The following bills saw action in the Senate and House this week--

Senate

Alternative Energy Incentives: Special Session Senate Bill 1 (M.White-R-Venango) to invest $530 million over the next seven years in consumer energy programs, energy conservation, and the development of alternative and renewable energy was reported from the Senate Special Session Committee on Energy Policies and is on the Senate Calendar for action.

Landfill Violations: Senate Bill 305 (Rafferty-R-Montgomery) amending the Solid Waste Management Act relating to repeat violations was reported from the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and is on the Senate Calendar for action.

Detergent Ban: Senate Bill 1017 (Brubaker-R-Lancaster) removing the exemption for dishwasher detergent in the Phosphate Detergent Act was reported from the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and is on the Senate Calendar for action.

Hazardous Waste Penalties: Senate Bill 1068 (M.White-R-Venango) requiring fines and penalties to be deposited in the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act was reported from the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and is on the Senate Calendar for action.

Keystone Fund Reporting: Senate Bill 1069 (M.White-R-Venango) requiring an annual report on the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund was reported from the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and is on the Senate Calendar for action.

Flood Control: Senate Bill 1086 (Regola-R-Westmoreland) amending the Flood Control Law to further provide for contracts and acquisition or property was reported from the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and then referred to Senate Appropriations Committee.

Brownfield Covenants: House Bill 43 (Rubley-R-Chester) providing for uniform environmental covenants for brownfields projects was reported from the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and is on the Senate Calendar for action.

House

Signs/TreeVitalize: House Bill 1519 (McGeehan-D-Philadelphia) providing penalties for illegal posting of signs and depositing penalties in a new TreeVitalize Program Fund was passed by the House and sent to the Senate for consideration.

Appalachian Trail: House Bill 1281 (Freeman-D-Lehigh) requiring municipalities to protect the Appalachian Trail was reported from House Appropriations Committee and is on the House Calendar for action.

Weatherization: House Bill 913 (Vereb-R-Montgomery) authorizing additional funding for the Low-Income Weatherization Program was referred to the House Appropriations Committee.

Tax Exclusion: House Bill 1186 (Levdansky-D-Allegheny) excluding certain EnergyStar compliant appliances from Sales Tax and other Tax Code changes was referred to the House Appropriations Committee.

Sewage Penalties: House Bill 1374 (Saylor-R-York) amending the penalty provisions of the Sewage Facilities Act was referred to the House Appropriations Committee.

Wind Farms: House Bill 656 (Bastian-R-Somerset) making it easier to develop wind farms on lands preserved under the Farmland and Forest Land Assessment Act was referred to the House Appropriations Committee.

Energy Efficient Lights: Special Session House Bill 8 (Leach-D-Montgomery) providing an exclusions from Sales Tax for fluorescent light bulbs was amended on the House floor and is on the House Calendar for action.

Energy Efficient Appliances: Special Session House Bill 11 (Parker-D-Philadelphia) providing an exclusion from Sales Tax for EnergyStar appliances was amended on the House floor and is on the House Calendar for action.

Plug-In Hybrids: House Bill 690 (Cohen-D-Philadelphia) establishing a Plug-In Hybrid Task Force was amended and reported from the House Appropriations Committee.

Curative Amendments: House Bill 1787 (McIlvaine Smith-D-Montgomery) further providing for curative amendments was reported from the House Local Government Committee.

Miner’s Day: House Resolution 410 (DeWeese-D-Greene) that designates December 19 as “Coal Miner’s Day” in Pennsylvania was reported from the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

Bills Introduced

HSCA Funding: House Bill 1896 (Roae-R-Crawford) amending the General Appropriation Act transferring $40 million to Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund from certain legislative accounts.

Landowner Liability: House Bill 1908 (Rohrer-R-Berks) encouraging landowners to open land and water areas for public recreation.

Alternative Fuel: House Bill 1910 (Civera-R-Delaware) tax credit for qualified alternative fuel distribution expenses.

Xenoestrogens: House Bill 1924 (Bennington-D-Allegheny) regulating xenoestrogens under the Clean Streams Law.

Storage Tanks: House Bill 1930 (Swanger-R-Lebanon) amending the Storage Tank Act providing additional eligibility criteria for prior cleanup claims.

Landslide Insurance: House Bill 1934 (DeLuca-D-Allegheny) establishing the Landslide Insurance and Assistance Program.

Low-Income Weatherization: Special Session House Bill 33 (Vereb-R-Montgomery) authorizing additional funding for the Low-Income Weatherization Assistance Program.

Drinking Water: Senate Bill 1109 (McIllhinney-R-Bucks) setting additional requirements for water systems in designated critical water recharge areas.

Natural Gas Resources: Senate Bill 1127 (M.White-R-Venango) establishing procedures for the development of natural gas resources on state land.

Electric Rate Mitigation: Senate Bill 1134 (Tomlinson-R-Bucks) providing for rate change mitigation, energy efficiency and demand response measurers and electric procurement. (This is an alternative to Gov. Rendell’s Energy Independence Initiative related to rate caps.)

Farmland Preservation: Senate Resolution 195 (Brubaker-R-Lancaster) directing the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to review the Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Program.

BioFuels: Special Session Senate Bill 21 (Dinniman-D-Chester) providing for the sale of alternative transportation fuels containing biodiesel content.

Alternative Fuels: Special Session Senate Bill 22 (Tomlinson-R-Bucks) amending the Alternative Fuels Incentive Fund providing funding for consumer education and providing a rebate for biodiesel or other alternative fuel vehicle in addition to hybrids.

Tax Reduction: Special Session Senate Bill 23 (Gordner-R-Columbia) reducing the fuel tax on ethanol and biofuels.

Tax Credit: Special Session Senate Bill 24 (Gordner-R-Columbia) providing a tax credit for qualified alternative fuel distributors.

Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards: Special Session Senate Bill 25 (Waugh-R-York) amending the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act adding sugars and lignins to the definition of biomass energy and deleting generation of electricity from wood byproducts from Tier II standards.

10/19/2007