The Department of Environmental Protection announced Wednesday it has scheduled the three public hearings on proposed final Chapter 78 (conventional) and Chapter 78A (unconventional) drilling performance standard regulations. (formal notice)

DEP’s Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet on April 23 from 10:00 to noon to review and discuss the revised final Chapter 78A drilling regulations. (formal notice)

The House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee has now rescheduled a hearing on DEP’s handling of the proposed final version of the Chapter 78 (conventional) and 78A (Marcellus Shale) drilling regulations for May 7.

Sen. Elder Vogel (R-Beaver) Tuesday again introduced legislation-- Senate Bill 724-- creating a significantly flawed RFP process that requires PennVEST to buy nutrient credits from a rigged process that favors manure treatment technology that does not count toward Pennsylvania’s pollution reduction milestone. 

Gov. Tom Wolf Tuesday met with Senate and House Republican Leaders for the first time on the state budget, but only briefly and only to discuss the schedule for future meetings.

PA Environment Digest now has a Google+ Circle called Green Works In PA.  Let us join your Circle.

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

Senate Bill 699 (Yudichak-D-Luzerne), to complete the transfer of Moon Lake Park from Luzerne County to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Tuesday was voted out of the State Government Committee.

On April 22 the House Consumer Affairs Committee is scheduled to hold an information meeting on the “status and economic benefits of the Mariner East Pipeline Project.”

The House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee meets to consider House Bill 398 (Killion-R-Delaware) to allow for vehicular transportation of landfill leachate (sponsor summary) on April 22.

The April 20 “Earth Day” Environmental Issues Forum hosted by the Joint Legislative Air and Water Pollution Control and Conservation Committee will feature a presentation by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

The Choose Clean Water Coalition and its over 200 members from the Chesapeake Bay Watershed will hold the 6th Annual Choose Clean Water Conference on May 19-20 at the Harrisburg Hilton.

The Kittanning Paper Monday reported the Western PA Conservancy and the Dominion Foundation has awarded $30,000 to watershed groups in 15 counties in the Commonwealth, including Armstrong, as part of their Watershed Mini Grant Program.

The PA Association of Environmental Educators recently awarded the Outstanding Environmental Education Program Award to the Stroud Water Research Center’s Leaf Pack Experiment Stream Ecology Kit and Stream Schools programs.

The Department of Environmental Protection Friday announced that its Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation has received the 2015 Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative Award for an abandoned mine project in Elk Township, Clarion County.

ForEvergreen Nature Preserve and the Brodhead Creek Watershed Association will hold its first Earth Day celebration and Creek 5K race from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 26, at the new preserve on Cherry Lane Road, Analomink, Monroe County.

A rain garden is a great way to beautify your yard and keep pollutants out of local streams. Learn how to create your own rain garden at one of two workshops hosted by the Chester-Ridley-Crum Watersheds Association this spring.

The Friends of the Wissahickon and the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association are once again joining forces to clean the Wissahickon Creek on April 25 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

SEEDS, the monthly newsletter of iConservePA.org features a WVIAA Greenlife Pennsylvania video about French Creek in Northwestern PA, nationally known as one of the most ecologically diverse waterways in the country.

Eighty students from eight area high schools are in the final days of preparation for the annual Westmoreland County-wide outdoor environmental competition known as the Envirothon.

The April 14 Watershed Winds newsletter is now available from Penn State Extension featuring articles on--

Last fall, Department of Environmental Protection staffers Don Benczkowski and Matt Walderon made an interesting discovery. During a visit to the mouth of Eight Mile Creek in Erie on Oct. 22, they came across a collapsible Thermos cooler that contained an old lunch, a hotel key card, prescription work glasses, and contact information for Glen and Lisa Campbell of Ontario, Canada.

The Department of Environmental Protection encourages all Pennsylvanians to participate in a local cleanup or beautification event as part of the Great American Cleanup of PA.

Sheetz, Inc. has donated 6,000 coupons for in-store food and beverages in support of Keep PA Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup of PA volunteers.

Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful recently that Weis Markets, Inc., has renewed their partnership with Keep PA Beautiful as well as donated refreshments for registered participants of the Great American Cleanup of PA in select areas across the state.

Mt. Airy resident Brad Maule spent 2014 collecting trash throughout the Wissahickon Valley Park.  Now, the 255 water bottles, the 117 candy bags, strewn items of clothing, the styrofoam, the glass bottles, the discarded chip bags, cans—everything but the discarded bags of dog poop—will be the subject of an exhibit that opens on April 22 at the Fairmount Water Works in Philadelphia.

A property that has been an environmental hazard for decades in Pocono Township, Monroe County, has finally been torn down thanks to the persistence of DEP Solid Waste Management staff who work in the department's Bethlehem District Office.

The Department of Environmental Protection Monday announced it will host a public availability session regarding Keystone Sanitary Landfill’s permit application to expand its facility located in Dunmore and Throop Boroughs in Lackawanna County.

Get a jumpstart on your spring cleaning and do something good for the environment at the same time. St. Ferdinand Church of Cranberry is proud to announce a data security and electronics waste recycling event on April 18 on their premises at 2535 Rochester Road, Cranberry Township, Butler County.

The April 16 edition of DEP News is now available from the Department of Environmental Protection featuring articles on--

PennFuture Tuesday issued an updated version of its Fossil Fuel Subsidy Report, which indicates that the dollar amount of subsidies to the highly-profitable, mature fossil fuel industry continues to balloon, having now reached $3.25 billion annually in Pennsylvania.

The Associated Press reported Sunday about half of the crude oil moved by rail in the United States is bound for refineries near Philadelphia; nearly 17 million barrels in January alone.

The U.S. Department of Energy recently recognized four Pennsylvania manufacturing plants for their leadership in energy management by earning certification to Superior Energy Performance.

The Department of Environmental Protection Monday invited middle school teachers, administrators and building managers to a May 12 training workshop in Slippery Rock, Butler County on the Keystone Energy Education Program to teach and track energy efficiency in school buildings and homes.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced PECO has been selected as a 2015 Energy Star Partner of the Year. PECO, along with sister Exelon utilities BGE, based in Baltimore, and ComEd, based in Chicago, will be honored for their long-term commitment to energy efficiency at the EPA awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. on April 20.

Sustainable Energy Education and Development Support and the Northeast Pennsylvania Audubon Society are co-sponsoring a free seminar titled: Smart Landscaping: How Landscaping Can Save Energy on April 21.

Pennsylvania Horticultural Society is celebrating the wonders of trees this spring in support of the Plant One Million campaign by planting 50 trees at Bensalem School District Administration building in Bucks County on April 24 and 50 trees in Charlestown Park on April 25 in Chester County. 

Business owners, citizens and organizations from across the 12 ½ county Pennsylvania Wilds region have earned awards for their contributions in sustainable tourism development and will be honored at an awards dinner and regional tourism briefing April 23.

The PA Parks and Forests Foundation and Caledonia State Park in Adams and Franklin counties will hold a meeting on April 23 from 6-8 pm, at Caledonia State Park to discuss the formation of a friends group for the park.

With the approach of Pennsylvania’s traditional statewide trout season opener on April 18, and a rash of recent wildfires, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is urging anglers, property owners and others to take steps to prevent forest and brush fires.

Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Acting Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn Thursday announced DCNR and TreeVitalize will be assisting with a large tree planting effort on April 18-19 at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Somerset County.

Learn how to keep cherished lands in the family, protect your lands and waters forever, and receive financial and estate planning benefits from doing so at the Financial Benefits of Land Conservation Workshop on May 16 from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. at Grey Towers National Historic Site in Milford, Pike County, sponsored by the Delaware Highlands Conservancy.

The PA Horticultural Society has scheduled a series of Spring, Summer and Fall Tree Tender classes in the 5-county Philadelphia area to help residents learn tree biology, identification, planning, proper care and working with your community to promote tree planting.

Ernst Conservation Seeds, headquartered in Meadville, Crawford County, Monday announced it will sponsor a premier lecture series this spring at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, Berks County featuring  three renowned experts in the native plant movement: Ann Raver, Bill Cullina, and Mark Fiely.

A team of researchers from Penn State University is diligently compiling samples and data to trace the disappearance of mountain lions within Pennsylvania. Once common in Pennsylvania, the last documented observation of a mountain lion within the state's borders was in 1874.

The Department of Environmental Protection published notice of an opportunity to bid in the April 18 PA Bulletin on 11 well plugging projects in McKean County, 13 wells plugging projects in another location in McKean County and 12 well plugging projects in a third location in McKean County.  For more information, visit DEP’s Abandoned and Orphan Well Plugging Program webpage.

In a move designed to deepen its commitment to social and environmental sustainability, The Heinz Endowments Tuesday announced the appointment of an environmental leader and former Endowments’ staff member to the new position of Senior Program Director for Sustainability and the Environment.

This section lists House and Senate Committee meetings, DEP and other public hearings and meetings and other interesting environmental events.

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 are NewsClips from around the state on all environmental topics, including General Environment, Budget, Marcellus Shale, Watershed Protection and much more--

The Department of Environmental Protection published notice of 3 public hearings on Chapter 78 (conventional) and Chapter 78A (unconventional) drilling regulations.

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