department-of-environmental-protection
‘Tired of talking’: Advocates call on Legislature to address environmental justice issues
From transportation infrastructure to historic redlining and illegal dumping, experts and advocates told state lawmakers that they were “tired of talking” and instead wanted action to address environmental justice issues that disproportionately affect communities of color.
DEP issues drought watch for 36 Pennsylvania counties
The drought watch for three-dozen Pennsylvania counties comes as 39.3 percent of the U.S. is currently under drought conditions, according to federal data. Other states, such as Mississippi and Kentucky have experienced extreme flooding conditions over the last month.
DEP to host public hearing on strengthening Pa.’s power grids | Monday Morning Coffee
“To develop a grid-strengthening support program that’s customized to meet Pennsylvania’s specific challenges and opportunities, we need to hear from a diverse range of Pennsylvanians, including residents, community leaders and advocates, local government leaders, small business owners, health care and emergency personnel, and educators,” DEP Acting Secretary Ramez Ziadeh said.
State officials ask for public input on draft water resources plan
The plan, an outline for how the commonwealth manages the demand on its water resources, contains more than 100 water-management recommendations focusing on areas of concern, such as flood control, stormwater management, water withdrawal, legacy coal mining impacts, legacy oil and gas wells, drinking water and wastewater treatment, contaminants of emerging concern, and agricultural nonpoint source pollution, according to the department.
Study: Drilling wastewater on Pa. roads dangerous to human health, environment
The state Department of Environmental Protection has not yet acted based on those findings but said that the study’s impact will be “immediate, large and intense.”
Environmental watchdogs petition DCNR to remove access fee on oil & gas well database
“Oil and gas well records should be available to all Pennsylvania's citizens, not just a select few citizens with the ability to pay DCNR's exorbitant charges,” a petition to DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn reads. “We the undersigned demand DCNR stop charging citizens $5,500.00 to access the EDWIN database.”
House passes bill blocking DEP from issuing some wind project permits without feds’ approval
The state House voted 189-11 on Friday to approve a bill sponsored by Rep. Zachary Mako, R-Northampton barring the state Department of Environmental Protection from issuing permits for the construction of wind turbines in the commonwealth that “may negatively impact a military installation's airspace, flight paths or established training needs” without the approval of federal officials.
Pa. House panel approves funding scheme to pay for cleaning up abandoned wells
The House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee reported out a pair of bills that would establish a scheme to close hundreds of thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells using federal money.
DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell to leave Wolf admin on July 2
The Wolf administration said that it plans to tap DEP Executive Secretary of Programs Ramez Ziadeh, to serve as acting secretary following McDonnell’s departure next month.
Pa.’s litter problem | The Numbers Racket
Of the total estimated litter on roadways, the study found that 186.2 million (37.1 percent) pieces were cigarette butts. Another 152.9 million (30.4 percent) pieces of litter were plastic, most prevalently plastic film and plastic beverage containers, according to the study.
The state of emissions in Pa. | The Numbers Racket
In its 278-page 2021 Pennsylvania Climate Change Action Plan, the Department of Environmental Protection noted that as of 2017, the most recent year for which data were available at the time of the report, Pennsylvania has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 19.2 percent - 6.8 percent away from its 2025 goal.
These are the meaningful actions Pennsylvanians can take this Earth Month
“There are many small but meaningful actions we can take to improve the health of the natural ecosystem we depend on,” Deborah Klenotic, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection told the Capital-Star.