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

House

Vehicle Emissions Inspection Study: Senate Bill 742 (Ward-R-Westmoreland) was amended by the House to require PennDOT and DEP to do vehicle emissions modeling to determine the effects of exempting newer vehicles from vehicle emissions inspection program and passed (House Fiscal Note & Summary).  The bill now returns to the Senate for a concurrence vote.

Use Of Open Space Funds For Maintenance: House Bill 908 (Rader-R-Monroe) authorizes the use of open space funds for land maintenance was referred into and out of the House Appropriations Committee and passed by the House (House Fiscal Note & Summary).  The bill now goes to the Senate for action.

Low-Head/Run-Of-River Dam Safety: House Bill 1003 (Gillespie-R-York) strengthening Fish and Boat Commission authority to enforce the marking of low-head or run-of-river dams was amended on the House Floor, referred into and out of the House Appropriations Committee and passed by the House (House Fiscal Note & Summary).  The bill now goes to the Senate for action.

Broadening Purpose Of Lake Erie Fishing Permit Fees: House Bill 1187 (Wentling-R-Erie) broadening the purposes of the fees collected for the Lake Erie fishing permit was referred into and out of the House Appropriations Committee and passed by the House (House Fiscal Note & Summary).  The bill now goes to the Senate for action.

Conventional Oil & Gas Drilling: Senate Bill 790 (Scarnati-R-Jefferson) reducing the environmental protections from the impact of conventional oil and gas drilling was amended and reported from the House Environmental and Energy Committee and referred to the House Appropriations Committee.  Click Here for more.

Ohiopyle Land Swap: House Bill 2045 (Dowling-R-Fayette) providing for a land swap between Ohiopyle State Park and the Borough of Ohiopyle was reported from the House Environmental and Energy Committee with a recommendation it be re-referred to the House State Government Committee.

Land Bank Act 2 Liability: House Bill 1737 (A. Davis-D-Allegheny) extending Act 2 brownfield liability protections to land held by land banks was removed from the Table and referred to the House Appropriations Committee.

Longer Unconventional Gas Well Laterals: House Bill 247 (Oberlander-R-Clarion) would amend Act 13 to authorize an accounting mechanism to allow for the drilling of longer unconventional gas well laterals was removed from the Table and is now on the House Calendar for action.  [Note: Since legislation like this became law last year as Act 58, one can only assume this will be used as a legislative vehicle for something else, like legalizing the road dumping of drilling wastewater?]

Maple Producers Week: House Resolution 653 (Causer-R-Cameron) designating March 16-22, 2020 Maple Producers Week in Pennsylvania (sponsor summary) was reported from the House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee and is now on the House Calendar for action.

1/20/2020