The Senate returns to voting session April 30 and the House May 7. Here’s what’s on the agenda…

House

Calendar: House Bill 772 (Hershey-R-Chester) establishing the Keystone Energy and Environmental Excellence Awards program and an energy efficiency and pollution reduction initiative; House Bill 913 (Vereb-R-Montgomery) establishing the Low-Income Weatherization Assistance Program; House Bill 894 (Leach-D-Montgomery) authorizing additional reimbursements for school building construction which meets the LEED standards.

Senate

Calendar: Senate Bill 352 (Robbins-R-Mercer) providing additional funds for Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program; Senate Bill 354 (MJWhite-R-Venango) prohibiting the Environmental Quality Board from accepting rulemaking petitions to regulate substances not authorized by current state or federal law.

Committees: the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee meets to consider Senate Bill 782 (MJWhite-R-Venango) that would increase fees on nuclear power plants and for transport escorts; and Senate Bill 815 (Musto-D-Luzerne) that would amend the Storage Tank Act to extend the sunset dates on certain programs; the Appropriations Committee meets to consider Senate Bill 105 (Musto-D-Luzerne) authorizing the Environmental Quality Board to hire independent counsel; the Game and Fisheries Committee holds an informational meeting on the 2006 Annual Report of the Game Commission.

Bills Introduced

Several more environmental bills were introduced this week…

Wildlife Pest Control: Senate Bill 773 (McIlhinney-R-Bucks) authorizing the Game Commission to issue commercial wildlife pest control permits.

Nuclear Power Plant Fees: Senate Bill 782 (MJWhite-R-Venango) increasing fees on nuclear power plants and for transport fees.

Landfill Siting: House Bill 1123 (Wansacz-D-Luzerne) amends Act 101 to prohibit siting a waste disposal facility within one-half mile of a cemetery and House Bill 1164 (Wansacz) requiring host municipality agreements for certain municipal and residual waste facilities in proximity to State Parks.

TreeVitalize License: House Bill 1172 (McGeehan-D-Montgomery) would authorize a TreeVitalize vehicle license plate with the proceeds dedicated to the program and House Bill 1173 (McGeenhan) authorizing a voluntary $1 surcharge per vehicle registration fee with the proceeds dedicated to the TreeVitalize program.

Biorefinery Zones: House Bill 1175 (Mann-D-Lehigh) would establish Keystone Biorefinery Opportunity Zones to facilitate the development of renewable fuels.

Solar Energy Systems: House Bill 1176 (Leach-D-Montgomery) would amend the Growing Greener Bond Fund to support the installation of residential solar energy systems and to support an education program.

Water Resource Sponsorship: House Resolution 245 (Gibbons-D-Beaver) urging PennVEST and DEP to establish a task force to study the feasibility of implementing a water resource restoration sponsorship program which restores streams and wetlands in conjuntion with improvements and repairs to wastewater treatment systems.

4/27/2007