By Jim Foster, Secretary, KTA Board of Directors
I represented KTA recently on a coalition of 19 environmental and conservation groups. Some of the others included Audubon Pennsylvania, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Penn Future, the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association, the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Sierra Club, the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, and the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. We first met in December to prepare the Working Paper on the Conservation, Protection and Restoration of Pennsylvania’s Environmental Quality, Recreational Assets, and Natural Resources for the new governor, Tom Wolf, and his staff. A copy of our final working paper is available here on the KTA’s web site.
On March 9, our group met with 2 members of Governor Wolf’s cabinet: Cindy Dunn, Acting Secretary of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), and John Quigley, Acting Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). We talked about our working paper and other environmental and conservation issues.
Secretaries Dunn and Quigley were glad to meet with us and hoped that the meeting would be the start of a revitalized series of conservation gatherings between our groups and department officials. We started out by asking them which issues were of immediate importance to them. Secretary Quigley pointed out that the most important issues to the new governor were transparency and integrity. Indeed, these were the primary subjects covered by the governor and his staff during the process of interviewing candidates for his cabinet. At present, they and their departments are focused primarily on the budget process and their confirmation hearings. Budget hearings are about to start, and the confirmation hearings should begin in April. Issues to be raised during the confirmation process will likely include the administration’s position on enforcement of drilling regulations and their previous statements on oil and gas development.
One of Governor Wolf’s priorities is a severance tax on gas production. The republicans in the Legislature have generally been opposed to this, but there have been some indications of support within that caucus. Both secretaries are committed to the concept of a conservation trust fund. Secretary Quigley said they are very concerned about an impending shortfall in Hazardous Substances Cleanup Act funds amounting to about $40 million due to loss of the capital stock and franchise tax. Funding to cover this gap will need to be found from other sources.
Concerning climate issues, the DCNR will be looking at ways to integrate sustainable design principles in new buildings, including Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design–certified principles. The DEP plans to reinvigorate the Climate Change Advisory Committee. Both departments are strongly urging input from the environmental community as their initiatives are rolled out.
Concerning energy, Governor Wolf has said that coal will continue to have a role in generating Pennsylvania’s energy. His administration will probably look at technologies, such as carbon sequestration, to mitigate the negative effects of coal energy. Pennsylvania will probably develop its own standards in this area rather than adopt the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative standards. The governor wants to take a serious look at the issue of public health concerns from shale gas development. Reliable data, not just anecdotal information, are needed on the public health effects of shale gas development.
The DEP will seriously enforce existing standards on well pad safety, setbacks, etc. A proposal is being developed to enhance the existing rules. The recently unveiled DEP budget calls for 50 new inspectors to enforce the drilling rules. However, the department will also need significant investments in systems and technology so that the inspectors can do their job more efficiently.
Concerning air and water quality, there are plans to begin a better monitoring program. Better data are needed to make the monitoring program better.
On leasing of public lands, the governor has announced a moratorium on new leases. As for the existing commitments, these are only about 20 percent built out—meaning that additional development will continue under previous commitments. The DCNR will try to tighten up enforcement of existing leases and encourage best practices. The DCNR has had to divert resources from other activities to gas enforcement. Secretary Dunn will try to move some resources back to things such as education and park development to achieve a more even balance. The State Forest Management Plan is being updated. A proposal should be out this summer.
Both secretaries have agreed to work toward a much stronger spirit of cooperation between the 2 departments. Their goal is moving toward the level of cooperation that existed before the agencies were split in the 1990s.