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 (May 3): House Bill 72 (Keefer-R-York) that authorizes the General Assembly to kill final regulations by doing nothing Read more here;  House Bill 139 (Rothman-R- Cumberland) requires private review of DEP permit applications with no conflict of interest requirements Read more here; House Bill 288 (O’Neal-R-Washington) would shield law violators from enforcement actions if they just “attempt” to comply Read more here.; House Bill 763 (B-Miller-R-Lancaster) would require PennDOT to develop a list of native vegetation species that can be used in roadside work that is done throughout the state; House Bill 939 (Klunk-R-York) creating a new bureaucracy-- the 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;  House Bill 950 (Metcalfe-R-Butler) would authorize the General Assembly to repeal any existing regulation using a concurrent resolution passed by both the Senate and House and presented to the Governor for his action Read more here;

. <> Click Here for full House Bill Calendar.

Senate (April 27): Senate Bill 251 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) which sets standards for the application of fertilizer to turf, provides for the certification of professional fertilizer applicators and for labeling and an education program;  Senate Bill 435-- encouraging the development of clean transportation infrastructure to support electric, natural gas and hydrogen vehicles. <> Click Here for full Senate Bill Calendar.

Committee Meetings  This Week

House: the Senate & House Environmental Resources & Energy Committees Joint Hearing on Alternative Onlot Septic Systems & Land Development Planning [Read more here].  <>  Click Here for full House Committee Schedule. 

Senate: the Health and Human Services Committee holds a hearing on use of Lyme Disease funding by the departments of Health and Environmental Protection; the Senate & House Environmental Resources & Energy Committees Joint Hearing on Alternative Onlot Septic Systems & Land Development Planning [Read more here]; the Intergovernmental Operations Committee meets to consider Senate Bill 32 (Phillips-Hill- R-York) is a catalog of really bad ideas for “reforming” the regulatory process because it would allow the General Assembly to kill final regulations by doing nothing; create an Office of the Repealer to recommend existing regulations to repeal; require the repeal of two regulations for every new regulation adopted presumably for no other reason than they have too many words; require agencies to have a Compliance Officer to help shield law breakers from enforcement actions and more;  Senate Bill 520 (DiSanto-R-Dauphin) contains the single provision authorizing the General Assembly to kill economically significant regulations by doing nothing; Senate Bill 533 (Yaw-R- Lycoming) would prohibit any public participation in state agency rulemaking and policy making processes during a declared state emergency and prohibits agencies from adopting regulations.  This is aimed directly at killing DEP’s proposed regulation reducing carbon pollution from power plants consistent with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative under the guise of being focused on responding to an emergency; Senate Bill 126 (Brooks-R-Crawford) would require the automatic review of all “economically significant regulations” with an $1 million or impact adopted after the legislation is enacted and after the regulation has been in place for three years; Senate Bill 426 (Gordner-R- Columbia) would make an already lengthy and convoluted process for the review of regulations by the General Assembly longer and more convoluted.  But the real kicker in this bill is that it prohibits agencies from publishing statements with regulations explaining the purpose of the regulation, why the regulation changes are being made and what those changes are [Read more here].  <>  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--

Conservation Plans For Farmland Given Tax Abatement:  House Bill 1226 (Sturla-D- Lancaster) requires farms given preferential tax abatement under the state’s Clean and Green Program to have a conservation plan.

Increases AEPS Renewable Energy Mandate: Senate Bill 300 (Santarsiero-D-Bucks) increases renewable energy mandate under Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards from 8 percent to 30 percent by 2030 (sponsor summary).

Set Pipeline Siting Criteria: Senate Bill 518 (Comitta-D-Chester) would prohibit petroleum product pipelines from being located within 100 meters of a dwelling and other limitations (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 [Updated]

April [26-canceled], 27, 28

May 10, 11, 12, 24, 25, 26

June 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, 30 

House

May 3, 4, 5, 24, 25, 26

June 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30

September 13, 14, 15, 27, 28, 29

October 4, 5, 6, 25, 26, 27

November 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17

December 13, 14, 15

4/26/2021