The following bills of interest saw action this week in the House and Senate- 

House

State Budget: House Bill 1437 (Adolph-R-Delaware) FY 2013-14 was amended on the House Floor and referred back into and out of the House Appropriations Committee and passed by the House 108 to 92.  A summary and House Fiscal Note are available.  The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.  Click Here for highlights of the budget by House Republicans.  Click Here for the budget spreadsheet.  (The Senate Appropriations Committee has scheduled a meeting off the floor on June 17 to consider the bill.)

Onlot Anti-Degradation: House Bill 1325 (Maloney-R-Berks) amending Act 537 to provide that onlot septic systems approved by DEP meet anti-degradation requirements was reported out of the House Appropriations Committee and passed by the House.  A summary and House Fiscal Note are available.   The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.  (The Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee is scheduled to consider this bill on June 18 along with its companion Senate Bill 946.)

Royalty Deductions: House Bill 1414 (Everett-R-Lycoming) providing for more transparency in deductions from oil and gas well royalty checks-- summary-- was reported out of the House Rules Committee and referred into and out of the House Appropriations Committee and passed by the House.  A summary and House Fiscal Note are available.  The bill now goes to the Senate for action.

Wind Power Easements: House Bill 920 (Sonney-R-Erie) would authorizing the granting of easements in Agricultural Security Areas for wind power projects was reported out of the House Rules Committee and referred to the House Appropriations Committee.

Water Well Standards: House Bill 343 (Miller-R-York)-- was amended to adopt private drinking water well construction standards established by the National Groundwater Association and reported from the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and referred to the House Rules Committee.

Stormwater Management: House Bill 821 (Harper-R-Montgomery) authorized the creation of municipal stormwater authorities and Senate Bill 351 (Erickson-R-Delaware) authorizing municipal authorities to undertake stormwater management projects were amended and reported out of the House Local Government Committee.  House Bill 821 was then referred to the House Rules Committee.  Senate Bill 351 was Tabled.

Alternative Energy Credit: House Bill 1171 (Dunbar-R- Westmoreland) repealing provisions of the Alternative Energy Production Tax Credit Program was Tabled.

Senate

Natural Gas Distribution Expansion: Senate Bill 738 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) providing for the expansion of natural gas distribution systems (amended) and Senate Bill 739 (Yaw-R- Lycoming) providing funding through the Commonwealth Financing Authority for natural gas infrastructure expansion (a summary and Senate Fiscal Note are available) were both passed by the Senate and now go to the House for consideration.

Ag Conservation Easements: House Bill 84 (Miller-R-York) requiring the inspection of all agricultural conservation easements was reported out of the Senate Appropriations Committee and is on the Senate Calendar for action.  A summary and Senate Fiscal Note are available.

Capital-Intensive Nutrient Reduction: Senate Bill 994 (Vogel-R-Beaver) establishes a system to put in place capital-intensive nutrient reduction technology in place was amended to make three changes: prohibited the use of any existing funding source to implement the program, restored the ability of the public, General Assembly and Commonwealth Attorneys to review regulations adopted to implement the program and set aside 25 percent of the reductions solicited through a request for proposal process for smaller farms.  The amendments, however, did not address the fundamental flaws in the bill.  The bill was then reported out of the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee and is now on the Senate Calendar for action.

Emissions Inspection Exemption: Senate Bill 332 (Vogel-R-Beaver) intends to exempt vehicles of up to 10 years old from the emissions inspection program was amended to exempt vehicles of up to two years old from safety inspections but held in the Senate Transportation Committee.

Permit Extensions: House Bill 784 (Evankovich-R-Armstrong)  extend permits pending and approved in the Department of Environmental Protection and other agencies through July 2, 2016 was Tabled.

6/17/2013