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

House

Great Lakes Appreciation: House Resolution 984 (Sonney-R-Erie) designating September 7 as Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Appreciation Day (sponsor summary) was adopted by House.

Senate

Taking Away DEP’s Authority: Senate Bill 950 (Pittman-R-Indiana) and House Bill 2025 (Struzzi-R-Indiana) taking away DEP’s authority to enact a Carbon Pollution Reduction Program for Power Plants were reported out of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and are now on the Senate Calendar for action. Read more here.

AQTAC Members:  Senate Bill 1173 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) eliminating appointment of DEP’s Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee members by the Governor and changing it to appointments made by the House, Senate and the Governor (sponsor summary) was amended and reported out of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and is now on the Senate Calendar for action.  Read more here.

Recycling Plastics Into Fuel: House Bill 1808 (Mackenzie-R-Lehigh) further provides for the recycling of plastics by making it into fuel [Read more here] was reported out of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and is now on the Senate Calendar for action.  Read more here.

Environmental Liability:  House Bill 1737 (A.Davis-D-Allegheny) providing for lender environmental liability protection for land banks redeveloping brownfields under Act 3 of 1995 (House Fiscal Note & Summary) was reported out of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and is now on the Senate Calendar for action.  Read more here.

Stream Cleaning: Senate 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) Tabled pursuant to Senate Rule 9.

9/7/2020