Blessing the Cow Promotes REAP Farm Tax Credit

A variety of new environmental laws were put on the books during 2007, but leading the pack was the new $10 million Resource Enhancement and Protection Program (REAP) farm conservation tax credit program adopted through the efforts of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, PA Farm Bureau and a broad coalition of farm, environmental, hunting, angling and business groups.

Landowner Liability: House Bill 13 (Readshaw-D-Allegheny) relating to landowner liability opening land to recreation was signed into law and is now Act 11.

Storage Tanks: Senate Bill 815 (Musto-D-Luzerne) extending the storage tank pollution prevention programs through 2012 was signed into law and is now Act 20.

Deer Management: House Bill 881 (Haluska-D-Cambria) expands the authority of the Game Commission to issue permits to individuals to protect agricultural crops and making other changes to the Game Code was signed into law by the Governor as Act 26.

Nuclear Plant Fees: House Bill 496 (George-D-Clearfield) that would increase fees on nuclear power plants and for transportation escorts was signed into law by the Governor as Act 31.

Electric Distribution: House Bill 1530 (Dermody-D-Allegheny) providing for long-term electric supplier contracts was amended to narrow the focus to help major companies in Western Pennsylvania and signed into law by the Governor as Act 36.

Ownership of Renewable Energy Credits: House Bill 1203 (Hornaman-D-Erie) clarifying the ownership of renewable energy credits under the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards is now Act 35.

REAP Farm Conservation Tax Credits: Senate Bill 97 (D.White-R-Indiana) Tax Code changes including increasing film production tax credit, Education Improvement Credit, creating the Resource Enhancement and Protection tax credit and making changes to the Neighborhood Tax credit is now Act 55.

Mine Families First: House Bill 483 (Bastian-R-Somerset) establishing the Mine Families First Act prompted by the 2002 Quecreek Mine Rescue in Somerset county into law as Act 57.

Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund: Senate Bill 1100 (Pileggi-R-Delaware) that would provide a dedicated source of funding for the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Program by taking $17 million from legislative accounts to fund the program for the remainder of this fiscal year and re-establishes the earmark of $40 million in revenues from the Capital Stock and Franchise Tax annually through fiscal year 2010-11 was signed into law as Act 77.

Environmental Covenants: House Bill 43 (Rubley-R-Chester), establishing uniform environmental covenants for brownfield sites was signed into law as Act 68.

12/28/2007