Senate, House Return For 11 Voting Days Before November Election

Monday the Senate and House return to voting session and begin one of the shortest Fall sessions in recent years.  Only 11 voting days are scheduled between now and the November 4 election.  

Republican Senate and House Leaders have already said there will be no lame duck session after the election, so whatever gets done, or not done, in the next few weeks will be all she wrote for legislation for the year.

As the schedule stands now, any bills not on the Governor’s desk by October 15 will have to start over in January.

Some of the environmental bills that could be in play in the Senate and House (which means bills that have been moving or have at least passed one chamber or are key issues) include--

House

-- Elimination Of Buffer Requirement: House Bill 1565 (Hahn-R-Northampton) eliminating the current requirement for stream buffers in High Quality and Exceptional Value streams.  The House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee is scheduled to act on the bill Monday.  Click Here for background on the bill.

-- Conventional Well Regulation: House Bill 2350 (Causer-R-Cameron) regulating conventional oil and gas wells differently than unconventional, Marcellus Shale wells, was reported from the House Rules Committee Monday and Tabled.  A provision similar to this was included in the Fiscal Code bill signed into law in July, but the House still moved this bill Monday.  Click Here for background on the bill.

-- Eliminating Protections For Endangered Species: House Bill 1576 (Pyle-R-Armstrong) would eliminate some protections for endangered species and set additional requirements for adopting Wild Trout Streams.  The bill was Tabled in the House.  Click Here for background on the bill.

-- Sewer/Water P2 Partnerships: House Bill 2239 (Evankovich-R-Armstrong) authorizing public-private partnerships for sewer, water, school district projects was reported out of the House Rules Committee Monday and Tabled.

-- Aggregate Advisory Board: Senate Bill 1155 (Scarnati-R-Jefferson) creating a Aggregate Advisory Board within DEP- sponsor summary-- is scheduled to be considered by the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee Monday.

-- Impact Of Wind Turbines: House Resolution 925 (Rapp-R-Forest) directing the Joint State Government Commission to study the impact of wind turbines in Pennsylvania, in particular the impact on migratory birds and of forest removal- sponsor summary-- is scheduled to be considered by the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee on Monday.

-- Leasing State Lands For Mineral Development: Senate Bill 1443 (White-R-Indiana) amending the Indigenous Mineral Resources Development Act to authorized state agencies (other than DCNR) to release mineral rights whether they owned the surface rights or not is in the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

-- Natural Gas Royalties: House Bill 1684 (Everett-R-Lycoming) which seeks to clarify a minimum royalty payment in state law has been on the House Calendar for action.

-- Natural Gas Royalties: Senate Bill 1236 would expand upon the Oil and Gas Lease Act by allowing royalty interest owners the opportunity to inspect records of natural gas companies to verify proper payments.  In addition, the bill requires all royalty payments be made within 60 days of production unless otherwise stated in the contract.  Any delinquent payments are to be paid with interest.  The bill is in the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

-- Natural Gas Royalties: Senate Bill 1237 would prohibit a gas company from retaliating against any royalty interest owner by terminating their lease agreement or ceasing development on leased property because a royalty interest owner questions the accuracy of current royalty payments.  Companies found to have violated the provisions of this act face civil penalties of up to $1,000 per day. The bill is in the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

-- Natural Gas Royalties: Senate Bill 1238 would require a gas company to record a surrender document in the county Recorder of Deeds office where the oil and gas well is located within 30 days upon expiration, termination, or forfeiture of an oil and gas lease. The surrender document will release the gas company’s interests in the oil and gas. This is similar to what a mortgage company would be required to do after a mortgage was paid in full.  The bill is in the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

-- Nuclear Reactor Fees: Senate Bill 1355 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) increasing fees paid by nuclear reactors to fund DEP oversight program is in the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

-- Variable Electric Rate Contracts: House Bill 2104 (Godshall-R-Montgomery) further providing for consumer protections in variable rate electric supplier contracts is on the House Calendar for action.

-- State Geospatial Coordinating Board: Senate Bill 771 (Gordner-R-Columbia) establishing the State Geospatial Coordinating Board is on the House Calendar for action.

-- North American Oil Reserves: House Resolution 249 (Swanger-R-Lebanon) supporting increased development and delivery of oil from North American oil reserves- sponsor summary-- is on the House Calendar for action.

Senate

-- Drinking Water Well Standards: House Bill 343 (Miller-R-York) setting standards for drinking water wells is in the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

-- Legislative Approval Of DEP Climate Plan: House Bill 2354 (Snyder-D-Fayette) which requires Senate and House approval of any plan DEP submits to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants is in the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.  Click Here for background on the bill.

-- Eliminating Protections For Endangered Species: Senate Bill 1047 (Scarnati-R- Jefferson)  would eliminate some protections for endangered species and set additional requirements for adopting Wild Trout Streams.  The bill is in the Senate Game and Fisheries Committee.  Click Here for background on the bill.

-- Conventional Well Regulation: Senate Bill 1378 (Scarnati-R-Jefferson) regulating conventional oil and gas wells differently than unconventional, Marcellus Shale wells, is in the Senate Appropriations Committee. A provision similar to this was included in the Fiscal Code bill signed into law in July, but the House still moved its version of the bill Monday.  Click Here for background on the bill.

-- Nutrient Reduction Watershed Scheme: Senate Bill 994 (Vogel-R-Beaver) would construct an unaffordable scheme to fund one technology that claims to reduce nutrients from manure. The bill was Tabled in the Senate.  Click Here for background on the bill.

-- PA Grade Crude Development Advisory Council: Senate Bill 1310 (Hutchinson-R-Venango) creating the PA Grade Crude Development Advisory Council within DEP is in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

-- Leasing DCNR Land For Alternative Energy Development: Senate Bill 684 (Wozniak-D- Cambria) further providing for the leasing of DCNR lands for wind, solar and other energy projects is in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

-- Local Recreation Fees: House Bill 1052 (Freeman-D-Lehigh) further authorizes uses for local recreation fees was in position for a final vote in the Senate prior to summer recess, but was Tabled.

-- Nuclear Reactor Fees: House Bill 2264 (Miller-R-York) increasing fees paid by nuclear reactors to fund DEP oversight program is in the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

-- Backup Generators: House Bill 1699 (Ross-R-Chester) setting air quality standards for backup generators is in the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

-- Green State Buildings: House Bill 34 (Harper-R-Montgomery) setting green building standards for state owned or leased buildings is in the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

The gubernatorial election and local House and Senate races will also have an influence on what bills various legislative caucuses try to push-- like a natural gas severance tax or not-- to potentially help or contrast their candidate to his opponent.

There are lots of potential issues that could or might get done, but ultimately, with so few voting days left, the Leadership in the Senate and House will determine which issues are addressed and which issues will be left to the new legislative session in January.

We’ll see what happens.

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