The House Game & Fisheries and Environmental Resources & Energy Committees hold a joint hearing on House Bill 1576 (Pyle-R-Armstrong) fundamentally changing the procedure for listing state threatened and endangered species on August 26.

The hearing will held at the Empire Beauty School Auditorium, 396 Pottsville St Clair Highway, Pottsville starting at  2:00.

The legislation would--

-- Require listings of endangered and threatened species designated by the Game and Fish and Boat Commissions to be done by regulation under the Regulatory Review Act.  (The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources already makes its designations by regulation.);

-- Would eliminated all species listed as threatened or endangered by Game and Fish and Boat Commission which have not gone through the designation process outline in the bill within two years; and

-- Consolidates the threatened and endangered species database into one listing managed by DCNR, rather than having DCNR, the Game and Fish and Boat Commissions managing separate databases.

A summary of the bill by the legislation’s sponsor is available online.  Identical legislation has been introduced in the Senate as Senate Bill 1047 (Scanati-R-Jefferson).

The legislation is being promoted by the Marcellus Shale drilling and coal mining industries.

The committees plan to hold another joint hearing on House Bill 1576 in Western Pennsylvania in the near future.

Rep. Ron Miller (R-York) serves as Majority Chair of the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and Rep. Greg Vitali (D-Delaware) serves as Minority Chair.

Rep. Martin Causer (R-Cameron) serves as Majority Chair of the House Game and Fisheries Committee and Rep. Gary Haluska (D-Cambria) serves as Minority Chair.

8/19/2013