The House has one more voting day left this year on Monday, but, for all intents and purposes, action on environmental legislation is finished for this year.  And there will be no lame duck session after election day November 4, as of now.

The Senate and House sent two bad environmental bills to the Governor’s desk this week-- House Bill 1565 (Hahn-R-Northampton) eliminating the current requirement for stream buffers in High Quality and Exceptional Value streams and House Bill 2354 (Snyder-D-Fayette), which authorizes a one-House of the General Assembly to veto any greenhouse gas emission reduction plan required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Click Here if you want to contact Gov. Corbett and urge him to veto House Bill 1565 and House Bill 2354.

Also making it to the Governor’s desk were--

-- Energy Efficiency Technology: House Bill 1672 (Miller-R-York) providing for testing of energy efficiency technologies.  A summary and House Fiscal Note are available.

-- Oil & Gas Royalties: House Bill 402 (Pickett-R-Bradford) further providing for the recording of oil and gas leases.  A summary and House Fiscal Note are available.

-- Oil & Gas Well Production Reporting: House Bill 2278 (Pickett-R-Bradford) requiring  monthly reporting of oil and gas production from unconventional oil and gas wells. A summary and House Fiscal Note are available.

-- Nuclear Reactor Fees: Senate Bill 1355 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) increasing nuclear reactor and nuclear fuel transportation fees.  A summary and House Fiscal Note are available.

-- Geospatial Board: Senate Bill 771 (Gordner-R-Columbia) establishing the State Geospatial Coordinating Board.  A summary and House Fiscal Note are available.

-- Public Disaster Grants: Senate Bill 720 (Baker-R-Luzerne) establishing the Public Disaster Assistance Grant Program.  A summary and House Fiscal Note are available.

Now it’s up to Gov. Corbett to sign or veto the bills.

Pending In The House

The House could still take action Monday on this resolution (sneak something else through)--

-- North American Oil Reserves: House Resolution 249 (Swanger-R-Lebanon) supporting increased development and delivery of oil from North American oil reserves- sponsor summary-- is on the House Calendar for action.

Missed Opportunities

The General Assembly missed the opportunity to send these good bills to the Governor’s desk--

-- Drinking Water Well Standards: House Bill 343 (Miller-R-York) setting standards for drinking water wells is still in the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

-- Green State Buildings: House Bill 34 (Harper-R-Montgomery) setting green building standards for state owned or leased buildings.  A similar bill-- Senate Bill 1061 (Rafferty-R-Montgomery)-- was amended to include the provisions of House Bill 34 and then referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee where it remained.

-- Sewer/Water P2 Partnerships: House Bill 2239 (Evankovich-R-Armstrong) authorizing public-private partnerships for sewer, water, school district projects remains Tabled in the House.

-- Backup Generators: House Bill 1699 (Ross-R-Chester) setting air quality standards for backup generators is in the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

Other Bills Left Behind

These other environmental bills, good and bad, did not make it to the Governor’s desk, but are likely to be reintroduced next year--

-- Eliminating Protections For Endangered Species: Senate Bill 1047 (Scarnati-R- Jefferson)  would eliminate some protections for endangered species and set additional requirements for adopting Wild Trout Streams. It remains in the Senate Game and Fisheries Committee.  Click Here for background on the bill.

A House version was also introduced: House Bill 1576 (Pyle-R-Armstrong) remains on the House Calendar.  Click Here for background on the bill.

-- Nutrient Reduction Watershed Scheme: Senate Bill 994 (Vogel-R-Beaver) would construct an unaffordable scheme to fund one technology that claims to reduce nutrients from manure. The bill remains Tabled in the Senate. The backers of this legislation already said it will be reintroduced in some form.  Click Here for background on the bill.

-- Leasing DCNR Land For Alternative Energy Development: Senate Bill 684 (Wozniak-D- Cambria) further providing for the leasing of DCNR lands for wind, solar and other energy projects is in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

-- PA Grade Crude Development Advisory Council: Senate Bill 1310 (Hutchinson-R- Venango) creating the PA Grade Crude Development Advisory Council within DEP is in the House State Government Committee.

-- Leasing State Lands For Mineral Development: Senate Bill 1443 (White-R-Indiana) amending the Indigenous Mineral Resources Development Act to authorized state agencies (other than DCNR) to release mineral rights whether they owned the surface rights or not is in the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

-- Natural Gas Royalties: House Bill 1684 (Everett-R-Lycoming) which seeks to clarify a minimum royalty payment in state law has been on the House Calendar for action.

-- Natural Gas Royalties: Senate Bill 1236 would expand upon the Oil and Gas Lease Act by allowing royalty interest owners the opportunity to inspect records of natural gas companies to verify proper payments.  In addition, the bill requires all royalty payments be made within 60 days of production unless otherwise stated in the contract.  Any delinquent payments are to be paid with interest.  The bill is in the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

-- Natural Gas Royalties: Senate Bill 1237 would prohibit a gas company from retaliating against any royalty interest owner by terminating their lease agreement or ceasing development on leased property because a royalty interest owner questions the accuracy of current royalty payments.  Companies found to have violated the provisions of this act face civil penalties of up to $1,000 per day. The bill is in the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

-- Natural Gas Royalties: Senate Bill 1238 would require a gas company to record a surrender document in the county Recorder of Deeds office where the oil and gas well is located within 30 days upon expiration, termination, or forfeiture of an oil and gas lease. The surrender document will release the gas company’s interests in the oil and gas. This is similar to what a mortgage company would be required to do after a mortgage was paid in full.  The bill is in the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

-- Variable Electric Rate Contracts: House Bill 2104 (Godshall-R-Montgomery) further providing for consumer protections in variable rate electric supplier contracts is on the House Calendar for action.

10/20/2014