The information you need to follow legislation in the House and Senate- starting with articles and NewsClips from last week--

Environment & Energy NewsClips--

-- Gov. Wolf Signs Massive, 20-Year Taxpayer Subsidies Into Law For Natural Gas, Hydrogen And Petrochemical Industries With No Public Accountability Or Environmental Safeguards  [PaEN]

-- Spotlight PA - Stephen Caruso: Wolf Signs Hastily Passed $2 Billion Tax Credit Package Encouraging Natural Gas Use In PA

-- City & State PA: Wolf Signs $2 Billion Tax Credit Package That Boosts Natural Gas Industry That Drew Ire From Both Sides Of The Aisle

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Wolf Signs State Tax Credit Bill With Millions For Hydrogen Hub, Natural Gas, Other Facilities

-- York Dispatch Editorial: Energy Companies Are Reporting Record Profits, PA Lawmakers Don’t Need To Give Them More Tax Breaks  [PaEN]

-- Inside Climate News: New, Massive Plastics Plant In SW PA Barely Registers Among Voters

-- Gov. Wolf Signs Bill Creating Well Plugging Grant Program; Again Fails To Address Woefully Inadequate Conventional Well Plugging Bonding; Fails To Report On Bonding Petitions; Or Issue Conventional Drilling Compliance Report  [PaEN]

-- Tribune-Democrat: Wolf Signs Bill Increasing Maximum Weight To Allow For Commercial Electric Vehicles

-- WESA/The Allegheny Front - Reid Frazier: In PA U.S. Senate Race, Fetterman, Dr. Oz Change Views On Fracking, Trying To Match Voters

-- StateImpactPA - Susan Phillips: Environmental Groups Up Their Election Spending In PA Citing ‘Existential Crises’ Related To Climate Change

-- PA Capital-Star: PA Environmental Groups Help Voters Connect The Dots On Economic, Environmental Issues Ahead Of Election Day

-- The Guardian: Republican Candidates On Climate Change: ‘Fake Science’ To ‘Carbon Is Healthy’  [PA Included]

-- Erie Times Guest Essay: Clean Jobs, Energy And Air Are On The Ballot In PA, Choose Candidates With Care - Environmental Defense Fund

-- A Study Finding Microplastics In 100% Of Exceptional Value, High Quality, Class A Trout Streams Sampled In PA Is Disturbing To Wildlife Advocates  [PaEN]

-- Pocono Record: Report: Microplastics Found In Some Of Cleanest Streams In Poconos, Across PA

-- WLVR: Microplastics Are Everywhere, Even In PA’s Cleanest Waterways

-- Scranton Times/Republican Herald Editorial: Legislators Like Plastics, Expect More  [PaEN] 

Top 10 Stories On Harrisburg/PA Politics Last Week--

Because In Politics Everything Is Connected To Everything Else--

-- Top 10 Stories: Harrisburg/PA Politics Reported By Local News Media Last Week [PaEN]

On The Governor’s Desk

All the environmental and energy bills passed by the General Assembly in the last flurry of legislative activity were signed into law by Gov. Wolf--

Massive Taxpayer Subsidies For Natural Gas, Hydrogen Industries: House Bill 1059 (Hickernell-R-Lancaster) providing $106.6 million in annual taxpayer subsidies to manufacturing and other businesses that use natural gas and hydrogen in their operations for at least 20 years.

The bill also more than doubles the tax credit for using natural gas to make petrochemicals or fertilizer from natural gas.

Over the next 20 years, taxpayer subsidies for these industries will cost over $2.1 billion and that’s on top of the $1.5 billion taxpayer subsidies the General Assembly previously adopted for just one plant-- the Shell Ethane Refinery in Beaver County.

Senate Fiscal Note & Summary.  Read more here.  Signed into law as Act 108.

Well Plugging Bill Grants To Conventional Industry: House Bill 2528 (Struzzi-R-Indiana) would mandate DEP award conventional oil and gas well plugging contracts to Pennsylvania contractors was amended to fix significant problems with the language in the former House Bill 2644-- Act 96-- to meet the requirements of the new federal conventional oil and gas well plugging program [Senate Fiscal Note & Summary].  The Committee again failed to address the biggest problem in Act 96, which is to ban DEP from increasing the conventional oil and gas plugging bonding amounts for 10 years.  Read more here.  Signed into law as Act 136.

Philadelphia LNG Study Task Force: House Bill 2458 (White-R-Philadelphia) create a taskforce to study the exportation of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to supply the energy needs of allies around the world and what obstacles are currently preventing Philadelphia from becoming a leader in exporting LNG [Senate Fiscal Note & Summary].  Read more here.  Signed into law as Act 133.

Oil & Gas Royalties: Senate Bill 806 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) further providing for disclosures on statements to oil and gas royalty interest owners [House Fiscal Note & Summary].  Signed into law as Act 253.

Blood Lead Testing For Children: Senate Bill 522 (Baker-R-Luzerne) requiring blood lead level testing in children [House Fiscal Note & Summary].  [Note: This legislation was first proposed in May 2019.  Read more here.]  Signed into law as Act 150.

Increasing Maximum Weight For Electric Trucks: Senate Bill 153 (Langerholc-R-Bedford) increasing the maximum weight for electric trucks [House Fiscal Note & Summary].  Signed into law as Act 145.

Adding Coal Refuse Member To MRAB: House Bill 668 (James-R-Butler) adding a member of the coal refuse reclamation industry to DEP’s Mining and Reclamation Advisory Board [Senate Fiscal Note & Summary].  Signed into law as Act 105.

Uniform Construction Code Changes Related To HFCs: House Bill 2079 (Delozier-R- Cumberland) amending the state Uniform Construction Code to allow the use of EPA-approved refrigerants in place of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) [Senate Fiscal Note & Summary].  Signed into law as Act 123.

Bill Calendars

House (November 14): House Bill 2069 (Cutler-R- Lancaster) Amend Article III, Section 9, to exempt the disapproval of a regulation by the General Assembly from the presentment requirement for the governor’s approval or disapproval [Read more here]; House Bill 2070 (Cutler- R-Lancaster) Amend Article IV, to add a new section providing that any executive order or proclamation issued by the governor, which purports to have the force of law, may not be in effect for more than 21 days, unless extended by concurrent resolution of the General Assembly [Read more here]; House Resolution 74 (Daley-D-Montgomery) directing the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to conduct a study of wildlife conservation corridors.  <> Click Here for full House Bill Calendar.

Senate (November 15): Senate Bill 1331 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) would deny counties revenue from the Act 13 drilling impact fee if they ban fracking on county-owned lands.  Read more here; Senate Bill 1338 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) and Senate Bill 1339 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) which try to rebrand fossil fuels like natural gas, propane into “low emission transportation fuels” and eliminate rebates and incentives for hybrid and electric vehicles Read more here;   House Bill 2367 (Mako-R -Northampton) would limit the issuance of permits for construction of wind turbines that could negatively affect military air space; House Bill 2406 (Fritz-R-Susquehanna): Would create a permit specific to smaller maintenance projects for the mitigation of flood-related hazards of less than 250 linear feet. This permit would be reviewed and issued by the local county conservation district Read more here; House Bill 2407 (Hamm-R- Lycoming): Would clarify that the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has no authority for permitting or enforcement related to stream clearing or maintenance activities Read more here; <> Click Here for full Senate Bill Calendar.

Committee Meetings

House   

<>  Click Here for full House Committee Schedule.

Senate

 <>  Click Here for full Senate Committee Schedule.

Bills Introduced

Landslide Insurance Program: House Bill 2914 (Gaydos-R-Allegheny) establishing a Landslide Insurance And Assistance Program (sponsor summary).

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.

Session Schedule

Here is the latest voting session schedule for the Senate and House--

Senate

November 15 [All Bills Die]

House

November 14, 15, 16  [All Bills Die]

[Posted: November 6, 2022]

11/7/2022