The House State Government Committee is scheduled to meet on March 13 to consider bills taking permit reviews from DEP and other state agencies, creating an Office of the Repealer and authorizing the repeal any regulation by a House/Senate resolution.

The bills include--

-- Taking Permit Reviews Away From State Agencies Giving It To Third Parties: House Bill 1959 (Rothman-R-Cumberland) Establishes the Pennsylvania Permit Act which requires agencies to create and develop a navigable online permit tracking system and takes authority to issue certain permits away from state agencies like DEP and gives it to third-party reviewers.  Click Here for more.

-- New Office of The Repealer: House Bill 209 (Phillips-Hill-R-York): Establishes the Independent Office of the Repealer to undertake an ongoing review of existing regulations; receive and process recommendations; and make recommendations to the General Assembly, the governor, and executive agencies for repeal.  Click Here for a similar bill introduced last session-- House Bill 2408.

-- Repeal Any Regulation By Resolution: House Bill 1792 (Benninghoff-R-Mifflin) Gives the General Assembly the ability to initiate the repeal of any state regulation in effect by a concurrent resolution modeled after a federal procedure used successfully by the Trump Administration to repeal regulations (sponsor summary).

This is a continuation of a January 31 meeting of the Committee which reported out two other bills related to the Committee’s report on Regulatory Overreach--

-- Killing A Regulation By Doing Nothing: House Bill 1237 (Keefer-R-York) that would allow the General Assembly to kill an economically significant final regulation from any agency by doing nothing.

-- Regulatory Compliance Officers: House Bill 1960 (Ellis-R-Butler) which requires each agency to appoint a Regulatory Compliance Officer with the authority to waive fines and penalties if a permit holder attempts to comply.

The meeting will be held in Room G-50 of the Irvis Building starting at 9:00 a.m.  Committee meetings are usually webcast on the House Republican website.

Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) serves as Majority Chair of the Committee and can be contacted by sending email to: dmetcalf@pahousegop.com.  Rep. Matthew Bradford (D-Montgomery) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by sending email to: mbradford@pahouse.net.

Related Stories:

House Committee Republicans OK Bill To Kill Regulations By Doing Nothing

Analysis: How Do The Senate, House Use The Tools They Have Now To Review Agency Regulations?

PA Environmental Council: General Assembly Already Has Ample Authority To Review Regulations

22 Groups Express Opposition To So-Called Regulatory Reform Bills By House Republicans

House Committee Chair Releases Regulatory Overreach Report, Endorses Bill Authorizing Repeal Of Regulations By Doing Nothing

[Posted: March 6, 2018]

3/12/2018