PA Environment Digest

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Environmental Legislation In Play For 2014

The second half of the legislative session starting January 7 will face lots of leftover issues from 2013. First and foremost, and the biggest issue the General Assembly and Gov. Corbett will face in 2014, is crafting the FY 2014-15 state budget and making up for a projected $1.7 billion deficit. Budget Secretary Charles Zogby’s mid-year budget briefing December 18 demonstrated it won’t be all that easy.

Here’s a rundown of where some significant environmental proposals stand and at the end of the list are links to the major House and Senate Committees showing bills pending in those committees.

Senate

Reuse Of Mine Drainage/Mine Pools: Senate Bill 411 (Kasunic-D-Somerset) providing for the reuse of water in abandoned mines for Marcellus Shale drilling was referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee. A sponsor summary is available. Click Here for more information.

Abolishing Pittsburgh Clean Fuel: Senate Bill 1037 (Vogel-R-Beaver) to repeal summer RVP gasoline requirements was referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee. A sponsor summary is available.

Marcellus Health Advisory Panel: Senate Bill 555 (Scarnati-R-Jefferson) establishing the Health Advisory Panel on Shale Gas Extraction and Natural Gas Use was Tabled. A sponsor summary is available. Click Here for more information.

Capital-Intensive Nutrient Reduction: Senate Bill 994 (Vogel-R-Beaver) establishes a system to put in place expensive, taxpayer funded capital-intensive nutrient reduction technology The bill was Tabled. Click Here for more information.

State Green Buildings: House Bill 34 (Harper-R- Montgomery) setting green building standards for state-owned or leased buildings was Tabled. A summary and House Fiscal Note are available.

Endangered Species: Senate Bill 1047 (Scarnati-R-Jefferson) fundamentally changing the process in law for designating and considered endangered species in the permit review process-- sponsor summary-- is in the Senate Game and Fisheries Committee. Click Here for more information.

Geospatial Council: House Bill 1285 (Cutler-R- Lancaster) establishing the State Geospatial Coordination Board-- summary and House Fiscal Note-- was referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

State Forest Wind Farms: Senate Bill 684 (Wozniak-D-Cambria) relating to leasing state forest land for wind farm development was Tabled. A sponsor summary is available.

Wind Power Easements: House Bill 920 (Sonney-R-Erie) amending the Agricultural Area Security Law to define wind power generation system and clarifying an agricultural conservation easement shall not prevent granting an easement for a wind power system-- sponsor summary-- was referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Testing Energy Technologies: House Bill 1672 (Miller-R-York), authorizing state agencies to test energy saving technologies was referred to the Senate State Government Committee. A summary and House Fiscal Note are available.

Slag Recycling: House Bill 1527 (Evankovich-R-Armstrong) providing for the reuse of steel blast furnace slag was referred to the State Government Committee. A summary and House Fiscal Note are available.

Emissions Inspection Exemptions: Senate Bill 332 (Vogel-R-Beaver) intends to exempt vehicles of up to 10 years old from the emissions inspection program was Tabled. A sponsor summary is available.

Marcellus Works Natural Gas Conversions: House Bill 301 (Saylor-R-York) providing for $25 million in natural gas vehicle fleet tax credits (House Fiscal Note), House Bill 305 (Denlinger-R- Lancaster) providing for $5 million in natural gas corridor tax credits (House Fiscal Note), House Bill 309 (Grove-R-York) providing for $30 million in natural gas vehicle tax credits (House Fiscal Note) are in the Senate Finance Committee. House Bill 307 (Evankovich-R- Armstrong) amending the Air Pollution Control Act to eliminate duplication of certification for natural gas vehicles (House Fiscal Note) is in the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee. Click Here for background on the Marcellus Works package of bills.

Natural Gas Competition: House Bill 1188 (Payne-R-Dauphin) providing for a schedule of truing up natural gas prices to increase competition was referred to the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee. A summary and House Fiscal Note are available. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Waste To Energy To Tier I: Senate Bill 1568 (Folmer-R-Lebanon) moving waste-to- energy facilities into Tier I of the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards is in the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

Increasing Renewables: Senate Bill 1171 (Leach-D-Montgomery) would amend the Pennsylvania Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard Act to require Pennsylvania electric distribution companies to obtain 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2023. The requirement is currently 8 percent by 2021. A sponsor summary is available. The bill is in the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

Municipal Fees: House Bill 1052 (Freeman-D-Lehigh) further providing for the use of local recreation and land development fees was referred to the Senate Local Government Committee. A summary and House Fiscal Note are available.

EQB Counsel: Senate Bill 164 (Yudichak-D-Luzerne) appointing independent counsel for the Environmental Quality Board was Tabled. A sponsor summary is available.

Water Use Fees: Senate Resolution 39 (Alloway-R-Franklin) directing the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to study the establishment of fees for the consumptive use and degradation of water-- sponsor summary-- is in the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

House

Endangered Species: House Bill 1576 (Pyle-R-Armstrong) making fundamental changes in the way threatened and endangered species are listed and protected was amended and reported out of the House Game and Fisheries Committee and Tabled. Click Here for more background.

Water Well Standards: House Bill 343 (Miller-R-York) setting construction standards for drinking water wells-- summary, was reported from the House Rules Committee and Tabled. Click Here for more background.

Eliminating Riparian Buffers: House Bill 1565 (Hahn-R-Northampton) eliminating the riparian buffers as a best management practice to minimize pollution from erosion and sedimentation-- summary-- is in the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee. Click Here for more background.

Stream Cleaning: House Bill 443 (Causer-R-Cameron) establishing guidelines for removal of flood-related hazards and related stream clearing activities-- sponsor summary-- is in the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee. Click Here for more information on the identical bill from last session.

Repealing AEPS: House Bill 1912 (Sankey-R-Clearfield) that would repeal the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards - sponsor summary-- is in the House Consumer Affairs Committee. Click Here for more information.

Natural Gas Distribution Expansion: Senate Bill 738 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) providing for the expansion of natural gas distribution systems 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) are in the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee. Click Here for more information.

Marcellus Works: House Bill 302 (Moul-R-Adams) transferring funds from the Oil and Gas Lease Fund to DEP for a competitive grant program to convert small mass transit bus fleets to natural gas (amended to change the source of funds to the Gross Receipts Tax), House Bill 303 (Moul-R-Adams) transferring funds from the Oil and Gas Lease Fund to DEP for a competitive grant program to convert large mass transit fleets to natural gas (amended to change the source of funds to the Gross Receipts Tax), House Bill 306 (Pickett-R- Bradford) redirecting the Alternative Fuels Incentive Fund to create the Keystone Fuel Incentive Program to fund conversions of vehicles to natural gas (amended to keep the Alternative Fuels Incentive Fund intact), House Bill 308 (Saylor-R-York) redirecting $6 million annually from the Clean Air Fund to finance vehicle conversions to natural gas (amended to change the source of funds to the Gross Receipts Tax) were Tabled. Click Here for background on the Marcellus Works package of bills.

Waste-To-Energy To Tier I: House Bill 1151 (Miller-R-York) amending the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act to move waste-to-energy facilities from Tier II to Tier I is in the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee. A sponsor summary is available.

Increasing Renewables: House Bill 100 (Vitali-D-Delaware) would amend the Pennsylvania Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard Act to require Pennsylvania electric distribution companies to obtain 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2023. The requirement is currently 8 percent by 2021. A sponsor summary is available. The bill is in the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

Agency Performance: House Bill 35 (Saylor-R-York) establishing an agency program performance program was Tabled. A sponsor summary is available.

Lyme Disease: Senate Bill 177 (Greenleaf-R-Montgomery) establishing a task force on Lyme Disease and related diseases is in the House Human Services Committee. A sponsor summary is available.

Bills Pending In Key Committees

Here are links to key Standing Committees in the House and Senate and the bills pending in each--

House

Appropriations

Education

Environmental Resources and Energy