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

House

Local Stormwater Fees: House Bill 913 (Everett-R- Lycoming) providing for the adoption of stormwater fees by incorporated towns, House Bill 914 (Everett-R- Lycoming) providing for the adoption of stormwater fees by boroughs, House Bill 915 (Everett-R-Lycoming) providing for the adoption of stormwater fees by first class townships, House Bill 916 (Everett-R-Lycoming) providing for the adoption of stormwater fees by Cities of the Third Class were reported from the House Appropriations Committee and were passed by the House.  The bills now go to the Senate for action.

Purchase Of Federal Timber: House Bill 1494 (Rapp-R-Forest) authorizing the state to enter into a cooperative agreement with federal agencies for the purpose of selling timber on federal land was reported from the House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee and referred to the House Appropriations Committee.

Uniform Construction Code: House Bill 1469 (Heffley-R- Carbon) authorize municipalities to use third-party agencies to enforce the Uniform Construction Code was amended and reported out of the House Labor and Industry Committee and referred to the House Rules committee as all bills are this time of year.

Leaf Waste: House Bill 927 (Rader-R- Monroe) mandating curbside leaf pick up programs (sponsor summary) was reported from the House Local Government Committee and referred to the House Rules Committee as all bills are this time of year.

Philadelphia Parks Day: House Resolution 379 (Brown-D-Philadelphia) designating June 12 as Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Day was adopted by the House.

Senate

Banning Plastic Bag Bans: House Bill 1071 (Farry-R-Bucks) to prevent the imposition of a ban, fee or surcharge on recyclable plastic bags (House Fiscal Note and summary) was referred into and out of the Senate Appropriations Committee and passed by the Senate without changes.  The bill now goes to the Governor for his action.

Eliminating Sunset For Recycling Fee:  Senate Bill 646 (Killion-R-Delaware) would prevent a funding crisis in the state’s Recycling Program by eliminating the expiration date for the Act 101 $2 per ton recycling fee on waste disposed in Pennsylvania was passed unanimously by the Senate.  A Senate Fiscal Note and summary is available.  The bill now goes to the House for action.  (Click Here for more.) 

Approval Of Regulations: Senate Bill 561 (Disanto-R-Dauphin) which requires an up or down vote by the General Assembly on every final regulation approved by the Independent Regulatory Review Commission if that regulation has a fiscal impact of $1 million or more.  If the General Assembly does not vote, the regulation would die was passed by the Senate by a vote of 29 to 20 largely along party lines with Republicans supporting.  A Senate Fiscal Note and summary is available.  The bill now goes to the House for action.  (Click Here for more.)

Storage Tank Program Funding: Senate Bill 649 (Yudichak-D-Luzerne) would fill a significant funding gap in DEP’s Underground Storage Tank Program (sponsor summary) was referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Uniform Construction Code: Senate Bill 663 (Laughlin-R- Erie) authorize municipalities to use third-party agencies to enforce the Uniform Construction Code (sponsor summary) was reported out of the Senate Labor and Industry Committee and is now on the Senate Calendar for action.

Quartz Official Mineral: Senate Bill 610 (Killion-R-Delaware) to designate quartz as the official state mineral (sponsor summary) was reported out of the Senate State Government Committee and is now on the Senate Calendar for action.

6/19/2017