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Pennsylvania’s Implementation of Climate Change Initiatives
On March 1, 2024, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) released its Priority Climate Action Plan (the Plan) to be eligible to receive federal funding pursuant to the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant Program authorized by the Inflation Reduction Act. The Plan identifies the following nine cost-effective, ready-to-implement greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction measures that PADEP believes will significantly reduce GHG emissions: (1) industrial electrification, efficiency, and reducing process emissions; (2) incentivizing and increasing the production and use of low-carbon fuels, such as hydrogen and biomethane; (3) developing on-site renewable energy and energy storage systems; (4) carbon capture utilization and storage; (5) reducing fugitive methane emissions; (6) leveraging clean and renewable resources in the region to achieve a net zero electricity generating sector; (7) decarbonizing buildings through energy efficiency, fuel switching, and adaptive reuse; (8) transitioning light-duty conventional internal combustion engine vehicles to electric vehicles and accelerating the adoption of zero-carbon medium- and heavy-duty vehicles; and (9) reducing emissions from the transportation sector by reducing vehicle miles traveled for passenger vehicles. PADEP has estimated that the implementation of these measures will result in a reduction of 102.43 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by 2030 and 2,023.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by 2050.
PADEP is beginning to implement the measures identified in the Plan. In early 2025, PADEP will be releasing a new grant program, entitled the Reducing Industrial Sector Emissions in Pennsylvania Program (RISE PA), that will award up to $360 million for industrial decarbonization projects aimed at decreasing GHG and co-pollutant emissions from the industrial sector in Pennsylvania. PADEP anticipates providing multiple funding opportunities annually for projects that can be completed prior to April 2029. Additional information regarding PADEP’s RISE PA Program can be found here.
If you have any questions regarding climate change initiatives in Pennsylvania or the RISE PA Program, please contact Jessica Hunt at 484-430-2338 or Reilly Wright at 484-430-4996.
