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

House

Flood Insurance: House Bill 328 (Warren-D- Bucks) establishing a Flood Insurance Premium Assistance Task Force was referred into and out of the House Appropriations Committee (House Fiscal Note and summary) and passed by the House.  The bill now goes to the Senate for action.

Municipal Notice: House Bill 476 (Mako-R-Northampton) amends the Solid Waste Management Act to require DEP to forward notices of noncompliance issued by the Environmental Protections Agency (EPA) for violation of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and a notice of noncompliance for violation of the SWMA to the municipality where the violation occurred was referred into and out of the House Appropriations Committee (House Fiscal Note and summary) and was passed by the House 196 to 0.  The bill now goes to the Senate for action.

3rd Party Permit Reviews: House Bill 509 (Rothman-R-Cumberland) requires all state agencies to establish a new bureaucracy in the form of third party permit review programs that delegate decision-making authority to persons other than the public agency with the legal authority to make those decisions with no conflict of interest or other protections for the public or applicants was referred into and out of the House Appropriations Committee (House Fiscal Note and summary).  The bill was passed by the House by a vote of 109 to 86 (Republicans supporting).  The bill now goes to the Senate for action.

Repeal Any Regulation: House Bill 430 (Benninghoff-R-Mifflin) authorizes the General Assembly to repeal any regulation at any time by concurrent resolution, with review by the Governor was referred into and out of the House Appropriations Committee (House Fiscal Note and summary). The House passed the bill 105 to 90 (Republicans supporting) and it now goes to the Senate for action.

Waive Penalties/Providing Defenses For Violators: House Bill 762 (O’Neal-R- Washington) requires all state agencies to establish a new bureaucracy in the form of a Regulatory Compliance Officer with no oversight of any kind giving him the ability to issue an opinion on what any person’s obligations are under the laws administered by that state agencies which can be used as a “complete defense” against any enforcement proceeding.  The Officer can also review any fine or penalty issued by the agency before it is imposed and set guidelines for waiving that penalty if the person being penalized “has taken or will take [steps] to remedy the violation.” DEP, on average, reviews 31,000 permit applications a year-- surely 1 Compliance Officer can handle all those. The bill was referred into and out of the House Appropriations Committee (House Fiscal Note and summary).  The House passed the bill by a vote of 102 to 94 (Republicans supporting). The bill now goes to the Senate for action.

Kill Regulations By Doing Nothing: House Bill 806 (Keefer-R-York) would authorize the General Assembly to kill an economically significant final regulation by doing nothing.  It would require all final regulations with an estimated economic impact of $1 million or more to be submitted to the General Assembly for a vote by concurrent resolution.  If the House and/or Senate fail to take action to approve the final regulation, the regulation is deemed not approved and the regulation shall not take effect.  The bills was referred into and out of the House Appropriations Committee (House Fiscal Note and summary). The House passed the bill 103 to 91 and it now goes to the Senate for action.

Office Of The Repealer/ Vote To Approve Regulations: House Bill 1055 (Klunk-R-York) establish the Office of the Repealer unaccountable to anyone, General Assembly must vote to approve economically significant regulations, repeal 2 regulations for every new one adopted, reauthorize repeal of any regulation by resolution. (House Fiscal Note and summary.) The bill was NOT passed by the House by a vote of 100 to 97 because it was not a constitutional majority (Republicans supporting).  The bill remains on the House Calendar.

Conservation District Week: House Resolution 249 (Causer-R-Cameron) designating May 5-11 Conservation District Week was adopted by the House (sponsor summary).

Drinking Water Week: House Resolution 271 (Metcalfe-R-Butler) designating May 5 - 11 Drinking Water Week was adopted by the House (sponsor summary).

Forest Firefighter Day: House Resolution 236 (Heffley-R-Carbon) Designating March 20 as Forest Firefighter Day in Pennsylvania was adopted by the House (sponsor summary).

Senate

Nominations: The renomination of Cindy Adams Dunn was unanimously reported out of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation.

Fish & Boat Commission Fees: House Bill 808 (Mehaffie-R-Dauphin) authorizing the Fish and Boat Commission to adopt their own fees for 3 years (House Fiscal Note and summary) was reported out of the Senate Game and Fisheries Committee and is on the Senate Calendar for action.

Conservation District Week: Senate Resolution 103 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) designating May 5-11 Conservation District Week was adopted by the House (sponsor summary).

Drinking Water Week: Senate Resolution 92 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) designating May 5 - 11 Drinking Water Week was adopted by the House (sponsor summary).

5/6/2019