse set of perspectives to present testimony and answer questions
at the hearing.
On Jan. 18, 2018, the Commission approved a joint motion by Chairman Gladys M.
Brown and Commissioner Norman J. Kennard to further explore the legality, merits and
potential implementation of SCB, as well as the appropriateness of possible alternatives to SCB.
Under SCB, customers would receive a single, consolidated bill from their chosen EGS
that would include both their electric distribution company’s (EDC) distribution charges and
their EGS’s generation and transmission charges.
Documents related to this inquiry can be found at PUC Docket Number
M-2018-2645254.
Buckeye Now Proposing Bi-Directional Laurel Pipeline Service
Buckeye Partners, L.P. Friday announced it is actively undertaking the steps necessary to provide
bi-directional service along the Altoona to Pittsburgh section of the refined fuels pipeline system
operated by its operating subsidiary, Laurel Pipe Line Company, L.P..
This service, which Buckeye believes will not materially impact its original project costs
or timeline, will leave all of Laurel’s existing Public Utility Commission tariffs in place while
establishing new Federal Regulatory Energy Commission tariffs from Midwest origins to
Altoona, PA destinations.
Buckeye’s decision comes in light of the recent recommended decision by the PUC’s
Administrative Law Judge that the PUC reject Laurel’s application to abandon east-to-west
transportation and reverse the direction of service in that section of the Laurel pipeline from west
to east.
“Buckeye fully respects and remains committed to the ongoing PUC process. We see the
addition of eastbound service to the current westbound capability as providing an operational
solution for all our customers. This approach provides shippers and suppliers with the choice to
supply from either the west or east, while still increasing Pennsylvania consumers’ access to
more affordable, lower cost North American- manufactured fuels, and we think it does so in a
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way that fully addresses the points raised in the recent PUC proceedings,” said Robert A.
Malecky, Buckeye’s President, Domestic Pipelines & Terminals.
No other details were available.
Reaction
The group of businesses opposed to the original flow reversal proposal-- the Deny
Buckeye Coalition-- issued this statement on the proposal--
“We don’t have details, but we’re certainly suspicious of this decision. After over a year
of telling the PUC, legislators, media and the public that a reversal is best for Pennsylvania,
Buckeye is now trying to take unilateral action that appears to be circumventing the
Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission process. Truly embracing bi-directional flow that meets
the needs of Buckeye’s current customers — and being open to competition — are contrary to
their position for the past 12-18 months. We look forward to hearing more about their plans
before taking an official position.”
Deny Buckeye members include: Giant Eagle Get Go, Gulf, Guttman Energy, Monroe
Energy, Philadelphia Energy Solutions and Sheetz.
NewsClips:
Maykuth: Laurel Pipeline Operator Will Move To Cut Philly Refiners’ Access To Pittsburgh,
Imperiling Jobs
Legere: After Setback, Laurel Pipeline Company Plans 2-Way Flow
Hurdle: Mariner East 2 Pipeline Offers To Relocate Residents Affected By Its Construction In
Chester County
Maykuth: Mariner East 2 Pipeline Offers To Temporarily Relocate Residents Affected By
Sinkholes
AP: Mariner East 2 Pipeline Offers To Relocate Residents Affected By Sinkholes Near Philly
Maykuth: How Sunoco’s Drilling Methods May Be Causing Mariner East 2 Pipeline’s Problems
Mariner East 2 Pipeline Faulted For Unauthorized Form Of Drilling, Spill In Lebanon County
Hurdle: Sunoco: Vandals Damage Mariner East 2 Pipeline Equipment In Chester County
FracTracker: Shell Pipeline, Not Quite The Good Neighbor
Energy Transfer Partners/Sunoco Pipeline Data System Hit With Cyber Attack
Nearly 100 People Attend Public Hearing On Proposed Shell Pipeline
Most Residents At Monaca Hearing Question Shell’s Planned Pipeline
Residents Ask Whether The Proposed Shell Ethane Pipeline Is An Acceptable Risk
Mariner East 1 Pipeline Shutdown Piles On Propane Price Pressure
Related Story:
Administrative Law Judge Recommends PUC Deny Request To Reverse Flow Of Laurel
Pipeline
Third Annual Energy Days At Penn State Set For May 30-31 In State College
Penn State will be hosting the third annual Energy

Days Conference May 30 and 31 at the Penn
Stater Conference Center in State College, Centre
County.
The conference brings together leaders
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from across the energy realm, including members of industry, government, non-profits, and
academia. The conference helps to identify and discuss the regional, national, and global energy
challenges facing society.
In addition to plenary sessions, there are a series of focused workshops on key topics
where specific and compelling outcomes are in reach.
This year’s conference will discuss Penn State’s goal of being the “Energy University,”
built upon its reputation as an international leader in energy scholarship, research, and extension.
The University’s strategic plan will specifically address shaping the Energy University initiative.
New partnerships that provide results and innovative solutions to energy challenges and
positive impacts are the goals for Energy Days.
Universities can help to strengthen that foundation, and to accelerate the trajectory of
fundamental discovery and applied innovation through deeper partnerships with government,
industry, and civil society.
The two-day conference is designed to elicit input and engagement from a diverse range
of stakeholders. It includes a day and a half of both formal and informal discussions, as well as a
poster session that highlights the breakthrough research occurring at the University.
Energy Days attendees include individuals with a wide range of interests, including those
in the energy industry, government agencies, and nongovernmental organizations.
In addition, Penn State students, faculty, administrators, and staff from a variety of
colleges, departments, and institutes also attend. Expertise ranges from engineering and nuclear
physics, to law, policy, and economics.
For all the details, visit Penn State’s Energy Days Conference webpage.
New Bus Stop At Penn State Powered By Solar Panel Array
On Monday, the culmination of plans for Penn State’s 2015

class gift came to fruition as Penn State President Eric Barron
led the dedication of the Solar Panel Array, installed at a
unique bus stop near Beaver Stadium in State College, Centre
County.
The solar array is not only functional, providing
power for real-time CATA route information and a phone
charging station at the stop, but also educational, with
information about the history of solar energy and easy access
to the technology for academic instruction.
"To install the array at a bus stop was creative, cost-effective, and scalable, with the
potential to be replicated across campus and throughout State College,” said Barron. “The
location integrates the class gift into students’ everyday lives, to get students thinking and talking
about renewable energy.
"In choosing the Solar Panel Array as its gift to the University,” he added, “the Class of
2015 has shown its belief in Penn State's position as a leader on some of the world’s biggest
challenges.”
Lauren Nelson, 2018 Class Gift executive director, spoke on behalf of the 2015 executive
committee. Nelson said the project shows how class gifts can engage the entire campus
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community, with student involvement in the selection, design and funding of the entire project.
"The Solar Panel Array is a wonderful example of Penn State students taking the lead in
changing our world for the better,” she said.
NewsClip:
Solar Power Could Be Headed To Hazleton Industrial Park
Related Stories:
Third Annual Energy Days At Penn State Set For May 30-31 In State College
(Reprinted from Penn State News.)

Penn State Underground Carbon Sequestration Research Receives $2.5 Million DOE
Grant
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a $2.5

million grant to researchers at Penn State, Lawrence
Berkeley Laboratory, and the University of Texas at
Austin to study what happens when carbon dioxide
(CO2) is stored underground by using a real-time
seismic monitoring system to track CO2 movement.
Carbon sequestration occurs to help reduce
CO2 in the atmosphere. It is injected under high
pressure into a saltwater aquifer or mineral deposit
for long-term storage. There is no clear picture of
how the CO2 migrates in the reservoir and if leakage can occur.
In 2007, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientist Tom Daley developed
real-time monitoring equipment that is installed during construction of an injection well and
emits an energy pulse that vibrates through material.
These vibrations are analyzed to help create a picture of the subsurface. CO2 affects
seismic waves, and there was no reliable way to track CO2 volume – until Tieyuan Zhu with
Penn State Institute of Natural Gas Research discovered the relationship of seismic wave energy
loss and CO2 saturation.
This knowledge combined with the seismic analysis technique known as waveform
inversion will help to accurately mapping underground CO2.
"This new technology that we're developing is something we couldn't even imagine five
or 10 years ago," said Zhu, principal investigator on the project. "Our goal is to develop new
data-processing tools that will enable the DOE’s real-time monitoring system to accurately map
the underground carbon dioxide."
Researchers will look at an initial estimated picture of the subsurface geology, and then
using seismic data collected during CO2 injection, they will be able to refine the picture as the
CO2 spreads and increases in concentration in different rock features.
Paired with computer models implemented by the oil and gas industry and seismic data,
the team will be able to use the continual addition of data to further verify their underground
CO2 storage picture.
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A 3-D picture of the reservoir can be updated with near real-time CO2 saturation over a
period of time.
Sanjay Srinivasan, head of Penn State’s John and Willie Leone Family department of
Energy and Mineral Engineering and Eugene Morgan with Penn State’s Petroleum and Natural
Gas Engineering, are co-investigators on the project, along with Jonathan Ajo-Franklin, head of
the geophysics department at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Alexander Sun,
senior research scientist, Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas at Austin.
"We are at the cusp of implementing some large-scale carbon-sequestration projects, but
what is stopping federal agencies from moving forward is an uncertainty of where the injected
carbon dioxide goes," said Srinivasan. "Our project will go a long way toward developing
technologies to not only figure out where the carbon dioxide is going but also to identify
potential issues that might arise during the process so that they can be mitigated."
NewsClips:
Related Stories:
Stroud Water Research Center: How Does Climate Change Affect Your Watershed April 12
Lackawanna State Park will host a special Global Warming:

The Science and Impacts on Pennsylvania Fish and Wildlife
Program on April 12 from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Park’s
Environmental Learning Center Classroom, 1839 Abington
Road, North Abington Township, Lackawanna County.
Ed Perry, retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service aquatic
biologist, now National Wildlife Federation Global Warming
Campaign representative, is traveling around Pennsylvania to
educate fellow hunters, anglers, and the conservation
community on how to take action on global warming.
Perry will give examples of current impacts to fish and wildlife in the state, and what
actions people can take to reduce carbon pollution.
This program is free, but registration is required and may be completed by calling
570-945-7110.
For more information on state parks and forests and recreation in Pennsylvania, visit
DCNR’s website, Visit the Good Natured DCNR Blog, Click Here for upcoming events, Click
Here to hook up with DCNR on other social media-- Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.
NewsClips:
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Related Stories:
Stroud Water Research Center: How Does Climate Change Affect Your Watershed April 12
(Reprinted from the April 4 DCNR Resource newsletter. Click Here to sign up for your own
copy.)
The PA Environmental Council’s In Case You

Missed It In March is now available featuring stories
on--
-- William Penn Foundation Investing $42M In
Delaware River Watershed Initiative
-- PEC Kicks Off Regional Watershed Group
Workshops April 25
-- Volunteer To Plant Trees At One Of The Many
Events Happening All Over PA
-- Alissa Burger Joins PEC As Senior Energy &
Climate Advisor
-- Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award Dinner April 24 Harrisburg
-- Western PA Environmental Awards Dinner May 24 Pittsburgh
-- Philadelphia Environmental Awards Dinner June 24 Philadelphia
-- Visit PEC’s Audio Room for the latest podcasts
-- Click Here to sign up for your own copy
Facebook.
Related Stories:
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The PA Environmental Council is now accepting
applications for its 2018 Pocono Forests and Waters
Conservation Mini-Grants Program. Applications are
due May 1.
PEC was awarded a grant from the Department of
Conservation and Natural Resources to administer
this program to provide mini-grants of $2,000 to
$10,000 to projects that support and advance the
objectives of the Pocono Forests and Waters
Conservation Landscape Initiative.
Project applicants within Carbon, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike and Wayne
counties are eligible.
All mini-grants require a 1 to 1 match. PEC and DCNR encourage any municipality,
council of governments, registered Pennsylvania nonprofits, county conservation districts, or
learning institutions to consider projects that may meet the grant criteria.
Click Here for more information and to apply. Questions should be directed to Janet
Sweeney, PEC Pocono Forests and Waters Coordinator, at 570-718-6507 or send email to:
jsweeney@pecpa.org.
Click Here for more information on DCNR’s other Conservation Landscapes Initiatives.
updates from PEC.
Related Stories:
South Mountain Partnership Now Accepting Applications For Mini-Grant Program
South Mountain Partnership Now Accepting Applications For Mini-Grant Program
The South Mountain Partnership is now

accepting applications its 2018 South
Mountain Mini-Grant Program.
Applications are due June 1.
The South Mountain Partnership was
awarded a grant from the Department of
Conservation and Natural Resources to
administer this program to provide
mini-grants of $2,000 to $15,000 or
regional impact grants of up to $25,000
for projects that support and advance the
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objectives of the South Mountain Conservation Landscape Initiative.
Project applicants within Adams, Cumberland, Franklin and York county are eligible.
Click Here for all the details and to apply. Questions should be directed to Katie Hess,
Appalachian Trail Conservancy, 717-258-5771 or send email to: khess@appalachiantrail.org.
For more information on programs, initiatives and upcoming events, visit the South
Mountain Partnership website.
Click Here for more information on DCNR’s other Conservation Landscapes Initiatives.
Related Story:
Forbes State Forest To Participate In Bayer Feed A Bee Local Pollinator Project
The PA Parks and Forests Foundation recently received a

$2,500 grant from Bayer’s Feed A Bee Program on behalf of
Forbes State Forest to create a new pollinator field,
established specifically to offer increased habitat and
nutrition sources for local pollinators.
Forbes State Forest is located in Fayette, Somerset
and Westmoreland counties.
The Forbes Forest District will plant 3.4 acres of
pollinator forage over three sites. The plan is to use a native
wildflower seed mix.
Two of the sites will be in the Pondfield Division including a portion of the Lick Hollow
Picnic Area. The other site will be located along Route 30, outside of the district office.
“It is our hope that these sites will serve as demonstration areas,” said Celine T. Colbert,
Forester, Forbes State Forest. “We want to teach landowners how to create their own pollinator
forage areas and the importance of promoting our native pollinators.”
“We are astounded by the terrific response we’ve received thus far from like-minded
organizations desiring to join us in our efforts to support local pollinator populations,” said
Becky Langer, Project Manager for the Bayer North American Bee Care Program. “This 50-state
planting initiative will help further the reach of our Feed a Bee program by extending support to
exceptional groups nationwide that are working to provide forage for pollinators through
innovative and purposeful solutions.”
The projects range from planting additional native forage, integrated vegetation
management (IVM) initiatives, habitat restoration programs and other forms of establishing
forage that benefit pollinators.
Bayer has committed to fund projects in all 50 U.S. states by the end of 2018, including
submissions from community groups, universities, parks, wildlife refuges and more through the
Bayer Feed a Bee Program’s $500,000 initiative.
“We applaud Bayer for recognizing the need to invest in pollinator gardens and providing
funding to empower projects across the nation,” said Marci Mowery, President of the PA Parks
and Forests Foundation. “Planting pollinators is something we can all do to help address the
needs of pollinating insects.”
The Forbes State Forest grant was funded in the fourth round of selection, 20 projects
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with demonstrable local impact were funded across the country. This creates a total of 112
projects funded in 39 states as well as Washington, D.C. since the initiative’s launch!
You Can Apply
Applications for these forage project grants are being accepted on a rolling basis.
Organizations may still apply, even if projects have already been funded in their states.
Those interested in joining the Bayer Feed a Bee program in the quest to provide ample
forage for pollinators can follow along on the progress or submit their own project for
consideration via the request for proposals at the Feed A Bee website.
For more information on programs, initiatives and special events, visit the PA Parks &
Forests Foundation website. Click Here to sign up for regular updates from the Foundation,
Like them on Facebook or Follow them on Twitter. Click Here to become a member of the
Foundation.
Departments Of Health, DCNR Urge Residents To Learn About Lyme Disease
With longer days and warmer spring weather on the way, the
Wolf Administration wants all Pennsylvanians to know what
Lyme disease is, how they can get it, and the steps to take to
prevent the virus.
“Lyme disease is a very serious illness, and left untreated,
can cause life-threatening complications,” Health Secretary Dr.
Rachel Levine said. “It is important for people who will be
spending time outdoors to protect themselves by dressing
properly. After being outside, it is essential to check yourself for
ticks and to shower right away.”
Pennsylvania has some of the highest numbers of cases of
Lyme disease in the country, and ticks carrying Lyme disease have been found in each of
Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
In 2016, there were 11,443 cases of Lyme disease in the state, which was almost double
the number of cases from three years earlier. Ticks that carry Lyme disease typically live in tall
grasses, areas with brush and wooded areas.
Gov. Wolf has proposed $2.5 million dollars in the 2018-2019 budget toward Lyme
disease education and prevention. That money will be used to build a more robust Lyme disease
program, conduct surveillance for ticks in Pennsylvania, hire staff to implement
recommendations, and improve participation in tickborne disease surveillance with health care
providers.
Pennsylvania is home to many wonderful scenic areas, which is a huge draw to people
looking to spend time outdoors.
Those who are spending time outdoors should wear long sleeve shirts and long pants and
use an insect repellent with DEET. After finishing time outdoors, it is important to thoroughly
check yourself for ticks, promptly remove any attached ticks and take a shower.
Showering will also help any unattached ticks to be washed off. Make sure to change
clothes and place worn clothes in the dryer at a high temperature to kill any ticks that might
remain.
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Check pets that spend time outside too.
“Just as strong sun and severe weather demand outdoors enthusiasts be cognizant of their
surroundings, the spread of ticks and related Lyme disease is important to be aware of and
prepared for when heading outdoors or entering our state parks and forestlands where ticks may
be prevalent,” Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) Secretary Cindy
Adams Dunn said. “DCNR is committed to educating both our visitors and employees on the
best practices, ensuring safe play and work afield.”
Many persons with Lyme disease are not aware that they have been bitten by a tick, since
ticks can be very small and hard to see.
If a circular rash that looks like a bulls-eye appears, you likely have Lyme disease.
However, not all persons with Lyme disease develop a rash. Other symptoms are nonspecific and
include fever, fatigue, headache, muscle aches and joint pain.
If you develop any signs or symptoms of Lyme disease, see your healthcare provider
immediately. When detected early, Lyme disease can be easily treated with antibiotics. If
untreated, the disease can cause joint swelling, cardiac or neurologic complications, and is more
difficult to treat.
For more information, visit the Department of Health’s Lyme Disease webpage.
NewsClips:
Warmth Of Early Spring Creates Brush Fire Concerns
Editorial: Caution Urged During Brush Fire Season
Waterfall Wanderlust: Explore Pennsylvania’s Falling Waters
Waterfalls are beautiful, natural sights that can

be the pinnacle of any trip or hike.
Pennsylvania’s mountains and flowing streams
and rivers have created many scenic waterfalls
across the state.
While they can be enjoyable any time of year,
most waterfalls are best viewed in the springtime
when snow is melting and rainfall tends to be
greater, causing water levels to rise and the flow
of the falls to be more intense.
No matter the falls adventure you’re looking for -- an intense hike, easy walk-in, a
drive-up, something close to home, or a trip across the state -- your waterfall wanderlust can be
satisfied right in Pennsylvania’s state parks and forests!
Interested? Click Here to read more….
(Photo: Glens Natural Area, Ricketts Glen State Park, in Luzerne County. Ricketts Glen has 22
named waterfalls, including the 94-foot high Ganoga Falls.)
NewsClips:
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Laurel Highlands Shelter Restoration Project Wins Environmental Award
Gun Club Wins Temporary Reprieve From Eviction From Black Moshannon State Park
April 6 Take Five Fridays With Pam, PA Parks & Forests Foundation
Potential Raystown Development Pits Ecology Against Economy
Registration Now Open For Susquehanna River Sojourns
Bicyclists Welcome to Join Ride To Flight 93 Memorial In Somerset
Bike Lane Change To Improve Safety In Philadelphia
Heritage Region Names New Water Trail Branch Managers
Worley & Obetz Donates $9,300 To Proposed Veterans Park In Lititz
Column: Pittsburgh Parks Rolling In Green, But Need Maintenance
Greensburg Plans Nearly $500,000 For Five Star Trail Improvements
Rubber Duck Race In Westmoreland Benefits Local Conservation
Letter: Tracy Ridge, Allegheny National Forest
Ready To Paddle 44 Miles On Stony-Kiski-Conemaugh Rivers Sojourn?
(Reprinted from the April 4 DCNR Resource newsletter. Click Here to sign up for your own
copy.)
Interested paddlers are invited to register for the 24th

Annual Delaware River Sojourn taking place June 15-23
and help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the federal Wild
and Scenic Rivers Act.
The Delaware River Sojourn combines the experiences of
guided paddling excursions with interpretive programs,
camping, and camaraderie. Participants may sign up for the
entire trip or for the day(s) of their choice; all skill levels are
welcome.
“This year's theme, Still Wild After All These Years,
celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, which protects
rivers in their free-flowing condition for present and future generations” said Mark Zakutansky,
Director of Conservation Policy Engagement for the Appalachian Mountain Club and chair of
the sojourn steering committee.
“Three-quarters of the non-tidal Delaware River has been designated as Wild & Scenic,”
explained Zakutansky. “On the 50th anniversary, it is only fitting that the Delaware River
Sojourn highlights the Wild & Scenic program and features designated river stretches along our
eight-day journey.”
Over 60 miles of the main stem Delaware River will be paddled in 2018, split into daily
trips ranging from nine to 13 miles.
The sojourn will also paddle a section of the Lackawaxen River, a PA Delaware River
tributary, on June 18, and sections of the Crosswicks and Watson creeks, two N.J. tidal
tributaries, on June 23.
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In brief, the sojourn will include the following stretches:
-- June 16: Northeast Wilderness Experience Camp, Equinunk, Pa. to Callicoon, PA
-- June 17: Callicoon to Narrowsburg, N.Y.
-- June 18: Lackawaxen River (stretch TBD)
-- June 19: Worthington State Forest, N.J. to Driftstone on the Delaware, Mt. Bethel, PA
-- June 20: Driftstone on the Delaware to Talen (PPL) Martins Creek, PA
-- June 21: Riegelsville, N.J. to Giving Pond Recreation Area, Upper Black Eddy, PA
-- June 22: Giving Pond Recreation Area to Bulls Island, N.J.
-- June 23: Crosswicks and Watson creeks & the Delaware River at Bordentown, N.J.
“The sojourn is a wonderful way to discover the Delaware River and experience
first-hand the unique character and diversity of its different sections,” said Delaware River Basin
Commission Executive Director Steve Tambini. “DRBC has been working for more than 56
years to manage and protect this shared water resource. We encourage the public to participate
in this family-friendly paddling and learning adventure.”
Registration fees in 2018 are $80 per day for adults and $50 per day for children (ages 15
and under). There is an additional one-time insurance fee of $5 per person for this American
Canoe Association (ACA)-sanctioned event, except for current ACA members.
Registration fees cover the guided river trip, single or tandem kayak rental (with paddle
and life jacket), shuttle transportation, educational programs, most meals, a souvenir T-shirt, and
optional overnight camping sites.
Participants may bring their own river-worthy boat, but please note that neither aluminum
nor wooden canoes are recommended.
Sojourn expenses are subsidized by donations and grants. The regional supermarket
cooperative ShopRite has sponsored the Delaware River Sojourn annually since 2013; other
sponsors include Konrad’s Kitchen of Yulan, N.Y. and individual donors.
The sojourn also receives grant funding from the PA Organization for Watersheds and
Rivers, the Lower Delaware National Wild and Scenic Rivers Program, Lehigh Valley
Greenways, and PPL.
These funds help keep costs as low as possible for participants and support the sojourn’s
Youth Paddle and First-Time Paddler programs.
The sojourn’s Youth Paddle Program funds full scholarships for a limited number of
student groups and their leaders. The sojourn’s First-Time Paddler’s Program is another savings
opportunity available on a first-come, first-served basis for adult paddlers new to the Delaware
River Sojourn.
The non-profit, annual event is organized by a steering committee with representatives
from federal, state and local agencies, non-profit organizations, and individual volunteers. The
DRBC has proudly served on the steering committee since the sojourn’s early years and is
represented by Communications Specialist Kate Schmidt.
June 15 River Cleanup
On June 15, the day before the paddle trip begins, the sojourn and the National Park
Service Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River are hosting a river cleanup from 1 p.m.
to 5 p.m.
Volunteers will clean up a four-mile section of the Delaware River starting at the
Buckingham access in Pennsylvania and ending at the Lordville access in New York. Volunteers
must pre-register through the Delaware River Sojourn website. Canoes and equipment will be
82
provided.
Sojourn Registration
Registration details, itinerary overview, sojourn partners, and sojourn guidelines are
available at Delaware River Sojourn. Sojourners can register online using Paypal.
Registration-related questions and first-time paddler discount availability inquiries should
be directed to Dejay Branch at 646-205-2724 or info@riversojourn.com.
Other Sojourns
For information on other sojourn opportunities in Pennsylvania, visit the PA Organization
for Watersheds and Rivers website.
NewsClips:
Lehigh River Sojourn Coming Soon!
Help Wanted: Schuylkill River Sojourn Seeking 2018 Sojourn Steward June 2-8
Related Stories:
Success
Success
New Contest Opens
Volunteers Needed For Minister Valley Wilderness Stewardship Days April 21-22,
Allegheny National Forest
Friends of Allegheny Wilderness will

host Stewardship Days on April 21-22
in the proposed Minister Valley
Wilderness in the Allegheny National
Forest in Warren County.
Volunteer work crews will be
dismantling fire rings and rock furniture,
scattering ash and firewood piles,
packing out litter, pulling nails out of trees and conducting other related activities.
The goal will be to transform the area from having the appearance of a trashy overused
developed recreation type of destination, to the untouched sacred nature reserve that the
proposed Minister Valley Wilderness is intended to be, bringing it closer to untrammeled Leave
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No Trace standards.
Hikers will leave from the Minister Road North Country Trail trailhead on Saturday
morning, spend Saturday night in the proposed wilderness, and hike out on Sunday afternoon
after completing our work.
Minimal tools such as shovels, trash bags, and elbow grease are all that will need to
accomplish these goals,in order to help perpetuate the rustic wilderness character of the national
treasure North Country Trail.
And of course, no power tools such as chainsaws are permitted in wilderness, so there
will be no specialized training needed in that regard.
There is no charge to join this program, but participants will need to bring all of their own
food, water and/or water filtration, camping equipment, and come fully prepared for any weather
conditions we may encounter.
Trail stewardship is a fun and rewarding way to intimately experience the natural beauty
of the proposed Minister Valley Wilderness first-hand, and help give back to America’s National
Wilderness Preservation System that is such an important treasure for everyone!
Click Here and Click Here to read about Stewardship Days activities in past years.
Please contact Friends of Allegheny Wilderness if you would like to sign up, or with any
questions you may have, or send email to: info@pawild.org.
For more information on programs, initiatives and other upcoming events, visit the
Friends of Allegheny Wilderness website. Click Here to support their work.
April 4 Resource Newsletter Now Available From DCNR
The April 4 edition of the Resource newsletter is

now available from the Department of
Conservation and Natural Resources featuring
articles on--
-- Waterfall Wanderlust: Explore Pennsylvania’s
Falling Waters
-- Officials Break Ground For Capital Area
Greenbelt Trail, Stream Restoration Project
-- South Mountain Partnership Now Accepting
Applications For Mini-Grants
-- Lackawanna State Park Hosts Global Warming: The Science, Impacts On Wildlife April 12
-- Learn About PA’s Brownfields To Playfields Initiative
-- Watch Cathedral Film About Cook Forest At Presque Isle State Park April 13
-- Good Natured Pennsylvanians: Roy Siefert, Tioga State Forest District Forester, Retired
(Photo)
-- DCNR appoints New Manager At Sinnemahoning State Park: Tracy Zupich
-- Click Here to sign up for your own copy.
NewsClips:
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Wildlife Technology Student Sean Lauer From York Receives Wildlife Society Scholarship
By Steve Harmic, Penn State News
Penn State DuBois wildlife technology student

Sean Lauer is this year's recipient of the
Pennsylvania Chapter of the Wildlife Society's
Frank Felbaum Scholarship.
The second-year student from York is the only
recipient of the Felbaum Award for 2018, as the
highly competitive award is given to only one
individual each year. Lauer received the award at
the Wildlife Society's recent conference.
The Frank Felbaum Scholarship was established
thanks to the generosity of Frank Felbaum,
longtime director of Pennsylvania’s Wild Resource Conservation Program and a tireless
conservationist.
The scholarship is a one-time $500 award intended to assist outstanding students who are
pursuing a career in the wildlife field.
"It's great to have our student recognized by the state chapter of the Wildlife Society,"
said Emily Thomas, one of Lauer's instructors in the Wildlife Technology program. "All students
are eligible in any wildlife-related program across the entire state. And not only is he one of our
students, but he's a sophomore who was competing with seniors for this award. They take into
consideration experience, internships and involvement in student chapters. They're looking for
someone really well-rounded who is solid academically, but also does a lot outside of the
classroom. That's Sean. We're looking forward to seeing a lot of great things out of him in the
future."
Lauer's experience includes a summer spent working for the Pennsylvania Game
Commission in its fawn program. In the program, whitetail deer fawns are fitted with tags and
radio colors for the collection of data on things like animal movements, behavior and mortality
rates.
He plans to earn his associate's degree in wildlife technology, then go on to complete the
four-year wildlife and fisheries science degree, with aspirations to work as a wildlife biologist.
Lauer said of his recognition, "It's definitely an honor to be awarded this. It makes it feel
like all the hard work is paying off."
Lauer said he continues to make connections that will help to establish his career-- a
practice he would tell others in this field to do as well.
"Everyone should get lots of experience," he said. "Volunteer a lot. Go to conferences
like the one I was at when I got this award. Network with people."
Wildlife technology students go on to work in fields related to conservation of wildlife
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species and habitat, such as wildlife biology, and even in law enforcement with agencies like the
Pennsylvania Game Commission.
(Photo: Scholarship recipient Sean Lauer and Instructor in Wildlife Technology Emily Thomas
inventory specimens from various wildlife species that are used for study and instruction during
lab periods.)
NewsClip:
Latin American Scientists To Study Powdermill Nature Ecosystems
Game Commission: Bluebird Boxes Available To Help Connect With Wildlife
The Game Commission’s Howard Nursery wants to help you

“spring” into the season and connect with wildlife in your
backyard.
Bluebird nesting boxes built by staff at Howard Nursery are
available for sale at the nursery office, as well as the Game
Commission’s Harrisburg headquarters, region offices, and the
Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area. Nesting-box kits also
are available.
Nursery staff build bluebird and other nesting boxes during the
winter for annual sales to the public. A single box sells for
$11.66, including sales tax. When purchasing two or more boxes,
the cost is $10.60 each, including sales tax.
Customers can select pre-built boxes or choose kits that can be assembled as a
wood-working project. The kits provide a great opportunity for Scout troops, summer camps and
other conservation groups to get involved with helping wildlife.
Special pricing is available for organized educational activities. Call the Howard Nursery
or region offices for details.
“Building and placing nesting boxes is a great project for individuals, families or civic
organizations interested in connecting with wildlife in a natural way,” said Bryan Burhans, Game
Commission Executive Director. “What better way to usher in spring than attracting bluebirds to
backyards and properties.”
A brochure of the Game Commission’s bluebird nesting boxes and other wildlife
structures are available online.
The Game Commission’s Howard Nursery has been manufacturing bluebird nesting
boxes and box kits for more than 30 years. Each year, the nursery produces an average of 4,000
bluebird boxes and 10,000 kits. In addition to being sold to groups and individuals, they are also
available to cooperators in the Game Commission’s Hunter Access Program.
The nesting boxes constructed at the Howard Nursery are approved by wildlife biologists,
and have been proven to attract bluebirds and other native species, such as tree swallows and
house wrens.
Bluebirds are beautiful songbirds native to Pennsylvania. They are cavity nesters that
became less common because of a lack of suitable nest sites. Many nest sites have been lost
through changing land-use practices, as well as urban and suburban sprawl.
The decline in bluebird numbers is also due in part to non-native species, such as
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starlings and house sparrows, taking over bluebird nesting cavities.
Bluebirds are early nesters, and according to Game Commission biologists, now is the
time to place new nest boxes, as well as to clean and repair existing boxes.
Boxes should be placed on a free-standing pole 3 to 5 feet above the ground, facing
south, if possible, and facing a nearby tree or fence where young birds can safely land on their
initial flights from the box.
To reduce predation and competition from other species, no perch should be placed on
the box; bluebirds do not need one.
Nesting boxes can be ordered and shipped directly from the Howard Nursery by calling
814-355-4434. Shipping and handling costs will apply. Shipping is not available from other
Game Commission office locations. All purchases can be made with cash, check, money order or
credit card. Sales will continue while supplies last.
The Howard Nursery is located at 197 Nursery Road in Howard, Centre County. Office
hours are Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.
The Game Commission’s headquarters is at 2001 Elmerton Ave., just off the Progress
Ave. exit of Interstate 81 in Harrisburg.
Game Commission region office addresses and phone numbers are available on the
agency’s website and in the Pennsylvania Hunting & Trapping Digest.
Visit the Game Commission’s Eastern Bluebird webpage or the Bluebird Society of
Pennsylvania website for more information on this species in Pennsylvania.
NewsClips:
Schneck: PA Bluebirders Will Meet In Lancaster April 6-7
Harmar Bald Eagles Have Second Chick Hatch
Birds Of Prey Migrating Through Erie Region
Editorial: Presque Isle Is Swimming In Ducks
National Aviary’s Andean Condors Are Expecting In Pittsburgh
Pocono Arts Council Announces Earth Speaks IV Awards Artists’ Reception April 21;
Exhibit Runs Thru April 28
The Pocono Arts Council is pleased to announce

the award recipients for “The Earth Speaks IV:
A Juried Exhibition on the Environmental
Crisis,” featured in the ARTSPACE Gallery at
the Pocono Arts Council, April 6-28, 18 N.
Seventh Street in Stroudsburg, Monroe County..
Art is a powerful tool for expressing
ideas and feelings about issues of concern and
can be a catalyst for change. Artists (in a variety
of mediums) have captured their concern
regarding the environmental crisis.
Through art and creative expression, the exhibit will shine a light on man-made issues
that pose a threat to our planet, environmental disasters and ideas for solutions.
The following award recipients will be recognized for their work based on the important
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theme of the environmental crisis:
-- Juror’s Choice Award: Maria Ferreris, Acrylic “After Maria;”
-- Kay & Girard Lichty Climate Crisis Award: April Rimpo, Acrylic I, II, III, “Worth The
Price?;”
-- ARTSPACE Gallery Student Award: Angelina Kimmins, Watercolor, “Mother Earth;”
-- Otto Grever Printmaking Award: Brooke Jana, Giclee Print of Digital Art,
“Crude-Feathered Friends of the Deepwater Horizon;”
-- 2-D Award: Buff McAllister, Fiber, “Maze;”
-- 3-D Award: Clifton Prokop, Cast Iron, “TLV Silence of the Frogs;”
-- Photography Award: Laurinda Faye Rubin, Photography, “Tomato Soup;”
-- Origins Gallery Student Award: Shari Bodofsky, Pencil on Paper, “Portrait of Discarded
Plastic.”
Fifty artists submitted 92 pieces to be juried. 60 works were selected to be included in the
show from artists residing in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Maryland.
Award sponsors for the Earth Speaks IV exhibition are PPL, Mark & Wendy Lichty,
Origins Gallery, and the Pocono Arts Council. Acknowledgements to Kitchen Chemistry for
providing cupcakes and Café Duet for providing coffee for the event.
Juror for the show was Raymond Barnes, Professor of Painting and Drawing at
Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. Barnes has a B.A. in Fine Arts, Norwich School of Art,
United Kingdom, and an M.F.A. Painting, Yale University School of Art. He is an exhibiting
artist in the Lehigh Valley, New York and throughout the U.S.; a curator and co-curator of art
exhibitions in the Lehigh Valley; and a juror of fine art exhibitions.
Mark Lichty has served as Chair of The Earth Speaks committee for the past four years.
Joining him this year were committee members, including East Stroudsburg Area School district
art teachers Mercy Shemansky and Bridget Tinney, YMCA representative Dawn Michniewicz,
East Stroudsburg University Professor David Mazure, representation by Monroe County
Conservation District, Jane MacHale, Nora Goodwin, and Pocono Arts Council representatives
Jody Singer, Brandon Jones and Jack Swersie.
The ARTSPACE Gallery is open Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and
Noon to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. For further information, call 570-476-4460 or visit
the Pocono Arts Council website.
Artists’ Reception April 21
An artists’ reception will be held April 21 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. where awards will be
presented and artists recognized. The schedule of events includes--
-- 4:00: Earth Speaks IV Opening Reception;
-- 4:00 to 6:00: Chalk Drawings Contest on 7th Street;
-- 4:00 to 4:30: Musical Performance by Renard Cohen;
-- 4:30 to 5:00: Poetry Readings about the Earth by Mike Wetmore & Co. Poets;
-- 5:00 to 5:30: Informational Talk (with Native Flute Music) from Delwin Fiddler, Jr., a member
of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and Standing Rock Water Protector;
-- 5:30 to 6:00: Educational Mini-talks on the Environment by Environmentalist, Darryl
Speicher, and James Hunt, Oceanographer and Professor at ESU;
-- 6:00: Earth Speaks IV Awards Presentation;
-- 6:10: Art Awards Ceremony;
-- 6:20: Chalk Drawing Contest Awards & Art Raffle Drawing; and
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-- 6:30 to 7:00: Musical Performance by the band Woodrow.
In addition, Origins Gallery will be hosting a show, "A Voice for the Earth IV" Gifts of
the Earth," 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., with refreshments and live music by the band Woodrow. Click
Here for more information.
For more information on this and other special events, visit the Pocono Arts Council
website.
DCNR Seeking Proposals For Engineering, Environmental, Civil, Geological Services
The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources published notice in the April 7 PA
Bulletin it is seeking proposals for engineering services for various environmental, civil and site
engineering services as well as geological services.
The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has a current list of bid
proposals for construction projects in State Parks and State Forests available online. Click Here
for the list.
The Department of Environmental Protection has available a current list of
Abandoned Mine Reclamation, Acid Mine Drainage, Surface Mine Reclamation, Cleaning Out
and Plugging Oil and Gas Wells, Waterways Engineering (Concrete Dams/Concrete Lined
Channels, Walls and Box Culverts, etc.), Hazardous Site Remediation, Removal and Disposal of
Underground Storage Tanks, and Wetland Restoration projects available for bidding. Click Here
for the list.
Richard H. Friedman To Receive PA Bar Assn Environmental & Energy Law Section
Lifetime Achievement Award
Richard H. Friedman, recently retired environmental law partner at

McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC of Harrisburg, will be honored with
the 2018 PA Bar Association Environmental and Energy Law Section
Lifetime Achievement Award during the section’s Environmental
Law Forum, April 11 and 12 at the Harrisburg Hilton & Towers.
The award honors contributions made to the section and
general efforts that enhance the development, improvement and
furtherance of the practice of environmental law that benefit the
community or represent outstanding personal achievement.
For more than 40 years, Friedman served the public and
private sectors as an environmental law and litigation attorney.
His private practice focused on environmental compliance and
permitting, complex transactions, the Clean Air Act, Superfund cost
and recovery, Brownfields and land use, environmental due diligence and environmental
management issues.
In working with his clients, he advised, defended and counseled them with regard to
federal, state and local environmental laws. He also acted as group counsel at multiple state and
federal Superfund actions to more efficiently and effectively litigate.
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From 1977 to 1989, Friedman worked as a senior attorney at the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, where he developed and implemented programs and regulations, and
litigated to assure compliance with environmental laws, mostly relating to motor vehicles and
fuels under the Clean Air Act.
Some of his accomplishments include: being part of a group that originated and
implemented the “credit project” component of enforcement case settlements; supervised
nationwide field investigations of motor vehicle servicing facilities, gasoline refiners for
compliance with lead content requirements and gasoline retailers for compliance with the lead
phase-out program; and investigated and successfully prosecuted nationwide mobile source
enforcement cases that led to more than 2,000 administrative proceedings.
A member and past chair of the PBA Environmental and Energy Law Section, Friedman
has been active with the section for more than 15 years. During his time as chair, the PBA House
of Delegates adopted a resolution advanced by the section calling for action on the issue of
climate change.
He also managed the sponsorships program for the section’s Environmental Law Forum
and was one of the first initiators of using the funds generated to create and fund the
Environmental Law Student Summer Internship, a program providing a $10,000 stipend to a law
student for a pro bono summer internship in the field of environmental and/or energy law.
Outside of the legal profession, Friedman belonged to and held leadership positions in
various local and state organizations, including the environmental committees of both the
Harrisburg Regional Chamber and PA Chamber of Business and Industry.
Friedman graduated from the University of Maryland and the American University
Washington College of Law.
Friedman is a frequent speaker on various environmental topics, including environmental
permitting; environmental, health and safety management compliance strategies; the Clean Air
Act; environmental aspects of business and property transactions; environmental cost recovery
litigation; and environmental cleanup and liability protection.
The Environmental Law Forum will feature opening remarks from Patrick McDonnell,
secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, on April 11. More
information about the event can be found on the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s website.
Click Here for more information on the Environmental and Energy Law Section.
Related Stories:
Jim Seif Receives Environmental & Energy Law Section Lifetime Achievement Award
Jack Ubinger Receives Environmental & Energy Law Section Lifetime Achievement Award
Fmr DER Chief Counsel John Carroll Receives Environmental & Energy Law Award
Keith Welks, Fmr DER Chief Counsel, Receives Environmental & Energy Law Section Award
6 New Members Join Natural Lands Board Of Trustees
Natural Lands, based in Delaware County,

Tuesday announced the addition of Lloyd H.
Brown, Jason Duckworth, Gail Harrity, Jeffrey
Idler, Stephan K. Pahides, and David W.
Weaver to its Board of Trustees.
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“Our new board members have an extraordinary depth of experience in conservation and
culture,” said Natural Lands president Molly Morrison. “Their impressive achievements in the
nonprofit world as well as their practical experience as leaders in the region make them excellent
additions to the Board of Trustees.”
Lloyd H. Brown has advocated for land preservation in the mid-Atlantic region with the
National Parks Conservation Association and throughout the country as the former Vice Chair of
National Parks and Public Lands with the Garden Club of America.
In addition, she is a longtime member of the Women’s Committee of Children’s Hospital
and the Women’s Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Ms. Brown holds a Bachelors
of Art from UNC Chapel Hill.
“As a member of the Board of Trustees of Natural Lands, I join a team that is saving
open spaces in our area, preserving our natural habitat and educating a new generation to support
future initiatives,” said Lloyd H. Brown. “It is a privilege to be part of such a strong,
transformational organization.”
Jason Duckworth is the President of Arcadia Land Company. Jason received widespread
recognition as a progressive developer and advocate of smart growth in the Philadelphia region.
Under Jason’s leadership, Arcadia has pursued a strategy of infill redevelopment in walkable
places such as Media, Narberth, Hatboro, and Haverford.
Outside of Arcadia, Jason is a board director and president of the Delaware Valley Smart
Growth Alliance and the vice chair of Breakthrough of Greater Philadelphia.
Previously, Jason served as co-chair of the property committee of Overbrook
Presbyterian Church, member of the advisory board for the Ed Bacon Foundation, and as
vice-chair of the national ULI Residential Neighborhood Development Council.
In 2007, Jason co-chaired CNU XV, the national gathering of the Congress for the New
Urbanism held in Philadelphia.
Duckworth holds an AB in Urban Studies (Summa cum laude) from Princeton University
and an M.Litt. in geography from the University of Oxford.
“Natural Lands is the single most effective land conservancy in the eastern United States.
Its work is important not just because open space is valuable but because open space
preservation helps focus growth into existing towns and suburban communities,” said Jason
Duckworth. “Natural Lands gets that land stewardship and town building are inextricably
linked.”
Gail Harrity has been the President and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA)
since 2009. Prior to joining the PMA, Ms. Harrity was Deputy Director of the Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum, where she also served as Deputy Director of Finance and Administration.
Ms. Harrity is currently on the boards of the Parkway Council Foundation, the
Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, the American Association of Museums, the
International Council of Museums, and the Yale School of Management’s Board of Advisors.
Gail Harrity earned an undergraduate degree from Boston University and an MBA in Public and
Private Management from the Yale School of Management.
“I find walking or hiking in open spaces and natural settings to be calming, soul soothing
experiences,” said Ms. Harrity. “In this fast paced world, these experiences inspire the mind and
rejuvenate the spirit. So it is an honor to work with an organization of talented professionals
dedicated to preserving natural lands and making them accessible to all. “
Jeffrey Idler is currently a Managing Director in the Philadelphia Office of the Private
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Banking Division of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.; previously, he was employed with
Prudential Securities, Inc. Jeff currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Carson Valley
Children’s Aid and is President of the Joseph and Carolyn DeMarco Foundation. Idler received a
degree in Economics from Princeton University.
“In an age of constant connectivity and time compression, the value of open space has
never been higher,” said Jeffrey Idler. “It's an honor to do my part to help protect our natural
world and work alongside such a focused and dedicated group of people at Natural Lands.”
Stephan K. Pahides is a shareholder of McCausland Keen + Buckman, where he
practices real estate law. He represents clients in the sale, acquisition, development, and leasing
of property. Mr. Pahides serves currently on the boards of the HEADStrong Foundation and
Drexel Neumann Academy, and is a former board member of the Independence Seaport
Museum, the School of Rock, and the Center for Literacy.
His extensive service to community includes volunteering for the Radnor Hunt Pony
Club and Penncrest High School. Pahides received his B.A. in Political Science from Drew
University and his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
“It is an honor to join the Natural Lands Board of Trustees,” said Pahides. “I have long
admired the organization’s work to preserve and promote open space in our community, and
look forward to further supporting this mission.”
David W. Weaver is the Vice President of Transmission Strategy at Exelon utilities.
Weaver has been involved with supporting MANNA, National MS Society, National Brain
Tumor Society and has participated in many community engagement activities. He also serves on
the board of Philadelphia Neighborhood Bike Works. Weaver received his Bachelor of Science
in Electrical Engineering from Drexel University and is a licensed professional engineer.
“I appreciate the opportunity to serve Natural Lands as I believe in their mission not only
to preserve open space vital to our ecosystem, but also to include community education and
access as well as proper native land management,” said David W. Weaver.
For more information on programs, initiatives and upcoming events, visit the Natural
Lands website. Click Here to sign up for regular updates from Natural Lands and Like them on
Facebook. Click Here to support their activities.
Help Wanted: Schuylkill River Sojourn Seeking 2018 Sojourn Steward June 2-8
The Schuylkill Action Network is seeking an

enthusiastic individual with paddling,
photography, and social media experience to
serve as the Sojourn Steward for the June 2-8
Schuylkill River Sojourn.
The Sojourn Steward will photograph wildlife
he/she sees during the Sojourn and will conduct
water quality testing twice a day. The Steward will help tell the story of the water quality along
the Schuylkill River, connecting to the Sojourn's theme "I Protect the Schuylkill."
The SAN is providing one full scholarship ($655 value) to the successful applicant.
Click Here for all the details. The deadline for applications is May 1.
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Help Wanted: Pike Conservation District Resource Conservationist Position
The Pike County Conservation District is how accepting applications for a full-time Resource
Conservationist. The deadline for applications is April 20.
The position involves implementation of environmental regulatory and natural resource
management programs and includes Erosion and Sediment Control plan review, inspection and
compliance activities.
It involves extensive contact with the public, and requires a strong conservation ethic,
communication skills, computer knowledge, math skills, organizational abilities, and the ability
to read maps/construction plans. Knowledge of GIS and/or construction practices a plus.
Applicants should possess a BS in Environmental Sciences or related field plus one to
two years of related experience. The position includes salary plus County benefits package.
Send resumes to Executive Director, 556 Rte. 402, Hawley, PA, 18428 or send email to
Michele Long at: mlong@pikepa.org. Pike County is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Public Participation Opportunities/Calendar Of Events
This section lists House and Senate Committee meetings, DEP and other public hearings and
meetings and other interesting environmental events.
NEW means new from last week. [Agenda Not Posted] means not posted within 2 weeks
of the advisory committee meeting. Go to the online Calendar webpage for updates.
Note: DEP published the 2018 meeting schedules for its advisory committees and boards.
April 6-8-- Philadelphia Environmental Film Festival. Prince Theater, 1412 Chestnut Street,
Philadelphia.
April 7-- NEW. Chester County Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event. Phoenixville.
April 7-- Game Commission Public Meeting On Chronic Wasting Disease. Middle Creek
Wildlife Management Area, 100 Museum Road, Stevens, Lebanon County. 10:00 to 3:00, 6:00
to 8:00.
April 7-- Penn State Extension, DCNR Woods In Your Backyard Workshop For Small
Woodland Owners. Union County Government Center, 155 N. 15th Street, Lewisburg. 9:00 to
4:15.
April 7-- Wildlife For Everyone Foundation. Internationally Acclaimed Birder, Photographer
Richard Crossley Visits State College. Nittany Lion Inn’s Fireside Lounge, State College, Centre
County. 11:00 to 1:00.
April 9-- CANCELED. DEP Hearing Amending PA’s Air Quality Plan To Repeal Low-RVP
Gasoline Requirement In Pittsburgh Region. DEP’s Southwest Regional Office, 400 Waterfront
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Drive, Pittsburgh. 1:00. (Notice of cancellation.)
April 9-15-- NEW. PA Resources Council, Litter? Not In Philly. Clean Air Council. Plogging
Week In Philadelphia To Make You And Your Neighborhood Healthier.
April 10-- Agenda Posted. DEP Mine Families First Response & Communications Advisory
Council meeting. DEP New Stanton Office, 131 Broadview Road, New Stanton. 10:00. DEP
Contact: Peggy Scheloske, 724-404-3143, mscheloske@pa.gov.
April 10-- CANCELED. DEP Environmental Justice Advisory Board conference call
rescheduled for April 3. DEP Contact: John Brakeall, 717-783-9731 or send email to:
jbrakeall@pa.gov. (formal notice)
April 10-- DEP Informal Public Conference On Tunnel Ridge Deep Mining Permit In
Washington County. Donegal Township Municipal Building Gymnasium, 34 N. Liberty Street,
West Alexander. 1:00 to 3:00.
April 10-- Center for Watershed Protection. 2018 National Watershed & Stormwater
Conference. Maryland and Virginia In-person and online.
April 11-- NEW. House Consumer Affairs Committee meets to consider House Bill 1782
(Delozier-R-Cumberland) providing for alternative ratemaking mechanisms for electric and
natural gas distribution companies related to renewable and other new energy technologies
(sponsor summary). Room B-31 Main Capitol. Off the Floor. Committee meetings are typically
webcast through the House Republican Caucus website.
April 11-- Agenda Posted. DEP Technical Advisory Committee On Diesel Powered (Mining)
Equipment. DEP New Stanton Office, 131 Broadview Road, New Stanton. 10:00. DEP Contact:
Peggy Scheloski, 724-404-3143 or mscheloske@pa.gov.
April 11-- Agenda Posted. DEP State Board For Certification of Water and Wastewater Systems
Operators. 10th Floor Conference Room, Rachel Carson Building. 10:00. DEP Contact: Edgar
Chescattie, 717-772-2814 or eschescattie@pa.gov.
April 11-- Penn State Extension Private Water Well Owners Drinking Water Clinics. Neshaminy
Manor Center, 1282 Almshouse Road, Doylestown, Bucks County. The same Clinic will be
presented at 1:00 and 6:00.
April 12-- Agenda Posted. DEP Laboratory Accreditation Advisory Committee meeting. DEP
Bureau of Laboratories building, 2575 Interstate Drive, Harrisburg. 9:00. DEP Contact: Aaren
Alger, 717-346-7200, aaalger@pa.gov.
April 12-- NRCS-PA Women In Agriculture: Nurturing Your Land & Sustaining Your Farming
Business Program. Union County Government Center, 155 N. 15th Street, Lewisburg. 8:30 to
3:30.
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April 12-- NEW. Stroud Water Research Center. How Does Climate Change Affect Your
Watershed. Stroud Water Research Center Meetinghouse, 970 Spencer Road, Avondale, Chester
County. 6:00.
April 12-- NEW. Global Warming: The Science & Impacts On PA Fish and Wildlife Program.
Lackawanna State Park Environmental Learning Center Classroom, 1839 Abington Road, North
Abington Township, Lackawanna County. 7:00 to 8:00.
April 12-- NEW. Clean Air Council. Southwest PA Neighbors For Clean Air Initiative Kick Off.
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 419 S. Dithridge Street, Pittsburgh. 6:00 to 9:00.
April 14-- PA Land Trust Association. 2018 Environmental Advisory Council Network
Conference. In Conjunction with the PA Land Conservation Conference, Malvern, Chester
County.
April 14-- Mehoopany Creek Watershed Association Annual Trout Day Fundraiser. PA-87 at
Forkston’s Four Corners, Wyoming County. 8:00 to 1:00.
April 14-- Master Gardeners Of Lancaster County. 26th Annual Shirley R. Wagner Garden
Symposium. Lancaster Farm and Home Center, 1383 Arcadia Road, Lancaster. 7:30 - 2:45.
April 14-- Westmoreland Cleanways & Recycling. Westmoreland County Conservation District.
Tire Recycling Event. Westmoreland Cleanways Recycling Center, (Building F), 113 Innovative
Lane, Latrobe. 8:30 to Noon.
April 17-- Agenda Posted. Environmental Quality Board meeting. Room 105 Rachel Carson
Building. 9:00. DEP Contact: Laura Edinger, Environmental Quality Board, 400 Market Street,
Harrisburg, PA 17101, 717-772-3277, ledinger@pa.gov.
April 17-- CANCELED. DEP Citizens Advisory Council meeting. The next scheduled meeting
is May 16. Contact: Executive Director Lee Ann Murray, 717-787-8171, leemurray@pa.gov.
(formal notice)
April 17-- Dept. of Labor & Industry Uniform Construction Code Review and Advisory Council
meeting. Room E-100, First Floor, Department of Labor of Industry Building, 651 Boas Street
in Harrisburg. 10:00. Contact: Cindy Holtry, Department of Labor and Industry, 717-783-4560.
(formal notice)
April 17-19-- National Forum On Low-Zero Energy Buildings. Wyndam Grand Hotel,
Pittsburgh.
April 18-- Time Change. House Commerce Committee holds a hearing on Senate Bill 234
(Blake-D- Lackawanna) Property Assessed Clean Energy Program local energy efficiency
funding (Senate Fiscal Note and summary). Harrisburg University, 326 Market Street. 9:15.
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April 18-- NEW. Spring Creek Watershed Commission. Forum On Water Quality, Quantity
Issues In Centre County. Central Pennsylvania Institute of Science, 540 North Harrison Road,
Pleasant Gap. 6:30.
April 18-- NEW. Natural Resources Conservation Service-PA. Pennsylvania State Technical
Committee meeting. NRCS-PA State Office Conference Room, 359 East Park Drive, Harrisburg.
To attend via teleconference, call 1-888-844-9904 with access code 6941559. 1:00.
April 19-- DEP Mining and Reclamation Advisory Board Legislative and Technical Committee
meeting. Room 105 Rachel Carson Building. 8:30. DEP Contact: DAniel Snowden,
717-783-8846 or send email to: dsnowden@pa.gov. (formal notice)
April 19-- Agenda Posted. DEP Radiation Protection Advisory Committee meeting. 10th Floor
Conference Room, Rachel Carson Building. 9:00. DEP Contact: Joseph Melnic, 717-783-9730
or send email to: jmelnic@pa.gov. (formal notice)
April 19-- DEP Hearing On Proposed Changes To Regional Haze Air Pollution Plan. DEP
Southwest Regional Office, 400 Waterfront Drive, Pittsburgh. 10:00.
Southeast Regional Office, 2 East Main Street, Norristown. 10:00.
Southcentral Regional Office, 909 Elmerton Avenue, Harrisburg. 10:00.
April 20-- Berks County Conservation District. Tree Seedling Sale & Education Programs
Event. Berks County Agricultural Center, 1238 County Welfare Road, Leesport. 11:00 to 7:00.
April 20-- Stroud Water Research Center. Exelon Corporation. Tree Planting Coatesville,
Chester County. 1:00 to 4:00.
April 20-- NEW. PA Environmental Council. Pinchot State Forest Tree Planting Luzerne
County.
April 20-- NEW. PA Environmental Council. Weiser State Forest Tree Planting Northumberland
County.
April 20-21-- NEW. PA Environmental Council. Moshannon State Forest Tree Planting
Clearfield County.
April 20-22-- PA Council Of Trout Unlimited. Women’s Initiative Leadership Retreat.
GodSpeed Hostel, 7897 South Eagle Valley Road, Port Matilda, Centre County.
April 21-- PA Resources Council. 2018 Reuse Fest. Children’s Hospital Employee Parking Lot,
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55th & Harrison Streets, Lawrenceville, Allegheny County. 10:00 to 2:00.
April 21-- NEW. Chester County Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event. Atglen.
April 21-- NEW. Pocono Arts Council Earth Speaks IV Awards Artists’ Reception. Pocono Arts
Council, 18 N. Seventh Street, Stroudsburg, Monroe County. 4:00 to 7:00.
April 21-22-- NEW. Friends Of Allegheny Wilderness. Minister Valley Wilderness Stewardship
Days. Warren County.
April 22-- Earth Day. What Are You Doing?
April 22-- Brodhead Watershed Association. Get Outdoors Poconos. Gravel Family Nature
Preserve Hike, Monroe County.
April 22-- Butler County Household Hazardous Waste & Electronics Waste Collection Event.
129 Ash Stop Road, Evans City, Butler County.
April 24-- DEP Climate Change Advisory Committee meeting. Room 105 Rachel Carson
Building. 10:00. DEP Contact: John Krueger, 717-783-9264 or jkrueger@pa.gov.
April 24-- DEP Sewage Advisory Committee meeting. DEP Southcentral Regional Office, 909
Elmerton Ave., Harrisburg. 10:30. DEP Contact: Janice Vollero, 717-772-5157,
jvollero@pa.gov.
April 24-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission. Public Water Supply Assistance Program.
Technical and Regulatory Considerations For Public Water Supply Managers and Consultants
Workshop. SRBC Offices, 4423 North Front Street, Harrisburg. 8:00 to 3:00.
April 25-- CANCELED. DEP Small Business Compliance Advisory Committee meeting. The
next scheduled meeting is July 25. DEP Contact: Nancy Herb, 717-783-9269 or nherb@pa.gov.
(formal notice)
April 25-- DEP Hearing On Proposed NPDES Water Quality Permit For NRG Cheswick
Generating Station In Allegheny County. Springdale Jr./Sr. High School Marshall Auditorium,
501 Butler Road, Springdale. 6:00 p.m.
April 25-- DEP Hearing On Proposed NPDES Water Quality Permit For Brunner Island Power
Plant In York County. Union Fire Company, 201 York Street, Manchester. 6:30 to 8:30.
April 25-- POWR, PEC Regional Watershed Group Workshop. Montour Preserve Visitors
Center, 700 Preserve Road in Danville, Montour County. 10:00 to 2:00.
April 26-- DEP Agricultural Advisory Board meeting. DEP Southcentral Regional Office, 909
Elmerton Ave., Harrisburg. 9:00. DEP Contact: Jay Braund, 717-772-5636, jbraund@pa.gov.
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(formal notice)
April 26-- Pike/Wayne County Envirothon. Wallenpaupack Environmental Learning Center,

Hawley, Wayne County.
April 26-27-- PA Wilds Center Awards Dinner and Entrepreneur’s Conference. Pajama Factory,
Williamsport, Lycoming County.
April 27-28-- NEW. Friends of Flight 93. Tree Planting at Flight 93 Memorial Somerset County.
April 27-30-- 2018 City Nature Challenge In Pittsburgh Region.
April 28-- Stroud Water Research Center. Wildlands Conservancy. Citizen Science Volunteer
Training. Emmaus, Lehigh County. 9:00 to 3:00.
April 28-- Manada Conservancy Native Plant Sale. Hummelstown Borough Park, Dauphin
County. 10:00 to 3:00
April 28-- Delaware Highlands Conservancy. Foods Of The Delaware. Silver Birches
Waterfront, 205 PA 507, Hawley, Wayne County.
April 28-- Audubon Society of Western PA. Backyard Habitat Biodiversity Workshop.
Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve, 614 Dorseyville Road, Pittsburgh. 10:00.
April 28-29-- NEW. PA Environmental Council. Illegal Dump Cleanup In Susquehanna County.
May 1-- DEP Hearing On Letterkenny Army Depot Air Quality Permit, Franklin County. DEP’s
Southcentral Regional Office, 909 Elmerton Avenue, Harrisburg. (no time given - probably
10:00)
May 1-- Capital Chapter Society Of Women Environmental Professionals 2018 Annual
Conference. Central Penn College Conference Center, 600 College Hill Road in Summerdale,
Cumberland County.
May 2-- DEP Hearing (If Requested) On Jeld-Wen, Inc. RACT II Air Quality Plan, Bradford
County. DEP Northcentral Regional Office, 208 West Third Street, Williamsport. 10:00.
May 2-4-- PA Association Of Environmental Professional. Annual Conference. State College.
May 7-- Public Utility Commission Workgroup On Universal Service & Energy Conservation
Programs. Keystone Building, Executive Chambers, Harrisburg. 1:00 to 3:00.
May 8-- Registration Open. 2018 PA Groundwater Symposium. Ramada Inn in State College,
Centre County.
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May 8-- DEP Keystone Energy Education Workshop For Teachers. DEP Northwest Regional
Office, Meadville, Crawford County. 8:30 to 3:00. Click To Register.
May 8-10-- PA Section American Water Works Association. 70th Annual Conference. Kalahari
Resort and Convention Center at Pocono Manor, Monroe County.
May 9-- DEP Water Resources Advisory Committee meeting. Room 105 Rachel Carson
Building. 9:30. DEP Contact: Diane Wilson 717-787-3730 or send email to: diawilson@pa.gov.
May 9-- DEP Keystone Energy Education Workshop For Teachers. Westmoreland County
Conservation District Office, Greensburg, Westmoreland County. 8:30 to 3:00. Click To
Register.
May 9-- PUC Hearing On Transource Power Line Project. Airville Volunteer Fire Department,
3576 Delta Road, Airville, York County. Hearings at 1:00 and 6:00.
May 10-- DEP Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board meeting. Room 105 Rachel Carson
Building. 10:00. DEP Contact: Todd Wallace 717-783-9438 or send email to: twallace@pa.gov.
May 14-- NEW. PUC Hearing On Transource Power Line Project. Airville Volunteer Fire
Department, 3576 Delta Road, Airville, York County. Hearings at 1:00 and 6:00. Click Here for
more.
May 15-- CANCELED. PUC Hearing On Transource Power Line Project. Airville Volunteer
Fire Department, 3576 Delta Road, Airville, York County. Hearings at 1:00 and 6:00. Click
Here for more.
May 16-- Environmental Quality Board meeting. Room 105 Rachel Carson Building. 9:00. DEP
Contact: Laura Edinger, 717-772-3277, ledinger@pa.gov.
May 16-- DEP Citizens Advisory Council meeting. Room 105 Rachel Carson Building. 10:00.
Contact: Executive Director Lee Ann Murray, 717-787-8171, leemurray@pa.gov.
May 17-- DEP Keystone Energy Education Workshop For Teachers. King’s Gap Environmental
Center, Carlisle, Cumberland County. 8:30 to 3:00. Click To Register.
May 22-- PUC Hearing On Transource Power Line Project. New Franklin Fire Department
Social Hall, 3444 Wayne Road, Chambersburg. Franklin County. Hearings at 1:00 and 6:00.
May 22-- DEP Environmental Justice Advisory Board meeting. Room 105 Rachel Carson
Building. 8:30. DEP Contact: John Brakeall, 717-783-9731 or send email to: jbrakeall@pa.gov.
May 22-23-- Choose Clean Water Coalition. 9th Annual Clean Water Conference. Lancaster
Marriott.
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May 23-- PUC Hearing On Transource Power Line Project. New Franklin Fire Department
Social Hall, 3444 Wayne Road, Chambersburg. Franklin County. Hearings at 1:00 and 6:00.
May 23-24-- Penn State Extension Healthy Trees, Healthy People Program. Frick Environmental
Center, 2005 Beechwood Boulevard, Pittsburgh.
May 24-- DEP Small Water Systems Technical Assistance Center Board meeting. Room 105
Rachel Carson Building. 9:00. DEP Contact: Dawn Hissner 717-772-2189 or send email to:
dhissner@pa.gov.
May 26-- Audubon Society of Western PA. Backyard Habitat Organic Garden Solution
Workshop. Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve, 614 Dorseyville Road, Pittsburgh. 10:00.
May 30-- DEP State Board for Certification of Sewage Enforcement Officers meeting. Room
105 Rachel Carson Building. 10:00. DEP Contact: Kristen Szwajkowski 717-772-2186 or send
email to: kszwajkows@pa.gov.
May 30-31-- NEW. Penn State Energy Days. Penn Stater Conference Center, State College,
Centre County.
June 5-- DEP Board Of Coal Mine Safety meeting. DEP Cambria Office, 286 Industrial Park
Road, Ebensburg. 10:00. DEP Contact: Peggy Scheloske 724-404-3143 or send email to:
mscheloske@pa.gov.
June 5-- DEP Storage Tank Advisory Committee meeting. Room 105 Rachel Carson Building.
10:00. DEP Contact: Dawn Heimbach, 717-772-5556, daheimbach@pa.gov. (formal notice)
June 6-- DEP Coastal Zone Advisory Committee meeting. 10th Floor Conference Room,
Rachel Carson Building. 9:30. DEP Contact: Stacey Box 717-772-5622 or send email to:
sbox@pa.gov.
June 7-- DEP Solid Waste Advisory Committee meeting. Room 105 Rachel Carson Building.
10:00. DEP Contact: Laura Henry 717-772-5713 or send email to: lahenry@pa.gov.
June 10-14-- Rails-To-Trails Conservancy. Delaware & Lehigh Trail Sojourn. Eastern
Pennsylvania.
June 12-- DEP Weathering The Storm Stormwater Education Workshop. Alumni Room of the
Waldron Campus Center, Gannon University, 109 University Square, Erie. 8:30 to 3:30.
June 13-- DEP State Board For Certification of Water and Wastewater Systems Operators. 10th
Floor Conference Room, Rachel Carson Building. 10:00. DEP Contact: Edgar Chescattie,
717-772-2814 or eschescattie@pa.gov.
June 13-- DEP Weathering The Storm Stormwater Education Workshop. Winnie Palmer Nature
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Reserve, Saint Vincent College, 744 Walzer Way, Latrobe, Westmoreland County. 8:30 to 3:30.
June 14-- DEP Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee meeting. Room 105 Rachel Carson
Building. 9:15. DEP Contact: Kirit Dalal, 717-772-3436, kdalal@pa.gov. (formal notice)
June 14-- NEW. PUC En Banc Hearing On Supplier Consolidated Billing By Electricity
Suppliers. Hearing Room 1, Keystone Building, 400 North Street, Harrisburg. 1:00.
June 20-21-- 20th Anniversary PA Abandoned Mine Reclamation Conference. Ramada

Conference Center, State College.
June 23-- Audubon Society of Western PA. Backyard Habitat Flowers And Feathers, The
Connection Between Plants and Birds Workshop. Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve, 614
Dorseyville Road, Pittsburgh. 10:00.
July 11-- DEP Technical Advisory Committee On Diesel Powered (Mining) Equipment. DEP
New Stanton Office, 131 Broadview Road, New Stanton. 10:00. DEP Contact: Peggy Scheloski,
724-404-3143 or mscheloske@pa.gov.
July 25-- NEW. DEP Small Business Compliance Advisory Committee meeting. 12th Floor
Conference Room, Rachel Carson Building. 10:00. DEP Contact: Nancy Herb, 717-783-9269 or
nherb@pa.gov. (formal notice)
July 25-27-- Registration Open. Professional Recyclers of PA. 28th Annual Recycling &
Organics Conference. Best Western Premier Hotel, Harrisburg.
July 28-- Audubon Society of Western PA. Backyard Habitat Gardening for Pollinators and
Butterflies Workshop. Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve, 614 Dorseyville Road, Pittsburgh.
10:00.
August 20-23-- U.S. Biochar Initiatives Conference. Chase Center on the Riverfront,
Wilmington, Delaware.
September 6-9-- Delaware Highlands Conservancy. Educational Retreat For Women Forest
Landowners. Highlights Workshop Facility in Boyd’s Mill, Milanville, Wayne County.
September 20-- DEP Solid Waste Advisory Committee & Recycling Funding Advisory
Committee meeting. Room 105 Rachel Carson Building. 10:00. DEP Contact: Laura Henry
717-772-5713 or send email to: lahenry@pa.gov.
September 22-- Joint meeting of DEP Recycling Fund Advisory Committee and Solid Waste
Advisory Committee. Room 105 Rachel Carson Building. 10:00. DEP Contact: Laura Henry,
717-772-5713, lahenry@pa.gov.
September 23-- Audubon Society of Western PA. Backyard Habitat Trees and Shrubs,
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Supporting Wildlife In Winter Workshop. Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve, 614 Dorseyville
Road, Pittsburgh. 10:00.
September 28-- DEP Low-Level Waste Advisory Committee meeting Room 105 Rachel Carson
Building. 10:00. DEP Contact: Rich Janati, 717-787-2147, rjanati@pa.gov.
October 1-3-- Engineers’ Society of Western PA. PA Brownfield Conference. Sands Bethlehem
Casino, Bethlehem.
October 17-21-- Passive House Western PA. North American Passive House Network 2018
Conference. David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh.
October 18-- DEP Radiation Protection Advisory Committee meeting. Room 105 Rachel
Carson. 9:00. DEP Contact: Joseph Melnic 717-783-9730 or send email to: jmelnic@pa.gov.
November 1-2-- PA Water And Wastewater Technology Summit. Penn Stater Conference
Center Hotel, State College.
Visit DEP’s Public Participation Center for public participation opportunities. Click Here to sign
up for DEP News a biweekly newsletter from the Department.
Sign Up For DEP’s eNotice: Did you know DEP can send you email notices of permit
applications submitted in your community? Notice of new technical guidance documents and
regulations? All through its eNotice system. Click Here to sign up.
DEP Regulations In Process

Proposed Regulations Open For Comment - DEP webpage
Submit Comments on Proposals Through DEP’s eComment System
Proposed Regulations With Closed Comment Periods - DEP webpage
Recently Finalized Regulations - DEP webpage
DEP Regulatory Update - DEP webpage
March 3, 2018 DEP Regulatory Agenda - PA Bulletin, Page 1374
DEP Technical Guidance In Process

Draft Technical Guidance Documents - DEP webpage
Technical Guidance Comment Deadlines - DEP webpage
Recently Closed Comment Periods For Technical Guidance - DEP webpage
Technical Guidance Recently Finalized - DEP webpage
Copies of Final Technical Guidance - DEP webpage
DEP Non-Regulatory/Technical Guidance Documents Agenda (February 2018) - DEP webpage
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Other DEP Proposals For Public Review
Other Proposals Open For Public Comment - DEP webpage
Recently Closed Comment Periods For Other Proposals - DEP webpage
Other Proposals Recently Finalized - DEP webpage
DEP Facebook Page DEP Twitter Feed DEP YouTube Channel
Click Here for links to DEP’s Advisory Committee webpages.
DEP Calendar of Events DCNR Calendar of Events
Senate Committee Schedule House Committee Schedule
You can watch the Senate Floor Session and House Floor Session live online.
Grants & Awards
This section gives you a heads up on upcoming deadlines for awards and grants and other
recognition programs. NEW means new from last week.
April 7-- DEP Local Recycling Implementation Grants

April 11-- DCNR Community Conservation Partnership Grants
April 12-- NFWF Delaware River Restoration Fund Grants
April 13-- NRCS-PA Farm Conservation Stewardship Contract Renewals
April 13-- PA American Water Protect Our Watersheds Student Art Contest
April 15-- DCNR Environmental Careers Camp
April 17-- PA Chapter American Planning Assn Great Places In PA Contest
April 19-- DCNR Volunteer Fire Company Wildfire Grants
April 20-- NEW. Keep Philadelphia Beautiful Cigarette Litter Prevention Micro-Grants
April 27-- NRCS-PA Conservation Innovation Grants
April 30-- Northeast PA Audubon Society College Scholarship
May 1-- NEW. PEC Pocono Forests & Water Conservation Mini-Grants
May 1-- Delaware River Basin Commission Spring Photo Contest
May 15-- Manada Conservancy Short Story Writing Contest
May 18-- CFA Alternative & Clean Energy Funding
May 18-- CFA Renewable Energy-Geothermal & Wind Funding
May 18-- CFA Solar Energy Funding
May 18-- CFA High Performance Building Funding
May 23-- SBA Flood Assistance Clearfield, Washington, 8 Other Counties
May 31-- CFA Act 13 Watershed Restoration Grants
May 31-- CFA Act 13 Abandoned Mine Drainage Abatement, Treatment Grants
May 31-- CFA Act 13 Orphaned Or Abandoned Well Plugging Grants
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May 31-- CFA Act 13 Baseline Water Quality Data Grants
May 31-- CFA Act 13 Sewage Facilities Program Grants
May 31-- CFA Act 13 Flood Mitigation Grants
May 31-- CFA Act 13 Greenways, Trails & Recreation Grants
June 1-- NEW. South Mountain Partnership Land Conservation, Recreation Mini-Grants
June 30-- DEP Alternative Fuel Vehicle Rebates (first come, first serve)
July 20-- CFA Alternative & Clean Energy Funding
July 20-- CFA Renewable Energy-Geothermal & Wind Funding
July 20-- CFA Solar Energy Funding
July 20-- CFA High Performance Building Funding
September 5-- PA Parks & Forests Foundation Photo Contest
September 15-- CFA Alternative & Clean Energy Funding
September 15-- CFA Renewable Energy-Geothermal & Wind Funding
September 15-- CFA Solar Energy Funding
September 15-- CFA High Performance Building Funding
October 31-- PA Resources Council Gene Capaldi Lens On Litter Photo Contest
December 31-- DEP County Act 101 Waste Planning, HHW, Education Grants
-- Visit the DEP Grant, Loan and Rebate Programs webpage for more ideas on how to get
financial assistance for environmental projects.
-- Visit the DCNR Apply for Grants webpage for a listing of financial assistance available from
DCNR.
Environmental NewsClips - All Topics
Here are NewsClips from around the state on all environmental topics, including General
Environment, Budget, Marcellus Shale, Watershed Protection and much more.
The latest environmental NewsClips and news is available at the PA Environment Digest Daily
Blog, Twitter Feed and add PaEnviroDigest Google+ to your Circle.
Politics
AP: Wolf Fundraising Leaves Him With $14.7 Million Cash On Hand
AP-Levy: Wolf Extends Fundraising Lead Over 3 Republicans In Primary
John Baer: Laura Ellsworth: A Different Voice For Republicans
Editorial: Fracking And The Environment Should Not Be Afterthoughts In PA Governor’s Race
Letter: Why Voting Matters
Air
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Alternative Fuels
Federal Grant Will Fund 4 New Natural Gas-Fueled Buses For Luzerne Transit
PA Continues To Push, Look At Long-Term Effects Of Electric Vehicles
Harley-Davidson Master Plan To Attract Millennials Includes An Electric Bike
Awards & Recognition
Casselman River Watershed Association Receives Award
Biodiversity/Invasive Species
Budget
Schneck: Harrisburg Hassles Aside, First-Day Anglers Lean In Favor Of License Hike
Letter: Fish & Boat Executive Director John Arway Deserves Public’s Support
Elk County Approves Projects With Funding From Act 13 Drilling Fees
Chesapeake Bay
Citizen Action
Climate
Coal Mining
Bay Journal: Brunner Island Power Plant To Convent From Coal To Natural Gas
PA Bituminous Coal Production Nearly Even With 2017
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Compliance Action
Truck Crash Dumps 49,000 Pounds Of Plastic Pellets Into Pocono Creek
Delaware River
Drinking Water
Reserve Twp Finds High Levels Of Lead In Water Supplied By Pittsburgh Water Authority
Pittsburgh Residents File First Pittsburgh Water Authority Complaints
Landslide, Water Main Break Force Evacuations In East Pittsburgh
Economic Development
Will Shell Ethane Plant Bring Benefits To Clarion County?
Shell Ethane Plant Construction Scales Up, More Skilled Workers Need To Be Trained
Harley-Davidson Master Plan To Attract Millennials Includes An Electric Bike
Education
Emergency Response
AP: Some Fayette County Tornado Victims Struggle With Uninhabitable Homes
Norfolk Southern Train Derails In Huntingdon County
Huntingdon County Train Derailment Cleanup, Repairs Could Take Months
Norfolk Southern Multi-State Train Safety Tour Underway
Plastic Pellet Spill In Poconos Creating Extremely Challenging Cleanup In Stream
Energy
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PA Continues To Push, Look At Long-Term Effects Of Electric Vehicles
Thousands Without Power In Western PA As High Wind Advisory Persists
State Extends Deadline To Apply For Home Heating Aid Extended To April 13
Energy At Heart Of Penn State Professor’s Research, Writing
U.S. EIA: 2017 U.S. Electricity Sales Fell By Greatest Amount Since Recession Due To Milder
Weather
Energy Conservation
Allegheny Community College South Campus Saves $235,000 On Energy Use
Farming
Ag Secretary: Milk Marketing Board To Consider Reforms In Milk Downturn
PA Dairy Farms Roiled By Dean Foods Pullout
Editorial: Local Dairy Producers Deserve State Aid, Action
Philadelphia Failing To Deliver On Community Garden Promises
Master Gardener To Offer Tips On Growing Plants From Seeds April 7
Flooding
West Pittston Hears Proposal On $800,000 Inflatable Flood Dam
Study Will Examine West Pittston Flood Protection Options
Editorial: Shoring Up Flood Protection The Right Move In Luzerne County
Jermyn Officials Frustrated With Rushbrook Creek Flood Project Status
FEMA: Flood Insurance Premiums To Rise This Year
Lane Opens On Route 65 In Pittsburgh After Landslide
Forests
Warmth Of Early Spring Creates Brush Fire Concerns
Editorial: Caution Urged During Brush Fire Season
Green Infrastructure
LandStudies Shares Expertise With Philadelphia Sustainable Business Network
Mine Reclamation
Land Conservation
Chester County Fmr Insane Asylum At Center Of An Open Space Feud
Land Use Planning
Suburban Rail Stations Lift Value Of Houses Nearby, Says SEPTA Report
Littering/Illegal Dumping
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Oil & Gas
Legere: PA Superior Court Defines Some Fracking As Trespassing
Susquehanna County Fracking Suit Could Have Statewide Impact
PA Superior Court Rules Fracking Natural Gas From A Neighboring Property Is Trespassing
PA Superior Court Opens Door To Trespass Claims Against Drilling Companies
Court Ruling Sets Course To End Uncompensated Natural Gas Extraction In State
Op-Ed: Wolf’s Policies Don’t Match His Rhetoric On Natural Gas, Marcellus Shale Coalition
Federal Grant Will Fund 4 New Natural Gas-Fueled Buses For Luzerne Transit
Frazier: Poll: Public Concern Grows Over Natural Gas Industry’s Environmental Impact
Editorial: Fracking And The Environment Should Not Be Afterthoughts In PA Governor’s Race
Letter: Why Voting Matters
Sisk: While Legislation Stalls In PA, West Virginia Acts On Natural Gas Royalties
West Virginia Makes Changes To Protect Natural Gas Royalties
Editorial: PA Should Emulate West Virginia And Gas Royalty Reform
Carr: Monroeville Asks Court To Halt Company’s Seismic Testing
Elk County Approves Projects With Funding From Act 13 Drilling Fees
Will Shell Ethane Plant Bring Benefits To Clarion County?
Shell Ethane Plant Construction Scales Up, More Skilled Workers Need To Be Trained
Natural Gas Coming To Homes, Businesses In Tunkhannock
Frazier: Author Discusses Shale Gas Development Across The World
Gasoline Prices On The Rise In Pennsylvania
Onlot Septic Systems
DEP Extends Deadline For Comments On Guidance To Implement Act 26 On Alternative Onlot
Septic Systems To May 8
Pipelines
Hurdle: Mariner East 2 Pipeline Offers To Relocate Residents Affected By Its Construction In
Chester County
Maykuth: Mariner East 2 Pipeline Offers To Temporarily Relocate Residents Affected By
Sinkholes
AP: Mariner East 2 Pipeline Offers To Relocate Residents Affected By Sinkholes Near Philly
Maykuth: How Sunoco’s Drilling Methods May Be Causing Mariner East 2 Pipeline’s Problems
Hurdle: Sunoco: Vandals Damage Mariner East 2 Pipeline Equipment In Chester County
FracTracker: Shell Pipeline, Not Quite The Good Neighbor
Energy Transfer Partners/Sunoco Pipeline Data System Hit With Cyber Attack
Maykuth: Laurel Pipeline Operator Will Move To Cut Philly Refiners’ Access To Pittsburgh,
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Imperiling Jobs
Legere: After Setback, Laurel Pipeline Company Plans 2-Way Flow
Nearly 100 People Attend Public Hearing On Proposed Shell Pipeline
Most Residents At Monaca Hearing Question Shell’s Planned Pipeline
Residents Ask Whether The Proposed Shell Ethane Pipeline Is An Acceptable Risk
Radiation Protection
Recreation
Bicyclists Welcome to Join Ride To Flight 93 Memorial In Somerset
Bike Lane Change To Improve Safety In Philadelphia
Worley & Obetz Donates $9,300 To Proposed Veterans Park In Lititz
Column: Pittsburgh Parks Rolling In Green, But Need Maintenance
Greensburg Plans Nearly $500,000 For Five Star Trail Improvements
Letter: Tracy Ridge, Allegheny National Forest
Recycling/Waste
Regulations
Challengers Of Trump’s 2-for - Order On Regulations Seek To Revive Federal Suit
Renewable Energy
Sustainability
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Wastewater Facilities
Watershed Protection
Plastic Problem In Pocono Stream
Click Here to subscribe to the Chesapeake Bay Journal
Wildlife
Fishing License Sales Slump In PA
In PA, Fishing Licenses Lag, Boat Permits Soar
Schneck: Harrisburg Hassles Aside, First-Day Anglers Lean In Favor Of License Hike
Letter: Fish & Boat Executive Director John Arway Deserves Public’s Support
Plastic Problem In Pocono Stream
Frye: Tips For Attracting Backyard Wildlife, Getting Kids Interested In Nature
Saturday Marks PA’s Second Mentored Youth Trout Day
Kids Get First Chance For Trout On April 7 Youth Day
Hayes: Teaching Today’s Children To Fish Far From Child’s Play
Celebrating Funds For Save The Lake In Boiling Springs
Young Angler Hits Gold 4 Times In An Hour On Mentored Youth Trout Day
Schneck: Trout Anglers Crows Streams, Lakes For Opening Day
Crable: Anglers Take To Lancaster Waterways For Regional First Day Of Trout Season
Trout Season Opens In Most Of The Midstate
Annual Rite Of Spring: Helping Fish & Boat Agency Stock Trout
Some Of State’s Biggest Fish Caught In 2017 Were In Southwest PA
Frye: Opening Day Of PA Deer Season Under A Microscope
Crable: Concerns Over Chronic Wasting Disease In Deer Draw 250 In Lancaster, Berks,
Lebanon
State Warns Deer Hunters About Chronic Wasting Disease In Lancaster
Central PA Taxidermists, Butchers Worry Chronic Wasting Disease Will Hurt Business
Letter: Deer Invasion In Mt. Lebanon Is Out Of Control
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Is Illegal Hunting Taking Place At Lower Saucon Preserve?
Harmar Bald Eagles Have Second Chick Hatch
Birds Of Prey Migrating Through Erie Region
Editorial: Presque Isle Is Swimming In Ducks
National Aviary’s Andean Condors Are Expecting In Pittsburgh
Schneck: PA Bluebirders Will Meet In Lancaster April 6-7
Other
Suburban Rail Stations Lift Value Of Houses Nearby, Says SEPTA Report
PennDOT Crews Rescue Goats Stranded On Beaver County Bridge Beam
Hurricanes
San Juan Mayor: Trump Has Forsaken Puerto Rico
San Juan Mayor Aims To Rebuild A New Modern Grid In Puerto Rico
AP: FEMA: Puerto Rico Running Out Of Time As Storm Season Nears
AccuWeather: Another Active Hurricane Season Ahead
Federal Policy
FEMA: Flood Insurance Premiums To Rise This Year
White House Looking At EPA’s Scott Pruitt’s Activities After Condo Report
Challengers Of Trump’s 2-for - Order On Regulations Seek To Revive Federal Suit
Click Here For This Week's Allegheny Front Radio Program
Regulations, Technical Guidance & Permits
The Environmental Quality Board published notice in the April 7 PA Bulletin of the final
regulation eliminating the low-RVP gasoline requirement for the Pittsburgh Region.
The Public Utility Commission published formal notice in the April 7 PA Bulletin of comments
received during its initial reviews of Universal Service and Energy Conservation Programs (PA
Bulletin page 2034). Click Here for more.
The Susquehanna River Basin Commission published formal notice in the April 7 PA Bulletin of
its Right-To-Know policy.
Pennsylvania Bulletin - April 7, 2018
Sign Up For DEP’s eNotice: Did you know DEP can send you email notices of permit
applications submitted in your community? Notice of new technical guidance documents and
regulations? All through its eNotice system. Click Here to sign up.
111
DEP Regulations In Process

Proposed Regulations Open For Comment - DEP webpage
Proposed Regulations With Closed Comment Periods - DEP webpage
Recently Finalized Regulations - DEP webpage
DEP Regulatory Update - DEP webpage
March 3, 2018 DEP Regulatory Agenda - PA Bulletin, Page 1374
Technical Guidance & Permits
Note: The Department of Environmental Protection published 57 pages of public notices related
to proposed and final permit and approval/ disapproval actions in the April 7 PA Bulletin - pages
1954 to 2011.
The Department of Community and Economic Development published notice in the April 7 PA
Bulletin of the proposed 2018-19 Weatherization Plan and notice of an April 18 public hearing.
The Susquehanna River Basin Commission published notice in the April 7 PA Bulletin of actions
taken at its March board meeting.
DEP Technical Guidance In Process

Draft Technical Guidance Documents - DEP webpage
Technical Guidance Comment Deadlines - DEP webpage
Recently Closed Comment Periods For Technical Guidance - DEP webpage
Technical Guidance Recently Finalized - DEP webpage
Copies of Final Technical Guidance - DEP webpage
DEP Non-Regulatory/Technical Guidance Documents Agenda (February 2018) - DEP webpage
Other DEP Proposals For Public Review

Other Proposals Open For Public Comment - DEP webpage
Recently Closed Comment Periods For Other Proposals - DEP webpage
Other Proposals Recently Finalized - DEP webpage
Visit DEP’s Public Participation Center for public participation opportunities. Click Here to sign
up for DEP News a biweekly newsletter from the Department.
DEP Facebook Page DEP Twitter Feed DEP YouTube Channel
Click Here for links to DEP’s Advisory Committee webpages.
DEP Calendar of Events DCNR Calendar of Events

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Issue #719 ​Crisci Associates​, Harrisburg, PA April 9, 2018

PA Environment Digest Blog​ ​Twitter Feed​ ​PaEnviroDigest Google+

The ​William Penn Foundation​ Wednesday

Delaware River Watershed Initiative: Suburban Philadelphia Partners Build On

The ​William Penn Foundation​ Wednesday

The ​William Penn Foundation​ Wednesday announced ​$42

Delaware River Watershed Initiative: Brandywine-Christina Watershed Partners Build On

The ​William Penn Foundation​ Wednesday announced ​$42

Natural Lands​, based in Delaware County, is leading a

DRBC: No Timetable For Finalizing Fracking Ban, Makes Comments Available

The ​Delaware River Basin Commission​ Wednesday

Gov. Tom Wolf Thursday ​published a proclamation​ setting

Farm High Tunnels:​ ​House Bill 1486​ (Zimmerman-R-Lancaster) exempting agricultural

Senate/House Agenda/UPDATED: Session Schedule/Gov’s Schedule/ Bills

Committee Meeting Agendas This Week

Senate:​ <> ​Click Here​ for full Senate Committee Schedule.

Bills Pending In Key Committees

The following bills of interest were introduced last week--

Regulating Groundwater: ​House Bill 2222​ (Moul-R-Adams) requires the Department of

News From The Capitol

House Resolution Introduced To Designate April 16-22 Clean Streams Week In PA

House Committee Meets April 11 On Alternative Ratemaking Bill To Encourage

EPA Directly Soliciting Applications For Water Infrastructure Project Loans

Attorney General Josh Shapiro Thursday joined other states in filing a

Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell

News From Around The State

By Timothy B. Wheeler, ​Chesapeake Bay Journal

For all of the recent good news about the

The ​Chesapeake Bay Foundation-PA​ is urging

PEC: Volunteers Needed To Plant Trees In Clearfield, Luzerne, Northumberland And

The ​PA Environmental Council​, the Department of

The ​PA Horticultural Society​, Penn State Extension

Landstudies: Why Runoff Controls Are An Essential Component Of MS4 Stormwater

A Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System

By Donna Morelli, ​Chesapeake Bay Journal

The ​Brunner Island power plant​ near Harrisburg--

The ​Spring Creek Watershed Commission​ will hold a

Susquehanna U. Research Finds Brook Trout Populations Down In Upper Susquehanna

New research from Susquehanna University's

The ​Stroud Water Research Center ​will host a ​How Does

The ​Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed​ Friday

The Department of Environmental is inviting comments on a proposed Total Maximum Daily

NRCS-PA State Technical Committee Meeting In Harrisburg April 18

Gov. Tom Wolf Friday announced the approval

The April issue​ of the ​Blacklick Creek Watershed

An article by ​Keep PA Beautiful​ President

Get Involved In Plogging Week April 9 to 15 In Philadelphia To Make You, Your

The ​PA Resources Council​ and ​Litter? Not in Philly​ are

Keep Philadelphia Beautiful Offers Cigarette Litter Prevention Micro-Grants

Keep Philadelphia Beautiful​ is now accepting

PA Resources Council 2018 Reuse Fest April 21 In Allegheny County

Chester County To Hold Household Hazardous Waste Collection Events April 7, 21

The ​Chester County Solid Waste Authority​ Tuesday

PEC, Partners: Volunteers Needed At Illegal Dump Cleanup In Susquehanna County

The ​PA Environmental Council​ and its partners are inviting

Construction Junction In Pittsburgh Hosts Special Earth Month Events In April

Construction Junction​ in Pittsburgh will host

Keep Centre County Beautiful​ became the 13th Keep

The ​Clean Air Council​ will kick off a new

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S.

FirstEnergy Generation Files For Bankruptcy Just Before Midnight

The ​Public Utility Commission​ Tuesday

PUC Holds June 14 En Banc Hearing On Supplier Consolidated Billing By Electricity

Buckeye Now Proposing Bi-Directional Laurel Pipeline Service

Issue #719 Crisci Associates, Harrisburg, PA April 9, 2018

PA Environment Digest Blog Twitter Feed PaEnviroDigest Google+

The William Penn Foundation Wednesday

The William Penn Foundation Wednesday

The William Penn Foundation Wednesday announced $42

The William Penn Foundation Wednesday announced $42

Natural Lands, based in Delaware County, is leading a

The Delaware River Basin Commission Wednesday

Gov. Tom Wolf Thursday published a proclamation setting

Farm High Tunnels: House Bill 1486 (Zimmerman-R-Lancaster) exempting agricultural

Senate: <> Click Here for full Senate Committee Schedule.

Regulating Groundwater: House Bill 2222 (Moul-R-Adams) requires the Department of

By Timothy B. Wheeler, Chesapeake Bay Journal

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation-PA is urging

The PA Environmental Council, the Department of

The PA Horticultural Society, Penn State Extension

By Donna Morelli, Chesapeake Bay Journal

The Brunner Island power plant near Harrisburg--

The Spring Creek Watershed Commission will hold a

The Stroud Water Research Center will host a How Does

The Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed Friday

The April issue of the Blacklick Creek Watershed

An article by Keep PA Beautiful President

The PA Resources Council and Litter? Not in Philly are

Keep Philadelphia Beautiful is now accepting

The Chester County Solid Waste Authority Tuesday

The PA Environmental Council and its partners are inviting

Construction Junction in Pittsburgh will host

Keep Centre County Beautiful became the 13th Keep

The Clean Air Council will kick off a new

The Public Utility Commission Tuesday

Penn State will be hosting the third annual Energy

(Reprinted from Penn State News.)

Lackawanna State Park will host a special Global Warming:

The PA Environmental Council’s In Case You

The South Mountain Partnership is now

The PA Parks and Forests Foundation recently received a

Friends of Allegheny Wilderness will

The April 4 edition of the Resource newsletter is

By Steve Harmic, Penn State News

Penn State DuBois wildlife technology student

The Game Commission’s Howard Nursery wants to help you

The Pocono Arts Council is pleased to announce

Natural Lands, based in Delaware County,

The Schuylkill Action Network is seeking an

April 22-- Earth Day. What Are You Doing?

April 26-- Pike/Wayne County Envirothon. Wallenpaupack Environmental Learning Center,

April 27-30-- 2018 City Nature Challenge In Pittsburgh Region.

June 20-21-- 20th Anniversary PA Abandoned Mine Reclamation Conference. Ramada

DEP Facebook Page DEP Twitter Feed DEP YouTube Channel

Click Here for links to DEP’s Advisory Committee webpages.

DEP Calendar of Events DCNR Calendar of Events

Senate Committee Schedule House Committee Schedule

PA Environment Digest Blog Twitter Feed PaEnviroDigest Google+

April 7-- DEP Local Recycling Implementation Grants

PA Environment Digest Blog Twitter Feed PaEnviroDigest Google+

DEP Facebook Page DEP Twitter Feed DEP YouTube Channel

Click Here for links to DEP’s Advisory Committee webpages.

DEP Calendar of Events DCNR Calendar of Events

PA Environment Digest is edited by David E. Hess, former Secretary Pennsylvania Department

PA Environment Digest weekly was the winner of the PA Association of Environmental

Also take advantage of these related services from Crisci Associates--

PA Environment Digest is a supporting member of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers