The House Wednesday concurred in Senate amendments to the Administrative Code bill that is part of the Senate budget package-- House Bill 118 (Kaufer-R-Luzerne).  The action sends the bill to the Governor for his action.

The bill contains a series of environmental riders, including--

-- Recycling Fee Extension: Removes the sunset date for the $2/ton municipal waste recycling fee and funds will remain in the Recycling fund for grants.

-- Solar Borders: Requiring solar energy credits under the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards to be purchased within Pennsylvania. [Senate Bill 404 this session, House Bill 2040 last session.]

-- Manganese Standard: Directs the Environmental Quality Board to adopt a proposed manganese standard within 90 days that includes the 1 milligram/liter manganese standard established under 25 Pa Code Chapter 93.7 and insure the standard is met at the point of intake for water suppliers (25 Pa Code Chapter 96.3). The 1 milligram/liter standard is 20 times the level of manganese that water suppliers are allowed to have in their water supplies, according to EPA’s secondary maximum contaminant level.

-- Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Treatment: Requires water treatment facilities providing water disposal services exclusively to conventional oil and gas wells shall be allowed to operate under existing permits through December 31, 2019. [Supported by conventional oil & gas drilling industry and applies to three privately-operated conventional wastewater treatment facilities.]

-- Wyoming County State Park: Requires DCNR to conduct a feasibility study for the establishment of a state park in Wyoming County, including an appraisal of the fair market value of property proposed for a state park. [No funding provided.]

Sen. John Yudichak (D-Luzerne), Minority Chair of the Senate Environmental Resources Committee, said this about passage of the bill--

“By providing a permanent funding mechanism, we are not only supporting our local government recycling collection programs, we are also fueling our local economies by aiding markets for waste industry employers and our manufacturing sector, which frequently relies on recyclable materials,” said Sen. Yudichak.

“We are making significant progress in our clean energy sector with nearly 70,000 jobs statewide. Renewables are filling energy needs throughout the state, including in Carbon County, which boasts the state’s largest solar park that will ultimately produce enough electricity to fuel 3,000 homes,” Sen. Yudichak added.

Click Here for a copy of the House Fiscal Note and summary.  Click Here for a copy of the Senate Fiscal Note and summary.

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[Posted: Oct. 18, 2017]

10/23/2017