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

House

Severance Tax: House Bill 1401 (DiGirolamo-R-Bucks) which amends Title 58 to impose a sliding scale natural gas severance tax, in addition to the Act 13 drilling impact fee, on natural gas production (NO money for environmental programs) and includes provisions related to minimum landowner oil and gas royalties.  Additional efforts were made to bring the bill to a vote in the House.  The bill remains on the House Calendar.  Click Here for more.

Replacing Lead Water Lines: Senate Bill 656 (Fontana-D-Allegheny) authorize local governments to make funds available to repair or replace lateral water lines contaminated with lead was removed from the Table and referred to the House Consumer Affairs Committee.

Steel Slag Exemption: Senate Bill 497 (Vogel-R-Beaver) exempting steel slag from the definition of waste if it was not produced prior to January 1, 2007 or mixed with other waste (sponsor summary) was reported from the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and Tabled.

Northeast Wildlife DNA Laboratory: House Resolution 627 (R.Brown-R-Monroe) recognizing the Northeast Wildlife DNA Laboratory at East Stroudsburg University for being a leader in tick testing and prevention of Lyme disease and tick-borne illness (sponsor summary) was adopted by the House.

Senate

Local Energy Efficiency Funding: Senate Bill 234 (Blake-D-Lackawanna) would authorize local governments to create energy improvement districts to help fund energy efficiency, renewable energy and water conservation projects by commercial and industrial buildings to reduce their operating costs was amended on the Senate Floor and referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Voluntary Nutrient Reduction Program: Senate Bill 799 (Alloway-R-Franklin) a voluntary program to allow municipalities to pay for nutrient reductions was reported from the Senate Appropriations Committee and is on the Senate Calendar for action.

12/18/2017