The Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee has scheduled a voting meeting on 4 bills for October 22 and at the end of the meeting there will be a briefing and discussion of the Governor’s Executive Order directing DEP to join the interstate Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
Bills
The Committee is scheduled to consider these bills, which together, will slow down DEP’s permit review process, make it more complex, impose more costs on DEP staff without addressing the fundamental issues needed to improve the permit process.
The bills include--
-- Narrowing Grounds For Citizen Appeals Of DEP Permits: Senate Bill 726 (Bartolotta-R- Washington) which would create a new standard for the review for appeals of DEP permit actions before the Environmental Hearing Board by limiting parties appealing permit decisions-- a company or a citizens group-- to issues raised in and information contained in a record of decision on each permit DEP staff would have to prepare.
This bill alone will significantly slow down the review process for every single DEP permit as staff now has to devote their time to prepare the record of decision. While it may seem like a good idea in an academic sense, the practical impact of the changes isn’t hard to figure out-- not good if what you want is to speed up permit reviews.
-- Limit Terms Of Environmental Hearing Board Judges: Senate Bill 727 (Bartolotta-R- Washington), a companion bill to Senate Bill 726, would change the term of an Environmental Hearing Board judge from 6 to 5 years and limited judges to serving 2 terms. Any judge sitting on the Board on the effective date of the bill when it is signed into law who has served more than 10 years will have their term expire at the end of their current term.
-- More Complex, Costly, Less Efficient Permitting: Senate Bill 891 authorizing third party review of Chapter 102 (erosion and sedimentation) and Chapter 105 (dam safety and encroachment) permit applications.
The bill requires the Department of Environmental Protection to establish an “Advanced Permit Review Program” which gives applicants the option of using DEP-qualified licensed professionals to review Chapter 102 and 105 permit applications, excluding those related to abandoned mine reclamation.
The ultimate decision on the permit applications would be left to DEP.
The cost of setting up the qualification program for licensed professionals and providing training would all come out of permit fees. These permit fees now do not cover DEP costs to operate the existing programs.
There are no separate appropriations to support this program in the bill, so existing fees would have to increase even more dramatically to cover this special program.
Since DEP is the ultimate “decider” on the permit applications, it would have to conduct its own second review of the application and the licensed professional’s recommendation and any public comments within the 10 days alotted by the bill to make a decision.
DEP is then the one that has to defend that decision in any subsequent legal challenges, even though it did not do the technical review and under the bill does not have adequate time to conduct its own review.
The bottom line is why do 2 reviews? The bill has several significant weaknesses that will ultimately slow down permit reviews without addressing the real issues.
-- Reauthorization Of Federal Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fee: Senate Resolution 191 (Yudichak-D-Luzerne, Yaw-R-Lycoming) urging Congress to reauthorize the federal Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fee which is the primary source of funding for Pennsylvania’s abandoned mine reclamation program (sponsor summary).
RGGI Briefing
Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming), Majority Chair of the Committee, said this in reaction to the Governor’s announcement-- “There are a lot of unanswered questions as to what entering RGGI would entail for the citizens of Pennsylvania. Perhaps the most important is “cost.” How is this going to impact industry? We have numerous gas fired power plants, as well as coal. What is the impact going to be on the petrochemical cracker plant in Beaver County?
“I support efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but it is worth noting that, since RGGI began trading allowances in 2009, the current nine RGGI states have reduced carbon emissions by 17 percent, while Pennsylvania has reduced carbon emissions by 28 percent. This was accomplished all without government mandate and at great savings to consumers.
“Furthermore, it is clear to me we have very little in common with New York, New Jersey, and the New England states. Maybe we have more of an interest with Ohio and West Virginia, especially when it comes to coal and natural gas.
“How can we have a common interest with New York and the New England region when they prohibit the importation of our gas? They thumb their nose at Pennsylvania gas and embrace and purchase gas from Russia.
“For a step of this magnitude, which affects consumers, business, industry and public policy – the legislature, who represents the citizens of this state, must be involved in the dialogue on joining RGGI. It cannot be a unilateral decision.”
On September 16, Sen. Yaw was part of a group of largely Republican legislators from the Senate and House that announced plans to introduce legislation to protect coal-fired power plants from any proposed carbon tax by requiring the approval of the General Assembly to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative or similar programs.
The sponsors of the bills said, “Since Pennsylvania deregulated its electricity market, 19 coal-fired electric generating units (EGUs) have or are in the process of closing or converting.”
The meeting will be held in Room 8E-A East Wing starting at 9:30. Click Here to watch the meeting live.
Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming) serves as Majority Chair of the Senate Environmental Committee and can be contacted by calling 717-787-3280 or sending email to: gyaw@pasen.gov. Sen. John Yudichak (D-Luzerne) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by calling 717-787-7105 or sending email to: yudichak@pasenate.com.
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