patrick-mcdonnell

DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell to leave Wolf admin on July 2

BY: - May 23, 2022

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. 

DEP encourages Pennsylvanians to join local litter cleanup efforts | Five for the Weekend

BY: - March 26, 2022

The department reports that there are already 290 events registered this year on the Pick Up Pennsylvania website with approximately 21,000 volunteers. 

COMMENTARY

Washington reinstates a key pollution-fighting tool. What’s next for Pa.? | Friday Morning Coffee

BY: - March 11, 2022

The move by the EPA gives states such as Pennsylvania the latitude to adopt rules stronger than federal law.

‘The goal is to act now’: state officials detail Pa.’s 2021 Climate Action Plan

BY: - September 22, 2021

The plan builds on six areas of impact noted in the 2021 Climate Change Impacts Assessment

Wolf admin. officials push for tick-borne illness awareness

BY: - July 27, 2021

“This summer, don’t let a tick make you sick,” acting Pennsylvania Physician General Dr. Denise Johnson said Tuesday.

Report: Pa. sees record natural gas production, more compliance violations in 2020

BY: - July 8, 2021

Producing more than 7.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, Pennsylvania ranked second among states for natural gas production in 2020, a state record for gas production in a single year. 

Facing grim climate projections, state officials call for multi-dimensional approach to addressing climate change

BY: and - May 9, 2021

The Pennsylvania Climate Impacts Assessment is a report produced every three years by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) as directed by the Pennsylvania Climate Change Act (Act 70) of 2008. 

Saylor to DEP: What assurance do you have Pa. citizens ‘aren’t going to die like they did in Texas?’

BY: - February 22, 2021

A top Pennsylvania Republican repeated a narrative without expert backing about Texas’ power failures during a budget hearing with state environmental regulators on Monday. While asking questions of Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Stan Saylor, R-York, pressed on Pennsylvania’s preparedness for extreme winter weather, such as the record lows […]

DEP announces new funding to expand Pa.’s electric vehicle infrastructure

BY: - February 20, 2021

As of November 2020, there were more than 29,000 electric vehicles registered in Pennsylvania, according to the DEP’s Electric Vehicle Roadmap.

Wolf proposes staffing increases, fee hikes in DEP’s budget request

BY: - February 24, 2020

Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee suggested that the fee hikes for for dumping in landfills and drilling for natural gas, are just a stealth tax hike. 

Mariner East 2 owner fined $30.6 million for western Pa. pipeline explosion

BY: - January 3, 2020

The fine is one of the largest ever brought by the state, but also lifts an 11-month moratorium on state approval for Energy Transfer Partner pipeline construction permits.

‘We can’t ask any questions:’ Environmental official gets OK from Senate committee over pipeline objections

BY: - May 8, 2019

A committee advanced Secretary Patrick McDonnell’s nomination to the full Senate, over the objections of Sens. Andrew Dinniman, D-Chester, and Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery.