Senate/House Agenda/Session Schedule/Bills Introduced

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 ( ? ? ): House Bill 188 (Quinn-R-Delaware) providing for an eminent domain bill of rights for projects like pipelines; House Bill 247 (Oberlander-R-Clarion) would amend Act 13 to authorize an accounting mechanism to allow for the drilling of longer unconventional gas well laterals; 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) [Read more here.]; House Bill 1874 (Grove-R -York)-- was amended to authorize any regulated entity at any time to request a review by the little-known, and even less frequently used Joint Committee On Documents to determine if any “published or unpublished document”-- including permits, produced or issued by DEP or other agencies- [Read more here.]; House Bill 2004 (Ortitay-R-Allegheny) gives the General Assembly authority to reallocate monies from the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund between participating agencies, instead of having an allocation fixed in law (sponsor summary) [Read more here.]; House Bill 2416 (Everett-R- Lycoming) that would stop any proposed or final environmental or other state agency regulation from being finalized until at least 90 days after the March 6 COVID-19 emergency declaration by the Governor is terminated (House Fiscal Note & Summary); House Resolution 758 (Matzie-D-Beaver) designating April 2020 as Pennsylvania 8-1-1 Safe Digging Month (sponsor summary); Read more hereSenate Bill 703 (Scarnati-R- Jefferson) which also expands the authority Joint Committee on Documents to determine whether “published or unpublished” documents of agencies should be promulgated as a regulation [Read more here.].<> Click Here for full House Bill Calendar.

Senate (June 29): Senate Bill 5 (DiSanto-R-Cumberland)-- that authorizes the General Assembly to kill any final regulation by doing nothing [Read more here.];  Senate Bill 119 (DiSanto-R- Cumberland) would amend the Regulatory Review Act to require the arbitrary repeal of at least two existing regulatory requirements for every new requirement proposed by any state agency [Read more here.];  Senate Bill 251 (Phillips-Hill-R-York) would create a new bureaucracy-- Independent Office of the Repealer-- to review existing regulations from all state agencies and make recommendations to the General Assembly and Governor for the repeal or revision [Read more here.];  Senate Bill 252 (Phillips-Hill-R- York) would require all state agencies to establish a third party permit review program to provide for the review of permits delayed beyond arbitrary deadlines set in the legislation [Read more here.]; Senate Bill 253 (Phillips-Hill) would create yet more bureaucracy in each state agency called an Agency Regulatory Compliance Officer [Read more here.]; 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 609 (Brooks-R- Crawford) that would require a review of economically significant regulations every three years Read more hereSenate Bill 679 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) directs the Environmental Quality Board to develop regulations that authorize counties to adopt a program for “stream cleaning” and maintenance and the removal of obstructions and flood-related hazards from our local waterways (sponsor summary); Senate Bill 881 (Martin-R-Lancaster) setting aside state farmland preservation funding for local land trusts (sponsor summary);  House Bill 2045 (Dowling-R-Fayette) providing for a land exchange between DCNR and the Borough of Ohiopyle (House Fiscal Note & Summary).  <> Click Here for full Senate Bill Calendar. 

 

Committee Meetings  This Week

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

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

Other: Legislative Budget and Finance Committee is scheduled to meet on June 30 to release a report on the environmental impact of regulating single-use plastics, reusable plastics, auxiliary containers, wrappings and polystyrene containers.

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--

Chesapeake Bay Commission: House Resolution 891 (Sturla-D-Lancaster) recognizing the 40th Anniversary of the Chesapeake Bay Commission (sponsor summary).

Recreational Professionals Day: House Resolution 900 (Rader-R-Monroe) celebrating July 17 as PA Park and Recreation Professionals’ Day (sponsor summary).

Suspend MS4 Stormwater Mandate: Senate Resolution 339 (Mastriano-R-Adams) urging Congress and the President to suspend EPA’s MS4 Stormwater Program mandate (sponsor summary).

Recreational Professionals Day: Senate Resolution 341 (Killion-R-Delaware) celebrating July 17 as PA Park and Recreation Professionals’ Day (sponsor summary).

 

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

Senate recessed to the call of the President Pro Tempore

June 29, 30

House 

House recessed to the call of the House Speaker

September 15, 16, 17, 29, 30

October 1, 5, 6, 7, 19, 20, 21

November 10 


6/29/2020

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