These environmental bills of interest were considered by the Senate and House this week—

Senate

Diesel Idling: Senate Bill 295 (Browne-R-Lehigh) limiting diesel idling was passed by the Senate and now goes to the House for action.

Deep Mine Safety: Senate Bill 949 (Kasunic-D-Somerset) making the first comprehensive revisions to the Bituminous Coal Mine Safety Act in 45 years, in-part based on recommendations made after the 2002 Quecreek Mine Rescue, was amended on Third Consideration and is on the Senate Calendar for final action.

Chesapeake Bay Cleanup: Senate Resolution 224 (Vance-R-Cumberland) directing the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to study the cost for wastewater treatment plants to comply with the Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy was reported from the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and is on the Senate Calendar for action.

Appalachian Trail: House Bill 1281 (Freeman-D-Lehigh) requiring municipalities to adopt zoning ordinances to protect the Appalachian Trail was amended and reported from the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and is on the Senate Calendar for action.

Zoning Ordinance Appeals: The Senate Local Government Committee amended and reported out House Bill 1329 (Kessler-D-Berks) further providing for appeals and challenges to zoning ordinances and House Bill 1330 (Kessler) further providing for appeals from official maps and local development ordinances and are on the Senate Calendar for action.

House

Theft of Scrap Materials: House Bill 1742 (Pashinski-D-Luzerne) the Scrap Material Theft Prevention Act was amended and passed by the House and now goes to the Senate for action.

Local Planning: The House Local Government Committee amended and reported out House Bill 1812 (Gillespie-R-York) amending the Municipalities Planning Code related to mediation and was referred to House Appropriations Committee.

Review of Guidelines: House Bill 674 (Reed-R-Indiana) that would broaden the review of guidelines and policies by the Independent Regulatory Review Commission was reported from the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and re-referred to the House Appropriations Committee.

Coal Bed Methane: House Bill 1735 (Yewcic-D-Cambria) sorting out the property rights associated with coal bed methane recovery was reported from the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and re-referred to the House Appropriations Committee.

Governor’s Energy Proposal: Special Session House Bill 1 (DePasquale-D-York) establishing a grant program and authorizing indebtedness for Energy Development Authority was amended to include the Senate’s funding mechanism and deleting the Governor’s system benefit charge and reported out of the House Finance Committee and then re-referred to the House Appropriations Committee.

Energy Conservation: House Bill 2200 (George-D-Clearfield) requiring utilities to adopt energy efficiency and demand-side management programs was amended by the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and re-referred to the House Appropriations Committee.

2/8/2008