Pennsylvania State Capitol. Photo: Zack Frank/Shutterstock.com

Following is a listing of executive and legislative action for the week of Sept. 16. The state House of Representatives was in session at press time. The Pennsylvania Senate was finishing up its summer break and scheduled to return to session Monday.

Methane Reduction

Gov. Tom Wolf said Sept. 17 that—in the wake of environmental regulation rollbacks by the Trump administration—he is redoubling his commitment to strong rules that will prevent methane leaks in Pennsylvania's natural gas sector.

The Wolf administration, according to a statement, plans to move forward with new regulations aimed at reducing methane emissions from existing wells and infrastructure.

Those measures would reinforce the administration's methane reduction strategy, introduced last year, under which permits set a threshold on methane emissions from new unconventional gas wells.

"We're already seeing the results of climate change in Pennsylvania—increased severe weather, oppressively hot summers and record-setting temperatures," Wolf said in the statement. "While the White House continues to do everything in its power to pull back environmental regulations, I am fighting for policies that move Pennsylvania forward in addressing climate change and protecting our shared environment."

Wolf said it would reinforce methane reduction policies even as the federal government is removing requirements for oil and gas companies to monitor and fix emission leaks from pipelines, wells and other equipment.

Telecom Merger

State Attorney General Josh Shapiro on Sept. 18 announced Pennsylvania has joined a lawsuit to block the merger of telecommunications giants T-Mobile and Sprint. Shapiro is the 18th attorney general to challenge the merger.

Shapiro called the plan an "anticompetitive megamerger" that would harm consumers. "All Pennsylvanians deserve access to affordable, reliable wireless service, and as attorney general, I am committed to protecting that access," Shapiro said. "The merger between T-Mobile and Sprint would severely undermine competition in the telecommunications sector, which would hurt Pennsylvanian consumers by driving up prices, limiting coverage, and diminishing quality. I'm proud to stand with my colleague attorneys general in opposing this merger and advocating on behalf of Pennsylvania consumers."

T-Mobile US Inc. and Sprint Corp. are the third and fourth largest mobile wireless networks in the U.S., and, according to a statement from the state attorney general's office, are the lower-cost carriers among the "Big Four"—which also includes Verizon Wireless and AT&T. Intense competition, spurred in particular by T-Mobile and Sprint, has meant declining prices, increased coverage, and better quality for all mobile phone subscribers. Pennsylvania's wireless subscribers rely heavily on the benefits that competition brings to the mobile phone marketplace.

T-Mobile currently has more than 79 million subscribers, and is a majority-owned subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG. Sprint currently has more than 54 million subscribers, and is a majority-owned subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp.

The lawsuit, which has been led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, also includes California, Texas, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, Oregon, Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.

Licensed Schools

The state House of Representatives on Sept. 18 unanimously approved legislation to make it easier for privately licensed postsecondary schools to open branch campuses.

House Bill 518, whose prime sponsor is state Rep. Jason Ortitay, R-Washington, would amend the Private Licensed Schools Act to allow branch campuses to be in a different county than the primary licensed school. To qualify, the school must receive approval from the Board of Private Licensed Schools and be operating for at least two years, be in good standing with the board and be located in a contiguous county or within a 60-mile radius of the primary location. In addition, the legislation would clarify that schools only have to pay one fee for any and all branch campuses.

"Current law requires branch campuses of privately licensed postsecondary schools to be located within the same county as their primary location," Ortitay said. "Due to the topography and layout of our counties, this can create an undue burden and not meet the needs of interested students. We should be removing barriers for those interested in career and technical education, not creating ones."

The bill now heads to the Senate for its review.

School Safety

Auditor General Eugene DePasquale on Sept. 19 said that his new audit of the Cumberland Valley School District in Cumberland County will include a review of the district's anti-bullying policy.

"Like many people in central Pennsylvania, I was troubled to read about reports from parents who said minority students in the district are subject to racist taunts from classmates,"

DePasquale said. "I'm glad the district has pledged to address the parents' concerns and my audit may help them to achieve that goal."

The audit will cover school district policies from 2014 through 2018, and DePasquale said it would focus on, among other things, school safety including anti-bullying policies, as well as deficiencies related to student transportation contracts and record keeping that were cited in a 2016 audit report.

According to WHP, the CBS affiliate in Harrisburg, on Sept. 17 school district employees took part in a workshop on claims of racial hostility.

At the meeting and prior to it being called, WHP reported, two parents of minority students said their children had been subjected to racial or ethnic harassment.

According to the WHP report, Cumberland Valley school district leaders said they "obviously cannot have any harassment occur in the school" and that they are developing an action plan in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice, Anti-Defamation League and NAACP.

Emission Settlement

State Rep. Christopher Rabb, D-Philadelphia, joined members of the group PennEnvironment to urge Pennsylvania to improve on its plan to use the proceeds a $118 million settlement it received from Volkswagen following an emissions scandal.

"Right now, Pennsylvania is wasting an opportunity to lead the charge toward renewable energy," Rabb said. "Volkswagen did no favors for our environment when it misled customers and installed software intended to cheat emissions tests in more than 500,000 cars it sold to consumers in the United States. Now, Pennsylvania is adding insult to injury by failing to responsibly invest settlement money paid out by Volkswagen—money that could be invested in electric vehicles."

Rabb urged the state government to increase green investment options.

"There is still time for Pennsylvania to properly steward this money," Rabb said. "I offer every encouragement I can muster that Pennsylvania see the error of its ways and choose to invest the settlement money in electric vehicle charging infrastructure and electric transit. These worthwhile, environmentally responsible options will be an investment in our future."

In 2016, Volkswagen entered into a multibillion-dollar settlement after an emissions scandal in which it had installed software in more than a half million cars sold in the United States to cheat emissions tests. About $3 billion of the settlement went to states in an Environmental Mitigation Trust intended to fund transportation projects.