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

House

Severance Tax: House Bill 113 (Harper-R-Montgomery) renames the existing Act 13 drilling impact fee a “severance tax” as amended and held in the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.  A motion by House Democrats to bring the bill out of committee through a discharge resolution failed by a vote of 115 to 83.

Natural Gas Pipeline Protection: Senate Bill 242 (Baker-R-Luzerne) adding unconventional and larger conventional natural gas gathering lines to the PA One Call utility safety program was amended and reported from the House Consumer Affairs Committee and Tabled.  Click Here for more.

Stormwater Act Exemption: House Bill 1486 (Zimmerman-R-Lancaster) exempting high tunnel greenhouse structures on farms from the Stormwater Management Act (sponsor summary) [a similar bill passed the House and died in the Senate last year] was reported out of the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and is on the House Calendar for action.

Delaware Drilling Moratorium: House Resolution 515 (Fritz-R-Wayne) urging the Delaware River Basin Commission to suspend its consideration of a moratorium on natural gas drilling in the Delaware Watershed (sponsor summary) was reported out of the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and Tabled.  Click Here for more background on the issue.

Energy Awareness Month: House Resolution 523 (Mackenzie-R-Berks) recognizing October as Energy Awareness Month (sponsor summary) was adopted by the House.

Senate

Construction Code: House Bill 409 (Evankovich-R- Allegheny) making changes to the process for adopting amendments to the Uniform Construction Code was passed by the Senate.  The House concurred in Senate amendments and the bill goes to the Governor for his action.  A Senate Fiscal Note and summary is available.

Water Authorities Under PUC: House Bill 1490 (Turzai-R-Allegheny) placing the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority under the regulation of the Public Utility Commission was removed from the Table and is now on the Senate Calendar for action.

10/9/2017