The Department of Environmental Protection Tuesday announced a new public participation and education initiative to improve its outreach to the public and more actively engage citizens and the regulated community in the development of policies and regulations.

All four agencies with a role in listing and considering rare, threatened and endangered species in environmental permit reviews participated in a panel discussion on legislation-- House Bill 1576 (Pyle-R-Armstrong) and Senate Bill 1047 (Scarnati-R-Jefferson)-- which would fundamentally change this process process for designating species at Tuesday’s DEP Citizen’s Advisory Council meeting.

Kelly Heffner, DEP Deputy for Water Management, told DEP’s Citizen’s Advisory Council Tuesday Pennsylvania’s biggest challenge in meeting its obligations under the Chesapeake Bay Cleanup milestones is reducing sediment going into our rivers and streams by another 609 million pounds by 2025.

The PA Municipal Authorities Association this week wrote to members of the Senate expressing its opposition to the Senate Bill 994 (Vogel-R-Beaver) nutrient reduction proposal saying it does not have a funding source to make the program work.

The October Monthly Report submitted by the Department of Environmental Protection to the Citizen’s Advisory Council provides a concise update on major program activities within the agency and highlights new initiatives every month.

Here are the Senate and House Calendars and Committee meetings showing bills of interest as well as a list of new environmental bills introduced--

The following bills were given final approval by the Senate and House and are now on the Governor's desk for action--

The following bills of interest saw action this week in the House and Senate--

Testifiers praised recent changes to the Downtown Location Law during a Senate Urban Affairs & Housing Committee hearing on Wednesday.

House Bill 493 (Gabler-R-Clearfield), which changes the process for the review and approval of Capital Budget projects and reduces the overall borrowing limit by $600 million, was passed by the Senate and concurred in by the House Wednesday and sent to the Governor for his action.

House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) said he plans to bring a transportation funding proposal to the full House for a vote next week, but he’s not saying which one.

Environment Erie, a non-profit environmental education group, has been recognized with the John C. Oliver Award from the Friends of Tom Ridge Environmental Center.

The Department of Environmental Protection Thursday announced P&N Coal Company Inc. of Punxsutawney, Indiana County, recently received the nation’s best coal mine reclamation project award from the National Association of State Land Reclamationists, following a nomination submitted by the department.

The Jennings Environmental Education Center, Slippery Rock Watershed Coalition and Stream Restoration, Inc. held a celebration of the rehabilitation of the Jennings Passive Treatment System on October 7 in Butler County attracting over 40 people involved one way or another in the project over the last 15 years.

The WVIA-TV Original Documentary Film Series, "WaterWise" produced in partnership with The Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds, takes viewers to some of Pennsylvania's most beautiful natural environments, to see how common people are combating the consequences of freshwater pollution.

Adults throughout Pennsylvania have the opportunity to become volunteers for the 4-H Stream Teams Program. A free, online training will be held by Penn State Extension to teach interested adults how to form and guide youth in the 4-H Stream Teams Program.

The Friends of the Wissahickon in Montgomery County invite you to participate in the upcoming Fall Planting Day events in several areas of the watershed.  Click Here for details.

The Department of Environmental Protection Tuesday awarded more than $800,000 in annual coastal zone management grants to organizations dedicated to protecting and preserving Pennsylvania’s coastal zones along Lake Erie and the Delaware Estuary.

Pennsylvania American Water is encouraging customers to protect themselves and the environment by disposing of unused medications at local collection sites on October 26 as part of National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.

Jane Lubchenco, former Under Secretary of Commerce for the National Oceans and Atmosphere Administration and Kathryn Sullivan, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator received the 2013 the Stroud Award for Freshwater Excellence for their commitment to stewardship of freshwater.

The Public Utility Commission Thursday issued for comment a proposed rulemaking on the collection and disbursement of the impact fee for unconventional natural gas well drilling.

WITF’s StateImpact reported Wednesday the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources released the drilling plan proposed by Anadarko Petroleum for the Loyalsock State Forest in Lycoming and Sullivan counties. 

At its fourth annual membership meeting this week, the Marcellus Shale Coalition released its year-in-review video focused on the dramatic and positive shift in energy security, environmental benefits, and economic growth across our region and the nation, bolstered by safe shale production.

The Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center, Inc. has awarded Ultra-Poly Corporation, located north of the Lehigh Valley, with the 2013 William M. Heenan, Jr. Recycling Markets Development Award for its innovation and commitment to developing new market opportunities for hard-to-recycle plastics in Pennsylvania.

Students in southwest Pennsylvania schools have the opportunity to show how they’d make a difference in the area’s air quality by participating in the 4th Annual Let’s Clear the Air Poster Challenge, sponsored by the Southwest Pennsylvania Air Quality Partnership, Inc. and Pennsylvania Resources Council, Inc..

As the Public Utility Commission marks the 11th year of its “Prepare Now” initiative, today it reminded electric and natural gas utilities to take extra steps to help consumers – especially those on limited and fixed incomes, to “Prepare Now” for winter heating costs.

Income-qualified families in Harrisburg are learning how to save big on their utility bills while conserving energy and water, thanks to PPL Electric Utilities’ E-PowerWise Program.

Corporate, engineering, and community leaders are invited to Pittsburgh at the offices of the Engineers’ Society of Western Pennsylvania on October 23 for the “Smart, Sustainable Choices for Operations, Transportation, and Facilities” workshop.

The federal shutdown forced the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to rescheduled the 11 public listening sessions it had scheduled across the country, including one in Philadelphia, to solicit ideas and input from the public and stakeholders about the best Clean Air Act approaches to reducing carbon pollution from existing power plants.

Gov. Tom Corbett Thursday announced the Governor's Innovation Office has worked with state agencies to achieve more than $400 million in cost savings and productivity gains. 

On Thursday PennEnvironment and attorneys from the Environmental Integrity Project announced their notice of intent to sue the Fish and Boat Commission for ongoing Clean Water Act violations at the agency’s Bellefonte State Fish Hatchery. 

Audubon Pennsylvania will hold a Backyard Stewardship Workshop from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on October 19 at the Wildlands Conservancy Pool Wildlife Sanctuary, 3710 Orchard Place in Emmaus, Lehigh County.

Fans of Pennsylvania’s state parks and forests can now support their local green spaces with the purchase of fair trade, organic teas, the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation announced Wednesday.

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission invites individuals, public agencies and private organizations to nominate historic properties or locations with statewide or national significance for PHMC's State Historical Marker Program.

The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources published notice of an opportunity to submit proposals in response to a request for underwater diving consultants for the purpose of inspection, maintenance and repairs to agency-owned dams (PA Bulletin page 6235).

The Pennsylvania Resources Council announced Friday Justin Stockdale has been named Western Regional Director.  Justin will join the PRC Western Regional Office on December 1 and will take over the Regional Director's reins on January 1, 2014.

The Stroud Water Research Center is seeking candidates for the position of Director of Communications.  Click Here for details and how to apply.

This section gives you a continuously updated thumbnail sketch of issues to be considered in upcoming advisory committee meetings where the agendas have been released

This section gives you a heads up on upcoming deadlines for awards and grants and other recognition programs.  NEW means new from last week.

Here's a selection of NewsClips on environmental topics from around the state--

Here are NewsClips on topics related to Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling---

Here are NewsClips on watershed topics from around the state--

The Public Utility Commission published notice of proposed long-term infrastructure improvement planning requirements for water, wastewater, electric and natural gas utilities under the Distribution System Improvement Charge Program (PA Bulletin 6206).

Upcoming legislative meetings, conferences, workshops, plus links to other online calendars.  Meetings are in Harrisburg unless otherwise noted.  NEW means new from last week.  Go to the online Calendar webpage.

Send your stories, photos and links to videos about your project, environmental issues or programs for publication in the PA Environment Digest to:  DHess@CrisciAssociates.com.

PA Environment Digest is a supporting member of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association, Pennsylvania Council Trout Unlimited and the Doc Fritchey Chapter Trout Unlimited.