Last Week/This Week At The Capitol

Last Week/This Week gives you a quick summary of action in the Pennsylvania Senate and House last week on environmental, energy bills and issues and a preview of what’s coming up this week from the October 8 PA Environment Digest.

Last Week

The Senate last week positioned Sen. John Rafferty’s (R-Montgomery) Senate Resolution 373 (Rafferty-R-Montgomery) concurrent Senate-House resolution to establish a Senate-House legislative Commission to Study Pipeline Construction and Operations for a vote by the full Senate during its final scheduled 3 voting days before the November 6 election.

Also on the Senate Calendar for action are 3 other bills related to pipelines--

-- Senate Bill 1199 (Rafferty-R-Montgomery)-- providing for a landowners’ bill of rights in cases of eminent domain, including by private entities like pipeline companies (sponsor summary);

-- Senate Bill 930 (Dinniman-D- Chester) setting notification requirements related to pipeline emergencies (sponsor summary); and

-- Senate Bill 931 (Dinniman-D-Chester) requiring the installation of automatic or remote controlled safety values in natural gas pipelines in densely populated areas.  Click Here for more.

The Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee Tuesday heard from a series of presenters covering issues related to invasive and native species.

One highlight of the hearing was a presentation by Dr. Doug Tallamy of the Department of Entomology & Applied Ecology at the University of Delaware who outlined how homeowners and landowners have a major role to play in strengthening natural diversity in our landscapes so they can better support wildlife, pollinators and humans.

Tallamy said non-native, invasive plant species are “ecologically castrating” our landscapes, but there is a solution. Folks really need to see Dr. Tallamy’s presentation.  Click Here for more.

Also moving last week were bills in the Senate to eliminating tailpipe emissions testing for 1992-1995 vehicles, providing further liability protection for landowners opening their lands for public recreation and a resolution recognizing October 8 as National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day!  Click Here for more.

In the House, bipartisan legislation-- House Bill 2681 (Santora-R-Delaware)-- was introduced to authorize community solar projects.  Click Here for more.

This Week

One highlight this week is a meeting Tuesday by the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee on long fought over legislation to address, at least in part, the issue of minimum natural gas royalties.  Click Here for more.

On Wednesday, the House Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee will take up House Resolution 1112 (Barrar-R-Delaware) calling on federal government to recognize the importance of durable, flood-resilient infrastructure (sponsor summary).

Only the House will be in session this week-- October 9, 10 and they added the 11th.

Then both the House and Senate are back October 15, 16, 17 for the last scheduled voting days before the November 6 election.

This Week Bill Calendars

Here is legislation pending on the House and Senate bill calendars for action.

-- House (Oct. 9): House Bill 1401 (DiGirolamo-R-Bucks) which amends Title 58 to impose a sliding scale natural gas severance tax, in addition to the Act 13 drilling impact fee, on natural gas production (NO money for environmental programs) and includes provisions related to minimum landowner oil and gas royalties; House Bill 1446 (Quinn-R- Bucks) encouraging infrastructure for electric and natural gas fueled vehicles; House Bill 2105 (Fritz-R- Susquehanna) abolishing certain “obsolete” boards and commissions; House Bill 2638 (Stephens-R- Montgomery) establishes the Military Installation Remediation Authority to address cleanup costs at the former Willow Grove Naval Air Station funded by redirecting Sales Tax revenue from the redevelopment of the facility (sponsor summary); House Resolution 284 (Moul-R-Adams) urging Congress to repeal the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s MS4 Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program (sponsor summary); House Resolution 943 (Tallman-R-Adams) urging the federal Food And Drug Administration to promptly consider candidates for Lyme disease vaccinations; Senate Bill 1172 (Vulakovich-R-Allegheny) further providing for enforcement of price gouging provisions during an emergency declaration (Senate Fiscal Note and summary).  <> Click Here for full House Bill Calendar.

-- Senate (Oct. 15): Senate Bill 820 (Aument-R- Lancaster) providing liability protection for owners and operators of on-farm agritourism activities (sponsor summary); Senate Bill 930 (Dinniman-D- Chester) sets notification requirements related to pipeline emergencies (sponsor summary); Senate Bill 931 (Dinniman-D-Chester) requires the installation of automatic or remote controlled safety values in natural gas pipelines in densely populated areas; Senate Bill 1199 (Rafferty-R- Montgomery) providing for a landowners’ bill of rights in cases of eminent domain, including by private entities like pipeline companies (sponsor summary); Senate Resolution 214 (Greenleaf-R-Montgomery) urging Pennsylvania natural gas producers to export gas to European countries in an effort to curtail the monopoly that Russia has on supply to that region (sponsor summary); Senate Resolution 373 (Rafferty-R-Montgomery) is a concurrent Senate-House resolution to establish a Senate-House legislative Commission to Study Pipeline Construction and Operations and to recommend improvements for the safe transport of oil, natural gas and other hazardous liquids through pipelines; House Bill 86 (Lawrence-R-Chester) eliminating tailpipe emissions testing for 1992-1995 vehicles in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia areas (House Fiscal Note and summary); House Bill 1550 (Klunk-R-York) amending the Agricultural Area Security Law to allow for a residence for the principal landowner (House Fiscal Note and summary); House Bill 2154 (Causer-R-Cameron) which would weaken environmental standards for conventional (not Shale) oil and gas drilling. <> Click Here for full Senate Bill Calendar.

Last Week Senate/House Bills Moving

The following bills of interest saw action last week in the House and Senate--

House

-- Abolishing Boards/Commissions: House Bill 2105 (Fritz-R-Susquehanna) abolishing certain “obsolete” boards and commissions was removed from the Table and is now on the House Calendar for action.

-- Nutrient Management Board: Senate Bill 1171 (Brooks-R-Crawford) changing the membership of the Nutrient Management Advisory Board was amended to provide detailed procedures for DEP to consult with the existing Agricultural Advisory Board on the adoption of technical guidance, changes to permits affecting agriculture and regulations and was reported out of the House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee and Tabled.

Senate

-- Tailpipe Testing: House Bill 86 (Lawrence-R-Chester) eliminating tailpipe emissions testing for 1992-1995 vehicles in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia areas (House Fiscal Note and summary) was reported out of the Senate Appropriations Committee and is now on the Senate Calendar for action.

-- Pipeline Commission: Senate Resolution 373 (Rafferty-R-Montgomery) establishing a commission to study pipeline construction and operations was removed from the Table and is now on the Senate Calendar for action.

-- Recreation Liability: House Bill 544 (Moul-R-Adams) further providing for liability protection for landowners opening their land for public recreation was referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

-- Mushroom Compost: Senate Bill 917 (Dinniman-D-Chester) amends Act 101 Municipal Waste Planning and Recycling Act to include spent mushroom compost under the definition of “compost materials to encourage its reuse (sponsor summary) was Tabled

-- Fuel Cell Day: Senate Resolution 459 (Mensch-R-Montgomery) recognizing October 8 as National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day in Pennsylvania was adopted by the Senate.

        For more, read this week’s PA Environment Digest.  Send questions, inquiries to Editor David E. Hess, former Secretary of DEP, by email to: PaEnviroDigest@gmail.com.