The PA Association of Environmental Professionals presented its 2009 Karl Mason award last week to Dr. Devra L. Davis, University of Pittsburgh's Department of Epidemiology and the Montour Run Watershed Association.

The team from Penncrest High School in Delaware County is the winner of the 2009 Pennsylvania State Envirothon held May 19 at Bald Eagle State Park, in Howard, Centre County.

The Department of Agriculture this week released a 2007-08 annual report on the Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP) farm conservation tax credit program which said in the first year, the program reduced nitrogen pollution by 162,176 pounds, phosphorus runoff by 14,939 pounds and sediment by 18,210 tons.

The Growing Greener Watershed Restoration Program will be ten years old in December and to help celebrate 10 groups have come together to invite watershed groups to share their success stories on a special Growing Greener website.

The House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee this week held a hearing on House Bill 80 (Vitali-D-Delaware) which would expand the state's Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards and help create a carbon sequestration network to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Delaware River Basin Commission Executive Director Carol R. Collier this week announced she has issued a determination notifying natural gas extraction project sponsors that they may not commence any natural gas extraction project located in shale formations within the drainage area of the basin’s Special Protection Waters without first applying for and obtaining commission approval.

On June 3 the public is invited to the Sixth Annual Fish and Boat Commission American Shad Fry and Fish Stocking event along the banks of the Bald Eagle Creek in Castanea Township, Clinton County.

Have a little free time on your hands? Grab a friend or family member and try some free fishing. Thanks to the Fish and Boat Commission, the only thing you'll have to spend is some quality time together.

The winner of the 2009 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency SunWise with SHADE national sun safety poster contest is 13-year old Christoffer Crowley of Bernville, Berks County, Pa.

The Department of Environmental Protection this week announced grants totaling nearly $400,000 will allow businesses, colleges and farms in six Pennsylvania counties to reduce their organic waste and put what is left to a better use.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s mid-Atlantic region this week announced the opening of a new exhibit in its public information center that focuses on environmental success stories of turning community eyesores--brownfields and blighted properties-- into productive community assets.

PECO has signed five-year agreements for the purchase of renewable energy credits equal to 412,000 megawatt-hours of renewable energy. This agreement, along with a similar agreement made in August 2008, brings PECO’s renewable energy credit purchase to 452,000 per year, making it the first utility in the state to buy and bank renewable energy credits to meet the Pennsylvania Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards requirements.

PECO customers benefited from about 60,000 Federal grants representing more than $25 million in Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program funding to help manage energy costs during the 2008 – 2009 heating season.

Pennsylvania Fuels for Schools and Beyond, a statewide working group promoting local, renewable energy alternatives for Pennsylvania schools and businesses, is holding a public meeting from 10 a.m. until noon on May 30.

The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources now has available online a draft copy of the state's latest Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan for public review.

Several local partners have worked together to produce a map and guide for the Path of the Flood Trail from Ehrenfeld to Johnstown following the route of the infamous Johnstown Flood of 1889, in which 2,209 people died.

A new vegetable and herb garden planted this week at the Governor’s Residence highlights the possibilities of home gardening as a means to help families cope with tighter household budgets, Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff.

Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe this week urged motorists to stay alert and slow down when driving after dusk and before dawn to reduce their risk of colliding with a white-tailed deer.

Here’s a selection of NewsClips on environmental topics from around the state--

Read a sampling of NewsClips on watershed topics from around Pennsylvania.

The Environmental Quality Board published final regulations generally updated Safe Drinking Water requirements.

The Department of Environmental Protection published several notices providing the opportunity to comment on: request for information on resorcinol and sulfates, an air monitoring plan for Philadelphia, environmental laboratory accreditation proficiency test study requirements and notice extending the NPDES General Permit for Stormwater Discharges (PAG-2). The Susquehanna River Basin Commission provided notice of projects approved since January 1.