Here’s the rundown on environmental bills moving in the General Assembly this week….

Mine Safety: House Bill 483 (Bastian-R-Somerset) creating the Mine Families First Program to provide assistance to families involved in mine rescue incidents was passed by the House and sent to the Senate for consideration.

Game Commission Board: House Bill 1214 (Surra-D-Elk) changing the terms of Game Commissioners from eight years to four years was passed by the House and sent to the Senate.

Center for Environmental Education: Senate Bill 356 (MJWhite-R-Venango) establishing the Pennsylvania Center for Environmental Education in law was amended to add a seat on the board for conservation districts and reported from the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

Geospatical Council: House Intergovernmental Afffairs Committee Subommittee on Information Technology recommended the full committee consider House Bill 1304 (Fairchild-R-Mifflin) establishing the PA Geospatical Council with an amendment to change the name of the Council. The Committee said it will schedule a public hearing on the bill.

Neighborhood Developments: House Bill 1280 (Freeman-D-Lehigh) amending the Municipalities Planning Code to further define traditional neighborhood development was referred to House Appropriations Committee.

Appalachian Trail: House Bill 1281 (Freeman-D-Northampton) requiring municipalities to take steps to protect the Appalachian Trail was amended and reported out of the House Local Government Committee and re-committed to House Rules Committee.

Transmission Lines: House Resolution 297 (DeWeese-D-Greene) expressing opposition to the designation of national interest electric transmission corridors was reported from the House Intergovernmental Affairs Committee. NewsClip: Pittsburgh Added to Public Meeting Sites for National Corridor Designations

Green Schools: House Bill 894 (Leach-D-Montgomery) authorizing the Department of Education to provide extra reimbursement for school building construction meeting LEED green building standards was reported from the House State Government Committee with a request that it be re-referred to the House Education Committee.

Electric Meter Loan Program: House Bill 1297 (Leach-D-Montgomery) establishing an electric meter lending program in local liabraries was reported out of the House Education Committee with a request the bill be referred to the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

Pollution Prevention/Awards: House Bill 772 (Hershey-R-Chester) establishing the Keystone Energy and Environmental Excellence Program and an energy efficiency and pollution reduction initiative was re-referred to the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

Low-Income Weatherization: House Bill 913 (Vereb-R-Montgomery) establishing the Low-Income Weatherization Assistance Program was re-referred to the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

Main Street Program: House Bill 420 (Hickernell-R-Lancaster) revising the definition of “downtown” under the Main Street Program to include mixed uses was referred to the House Appropriations Committee.

Game & Fisheries Billls: The House Game and Fisheries Committee reported out these bills-- House Bill 1116 (Kortz-D-Allegheny) authorizing vouchers for game licenses (as amended), House Bill 1109 (Staback-D-Lackawanna) authorizing vouchers for fishing licences (both of which were recommitted to the House Rules Committee) and Senate Bill 580 (Madigan-R-Tioga) use of dogs while hunting wild turkey.

6/8/2007