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 Game & Fisheries Committee meets to consider Senate Bill 147 (Laughlin-R-Erie) authorizing Sunday hunting by the Game Commission; the Tourism & Recreational Development Committee meets to consider House Resolution 452 (Millard-R-Columbia) congratulating Fallingwater and the Western PA Conservancy on Fallingwater Being named a World Heritage Site (sponsor summary); the House Democratic Policy Committee holds a hearing on issues related to waters of Pennsylvania.  <>  Click Here for full House Committee Schedule.

Senate: the Appropriations Committee meets to consider Senate Bill 790 (Scarnati-R- Jefferson) which sets environmental protection standards for conventional (not Shale gas) oil and gas well drilling and legalizes the road dumping of drilling wastewater from conventional wells Click Here for more; the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee holds voting meeting on Senate Bill 726 (Bartolotta-R-Washington) which would create a new standard for the review for appeals of DEP permit actions before the Environmental Hearing Board by limiting parties appealing permit decisions-- a company or a citizens group-- to issues raised in and information contained in a record of decision on each permit DEP staff would have to prepare Click Here for more; Senate Bill 727 (Bartolotta-R- Washington), a companion bill to Senate Bill 726, would change the term of an Environmental Hearing Board judge from 6 to 5 years and limited judges to serving 2 terms.  Any judge sitting on the Board on the effective date of the bill when it is signed into law who has served more than 10 years will have their term expire at the end of their current term Click Here for more; Senate Bill 891 authorizing third party review of Chapter 102 (erosion and sedimentation) and Chapter 105 (dam safety and encroachment) permit applications Click Here for more; Senate Resolution 191 (Yudichak-D- Luzerne, Yaw-R-Lycoming) urging Congress to reauthorize the federal Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fee which is the primary source of funding for Pennsylvania’s abandoned mine reclamation program (sponsor summary); and briefing on Gov. Wolf’s RGGI executive order; the Senate Republican Policy Committee discusses conservative approaches to renewable energy workshop.  <>  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--

EV Charging Stations In New Buildings: House Bill 1908 (Howard-D-Chester) requiring new non-residential buildings to have electric vehicle charging stations (sponsor summary).

3rd Party Permitting: Senate Bill 891 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) authorizing third party review of Chapter 102 (erosion and sedimentation) and Chapter 105 (dam safety and encroachment) permit applications.  Click Here for more information.  The bill is scheduled to be considered by the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee October 22.

House and Senate Co-Sponsorship Memos

 House: Click Here for all new co-sponsorship memos

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 

10/21/2019