04/15/24 - 66 New Stories - REAL Environmental & Conservation Leadership In PA: http://tinyurl.com/msuwtctm
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Major Environmental Legislative Issues In 2012, Same As 2011
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Following his 12 minute inaugural address last January, Gov. Corbett did not start his administration with the usual laundry list of "to-dos" like most Governors. He only had one-- bring in an on-time budget without raising taxes. He accomplished that goal with the help of his Republican colleagues in the Senate and House literally at the 11th hour in June 30 with very painful cuts reducing the size of state government by 4.1 percent.
The new FY 2011-12 budget preserved the disastrous Rendell cuts to environmental programs, but at least didn't make too many more. The bright spots were the Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP) Farm Conservation Tax Credit Program, which was restored to its full $10 million in funding, and a transfer of $15 million from the PA Infrastructure Investment Authority to the H2O Water Infrastructure Program administered by the Commonwealth Financing Authority.
After the budget, Marcellus Shale legislation was the top environmental priority for the year, which ultimately did not make it to the Governor's desk and is now in conference committee.
Almost all of the same environmental issues will be returning in 2012 to face the Corbett Administration and the General Assembly. Here is just a sampling of what's ahead--
-- Budg-a-geddon II: As the calendar ticks down to his February 7 budget address, the outlook for this budget season is in some ways grimmer than last year.
Budget Secretary Charles Zogby said during his mid-year budget briefing the Corbett Administration expects an end of fiscal year deficit of $500 million. As a result, Secretary Zogby said his office is preparing a list of current year spending cuts the Governor will consider implementing immediately at the beginning of the new year.
He said there is more than $1 billion in unavoidable spending growth which needs to be accommodated in the 2012-13 state budget. He pointed to a $520 million in increase school ($320 million) and state employee ($200 million) pension costs, $400 million increase in Medical Assistance and an $80 million increase in debt service, inspite of efforts to cut costs. Secretary Zogby said the bottom line is the Governor is likely to need about $750 million to bring the FY 2012-13 budget into balance. He said the Governor is not going to make up this shortfall with tax increases.
State agencies have already been asked to submit a budget assuming a further 5 percent reduction in spending, with no exemptions, but Secretary Zogby said no decisions have been made on any line items.
He also said the Corbett Administration has cut the number of new Capital Budget project authorizations in half and noted next year there will be an increase in Unemployment Compensation insurance for businesses, additional steps taken in controlling Corrections costs and more cuts or automatic sequestration of federal funding which will all have an impact on planning for FY 2012-2013.
-- Marcellus Shale: A late session flurry of activity where the Senate and House each passed separate Marcellus Shale bills ended when, on the last day of session, the House voted to send House Bill 1950 (Ellis-R-Butler) to a conference committee.
The separate bills passed by the Senate and House would amend the Oil and Gas Act to include additional environmental protection measures, but proposed very different drilling fee schemes.
The Senate favors a uniform, statewide fee supporting local communities and state environmental programs. The House Republicans supported the Governor's optional, county-imposed drilling fee to support local communities and would finance some state environmental programs through a separate allocation from DCNR's Oil and Gas Fund.
Intense negotiations for weeks prior to adjournment between Senate and House Republicans and the Corbett Administration failed to come to an agreement. They will continue into the new year in hopes something can be cobbled together to pass.
-- Renew Growing Greener: 2011 ended as it began-- without a plan to renew funding for the award-winning Growing Greener Program.
“Pennsylvania faces the imminent end of Growing Greener – a popular initiative that has provided investments in farmland preservation, conservation of open space, restoring and protecting Pennsylvania’s streams and rivers, improving and expanding state and local parks, preserving historic resources, and developing new trails and greenways. Unless action is taken in the near future, funds available for Growing Greener will be all but gone within a year,” said Andrew Heath, Executive Director of the Renew Growing Greener Coalition.
Even with such a comprehensive record of success, the Commonwealth continues to face a variety of pressing problems that threaten our communities, our rich natural and cultural heritage, and our quality of life:
-- Pennsylvania is losing three times as much forest, wildlife habitat, farmland and other open spaces to development as we are able to conserve;
-- The Commonwealth currently has 16,000 miles of streams that are unsafe for fishing or swimming;
-- Abandoned mines scar almost 190,000 acres in 44 counties and are the cause of over 5,000 miles of dead streams; and
-- More than 2,000 family farms remain on a statewide waiting list requesting protection from encroaching development so that they may continue Pennsylvania’s rich agricultural legacy.
Nearly 350 supporting organizations and local governments representing over 7 million people are part of the Renew Growing Greener Coalition.
-- Paying For Flood Damages: Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee roared through Pennsylvania causing hundreds of millions of dollars in property damage and at least seven deaths in September. It also caused yet another budget problem for the Commonwealth because the state is responsible for paying 25 percent of at least the public infrastructure cost of Federal Disaster Assistance in the 27 counties declared a disaster area.
In November the Senate passed a package of eight flood recovery bills sponsored by Senators John Gordner (R-Columbia), Gene Yaw (R-Bradford), Lisa Baker (R-Luzerne), John Blake (D-Lackawanna) and John Yudichak (D-Luzerne). The bills included:
-- Senate Bill 1264 (Baker-R-Luzerne) enacting the Flood Relief Act for September 2011 making an appropriation of $20 million for individual assistance;
-- Senate Bill 1266 (Gordner-R-Columbia) authorizing the incurring of $150 million in debt to fund flood damage recovery projects;
-- Senate Bill 1267 (Blake-D-Lackawanna) authorizing real estate tax abatement as a result of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee;
-- Senate Bill 1268 (Gordner-R-Columbia) authorizing the incurring of debt to repair flood damaged highways;
-- Senate Bill 1269 (Yaw-R-Bradford) adoption of capital projects to repair or replace flood damaged highways and bridges;
-- Senate Bill 1271 (Yudichak-D-Luzerne) an itemized list of flood damaged highway and bridge repair projects;
-- Senate Bill 1297 (Baker-R-Luzerne) establishing a $10 million Small Business Flood Relief Program of 2011; and
-- Senate Bill 1323 (Yaw-R-Bradford) establishing the Agriculture Disaster Recovery Program to provide disaster assistance to agricultural operations.
The House has yet to act on any specific flood recovery legislation.
-- Transportation Funding: The Governor's Transportation Commission issued a report in August detailing a list of recommendations for closing the more than $2 billion funding gap for highways, bridges and transit in the state.
Although the Senate and House Transportation Committees have had a series of joint hearings on the report, the Corbett Administration has yet to say what it supports in the recommendations. Everyone had listed transportation funding on their priority list for last Fall, but of course it did not get done.
Sen. Jake Corman (R-Centre), Majority Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, put together his own transportation funding package and floated it out for comments in late October.
In December, the Senate did pass Senate Bill 344 (Rafferty-R-Montgomery) which would establish Public-Private Partnerships in order to allow the private sector to join with the Commonwealth to provide funding to address transportation deficiencies throughout the state.
At nearly the same time, the House Transportation Committee amended and reported out House Bill 3 (Geist-R-Blair) authorizing public-private transportation partnerships doing the same thing. The House version is on the Calendar awaiting a vote when they return.
In their latest comments, both Gov. Corbett and Budget Secretary Charles Zogby said the stubbornly weak economy will have a significant impact on the timing of any transportation funding proposal.
Translation: Don't expect any fee increases as long as the economy is bad and don't expect any tax increases period.
Here's The Status Of Some Individual Environmental Bills
During 2011, the Senate and House each passed a number of environmental bills dealing with a variety of issues and sent them to the other chamber. Here's a quick rundown on some of those bills--
Now In Senate
Marcellus Shale: Senate Bill 1100 (Scarnati-R-Jefferson) would impose additional environmental protection measures on Marcellus Shale drilling and enact a uniform, statewide drilling fee. The bill is in the House Finance Committee. A now identical bill, House Bill 1950 (Ellis-R-Butler) was sent on its way to a conference committee by the House just before adjourning in December. A summary and Senate Fiscal Note are available.
Gas Well Emergencies: Senate Bill 995 (Baker-R-Luzerne) requiring gas well operators to post certain 911 response information at the entrance to each well site was returned to the Senate for concurrence in House amendments.
Infrastructure Replacement: House Bill 1294 (Godshall-R-Montgomery) authorizing the PUC to establish a distribution system improvement charge (DSIC) as an alternative to regular rate cases to recover costs associated with replacing pipelines and other utility infrastructure was passed by the House in October. The bill is in the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee. A summary and House Fiscal Note are available.
Biofuels: House Bill 807 (Sonney-R-Erie) adding additional measures to enforce the biodiesel mandate is in the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee. A summary and House Fiscal Note are available.
Bioenergy Mine Reclamation: House Bill 608 (Brooks-R-Crawford) providing for using bioenergy crops for reclamation of abandoned mines is in the Senate Appropriations Committee. A summary and House Fiscal Note are available.
Small Business Relief: House Bill 1349 (Pickett-R-Susquehanna) requiring the review of regulations for their impact on small businesses and granting pre-enforcement review of regulations by small businesses aggrieved parties is in the Senate Appropriations Committee. A summary and House Fiscal Note are available.
Engineers/Geologists: House Bill 1054 (Mustio-R-Allegheny) amending the Engineer, Surveyor and Geologists Registration Law further providing for continued professional competency requirements is in the Senate Appropriations Committee. A summary and House Fiscal Note are available.
Leaf Waste: House Bill 1691 (Godshall-R-Montgomery) further dealing with leaf waste under Act 101 is in the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee. A summary and House Fiscal Note are available.
Anthracite Mining Reclamation: House Bill 1813 (Tobash-R-Berks) amending the surface mining act to further providing for anthracite reclamation financial guarantees is in the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee. A summary and House Fiscal Note are available.
Conservation Corps: House Bill 1683 (Culver-R-Northumberland) transferring the PA Conservation Corps Program from the Department of Labor and Industry to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources was Tabled in the Senate. A summary and Senate Fiscal Note are available.
DEP Fund Reporting: House Bill 1416 (Evankovich-R-Armstrong) requiring additional reports on expenditures from the Clean Water, Solid Waste Abatement and Clean Air Fund administered by DEP is in the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee. A summary and House Fiscal Note are available.
Now In House
Marcellus Shale: House Bill 1950 (Ellis-R-Butler) was sent on its way to a conference committee by the House just before adjourning in December. The bill, as amended by the Senate, is identical to Senate Bill 1100 (Scarnati-R-Jefferson). A summary and Senate Fiscal Note are available.
Drilling On Other State Lands: Senate Bill 367 (D.White-R-Indiana) authorizing the leasing of mineral rights on other state lands and depositing the proceeds in the Environmental Stewardship Fund. The bill is in the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.
The bill requires a minimum of 50 percent of revenue received from bonus and lease payments to go to the Environmental Stewardship Fund or the Key '93 Fund. The remaining revenue will go into the General Fund. All money derived from the PA State System of Higher Education land will be deposited into the Key '93 Fund.
Gas Lease Payments: Senate Bill 460 (Yaw-R-Bradford) requiring when payment is made for oil or gas production to an interest owner, itemized deduction information will be included on the check stub or an attachment to the form payment. The bill is in the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.
Hazardous Sites Cleanup: Senate Bill 303 (MJ White-R-Venango) further providing for reports under the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act was Tabled in the House.
Air Quality Plans: Senate Bill 304 (MJ White-R-Venango) requiring further public review of state Air Quality Implementation Plans was Tabled in the House. A summary and Senate Fiscal Note are available.
Trail Liability: Senate Bill 469 (Argall-R-Schuylkill) allows walking, jogging, bicycling, exercising and horseback riding on nature trails as a recreational purpose by limiting liability is in the House Tourism and Recreational Development Committee.
Transportation Partnerships: Senate Bill 344 (Rafferty-R-Montgomery) authorizing private-public partnerships on transportation projects is in the House Transportation Committee. A summary and Senate Fiscal Note are available. Similar legislation-- House Bill 3 (Geist-R-Blair)-- is on the House Calendar for action.
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1/2/2012 |
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