New State Forest Leasing, Waste Fee Amendment

House Majority Leader Todd Eachus (D-Luzerne) has submitted a revised Fiscal Code amendment (A04410) for House Bill 1407 (DeLuca-D-Allegheny) which removes the exemption from the $4/ton Growing Greener fee for rail-shipped waste and the same State Forest leasing requirements as yesterday's amendment.
The bill and amendments should be considered today on the House Floor.
Just to refresh: the amendment includes a revised plan to lease State Forest land for natural gas drilling which capped the amount of acres the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources could lease at 30,000 for each of the next two years, sets a minimum bid of $3,000 per acre (rather than $2,500 in the Senate-passed version) and a minimum 18 percent (rather than 16 percent) royalty.
Moneys from the leasing would still go into the Oil and Gas Fund, but $60 million would be transferred out of the Fund in FY 2009-10 to help balance the budget. No transfers were included for FY 2010-11 (a $180 million transfer was included in the Senate-passed version for next year).
The amendment also includes an extension of the $2/ton Recycling Fee through 2020, creation of a Waste Tire Pile Cleanup Fund transferring $1.2 million from the Recycling Fund to the program.
Provisions related to water infrastructure were also included-- boiler plate language to implement the $400 million water infrastructure passed by voters last November and a revision to the definition of the types of organizations eligible for H20 Water Infrastructure financial assistance.
And also like the Senate version, language authorizing the Department of Environmental Protection to charge fees of up to $150 to applicants applying for funds under the Alternative Energy Investment Act of 2008; and eliminating funding to DEP for the Consumer Energy Program for FY 2009-10.