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 (Oct. 19): 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by the little-known, and even less frequently used Joint Committee On Documents to determine if any “published or unpublished document”-- including permits, produced or issued by DEP or other agencies- [Read more here.]; House Bill 2004 (Ortitay-R-Allegheny) gives the General Assembly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); Read more here; House Concurrent Regulatory Review Resolution #3 (Metcalfe-R-Butler) which would prevent the publication of final Environmental Quality Board regulations increasing DEP Air Quality Program fees [Read more here];  Senate 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Jefferson) which also expands the authority Joint Committee on Documents to determine whether “published or unpublished” documents of agencies should be promulgated as a regulation [Read more here.].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 (Oct. 19): Senate Bill 5 (DiSanto-R-Cumberland) authorizes the General Assembly to kill any final regulation by doing nothing [Read More Here];  Senate Bill 253 (Phillips-Hill) would create yet more bureaucracy in each state agency called an Agency Regulatory Compliance Officer to arbitrarily establish policies for waiving fines or penalties for violators of regulations and law administered by the agency [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 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 763 (Bartolotta-R- Washington) would eliminate the annual public report on subsidence damage from underground coal mining; Senate Bill 1307 (Killion-R-Delaware) would provide $25 million for water and wastewater assistance for individual and small business assistance 1307and $100 million for Low-Income Energy Assistance Program and $25 million to the Public Utility Commission for the Small Business Utility Assistance Program from federal CARES funds; 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); House Bill 1808 (Mackenzie-R-Lehigh) further provides for the recycling of plastics by making it into fuel [Read more here]. <> Click Here for full Senate Bill Calendar.

Committee Meetings  This Week

House: the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee meets to consider  Senate Bill 619 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) making fundamental changes to the definition of water pollution under the state Clean Streams Law effectively making most spills and discharges to rivers and streams no longer pollution.  It also lets an individual or company who causes pollution to surface or groundwater, rather than DEP, determine if any spill should even be reported to DEP and whether it is pollution in the first place. [Read more here]; the Consumer Affairs Committee hearing on House Bill 1970 (Mizgorski-R-Allegheny) authorizing electric utilities to establish local solar energy subscriber programs (sponsor summary) [Read more here]  <>  Click Here for full House Committee Schedule.

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

Other: the Joint Legislative Air and Water Pollution Control and Conservation Committee hearing to examine the contributions and challenges of State Parks and Forest Groups in Montgomery County.

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--

Natural Resources Trust Fund: House Bill 2934 (O’Mara-D-Delaware) establishing a Public Natural Resources Trust Fund financed by oil and gas development in state forests to make investments in state parks and forests, , county and municipal land, organizations that hold land for public benefit, and nonprofit organizations that work on environmental conservation, restoration, protection, and recreation (sponsor summary).

Game Commission Anniversary: House Resolution 1061 (Mehaffie-R-Dauphin) recognizing the 125th anniversary of the Game Commission (sponsor summary).

DCNR Anniversary: House Resolution 1064 (Wentling-R-Mercer) recognizing the 25th anniversary of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (sponsor summary).

Utility Sale Referendum: Senate Bill 1351 (Killion-R-Delaware) requiring a ratepayer referendum prior to the sale of a public utility (sponsor summary).

Oil & Gas Wastes: Senate Bill 1353 (Muth-D-Chester) repeals language in Act 13 exempting oil and gas development waste from provisions of the Solid Waste Management Act; Senate Bill 1354 (Muth-D-Chester) include oil and gas drilling wastes in the definition of hazardous waste;  Senate Bill 1355 (Muth-D-Chester) prohibiting landfills and wastewater treatment facilities from accepting oil and gas drilling wastes. [Note: These are companion bills to House Bills 2925, 2926 and 2927 introduced in the House by Rep. Innamorato (D-Allegheny).  Read more here.]

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

October 19, 20, 21

November 10

House

House recessed to the call of the House Speaker

October 19, 20, 21

November 10

10/19/2020