Tom Corbett's Plan to Protect Pennsylvania's Environment with Leadership for the Future

Summary

Throughout his career, Tom Corbett has worked aggressively to protect Pennsylvania's environment. As Governor, he will continue his commitment to the environment by working to protect our air, land and water and will enact policies that balance economic growth with strong environmental stewardship.

Plan Highlights

Getting the Department of Environmental Protection Back to the Basics refocusing the Agency to be more efficient and serve Pennsylvania better. Tom's proposals will:

• Eliminate permit backlog
• Create the Permit Decision Guarantee Program to ensure timely permit decisions based on clear deadlines for each permit issued by the agency
• Establish a DEP Legacy Corps enlisting retired DEP senior managers, who have vast experience and knowledge in implementing DEP's programs, to voluntarily mentor future DEP managers through a management trainee program
• Review DEP programs, regulations and guidance documents within the first three months
• Create a PA Environmental "Expert" Loan Program allowing DEP to create relationships with academic and other institutions to allow individuals with expertise in pre-identified specialties to lend their skills to DEP for a specified period of time
• Promote environmental education as a key to the future

Regulating the Natural Gas Industry. Tom believes we must develop Pennsylvania's natural gas fields responsibly and in an environmentally sound manner by strengthening existing regulations for drilling and enacting new ones that will protect the commonwealth's water and land.

• Mandate Frac Chemical Disclosure for each well site including volumes, dilution factors and chemical characteristics
• Expand pre-drill water testing
• Increase the mandatory protections for water supplies by supporting legislation,
  • Expanding the required notification of potential drilling to all surface water owners and purveyors who are within 2,500 feet
  • Increasing the current prohibition of drilling within 200 feet of an existing drinking water supply to 500 feet
• Support DEP regulatory changes to protect water supplies including:
• Requiring the use of blow-out preventers at all Marcellus wells
• Checking flow valves to ensure that gas is not escaping through the casing
• Requiring casing and cementing plans to be submitted and approved by DEP
• Supporting calls for double walled cement casing through the deepest fresh water zone to help prevent gas migration
• Institute well cap inspections daily throughout Pennsylvania
• Increase bonding amounts per well and for blanket bonds above the national averages
• Implement tougher penalties for violations increasing fines and penalties for companies that violate drilling regulations
• Address issues related to gas migration instituting new and tougher regulations and laws
• Direct interagency coordination of the Marcellus Shale appointing a new Energy Executive to ensure that energy policy is coordinated among all state agencies that have a role and expertise within this broad issue
• Protect the groundwater, encourage recycling and coordinate permitting
• Create the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale Commission, a bipartisan Commission tasked with identifying specific legislative, regulatory and other initiatives to address environmental concerns and resource development measures and propose community outreach, education programs and technical assistance measures

Protect the Chesapeake Watershed. Roughly 50 percent of the commonwealth's land area is part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and its rivers and stream provide a similar percentage of the fresh water that ultimately reaches the bay, making Pennsylvania a key participant in bay restoration activities. Tom's proposals will honor this environmental commitment by:

• Developing a strategy for reducing pollution in Pennsylvania's streams and rivers to meet federal requirements in implementing TMDL plans for the Chesapeake Bay and local waterways, ensure future growth, yield maximum environmental benefits for our waterways, involve key stakeholders, be based on sound science and practicable engineering and utilize mechanisms that impose the least possible cost to taxpayers
• Seeking out and developing partnerships with watershed groups, local governments, conservation districts and the business community to achieve the agency's environmental goals of cleaning up Pennsylvania's waterways at the lowest cost to taxpayers and in a way that protects jobs and economic opportunities for the Commonwealth's citizens
• Assisting Pennsylvania farmers and conservation districts to comply with Chesapeake Bay TDML
• Refocusing available environmental restoration funding within the constraints of the commonwealth's economic and fiscal conditions, on the critical environmental needs of the commonwealth that will protect the environment and lead to job creation

Revitalize Brownfield and Grayfield Properties. Tom Corbett knows that in addition to removing environmental threats, a redeveloped brownfield or grayfield property often serves as the keystone of a community's successful economic revitalization. Tom's proposals will:

• Refocus and consolidate site remediation programs
• Reinvigorate the Brownfield Action Team
• Support Reinvestment in Brownfields Programs by reallocating low-performing funds to yield a higher investment
• Establish the Pennsylvania Brownfield Reimbursement Program, a new performance-based brownfield funding program which would provide reimbursement for up to 75 percent of cleanup-related costs incurred at Brownfield or Grayfield sites in the form of a tax reimbursement
• Reclaim and revitalize mine-scarred lands
• Incorporate renewable energy through "brightfield" sites

Protect our state parks, addressing the maintenance and backlog of infrastructure needs of the state park system to ensure that these facilities do not fall into an irreparable state of disrepair

Address DCNR staffing needs, determining how best to allocate resources to the department and where funds are most needed

Support the Community Conservation Partnership Program

 

View a printable version of Tom Corbett's full Environmental policy (PDF file)

©2010, Paid for by Tom Corbett for Governor
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