The following bills were signed into law by Gov. Rendell this week. There are no other bills awaiting his action.

Deep Mine Safety: Senate Bill 949 (Kasunic-D-Somerset) update to the Bituminous Coal Mine Safety Act was signed into law by the Governor and is now Act 55. (See separate article)

Great Lakes Compact: House Bill 1705 (Harkins-D-Erie) adopting the Great Lakes Compact regulating water withdrawals was signed into law and is now Act 43. (See separate article)

PA Environmental Ed Center: Senate Bill 356 (M.White-R-Venango) establishing the PA Center for Environmental Education in law was signed into law as Act 71.

Water Infrastructure: Senate Bill 1341 (Musto-D-Luzerne) authorizing a $400 million bond issue voter referendum for water, wastewater and stormwater projects was signed nto law as Act 64 and Senate Bill 2 (Earll-R-Erie) providing $800 million in funding for drinking water, wastewater, flood protection and high hazard dam repair projects was signed into law as Act 63. Both are part of the PA Fair Share for Clean Water Plan. (See separate article)

Climate Change Plan: Senate Bill 266 (Erickson-R-Delaware) requiring the development of a state climate change action plan was signed into law as Act 70.

Renewable Energy: Special Session House Bill 1 (DePasquale-D-York) that would provide the Commonwealth Financing Authority with $500 million in bond funding and $150 million in General Fund revenues for a variety of renewable energy programs was signed into law as Special Session Act 1; House Bill 1202 (Gerber-D-Montgomery) establishing a state mandate for biodiesel and cellulosic ethanol use based on in-state biofuel production capacity is now Act 78; Special Session Senate Bill 22 (Tomlinson-R-Bucks) providing for biodiesel production incentives of 75 cents per gallon for three years ($5.3 million annually) and creating a nitrogen tire inflation system grant program was signed into law as Special Session Act 2. (See separate article)

Conservation District Law Update: Senate Bill 1020 (Wonderling-R-Montgomery) updating the 1945 Conservation District Law was signed into law as Act 75.

Capital Budget Bill: House Bill 1589 (D.Evans-D-Philadelphia) the 2007-08 Capital Budget itemized project bill was signed into law as Act 41.

Zoning Ordinances: House Bill 1329 (Kessler-D-Berks) and House Bill 1330 (Kessler) further providing for appeals and challenges to zoning ordinances were signed into law this week. House Bill 1329 is now Act 39 and House Bill 1330 is Act 40.

7/11/2008