A variety of bills passed the General Assembly in the last week that have been or will be considered by the Governor, including: local government contributions to watershed associations, freezing storage tank fees, providing for security improvement loans from PennVEST and designating another scenic byway.

Environmental Bond: House Bill 3 (Quigley-R-Montgomery) implementing legislation for the $625 million environmental bond issue and reallocating funding from the Environmental Stewardship Fund was passed by the Senate and House and is now in the hands of the Governor for action. (See the separate story in this Digest.)

Watershed Assn. Funding: House Bill 136, House Bill 266 and House Bill 267 (Fleagle-R-Franklin) authorizing local government funding of watershed associations were signed by the Governor and are now Acts 11, 13 and 14.

Freezing Storage Tank Fees: Senate Bill 722 (Musto-D-Luzerne) extending the sunset date for the small heating oil storage tank cleanup program, making tank registration fees permanent for a period of four years and authorizing transfer of administrative funds to DEP upon USTIF Board Approval was signed by the Governor and is now Act 36.

ACRE Proposal: House Bill 1646 (Hershey-R-Chester) providing a process for appealing local ordinances in conflict with the Right to Farm Act was signed into law and is now Act 38.

NewsClips: Bill Aimed at Settling Farm Disputes Passes

Governor Signs ACRE Legislation

Scenic Byway: Senate Bill 721 (Lemmond-R-Luzerne) designating a portion of Route 6 in Wyoming County and Route 92 in Susquehanna County a scenic byway was signed by the Governor.

Infrastructure Security Projects: House Bill 612 (Rubley-R-Chester) authorizing funding for water and sewage system security projects was passed by the Senate and House and is now with the Governor for action.

Project Hold Harmless: House Bill 86 (Steil-R-Bucks) providing for a hold harmless on Corps of Engineers projects passed and is now with the Governor.

7/8/2005