There are several committee meetings on environmental bills next week and bills on the Senate and House Calendar of interest. Here’s the rundown…

In the Senate, the Appropriations Committee meets to consider Senate Bill 1232 (Piccola-R-Dauphin) establishing an historic preservation grant program, House Bill 854 (Rubley-R-Chester) establishing the Terrorism Infrastructure Disclosure Protection Act prohibiting the release of certain infrastructure records; and the Environmental Resources & Energy Committee holds a public hearing on financing for the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund.

On the Senate Calendar, House Bill 2042 (Reichley-R-Berks) that would increase penalties for water pollution under the Clean Streams Law; and House Resolution 795 (DeWeese-D-Greene) designating December 19 as “Coal Miner’s Day.”

In the House, the Consumer Affairs Committee meets to consider House Bill 2658 (Rubley-R-Chester) prohibiting the sale and restricting the disposal of mercury thermostats and House Bill 2954 (Evans-R-Erie) prohibiting revenue decoupling in setting rates for the sale of natural gas; the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee meets to consider House Bill 2832 (Bunt-R-Montgomery) removing Project 70 restrictions from certain land; the Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee meets to consider Senate Bill 1209 (Waugh-R-York) Healthy Foods, Healthy Schools.

On the House Calendar, House Bill 2067 (Allen-R-Schuylkill) setting limits on state spending through a constitutional amendment; Senate Bill 884 (Brightbill-R-Lebanon) limitations on state spending; Senate Bill 940 (Waugh-R-York) would set aside up to $200,000 per year from the Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Fund to reimburse Land Trusts for expenses incurred in acquiring agricultural conservation easements; House Resolution 692 (Ross-R-Chester) directing the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee to study and report on the methods of reducing greenhouse gas emissions;

The Joint Legislative Air and Water Pollution Control and Conservation Committee holds their monthly Environmental Issues Forum in Harrisburg this week featuring a presentation by Alison Shuler, Coordinator of the Environmental Training Center at Penn State’s Middletown Campus, and hosts a Forestry Task Force meeting in State College.

Bills Introduced

Tax Break for Alternative Fuels: House Bill 3005 (Petri-R-Allegheny) would reduce the state tax on alternative fuels by six cents a gallon.

Stormwater BMP Tax Credit: House Bill 3018 (Gannon-R-Delaware) establishing a tax credit for the installation of stormwater best management practices.

Solar Tax Exemption: Senate Bill 1338 (Rafferty-R-Montgomery) excluding solar energy systems or any component from sales and use tax.

Building Energy Conservation: Senate Bill 1349 (Regola-R-Westmoreland) reenacting the Building Energy Conservation Act, as part of a package repealing the state Uniform Construction Code.

America Recycles Day: House Resolution 889 (Rubley-R-Chester) designating November 15, 2005 “America Recycles Day” in Pennsylvania.

NOTE: Links to Senate and House bills in past editions of the PA Environment Digest might not work because the webmasters of the General Assembly’s website changed the URLs. You can find bills by going to the Pennsylvania General Assembly website and putting in the bill number in the box at the top of the page.

10/13/2006