By Jen Quinn, Legislative and Political Director, Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter
The General Assembly passed, and the Governor signed, a $50.84 billion budget. It includes no new taxes (skills games and marijuana remain untaxed) and does not dip into the Rainy Day Fund. Environmental provisions largely represent a business-as-usual or “cost-to-carry” approach, with some funding shifts to maintain core operations (especially oil & gas regulation).
Solar for Schools Funding
The Solar for Schools Grant Program continues with sustained funding. If you recall, $25 million per year for 10 years was informally agreed upon as part of a deal to enact the electric vehicle fee. It’s good to see this handshake agreement holding strong in year three.
Advanced Transmission Technologies (ATTs)
The Fiscal Code includes new Advanced Electric Transmission Line Technologies provisions. This language was pulled directly from HB 2223. Transmission siting applicants must evaluate ATTs (grid-enhancing technologies including: dynamic line rating, high-performance conductors) when proposing new or upgraded lines to the PUC. This is to optimize the existing grid, improve reliability, and help control costs. Despite this bill passing the House unanimously, it was part of a trade for the ‘attainable bottom’ language below.
Solar Decommissioning Bill and HB 2017
Solar decommissioning standards (SB 349 sponsored by Senator Yaw) advanced separately from the budget but were still part of overall budget negotiations. This bill establishes financial assurance requirements and owner responsibilities to protect landowners from end-of-life costs. This bill was supported by the solar industry. HB 2017 was also passed by both chambers. It amends Pennsylvania’s Radiation Protection Act to update definitions and create specific fee structures for small modular reactors (SMRs) and microreactors.
Electricity Load Forecast Accountability (Fiscal Code)
Gives the PUC, Office of Consumer Advocate, and Office of Small Business Advocate authority to review confidential contracts and agreements between utilities and large interconnecting customers (data centers) that affect long-term load forecasts submitted to PJM for capacity market planning.
“Attainable Bottom” and Utica Shale in the Fiscal Code
The Fiscal Code amendments include:
- New/reduced standards for “attainable bottom” in well plugging for orphaned/abandoned wells. Defined as the depth approved by DEP that can be reached after a good-faith “reasonable effort” to clean out a well to its total depth. “Reasonable effort” is specifically defined as cleaning the well to at least 200 feet below the coal protective casing (or the coal seam/surface casing if none exists) and then continuing until an additional 100 feet of wellbore cannot be cleaned out within two consecutive eight-hour work shifts, or until the total depth is reached. The Environmental Quality Board has 18 months to issue regulations covering other plugging scenarios not addressed by this amendment.
- Utica Wells: Creates an exception to the setback rules under Pennsylvania’s 1961 Oil and Gas Conservation Law for deep shale wells (drilled to penetrate the Onondaga formation or deeper horizons, or reach a depth of 3,800 feet, whichever is deeper). Where no spacing order exists, the 330-foot setback from the nearest outside lease boundary line does not apply (this should not affect setbacks from structures or dwellings).
Yaw Amendment to HB 96
Sen Yaw’s amendment to HB 96 was unexpected and controversial. It clarifies the disposition of oil and gas rights on “unseated lands” (properties acquired by counties through tax sales). The legislation was supported by DCNR and the shale gas industry.
It was developed in response to the recent Proctor v. Pennsylvania Game Commission decision and addresses ambiguities created by prior case law regarding ownership of subsurface oil and gas rights on unseated lands. It remains a point of controversy regarding property rights and industry interests, and we are trying to determine if there will be unintended consequences for small landowners/leaseholders.
DEP and DCNR Budgets
- DEP: The Oil & Gas Program received roughly $19.026 million in operational support to offset declining permit application fees. These funds were shifted from other programs, including waste hauler regulation, sewage facilities planning (Act 537), Chapter 105 dam/encroachment permitting, brownfields reuse, solid waste abatement, coal refuse remediation, and mine subsidence programs. County conservation districts and river basin commissions were level-funded. No full supplemental funding was included for the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Program as originally requested by the Governor.
- DCNR: Received a $145 million transfer from the Oil & Gas Lease Fund to support staff and operations. In-lieu-of-tax payments shift to Gaming Fund revenue. The prior transfer from the Oil & Gas Lease Fund to the Environmental Stewardship (Growing Greener) Fund was eliminated, consistent with last year.
Data Center Regulation
Very limited language based on HB 2150 was included in the fiscal code and is not meaningful or comprehensive data center oversight. Data centers with peak demand >10 MW must submit annual energy and water usage reports to DEP (starting July 2027), with DEP (in consultation with the PUC), and the reports will be made public.
The sales tax exemption for data centers remains in place. No moratorium or pause, ratepayer protections, or broader environmental impact requirements were adopted.
This blog was included as part of the August 2026 Sylvanian newsletter. Please click here to check out more articles from this edition!