Here are the Senate and House Calendars for the next voting session day and Committees scheduling action on bills of interest as well as a list of new environmental bills introduced--

Bill Calendars --

NEW: Click Here for expected action on bills by the full House.

House (September 17):  House Bill 247 (Oberlander-R-Clarion) to allow cross unit unconventional drilling and authorizes voluntary pooling; House Bill 827 (Fritz-R-Wayne) requiring the Delaware River Basin Commission to reimburse property owners for drilling rights if the Commission adopts a ban on fracking was reported from the House Appropriations Committee (House Fiscal Note and summary); 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); House Bill 1410 (Stephens-R- Montgomery) redirecting  future state tax revenue generated on and around military installations to create an authority to cleanup water contaminated with PFAS and other chemicals (House Fiscal Note and summary). <> Click Here for full House Bill Calendar.

Senate (September 23): Senate Bill 256 (Dinniman-D-Chester) amends the Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act (Act 101), to expand the definition of “compost materials" to include spent mushroom substrate (sponsor summary); Senate Bill 258 (Dinniman- D-Chester, Killion-R-Delaware), a bipartisan initiative to improve emergency response to pipeline incidents; Senate Bill 284 (Killion-R- Delaware, Dinniman-D-Chester) require pipeline companies to provide current emergency response plans to PUC; Senate Bill 694 (Yaw-R- Lycoming) amends the Oil and Gas Act to provide for a process and accounting mechanism to allow well bores to cross multiple units, provided the operator has the right to drill wells on the units via leases with all landowners/members of the units [not pooling] (sponsor summary); Senate Bill 763 (Bartolotta-R-Washington) amends the Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act (Act 54) to make reporting on impacts of underground coal mining optional.  Click Here for more. <> Click Here for full Senate Bill Calendar.

Committee Meetings This Week --

House: the State Government Committee meets to consider House Bill 1107 (O'Neal-R- Washington)- creates 5 member politically appointed commission to “administer the permitting and plan approval process es vested in DEP by law,” including promulgating regulations establishing permitting requirements and environmental standards and taking action on individual permit applications and the firing of all DEP employees now reviewing permits;  House Bill 1106 (Puskaric-R-Allegheny)- requires DEP approval of any permit regulating air quality, waste, erosion and sedimentation and dam safety and encroachments within 30 days without regard to public review of permits, creates a new bureaucracy in the form of a “referee” to decide disputes between DEP and applicants over appication completeness (sponsor summary) Click Here for more.; the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee holds informational meeting with DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell on “the Administration’s position and progress regarding climate change initiatives” Click Here for more;  the Tourism & Recreational Development Committee information meeting on National September 11th Memorial Trail Alliance progress to date; the Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee meets to consider House Resolution 461 (Farry-R-Bucks) recognizing the 75th anniversary of Smokey Bear [which was August 5].  <>  Click Here for full House Committee Schedule.

NEW: Click Here for a summary of expected House Committee actions.

Senate:   <>  Click Here for full Senate Committee Schedule.

Bills Pending In Key Committees --

Check the PA Environmental Council Bill Tracker for the status and updates on pending state legislation and regulations that affect environmental and conservation efforts in Pennsylvania.

House and Senate Co-Sponsorship Memos

House: Click Here for all new co-sponsorship memos

Senate: Click Here for all new co-sponsorship memos

Bills Introduced --

The following bills of interest were introduced last week--

SepticSmart Week: House Resolution 486 (Metcalfe-R-Butler) designates the week of September 16-20 as SepticSmart Week to highlight the importance of properly using and maintaining onlot septic systems (sponsor summary).

Session Schedule

Here is the latest voting session schedule for the Senate and House--

Senate

September 23, 24, 25

October 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, 30

November 18, 19, 20

December 16, 17, 18

House

September 17, 18, 19, 23, 24, 25

October 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, 30

November 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20

December 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18 

9/16/2019