Senate Committee Moves Marcellus Shale Bill. The Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee reported out the House Marcellus bill- House Bill 1950- after amending the bill to gut the existing language and insert the provisions of Senate-passed Senate Bill 1100.
Senators said they took the action to move the process along. They also said there is no agreement yet on provisions of a Marcellus bill between the Senate, House and Governor's Office.
Sen. Scarnati said the Senate would not be adding any session days in December unless there was an agreement. The Senate is set to adjourn next Wednesday for the year.

Briefing: DEP To Release Draft Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan Dec. 15: Sen. Mike Brubaker (R-Lancaster), Chair of the interstate Chesapeake Bay Commission, hosted a briefing Tuesday for House and Senate members on the status of Pennsylvania's efforts to comply with the Chesapeake Bay Watershed cleanup mandate.

At the briefing, John Hines, Executive Deputy Secretary for Programs for the Department of Environmental Protection, announced DEP will be taking the next step in the cleanup process by releasing a draft Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan for public comment on December 15.

Video of the briefing is available online featuring these speakers:

-- Sen. Mike Brubaker (R-Lancaster), Chair of the Chesapeake Bay Commission, provided introductory and closing remarks.

-- Jeff Corbin, Special Advisor to the Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, provided an overview of the Chesapeake Bay mandate.

-- John Hines, Executive Deputy Secretary for Programs, DEP, provided an outline of Pennsylvania's efforts to comply with the mandate.

-- Andy Zemba, Director of DEP's Interstate Waters Office, provided details on Pennsylvania's response.

-- Matthew Ehrhart, Director, Pennsylvania Office of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, commented on both state and federal efforts to cleanup the Bay.

American Recycles Day-A Bag's Life. Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley joined Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, partnering organizations and students from The Nativity School of Harrisburg to launch the "A Bag's Life" on America Recycles Day, November 15. Speaking at the event (in order) were: Shannon Reiter, Keep PA Beautiful; Lt. Gov. Cawley, David McCorkle, PA Food Merchants Assn.; Robert Bylone, PA Recycling Markets Center. Click Here for more information.

PEC, CBF Urge Changes, Action On Marcellus Shale Bills. The PA Environmental Council and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation held a press conference today urging the General Assembly to enact tougher environmental protections and a reasonable drilling impact fee in proposed legislation aimed at regulating development of the state’s Marcellus Shale natural gas reserves. Click Here for more details.

Video of Flooding In And Around Harrisburg:

City of Harrisburg - taken before noon on Friday

Hummelstown Area - taken Thursday.

What's A Vernal Pool? The PA Natural Heritage Program staff at the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy explain the significant of their work while conducting a species sammpling in a vernal pool.

Chester County Recycling Video Contest Winner. The Chester County Board of Commissioners this week announced the video submitted by West Chester East High School students Christina Betz and Jeff Cindric who won the County High School Recycling Video Contest was posted online. Click Here for more information.

See The Light Energy Savings With the Coolidge Family. iConservePA.org's new episode in the Coolidge Family low carbon lifestyle series features Sam Coolidges doing what he does best, being passionate about saving energy, planting smartly and living locally.
Are you a Super Sleuth?
Like rain barrels, composters, native plants, new garden tools? These and other great green prizes are up for grabs in the CSI Super Sleuth Sweepstakes!
Fifteen secret codes are hidden throughout the iConservePA website as part of the Science at Home and Meet the Coolidges Educational Series and four codes are available by attending special programs at Pennsylvania State Parks or visiting the iConservePA GreenHouse.
Enter the codes here by November 30 for up to 19 chances to win BIG!

Meet the Coolidges, A Low-Carbon Family. iConservePA this week started a new online educational series offering suggestions on how to live a low-carbon lifestyle by saving energy, planting smartly and living locally.
Over the next few months, Sam, Pam and Becca Coolidge will highlight ways they and you can focus on low-carbon living.
The first video features Becca heading to her market to buy locally produced products.
Are you a Super Sleuth?
Like rain barrels, composters, native plants, new garden tools? These and other great green prizes are up for grabs in the CSI Super Sleuth Sweepstakes!
Fifteen secret codes are hidden throughout the iConservePA website as part of the Science at Home and Meet the Coolidges Educational Series and four codes are available by attending special programs at Pennsylvania State Parks or visiting the iConservePA GreenHouse.
Enter the codes here by November 30 for up to 19 chances to win BIG!

iConservePA Science At Home And Afield. Be a citizen science investigator with CSI:Pennsylvania and get to know the natural phenomena happening at home or afar. Science at Home features eight easy to understand programs sure to pique the interest of citizen scientists of every age.
Watch Citizens Count, the first of five videos in our Science Afield series, and learn how everyone’s power of observation can help science. With host Jessica Sprajcar, travel across Pennsylvania to discover the people and places on the front lines of scientific inquiry.
Are you a Super Sleuth?
Like rain barrels, composters, native plants, new garden tools? These and other great green prizes are up for grabs in the CSI Super Sleuth Sweepstakes!
Fifteen secret codes are hidden throughout the iConservePA website as part of the Science at Home and Meet the Coolidges Educational Series and four codes are available by attending special programs at Pennsylvania State Parks or visiting the iConservePA GreenHouse.
Enter the codes here by November 30 for up to 19 chances to win BIG!

Voices Of The Schuylkill Watershed is a video project filmed, written and illustrated by 3rd and 4th graders at the Miquon School in Conchohocken. It recently won an award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Schuylkill Action Network. Other award-winning videos from the same school include: Anya's Watershed Video and This Is Our Watershed. Click Here for the awards announcement.

Allegheny Valley Land Trust Converts Rail Line, Mines Lands To Trail. The Allegheny Valley Land Trust recently completed a project to convert over 90 miles of rail line into a recreation trail, including the purchase of 269 acres of abandoned mine lands which contains 48 miles of rail-trail.

The abandoned mine land property also contains historically significant treasures, among the relics are a tunnel built in 1915, a rail car turn table, rail line bridges, and coke ovens used in the 1800’s.

Environmentally unsound, unregulated coal mining practices of the past have Western Pennsylvania with a legacy of polluted waters, scarred landscapes, and health and safety hazards. The decrease in productive, valuable land has, in turn, impacted the regional economy.

However, the region's inherent, wild beauty offers many recreational opportunities. Rail-Trail organizations have indentified this potential and have been remarkably successful in converting abandoned mine lands, including rail lines into recreational havens.

(Reprinted from Abandoned Mine Posts, Western Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation)

DEP Secretary Outlines Priorities Before House Committee. Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Krancer has a chance to correct the record on issues facing the agency and presents his priorities before the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee. Click Here for written opening statement. Click Here for summary of comments presented.

Sen. Joe Scarnati (R-Jefferson) announces Marcellus Shale impact fee proposal in a conference call with reporters.

Energy Star Video Challenge Contest Features Erie Carbon Cop School Program. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week launched a nationwide effort to encourage Americans to take part in the “Be an Energy Star” video challenge by picking up their home video cameras and documenting the energy-efficient actions they are taking in their home, school, workplace and community.
The video introduction to the contest features Rachel Gollhardt and the "Carbon Cop" program which teaches second graders at Davis Primary School in Erie how to reduce energy use and their carbon footprint.
The videos will be featured on the Energy Star website and social networking websites where the public will view and vote for their favorite videos in the fall. The winning entries will be showcased on the Energy Star website during Energy Awareness month in October.
For more information, visit the EPA Change The World and learn how to “Be an Energy Star.” Post your story through the Share Your Story function on the EnergyStar.gov website.

Reclaiming Devil's Pool. The Friends of the Wissahickon have released a short documentary “Reclaiming Devil’s Pool,” produced by FOW member Jason Fifield of Slife Productions, documents FOW’s work at Devil’s Pool, part of the Sustainable Trails Initiative, a multi-stage commitment by FOW to help make the 50 miles of natural surface in the Wissahickon Valley Park an environmentally and socially sustainable system that works for all park users.
The film does an excellent job of explaining the work of STI with an emphasis on the Devil’s Pool Reclamation project completed in 2010 and the collaborative nature of this and all STI projects. In addition, the film highlights the role of volunteers, in particular FOW’s Trail Ambassadors. Says Mark Focht, Executive Director of Fairmount Park, “It’s not just about trail usage. It’s about the environmental sustainability of the Wissahickon Watershed, which is a unique watershed in Philadelphia and the whole region.”

CBF Asks For Federal Study Of Marcellus Shale Drilling Impacts. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and its partners took actions today to call on the federal government to conduct a comprehensive scientific analysis of the cumulative impacts of natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation in the six Bay states, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, and Virginia. In a conference call with reporters, Matt Ehrhart, PA Office Director CBF, outlines the request for the study. Click Here for more background.
Other statements from the CBF press conference call--
Amy McDonnell, CBF attorney
John Dawes, Foundation for PA Watersheds
Cinda Waldbuesser, National Parks Conservation Association

Bipartisan Marcellus Shale Severance Tax Introduced. Sen. John T. Yudichak (D-Luzerne) announced today he has introduced Senate Bill 905 that would implement a severance tax on the extraction of natural gas in Pennsylvania providing funding for the H20 Water Infrastructure Program, local governments impacted by drilling and the Growing Greener environmental restoration program. The Senator provides an overview of the proposal in this video.
Other videos from this announcement include:
Sen. Ted Erickson (R-Delaware)
Sen. John Blake (D-Lackawanna)
Larry Williamson, Renew Growing Greener Coalition

Water Saving Tips From PA American Water. To draw attention to the more than one trillion gallons of water wasted each year in U.S. homes due to leaks, Pennsylvania American Water today announced its support for the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Fix a Leak Week,” by launching a short video to advise homeowners on ways to save water and money by finding and repairing leaks. Fix a Leak Week runs March 14-20.

Pennsylvania American Water produced the three-minute video showing how to check for leaks throughout a household and how to make easy, inexpensive repairs, which can save thousands of gallons of water over the course of a year. Homeowners can view the video via the company’s YouTube channel or its Facebook page.

Ellen Ferretti, VP Pennsylvania Environmental Council, testifies before the Senate Majority Policy Committee on the local impacts of Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling. Click Here to read a copy of her testimony.

Wingfield Pines AML Treatment Site. After years of planning and many months of construction, the Abandoned Mine Drainage Treatment System at ALT's Wingfield Pines Conservation Area was officially dedicated on June 3, 2010.
The AMD Treatment System filters 43 tons of iron oxide annually from one billion gallons of mine discharge. Some early sampling indicates that iron oxide is reduced from 13.9 mg/L in Pond #1 to 0.1 mg/L at the discharge site into Chartiers Creek.
Watch this video put together by the Western PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation for an overview of the project.

Renew Growing Greener Coalition holds Lobby Day at the Capitol in Harrisburg. Andrew Heath, Executive Director of the Coalition, provides an overview of the day's event and the urgency in renewing the Growing Greener Program. Click here for more information.

Learn how forested buffers can improve water quality from the Stroud Water Research Center. Click Here for more background from the Penn State Agriculture and Environment Center.