June 4 will officially begin the final race to adopt a state budget before the July 1 deadline, and there is no doubt the Senate, House and Gov. Corbett are working to make sure it happens on time.  Whether the final budget stays at the $27.1 billion level the Governor proposed is another issue entirely.

Here are the Senate and House Calendars and Committee meetings showing bills of interest as well as a list of new environmental bills introduced--

Northeastern Pennsylvania Sens. John Yudichak (D-Lackawanna) and John Blake (D-Lackawanna) Friday welcomed Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) and Senate Democratic Appropriations Chairman Vince Hughes (D-Philadelphia) to the site of a stalled construction project in Luzerne County to announce the details of a $2.8 billion plan that would upgrade Pennsylvania’s infrastructure and create thousands of jobs.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Thursday released its evaluations of the final Phase II Watershed Implementation Plans from Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

By Karl Blankenship, Chesapeake Bay Journal

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania recently finalized changes to the provisions of the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) that will increase the acreage ceiling by nearly 20,000 acres and make all Pennsylvania CREP practices eligible for sign-up in Chesapeake Bay watershed counties.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania recently finalized changes to the provisions of the Ohio River Basin Conservation Reserve Enhancement Programs (CREP) administered by the Farm Service Agency.  The project revisions adjust total project acreage ceilings in the Ohio River counties to 40,000 acres.

Pennsylvania has signed a one-year renewal of an agreement governing the management of water in the Delaware River, the Department of Environmental Protection announced Thursday.

The Department of Environmental Protection has awarded $7,983,107 for remediation projects at and near abandoned mine sites in Clearfield, Luzerne, Schuylkill and Somerset counties.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released a new fact sheet as part of its Healthy Watersheds initiative describing the economic benefits of protecting healthy watersheds by highlighting examples from existing peer-reviewed literature and studies.

The Partnership for the Delaware Estuary is now accepting abstracts for the Delaware Estuary Science and Environmental Summit on January 27-30 in Cape May, NJ.  Abstracts are due August 1.  Click Here to submit your abstract.  Click Here for the call for papers announcement.

The Northeast Environmental Partners are now accepting nominations for the Northeastern Pennsylvania Environmental Partnership Awards, the Thomas P. Shelburne Award and the 1st Annual Emerging Environmental Leader Award.  The deadline for nominations has been extended to June 15.

The State Electronics Challenge will host a webinar June 14 at 3:00 p.m. on how local governments, schools, colleges and universities can save energy, reduce costs and achieve sustainability goals by recycling electronic equipment.  Click Here for details and to register.

The Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania announced Thursday they are now accepting applications for the 2012 Waste Watcher Awards until June 8.

Aqua America, Inc. Chairman and CEO Nicholas DeBenedictis announced Thursday the company is going to transition portions of its larger vehicle fleet to compressed natural gas (CNG).

FirstEnergy Corp. Tuesday announced plans to build a series of transmission projects to help enhance service reliability across its five-state service area.  The projects have been approved by PJM Interconnection the regional transmission organization that oversees reliability in all or part of 13 states and the District of Columbia.

WTI, a subsidiary of Tremco Incorporated, Tuesday announced it will soon begin working on its largest solar power project in Pennsylvania for the Neshaminy School District, Bucks County.

The Department of Environmental Protection Thursday announced the start of a free program to help schools in 15 Southcentral Pennsylvania counties better manage their energy and water usage and costs while preventing pollution.

Join representatives from West Penn Power's energy efficiency incentive program on June 5, 6, and 7 as they present the details of the exciting incentive programs!

Green Mountain Energy Company Friday began offering electricity service to Pennsylvania homes and businesses in the PECO and PPL service territories.

The Department of Environmental Protection invites residential code enforcement officials, builders, contractors and designers to a June 12 workshop in Wilkes-Barre on the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code.

On May 31 DEP Secretary Michael Krancer appeared before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to talk about national and state energy issues with a focus on natural gas development.

The Pennsylvania Environmental Council and the newly formed Circuit Coalition Thursday announced their campaign to enhance an existing system of pedestrian and bike trails and to complete an extensive trail network connecting the Greater Philadelphia region.

Visitors are invited to see the only population of rare Regal Fritillary butterflies in Pennsylvania on four days in June and July at Fort Indiantown Gap, near Annville, Lebanon County.

A popular mini-grant program that helps communities in the Pennsylvania Wilds region pay for new welcome signage has re-opened and is accepting applications through June 22. 

Game Commission biologists are seeking assistance from residents in a regional monitoring effort to collect bat maternity colony data this summer.  This monitoring is especially important due to the mortalities in bat populations throughout the northeastern United States, including Pennsylvania, being caused by White-Nose Syndrome.

Game Commission officials are looking for information about anyone who may be missing a wallaby, which was captured around 3 p.m., May 30, along King Road near Cambridge Springs, Crawford County. 

The Department of Environmental Protection published notices of opportunity to bid on a plugging abandoned wells in Armstrong and Washington counties. 

The Fish and Boat Commission is reminding interested indivduals have until June 18 to apply for the position of director of the Bureau of Law Enforcement.

This July marks the 10th anniversary of the miraculous rescue of nine coal miners from the flooded Quecreek Mine near Somerset, Pennsylvania in 2002.

This section gives you a heads up on upcoming deadlines for awards and grants and other recognition programs.  NEW means new from last week.

Here's a selection of NewClips on environmental topics from around the state--

Here are NewsClips on topics related to Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling---

Here are NewsClips on watershed topics from around the state--

No new regulations were published this week.  Pennsylvania Bulletin - June 2, 2012

Upcoming legislative meetings, conferences, workshops, plus links to other online calendars.  Meetings are in Harrisburg unless otherwise noted.  NEW means new from last week.  Go to the online Calendar webpage.

Send your stories, photos and videos about your project, environmental issues or programs for publication in the PA Environment Digest to:  DHess@CrisciAssociates.com.

PA Environment Digest is a supporting member of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association, Pennsylvania Council Trout Unlimited and the Doc Fritchey Chapter Trout Unlimited.