On March 8, Republicans on the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee reported out two bills “reforming” the regulatory review process; one would allow the General Assembly to kill final regulations by doing nothing.

The bills include--

-- Kill Regulations By Doing Nothing: Senate Bill 188 (DiSanto-R-Dauphin) amending the Regulatory Review Act to authorize the General Assembly to kill “economically significant” regulations by doing nothing.

Senate Bill 188 would require legislative approval of any economically significant final regulation or final-omitted regulation that has an impact of $1 million or more on a regulated community.

The bill requires the Independent Fiscal Office to estimate the cost of the regulation.  There is no requirement to calculate the environmental or economic benefits of a regulation or compare the cost to doing nothing.

In order for a final regulation approved by the Independent Regulatory Review Commission to go into effect, the Senate and House would have to adopt a concurrent resolution approving the regulation.

If one or both of the chambers failed to act, the final regulation would be deemed NOT approved and would be prohibited from taking effect.

-- Three-Year Review Of Regulations: Senate Bill 190 (Brooks-R- Crawford) requiring an automatic three-year review of economically significant regulations in a process similar to what was called “sunset reviews” decades ago. That process was abandoned by the General Assembly because it became a costly, time-consuming exercise with little benefit.

The bills will now go to the full Senate for action.

Bill Opposition

The PA Environmental Council and Environmental Defense Fund wrote to members of the Committee to oppose the bills--

Dear Senators:

 We urge you to oppose Senate Bill 188 and Senate Bill 190, which are scheduled for consideration by the Intergovernmental Operations Committee tomorrow. 

Senate Bill 188 requires that, before any proposed rulemaking deemed “economically significant” (as defined in the legislation) can be finalized and implemented, the General Assembly must pass a concurrent resolution to approve it. In practice, this means that mere inaction of the General Assembly could negate a proposed rulemaking – even if it is expressly required by existing state or federal law. In addition, without explanation, this legislation subjects revisions of select general permits administered by the Department of Environmental Protection to this same concurrent resolution process.

Given that the General Assembly already has the authority to adopt concurrent resolutions to abrogate a rulemaking, this legislation is unnecessary. Further, Senate Bill 188 will create considerable delay and uncertainty for an array of rulemakings (ranging from labor to environmental to education) already subject to extensive public input and review by the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC).

Senate Bill 190 requires agencies to periodically review existing “economically significant regulations” and issue reports to the IRRC. IRRC is then required to conduct a public comment period and issue its own findings on each subject regulation. While theoretically useful, this legislation places considerable time and capacity strain on agencies and IRRC without any new funding or support. These requirements are similar to a process (“sunset reviews”) once required and then abandoned by the General Assembly because it proved too costly, time-consuming, and resulted in little to no public benefit.

For these reasons, we ask that you oppose these bills. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

John Walliser

Senior Vice President, Legal & Government Affairs

Pennsylvania Environmental Council

Mandy Warner

Director, Pennsylvania

Environmental Defense Action Fund

Click Here to watch a video of the Committee meeting.

Sen. Jarrett Coleman (R-Bucks) serves as Major Chair of the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee and can be contacted by calling 717-787-1349 or through his website.  Sen. Christine Tartaglione (D-Philadelphia) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by calling 717-787-1141 or sending email to: tartaglione@pasenate.com.

PA Oil & Gas Public Notice Dashboards:

-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - March 4 to 10; Big Week For Spills  [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - March 11 [PaEN]

-- DEP Posts 84 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In March 11 PA Bulletin  [PaEN]

PA Oil & Gas Compliance Reports

-- Feature: 60 Years Of Fracking, 20 Years Of Shale Gas: Pennsylvania’s Oil & Gas Industrial Infrastructure Is Hiding In Plain Sight [PaEN]

-- Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners Failed To File Annual Production/Waste Generation Reports For 61,655 Wells; Attorney General Continues Investigation Of Road Dumping Wastewater  [PaEN] 

-- DEP Issued 754 Notices Of Violation For Defective Oil & Gas Well Casing, Cementing, The Fundamental Protection Needed To Prevent Gas Migration, Groundwater & Air Contamination, Explosions  [PaEN]

-- DEP Report Finds: Conventional Oil & Gas Drillers Routinely Abandon Wells; Fail To Report How Millions Of Gallons Of Waste Is Disposed; And Non-Compliance Is An ‘Acceptable Norm’  [PaEN]

-- DEP 2021 Oil & Gas Program Annual Report Shows Conventional Oil & Gas Operators Received A Record 610 Notices Of Violation For Abandoning Wells Without Plugging Them  [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industry Has Record Year: Cost, Criminal Convictions Up; $3.1 Million In Penalties Collected; Record Number Of Violations Issued; Major Compliance Issues Uncovered; Evidence Of Health Impacts Mounts  [PaEN]

Related Articles This Week - Energy:

-- Gov. Shapiro’s Budget Proposes Major Initiative To Speed Up DEP Permit Reviews/ Inspections; Double Oil & Gas Fund Investment In State Parks/Forests Infrastructure  [PaEN]

-- Rep. Greg Vitali Named Majority Chair Of House Environmental Committee; House Appoints Committee Members  [PaEN]

-- DEP Oil & Gas Advisory Board Meets March 13 To Hear Updates On Regulation Of Natural Gas Storage Areas, Chapter 78 Regs; Federal Well Plugging Program, Carbon Capture, Hydrogen Development  [PaEN]

-- DEP Hosting 6 Regional Engagement Sessions On Climate Action For Environmental Justice Communities Starting April 5  [PaEN]

-- The Guardian: One Of The Worst Global Methane Leaks In 2022 Was In PA - Equitrans In Cambria County; Routine Abandonment, Non-Compliance Of Conventional Gas Wells  [PaEN]

-- DEP Methane Overflight Research Study Resulted In Voluntary Reductions In Oil & Gas, Landfill Facilities; Coal Industry Uncooperative [PaEN]

-- Scranton Times Editorial: Lower Boom On Natural Gas Leaks, Audit Abandoned Gas Well Capping  [PaEN]

-- Save Our Streams PA Hosting April 28-30 Abandoned Well Weekend Workshop In Bradford County  [PaEN]

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Meets March 16 On 6 Natural Gas Drilling Water Uses; 4.5 MGD Out-Of-Basin Transfer  [PaEN]

-- Senate Passes Bill Blocking Local Elected Officials From Moving To Cleaner Energy Sources To Combat Climate Change [PaEN]

-- Rep. Fiedler, Labor Leaders, Educational, Environmental Leaders Announce Bill To Create Grant Program To Invest In Solar Energy Facilities At Schools  [PaEN]

-- PA Solar Center Hosts March 17 Webinar On Opportunities For PA In Solar Supply Chain, Solar Recycling And Reuse [PaEN]

-- Penn State PA Technical Assistance Program Hosts March 23 TEC Talk On Trends On Industry Decarbonization At Hazleton Campus  [PaEN]

-- U.S. EIA: 'Increasing Electricity Generation From Renewable Sources Contributes To Lower Power Prices' In 2023  [PaEN]

-- Bill Setting Decommissioning Rules For Utility-Scale Solar Energy Facilities Passes The Senate  [PaEN]

-- Sen. Yaw Proposes Independent Energy Office To Promote Development Of PA’s Diverse Energy Portfolio - Natural Gas, Nuclear Power, Coal [PaEN]

-- U.S. Senate Hearing: Energy, Environmental Impacts Of Cryptocurrency Mining In Pennsylvania  [PaEN]

-- Republicans On Senate Committee Report Out Bill Allowing General Assembly To Kill Regulations By Doing Nothing  [PaEN]

Related Article This Week - Train Derailment:

-- Pennsylvania State Actions Responding To Ohio/PA Train Derailment - Week Of March 6  [PaEN]

[Posted: March 8, 2023]

3/13/2023