The second half of the 2021-22 legislative session gets underway January 4 and with it the opportunity to pass some good environmental and energy bills.

The first half of the session was pretty much a bust-- only three environmental bills even made it to the Governor’s desk-- House Bill 110 (Causer-R- Cameron) changing the members of the Hardwoods Development Council, House Resolution 148 (White-R- Philadelphia) urging EPA to protect Pennsylvania refineries under the federal Renewable Fuel Standard and Senate Concurrent Resolution #1 disapproving of the final regulation limiting carbon emissions from power plants consistent with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

Here you’ll find just a few of the good and bipartisan environmental and energy bills members of the Senate and House should consider in 2022.

Of course, along with the good, we also have to watch out for the bad bills, which are also listed here. 

We call them “Dog Whistles.”

Let’s hope the members of the General Assembly rise to the occasion and provide some real conservation leadership this year by passing good bills.

After all, it is an election year and they should want to do good stuff to support the hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians and communities who are working hard to restore and protect our environment.

Click Here to see 1,189 articles describing these incredible efforts in 2021 alone.

Remember to 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.

Opportunities To Pass Some Good Bills

Here is a list of just some of the good environmental bills pending in the General Assembly.

-- $500 Million For Local Conservation Projects:  Senators John Gordner (R-Columbia), Bob Mensch (R-Montgomery), Carolyn Comitta (D-Chester) and others have introduced bipartisan legislation proposing to allocate $500 million from the federal American Rescue Plan to fund Growing Greener watershed, farm conservation, mine reclamation and recreation projects in Senate Bill 525.

The bill was announced in March, introduced in June and is now in the Senate Appropriations Committee awaiting action.  Read more here.

-- Permanent Funding For Watershed Restoration Projects: House Bill 20 (Sturla-D- Lancaster) and Senate Bill 868 (Muth-D-Chester) would charge extraordinary water users a nominal per-gallon fee for removing water from Pennsylvania waterways raising $350 million a year.  They now use this taxpayer-owned asset for free.  Read more here.  Neither bill has moved out of its original Committee.

-- Limiting Polluted Runoffs From Farms/Turf:

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 has been pending in the General Assembly for 11 years.  This bill was Tabled in the House Read more here.

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. This bill has not moved out of Committee

Senate Bill 465 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) establishes a new program to pay for on-farm conservation measures administered by the State Conservation Commission.  No funding is provided for this program. This bill is in the Senate Appropriations Committee. Read more here.

-- Flood Insurance: House Bill 70 (Warren-D-Bucks) establishing a Flood Insurance Premium Assistance Task Force to make recommendations on making flood insurance more affordable for landowners (sponsor summary) was Tabled in the House. 

-- RGGI Funds Investment Program: Senate Bill 15 (Comitta-D-Chester) and House Bill 1565 (Herrin-D-Chester)  establishing a program to invest the proceeds from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative carbon pollution limits on power plants to reinvest in communities and workers impacted by the transition to clean energy, environmental justice areas, clean energy and energy efficiency. Read more here.   Neither bill has moved out of Committee. 

-- Pipeline Safety: Senate Bill 494 (Comitta-D-Chester) establishing a Pipeline Safety and Communication Board to improve communications on public safety issues related to constructing and operating pipelines (sponsor summary).

A similar bill introduced in the House-- House Bill 1408 (Quinn-R-Delaware)-- is still in the House Consumer Affairs Committee.

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).

Neither of the Senate Bills has moved out of the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee.

House Bill 1400 (Quinn-R-Delaware) establishing a pipeline impact fee is still in the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

-- Expanding Spill Notification To Private Well Owners: Senate Bill 971 (Muth-D-Chester) expanding drinking water spill notification requirements to private well owners related to oil and gas operations remains in the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

-- Original Enforcement Jurisdiction For Attorney General: House Bill 2117 (Howard-D- Chester) establishing original enforcement jurisdiction for crimes related to the Solid Waste Management Act for the Attorney General; House Bill 2118 (Howard-D-Chester) establishing original enforcement jurisdiction for crimes related to the Clean Streams Law; House Bill 2119 (Howard-D-Chester) establishing original enforcement jurisdiction for crimes related to the Safe Drinking Water Act.  Bills remain in the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

-- Increase Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Renewable Energy Goals:

House Bill 100 and Senate Bill 872 would require Pennsylvania to reach 100 percent renewable energy generation by 2050.  Read more here.

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

Senate Bill 501 (Laughlin-R-Erie, Haywood-D-Montgomery) and House Bill 1080 (Quinn-R-Delaware, Herrin-D-Chester) to raise the mandate for solar energy from 0.5 percent to 5.5 percent by 2026 under the state’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards.  Read more here.

None of these bills have moved out of their original Committees.

-- Community Solar Programs: Senate Bill 472 (Scavello-R-Monroe) and House Bill 1555 (Kaufer-R-Luzerne) authorizing community solar projects which allows neighbors, businesses, farms, and other community members to directly participate in and receive the benefits from a solar project connected to their local electric distribution company’s grid.  Read more here.

Senate Bill 919 (Laughlin-R-Erie and Costa-D-Allegheny) authorizes electric utilities to establish solar energy subscriber programs (sponsor summary).

None of these bills moved out of the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee or the House Consumer Affairs Committee.

-- Clean Vehicle Infrastructure: Senate Bill 435 (Mensch-R-Montgomery) encouraging the development of clean transportation infrastructure to support electric, natural gas and hydrogen vehicles.  Read more here.  This bill was Tabled in the Senate.

-- Increases Permitted Weight Of Electric Vehicles: Senate Bill 153 (Langerholc-R-Bedford) increases the permitted weight of electric powered trucks from 80,000 pounds to 82,000 pounds to accommodate the weight of the battery or battery pack is in the House Transportation Committee.

-- Expanding C-PACE Program: Senate Bill 635 (Yudichak-I-Luzerne) which expands the Property-Assessed Clean Energy Program-- C-PACE-- to include multifamily buildings, indoor air improvements and resiliency measures.  Read more here.  This bill was passed by the Senate and is now in the House Commerce Committee.

House Bill 1760 (Heffley-R-Carbon) expanding the Property Assessed Clean Energy Program- C-PACE-- to multifamily commercial buildings, indoor air improvements and resiliency improvements (sponsor summary).  This bill was reported out of the House Commerce Committee and Tabled.

-- Environmental Liability Protection For Land Banks: House Bill 610 (A.Davis-D -Allegheny) provides environmental liability cleanup protection for land banks was reported out of the House Urban Affairs Committee and Tabled.

-- Requiring Community Impact Reports: House Bill 2043 (Bullock-D-Philadelphia) would require applicants of electric generating, waste disposal, processing and recycling, sewage treatment plant or a major source of air pollution to prepare an environmental impact report on facilities located in census tracts ranked in the bottom 33 percent for median annual household income.  The report would be subject to a public hearing and comment period (sponsor summary).  This bill is in the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

-- Power Plant Community Impact Fee: House Bill 1740 (Mullins-D-Lackawanna) providing for a power plant community impact fee (sponsor summary).  This bill is in the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

-- Right To Community Self-Protection: House Bill 1716 (Friel Otten-D-Chester, Herrin-D-Chester) proposes to amend the state constitution to allow communities to protect the inherent constitutional rights of their residents to health, safety, a clean environment, private property, and protect their economic interests (sponsor summary).  This bill is in the House Local Government Committee.

-- Universal Testing Of Children For Lead: Senate Bill 522 (Baker-R-Luzerne, Yudichak-I-Luzerne) requiring the testing of children and pregnant women for lead levels (sponsor summary).  This bill was reported out of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and is now on the Senate Calendar for action.

-- Earmark Farmland Preservation Money For Land Trusts: Senate Bill 64 (Martin-R- Lancaster) directs that a portion of the state-allocated farmland preservation funding be set aside annually for use by land trusts [does not increase funding].  The bill is in the House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee.

-- Open Space Maintenance: House Bill 221 (Rader-R-Monroe) would authorize communities to use a portion of revenue from a local open space tax for property maintenance.  This bill is in the Senate Local Government Committee.

-- Additional Recreation Liability Protection: House Bill 1694 (Struzzi-R-Indiana) providing for liability protection for volunteers and volunteer organizations who open their land for recreation is now in the Senate Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee.

-- Wildlife Conservation Corridors:  House Resolution 74 (Daley-D-Montgomery) and Senate Resolution 70 (Muth-D-Berks)  directs the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to conduct a study of conservation corridors in Pennsylvania.  A conservation corridor is defined as habitat linkage that joins two or more areas of wildlife habitat, allowing for fish passage or the movement of plant or animal wildlife from one area to another  (sponsor summary).

House Resolution 74 is now in the House Transportation Committee and Senate Resolution 70 is in the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

-- Stopping Habitat Loss:  House Bill 2128 (Howard-D-Chester) protecting additional impacts to rare or endangered species from construction activities remains in Committee.

-- Voter-Initiated Referendums: Senate Bill 538 (Boscola-D-Lehigh) that would authorize voters to directly propose and vote on amendments to the state constitution, establish new laws or repeal existing laws, without action by the General Assembly.  Read more here.  This bill has not moved from the Senate State Government Committee.

Want to suggest a bill for the good list?  Send them to: PaEnviroDigest@gmail.com.

The Dog Whistles

In politics, “dog whistle” refers to the use of coded or suggestive language in political messaging to garner support from specific groups, particularly in election years.

In the case of legislation, it’s legislation introduced to appeal to frequently narrowly focused groups, campaign contributors and to promote a specific political narrative or meme in the public domain.

Here are some dog whistles that shouldn’t see action, but many probably will given who controls the Senate and House--

-- Limiting Terms Of Executive Orders:  Senate Bill 946 (Aument-R-Lancaster) proposing an amendment to the constitution to limit the term of any Executive Order that has the force of law issued by a Governor to 21 days, unless it is extended by the General Assembly.  Companion to House Bill 2070 (Cutler-R-Lancaster) which is on the House Calendar for action. Read more here.

-- Unilateral Authority To Kill Regulations Without Review: Senate Bill 947 (Aument-R- Lancaster) proposing an amendment to the constitution eliminating presentment to the Governor for resolutions disapproving of regulations.  Companion to House Bill 2069 (Cutler-R-Lancaster) which is on the House Calendar for action. Read more here.

-- Allow The General Assembly To Kill Regulations By Doing Nothing:

-- Senate Bill 520 (DiSanto-R-Dauphin) contains the single provision authorizing the General Assembly to kill economically significant regulations by doing nothing is now in the House State Government Committee.  Read more here from last session’s bill

-- House Bill 72 (Keefer-R-York) which allows the General Assembly to kill regulations by doing nothing is in the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee.  Read more here.

-- Changing the Fundamental Definition Of Water Pollution/Let Companies Decide When To Report Spills:  Senate Bill 545 which allows companies to decide when to report spills that pollute receiving streams and harm public health.  Read more here.   This bill is in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

House Bill 1842  (Zimmerman-R-Lancaster) is a companion bill in the House which was passed by the House and is now in the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

-- Shielding Violators: Senate Bill 29 (Phillips-Hill-R-York) requires all state agencies to establish a new bureaucracy in the form of a Regulatory Compliance Officer with no oversight of any kind giving him the ability to issue an opinion on what any person’s obligations are under the laws administered by that state agency (within 20 business days) which can be used as a “complete defense” against any enforcement proceeding.  Read more here.   This bill is in the Senate Intergovernmental Affairs Committee.

A companion bill introduced in the House-- House Bill 288 (O’Neal-R-Washington)-- is also in the Senate Intergovernmental Affairs Committee.

-- Limiting The Grounds For Citizen Appeals Of DEP Permit Decisions: Senate Bill 717 (Bartolotta-R- Washington) which would create a new standard for the review for appeals of DEP permit actions before the Environmental Hearing Board by limiting parties appealing permit decisions-- a company or a citizens group-- to issues raised in and information contained in a record of decision of a permit prepared by DEP.  Read more here.

Senate Bill 718 (Bartolotta-R- Washington) would shorten the term of a judge on the Environmental Hearing Board from six to five years.  These bills were Tabled after being reported out of Committee.

-- Don’t Tell The Public Why A Regulation Is Being Proposed: Senate Bill 426 (Gordner-R- Columbia) 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.    This bill is in the House State Government Committee.

-- Stop Public Participation/Rulemaking During Emergencies: 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 unrelated to the emergency.  Read more here.   This bill was reported out of Committee and Tabled in the House.

--Redistributing State Environmental Funding To Pay For Other Programs:

House Bill 1755 (Zimmerman-R-Lancaster) would take away all Department of Environmental Protection permit application fees collected by the agency and deposit them into the General Fund rather than into the accounts now set up in law to pay for specific environmental protection programs. Read more here.  This bill is in the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

House Bill 255 (Grove-R-York) would transfer 46 dedicated funds-- including 13 dedicated environmental and conservation funds-- into the General Fund as restricted accounts so they can be drawn upon to pay the state’s bills when the General Fund balance is low so the State Treasurer does not have to borrow money.  Read more here.

The dedicate environmental funds include the-- Conservation District Fund, Environmental Stewardship (Growing Greener) Fund, Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund, Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund, Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Fund, Environmental Education Fund, Recycling Fund, Unconventional Gas Well Fund (supports Oil and Gas Drilling regulation), Marcellus Legacy Fund (distributes Act 13 drilling impact fees to communities state agencies for conservation purposes), Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Fund and others.

The bill is in the House Appropriations Committee.

-- Create Another Bureaucracy To Privately Review Permit Applications:

            -- Senate Bill 28 (Phillips-Hill-R-York)  that requires all state agencies to establish a new bureaucracy to require the review of permit applications by private contractors for applications that have been “delayed,” eliminating agency review of permit applications on behalf of the public and adding more state bureaucracy and cost on taxpayers is in the House Environmental Committee.  Read more here.

            --  House Bill 139 (Rothman-R-Cumberland) that requires all state agencies to establish a program to require the review of permit applications by private contractors for applications that have been “delayed,” eliminating agency review of permit applications on behalf of the public and adding more state bureaucracy and cost on taxpayers is in the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee.  Read more here.

            -- Senate Bill 535 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) would add more bureaucracy to the DEP permit review process by requiring third-party permit reviews is in the Senate Environmental Committee.

            -- House Bill 604 (Fritz-R-Susquehanna) adding more bureaucracy to the DEP permit review process, declaring in law the applicant for an environmental permit is always right and eliminates public comment periods was reported out of Committee and Tabled in the House. Read more here.

-- Steps To Stifle Renewable Energy Development: Senate Bill 284 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) would load up renewable energy projects, energy efficiency products and high-efficiency locomotives with bonds to prevent their development [Read more here] is now on the Senate Calendar for action.

-- Senate Bill 530 (Dush-R- Jefferson) and House Bill 266 (James-R-Venango) would require the recycling of solar panels through the broken state electronic waste recycling program to drive up solar energy costs is in the Senate Environmental Committee.  Read more here from last session.

-- Prohibit The Ability Of Communities To Promote Clean Energy: Senate Bill 275 (Yaw-R- Lycoming) which would limit the ability of communities to offer new and clean energy sources and energy efficiency programs by locking in the status quo, in particular natural gas was passed by the Senate and now goes to the House for action.  Read more here.   The bill is now in the House Local Government Committee.

A companion bill in the House-- House Bill 1947 (O’Neal-R- Washington)-- reported out of the House Local Government Committee and is now in the House Appropriations Committee.

-- Directing State Government To Illegally Break Renewable Energy Contracts: Senate Bill 945 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) directs state government to illegally break contracts with renewable alternative energy suppliers and sell all the alternative energy credits owed by state government and deposit the proceeds in the Marcellus Legacy Fund for use to plug orphan or abandoned oil and gas wells (sponsor summary).  Read more here.  The bill is now in the Senate Environmental Committee.

-- Decommissioning Solar/Wind Energy Facilities: House Bill 2104 (Rapp-R-Forest) providing for the decommissioning, recycling and reclamation of solar panels and wind turbines (sponsor summary) is in the House Environmental Committee.

-- Senate Republican Caucus Filed Lawsuit Against The Delaware River Basin Commission Over Moratorium On Fracking Oil & Gas Wells: On January 11, the PA Senate Republican Caucus filed a lawsuit in the federal Eastern District Court of Pennsylvania alleging the Delaware River Basin Commission's moratorium on shale gas drilling is a taking of private property without compensation and exceeds the authority given the Commission in its compact.  Read more here.

-- Kill Carbon Pollution Reduction Program Covering Power Plants: Senate Bill 119 (Pittman-R-Indiana) would kill the proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Program covering power plants consistent with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.  The bill is now in the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

A companion bill in the House-- House Bill 637 (Struzzi-R-Indiana)-- was reported from the House Rules Committee and Tabled.

Senate Concurrent Resolution #1 disapproving of the final regulation limiting carbon emissions from power plants consistent with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative was passed the Senate and then by the House and presented to the Governor for his action.  Read more here.

-- Senate Republicans Advised Gov. Wolf They Will Reject Any Nominees To The Public Utility Commission Until He Withdraws His Executive Order To Develop A Carbon Pollution Reduction Program covering power plants consistent with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.  Read more here.

-- Roll Back Environmental Protection Standards For Conventional Oil & Gas Wells: House Bill 1144 (Causer-R- Cameron) rolls back environmental protection standards for conventional oil and gas wells and legalizes road dumping of drilling wastewater. Read more here.  This bill is now in the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

A companion bill in the Senate-- Senate Bill 534 (Hutchinson-R-Venango) that is also  in the Senate Environmental Committee.

-- Authorize Off-Highway Motorcycles In State Forests: House Bill 478 (Owlett-R-Tioga) authorizes the use of off-highway motorcycles on State Forest and other public lands is in the House Tourism and Recreational Development Committee.  Read more here on last session’s bill.

Want to suggest a bill for the Dog Whistle list?  Send them to: PaEnviroDigest@gmail.com.

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.

Related Article:

-- In 2021 Initiatives By The Biden Administration, Congress Make Historic Investments In Cleaning Up PA’s Environment; How To Invest $11 Billion Remains Up In The Air

[Posted: December 29, 2021]

1/3/2022