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

House (October 21):  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 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 application completeness (Part of House Republican EnergizePA natural gas subsidy package) Click Here for more background. <> Click Here for full House Bill Calendar.

Senate (October 21): 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 398 (Gordner-R- Columbia) amending the Regulatory Review Act to eliminate the statement of purpose describing to the public why a regulation change is needed (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 House Democratic Policy Committee holds a hearing on stormwater management and infrastructure in Chester County.  <>  Click Here for full House Committee Schedule.

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.

Bills Introduced

The following bills of interest were introduced last week--

Ag Preservation Funding For Land Trusts: Senate Bill 881 (Martin-R-Lancaster) require a portion of state-allocated farmland preservation funding to be set aside for use by land trusts (sponsor summary).

Critical Infrastructure Trespass Penalties: Senate Bill 887 (Regan-R-Cumberland) creates a new category of trespass violation for “critical infrastructure” -- pipelines, petroleum refineries, electrical power generating facilities, chemical facilities, water/wastewater treatment infrastructure, natural gas transmission/distribution facilities, wireless telecommunications infrastructure, trucking/rail terminals, gas processing plants, and dams and increasing penalties. (sponsor summary)  A companion bill-- Senate Bill 323 (Martin-R-Lancaster)-- would make protesters responsible for paying for public response costs to protests.

House and Senate Co-Sponsorship Memos

House: Click Here for all new co-sponsorship memos

Reallocate Keystone Fund Monies Every Year: Rep. Ortitay (R-Allegheny) announced his intent to introduce legislation requiring the General Assembly to reallocating funding from the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund between agencies and program each year (sponsor summary).

Senate: Click Here for all new co-sponsorship memos

Session Schedule

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

Senate

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

November 18, 19, 20

December 16, 17, 18

House

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

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

December 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18 

10/14/2019