Bills extending the recycling fee, setting uniform environmental covenants on brownfield sites, putting mine families first during mine emergencies and others moved in the Senate and House this week. Two moved to the Governor’s desk. Here’s the rundown…

On the Governor’s Desk

Regulatory Impacts: House Bill 236 (Pickett-R-Bradford) requiring the review of regulations for their impact on small business by the Independent Regulatory Review Commission was passed by the Senate unamended and now goes to the Governor for his action.

Clean Streams Penalties: House Bill 2042 (Reichley-R-Berks) that would increase penalties for water pollution under the Clean Streams Law was passed by the Senate without amendment so it now moves to the Governor for action.

Senate

Recycling Fee: House Bill 1902 (Rubley-R-Chester) extending the $2/ton Recycling Fee sunset date through 2012 was referred into and from Senate Appropriations and amended and passed by the Senate and now returns to the House for concurrence in Senate amendments.

Infrastructure Record Disclosure: House Bill 854 (Rubley-R-Chester) establishing the Terrorism Infrastructure Disclosure Protection Act prohibiting the release of certain infrastructure records was reported from Senate Appropriations and amended on Third Consideration and passed by the Senate and returns to the House for a concurrence vote.

Historic Preservation Grant Program: Senate Bill 1232 (Piccola-R-Dauphin) establishing an historic preservation grant program was amended to cure some technical issues, but then held in the Senate Appropriations Committee. An amendment offered by Sen. Mary Jo White (R-Venango) to remove funding for the program from the Growing Greener II Program was tabled.

Miner’s Day: House Resolution 795 (DeWeese-D-Greene) designating December 19 as “Coal Miner’s Day” was adopted by the Senate.

House

Mine Families First: House Bill 2619 (Bastian-R-Somerset) creating a Mine Families First Program to provide assistance to persons whose family members are trapped or waiting for rescue during an underground mine emergency was reported from House Appropriations, amended and passed by the House and now goes to the Senate for consideration.

The House amendment adds unrelated provisions related to surface property owner’s royalty rights related to methane wells.

Environmental Covenants: House Bill 1249 (Rubley-R-Chester) providing for uniform environmental covenants to secure brownfield cleanups was referred into and out of the House Appropriations Committee, passed the House and now goes to the Senate for consideration..

Fishing License Point of Sale: House Bill 2824 (B.Smith-R-York) providing for point of sale fishing licenses passed the House and moves to the Senate for consideration.

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

Mercury Thermostats: House Bill 2658 (Rubley-R-Chester) prohibiting the sale and restricting the disposal of mercury thermostats was amended to add a requirement for a manufacturers collection program and reported from House Consumer Affairs Committee

California Car Standards: Senate Bill 1025 (Madigan-R-Bradford) to establish a Clean Vehicle Program that gives automakers two options to comply— use the California II or federal Tier II vehicle emissions standards and forming a stakeholders group was reported from House Transportation Committee.

Multi-Municipal Agreements: House Bill 2063 (Boyd-R-Lancaster) that provides for multi-municipal Planning Code implementation agreements to deal with a local issue was reported from House Appropriations.

Natural Gas Decoupling: House Bill 2954 (Evans-R-Erie) prohibiting revenue decoupling in setting rates for the sale of natural gas was amended and reported from House Consumer Affairs.

Healthy Schools: The House Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee reported out Senate Bill 1209 (Waugh-R-York) Healthy Foods, Healthy Schools.

New Diesel Technology: House Bill 2997 (Beyer-R-Monroe) providing a tax credit of up to $5,000 for new diesel technology was reported from the House Insurance Committee.

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.

Bills Introduced

Solar Incentive Program: Senate Bill 1352 (Erickson-R-Delaware) establishing a Solar Energy System Incentives Program within the Department of Environmental Protection and the Public Utility Commission.

Weatherization Program: House Bill 3009 (Kenney-R-Philadelphia) providing for a Low-Income Weatherization program and funding.

Energy-Efficient Home Assistance Program: House Bill 3013 (Watson-R-Bucks ) establishing an Energy Efficient Home Assistance Program to award grants of up to $5,000 for energy efficiency or alternative energy systems by the Housing Finance Agency.

Solar Sales Tax Exemption: House Bill 3015 (McGill-R-Montgomery) providing for a sales and use tax exclusion for the purchase of non-business solar energy systems or other Energy Star rated products.

Stormwater BMPs: House Bill 3018 (Gannon-R-Delaware) providing a tax credit for the installation of stormwater management best management practices.

Lending Electricity Meters: House Bill 3024 (Leach-D-Montgomery) establishing a lending program in libraries for electricity meters and creating a grant program.

Energy Freedom Support Account: House Bill 3026 (Benninghoff-R-Huntingdon) establishing the PA Energy Freedom Support Account within the Energy Development Fund to finance municipal energy efficiency improvements.

Open Lands: House Bill 3028 (Bastian-R-Somerset) limiting liability of landowners who make their land available for hunting and public recreation.

Electric Rate Caps: House Bill 3030 (Ross-R-Chester) providing that electric suppliers must have a portfolio of contracts over a series of years to meet customer demand before the electric rate caps are removed.

Neighborhood Energy Tax Credit: House Bill 3040 (Mustio-R-Allegheny) creating the Neighborhood Energy Assistance Tax Credit.

High-Performance State Building Standards: House Bill 3047 (Rubley-R-Chester) requires facilities leased or owned by the Commonwealth to comply with certain energy and environmental standards.

High-Performance Building Tax Credit: House Bill 3048 (Rubley-R-Chester) providing owners and tenants with a tax credit for construction of a high-performance, energy efficient building.

Alternative Fuel Tax Credit: House Bill 3049 (Civera-R-Delaware) authorizing tax credits for qualified alternative fuel distributors.

State Energy Efficiency Initiatives: House Bill 3052 (M.Wright-R-Bucks) providing for a reduction in energy use in state buildings for energy efficiency in the state motor vehicle fleet and in state procurement.

Storage Tanks: House Bill 3053 (Micozzie providing an additional member for the Underground Storage Tank Indemnification Board.

Composition of Storage Tank Board: House Bill 3052 (Micozzie-R-Delaware) changing the composition of the Underground Storage Tank Indemnification Board by removing the Service Station Dealers and Automotive Repair Association and the Petroleum Retailers and Auto Repair Association and adding the PA Gasoline Retailers Association and Allied Trades.

Landslide Investigation: House Resolution 897 (Petrone-D-Allegheny) directing the Joint State Government Commission to conduct an in-depth investigation into the landslide in Kilbuck Township, Allegheny County.

10/20/2006