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SW: →Legislative issues: - add section
Hearings on the bills were scheduled to begin March 12, 2009.<ref name="ccs"/> As of August 2009, HB 80 was still being debated heavily in the House, and had attracted 30 amendments to satisfy competing interests.<ref>Diane Mastrull, [http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2009/08/09/4314889.htm "In Pa. House, heavy debate over clean-energy bill,"] Philly.com, August 9, 2009.</ref>
===2011: Governor budget gives economic executive power over federal regulations===
In March 2011, Gov. [[Tom Corbett]] introduced language in his 1,184-page budget that would hand authority to the head of the Department of Community and Economic Development - C. Alan Walker - to “expedite any permit or action pending in any agency where the creation of jobs may be impacted.” Walker is CEO and owner of Bradford Energy Company and Bradford Coal, once among Pennsylvania’s largest coal mining companies, who also has an interest in 12 other companies, including a central Pennsylvania oil and gas company. Walker has contributed $184,000 to Corbett’s campaign efforts since 2004, and was Corbett’s first appointee before taking office in 2010.<ref name=nk>Nicholas Kusnetz and Joaquin Sapien, [http://www.alternet.org/environment/150201/say_what_pa_governor_gives_energy_executive_supreme_authority_over_environmental_permitting?page=entire "Say What? PA Governor Gives Energy Executive Supreme Authority Over Environmental Permitting"] AlterNet, March 10, 2011.</ref>
It’s not clear how Corbett could delegate such sweeping authority to the economic development office, nor how the state would address the legal conflicts that could arise if Walker pushed for approval of a permit that conflicted with existing federal laws like the [[Clean Water Act]]. Environmental groups think Corbett will need to issue an executive order or some other legal clarification to allow Walker’s office to wield so much influence over regulations. A spokesman for the economic development office said Walker will not speak publicly until his confirmation.<ref name=nk/>
Walker is listed on state disclosure forms as an executive of the Pennsylvania Coal Association and he has served as chairman of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry. He also has firsthand experience with the state’s environmental regulations, as his companies would likely have applied for permits similar to those the oil and gas industry is now pursuing in the [[Marcellus Shale]]. In 2002, three of Walker’s coal companies notified Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection that they had run out of money and were going to stop treating the 173 million gallons of polluted water they produced each year and released into tributaries of the Susquehanna River. The state eventually got a court injunction to force them to continue treating the wastewater, as required by state and federal law.<ref name=nk/>
==Coal Waste==
