Pittsburgh, PA and Washington, DC
The Foundation Mineral and Energy Law Newsletter
Pennsylvania – Oil & Gas
(Joseph K. Reinhart, Sean M. McGovern, Gina F. Buchman, Christina M. Puhnaty)
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) recently announced the availability of over $101.1 million in funding for 16 environmental restoration projects across 12 Pennsylvania counties as part of PADEP’s AML/AMD Grant Program. See Press Release, PADEP, “The Shapiro Administration Awards $101.1 Million in Grants for Environmental Restoration Projects” (Jan. 17, 2024). This funding comes from the Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, through which Pennsylvania expects to receive $244.9 million annually until 2036. These projects focus on reclaiming abandoned mine lands and decreasing or treating abandoned mine drainage.
Pennsylvania’s AML/AMD Grant Program will have three application rounds in 2024 for new projects:
- 2024 Application Round 1—February 19, 2024, through 11:59 p.m. April 5, 2024
- 2024 Application Round 2—June 3, 2024, through 11:59 p.m. July 19, 2024
- 2024 Application Round 3—September 23, 2024, through 11:59 p.m. November 8, 2024
Program guidance and application instructions are available on PADEP’s website, as well as annual summaries of the accomplishments of abandoned mine reclamation projects in Pennsylvania. See PADEP, “AML/AMD Grant Program,” here.
PADEP Issues Draft 2024 Pennsylvania Integrated Water Quality Report
In November 2023, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) issued its draft interactive 2024 Pennsylvania Integrated Water Quality Report and the public comment on the draft report has now closed. The report identifies Pennsylvania’s federal Clean Water Act (CWA) § 303(d) listing of impaired waters requiring total maximum daily loads (TMDLs), and section 305(b) reporting of the overall condition of Pennsylvania’s aquatic resources. PADEP compiles and submits this report to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency once every two years. PADEP received 18 comments on the draft report, the majority of which were submitted by Pennsylvania-based environmental nonprofit organizations.
Section 303(d) of the CWA requires states to list impaired waters that require TMDLs and describe the data used to make those decisions. States are also required to set prioritization ranking for restoring impaired waters, and PADEP meets this requirement by creating a list of watersheds that are identified as restoration priorities. Section 305(b) of the CWA requires states to report the status of waters and describe the programs in place to control pollution and restore water quality. The draft integrated water report assesses the sources and causes of stream and lake impairment, and also describes PADEP’s groundwater monitoring and characterization efforts. The report also describes restoration programs in place in Pennsylvania to restore water quality. PADEP’s integrated water quality reports dating back to 2016 are available on PADEP’s website here.
Copyright © 2024, The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law, Westminster, Colorado
