PA Environment Digest

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

Session Schedule

The Senate and House return to session on March 8.

House Session Schedule-

March 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24

April 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28

May 3, 4, 5, 24, 25, 26

June 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30

Senate Session Schedule-

March 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24

April 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21

May 3, 4, 5, 24, 25, 26

June 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, 30

Calendars

House (March 8): House Bill 80 (Vitali-D-Delaware) expanding the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards and authorizing a carbon sequestration network; Senate Bill 297 (Yaw-R-Bradford) amending the Oil and Gas Act to require semi-annual well production reporting.

Senate (March 8): Senate Resolution 215 (Brubaker-R-Lancaster) directing the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to study the costs to achieve nutrient reductions from agricultural sources to meet Chesapeake Bay reduction standards.

Committees

House: the House Democratic Policy Committee will hold a hearing on the environmental impact of buffers on waterways; the Game and Fisheries Committee holds a hearing on the Joint Legislative Budget and Finance Committee Deer Management Program audit; the House Republican Policy Committee and House Urban Affairs Committees hold a joint informational meeting on House Bill 712 (J. Taylor-R-Philadelphia) creating land banks to promote the conversion of vacant properties into productive use.

Senate: the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee meets to consider Senate Bill 1092 (Kasunic-D-Somerset) amending the Oil and Gas Act to require oil and gas well operators to provide cement quality log to DEP, Senate Bill 1159 (D.White-R-Indiana) authorizing the Department of General Services to lease minerals on state land owned by agencies other than DCNR, Fish and Boat and Game Commissions and depositing any payments or royalties in the Environmental Stewardship (Growing Greener) Fund (with an amendment), Senate Bill 1176 (D.White-R-Indiana) requiring changes to mining permit fees to be done by regulation, Senate Bill 1196 (D-White-R-Indiana) requiring changes to mining permit fees to be done by regulation, Senate Bill 1197 (D.White-R-Indiana) requiring changes to coal refuse disposal permit fees to be done by regulation, Senate Bill 1250 (Pileggi-R-Delaware) requiring 25 percent of penalties assessed under the state Air Pollution Control Act to be distributed to the impacted municipality.

Bills Introduced

The following bills of interest were introduced this week--

Energy Efficient TVs: Senate Bill 1240 (A. Williams-D-Philadelphia) requiring large screen televisions sold in Pennsylvania to be energy efficient.

Sharing Penalities: Senate Bill 1250 (Pileggi-R-Delaware) requiring 25 percent of penalities assessed under the state Air Pollution Control Act to be shared with municipalities.

Severance Tax For Property Tax Reductions: Senate Bill 1254 (Dinniman-D-Chester) imposing a natural gas production severance tax and using proceeds for property tax reductions.

Green Job Training: House Bill 1550 (Wagner-D-Allegheny) establishes a Green Work Force training program.

General Fund Budget: House Bill 2279 (D.Evans-D-Philadelphia) the state General Fund budget bill.

Capital Budget: House Bill 2289 (D.Evans-D-Philadelphia) provides for the 2010-11 Capital Budget.

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