Target DEP: Republican Senate Bill Would Block All Regulations, Shut Down Citizen Advisory Committee Meetings During A Declared Emergency

On June 5, Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming), Majority Chair of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, introduced Senate Bill 1147 which would block all proposed and final regulations from publication and prohibit any state agency citizens advisory committee meetings for the duration of a disaster emergency declared by the Governor.

For all intents and purposes, the result of this legislation would be to all but permanently block any proposed or final regulations and shut down citizen advisory committee meetings for extended periods of time.

The only exemptions in the bill are for regulations needed related to the emergency or if an agency petitions the related standing committees of the Senate and House with jurisdiction over the agency for a waiver from publication of a regulation.

Both Committees would have to approve the waiver for it to be granted.

The specific target of this regulation is the Department of Environmental Protection.

“At the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, agency staff is continuing to press forward on regulations to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative despite concerns echoing across the state that this program will do irreparable harm to Pennsylvania’s economy,” said Sen. Yaw in his co-sponsor memo to other members.  “They do so at a time when advisory committee meetings to provide meaningful input and dialogue cannot be held, and when critical oversight hearings by legislative committees to ask questions and explore policy ramifications are understandably on hold. 

“At a time when policymakers should be focused on re-opening and re-building Pennsylvania’s economy, the Administration has authorized expenditures of several hundred thousand dollars to advance policies unrelated to the current disaster emergency,” said Sen. Yaw.

“Despite being asked to suspend pursuit of this and other major policy initiatives during this time of crisis, the Wolf Administration is spending massive quantities of taxpayer dollars once again to position Pennsylvania’s economy at the mercy of some of the same states to which Gov. Wolf is currently relinquishing economic sovereignty.”

This bill is similar to legislation vetoed by Gov. Wolf-- Senate Bill 327 (Argall-R- Schuylkill)-- which would have blocked publication of regulations during a disaster emergency.  Read more here.

Senate Bill 1147 was referred to the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee which has already reported out legislation on May 27 to kill any final regulation by doing nothing [Read more here] and is scheduled to meet on a full slate of bills on June 10, one of which would block regulations because they have too many words [Read more here].

Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Franklin) serves as Majority Chair of the Committee and can be contacted by calling 717-787-4651, via fax to: 717-264-6100 or via a contact form on his website.  Sen. Wayne Fontana (D-Allegheny) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by calling 717-787-5300 or send email to: fontana@pasenate.com. 

More Or Less Permanent Block

State and federal disaster emergency declarations are a frequent occurrence in Pennsylvania.

As an example, the opioid disaster emergency declared by the Governor has been in place since January 2018 and has been renewed every 90 days by the Governor which would result, under this legislation, in a two and a half year ban on regulations and citizen advisory committee meetings.  

And there is every indication this emergency will continue to be renewed as, more than likely, will the COVID-19 emergency which has been in place since March 6.  Read more about state emergency proclamations.

In addition to the continuing opioid and COVID-19 declarations, there have been 12 state and follow-on federal declared disaster emergencies as a result of flooding, hurricanes, snowstorms, tornadoes, tropical storms and more.  Read more here.

Each one of these would have had a moratorium imposed on regulations and shut down meetings of citizens advisory committees under this legislation.

On citizens advisory committee meetings and the opportunity for comment, the experience so far during the pandemic has been, especially with DEP, public access to advisory committee meetings and hearings has only increased, not decreased as a result of tools like FedEx, Skype and Zoom.

DEP advisory committees that were never made available to the public electronically are being made available and each meeting has an opportunity for public comment.

In fact, the May 19 virtual meeting of DEP Citizens Advisory Council where DEP’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Program (RGGI) was discussed, gave more than 40 commenters from all over the state an every side of the issue the opportunity to provide comments to the Council on the proposal.  The comment section of the meeting alone lasted two-and-a-half hours.  Read more here.

And previous meetings of DEP’s Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee, which previously were never made available to the public, were accessible to the public online and discussed the RGGI issue.  Read more here.

The Senate and House have both held virtual meetings and hearings on a variety of issues during the pandemic.

Perhaps these electronic tools are not what some people are used to, but they provide real channels to accept public comments that are just as valid as any other. And in some cases they are better, because they can be recorded and made available later.

3 Front War On The Environment

Senate Bill 1147 is the latest attempt, under cover of the pandemic, to advance legislation Republicans have been advocating for for years to block, delay, tie up regulations and limit public involvement in the regulatory process.

It is all part of a Conservative Republican agenda to wage a three front war against environmental programs and funding which has been going on for the last decade--

-- Starving environmental agencies for funding so they have to cut staff and programs and then turn around and say they can’t do their job [they did this again on April 21];

-- Adding even more layers of bureaucracy and procedures to block environmental regulations, reduce environmental standards and give regulated entities more control over these programs [they’ve done this before too, several times]; and

-- Using every chance they get to cut funding to support community-based projects to protect and restore the environment, improve recreation opportunities and land conservation efforts that real people-- voters-- overwhelmingly support [the Senate Bill 327 is the latest attempt which Gov. Wolf vetoed].

Related Articles This Week:

-- Republican Senate Committee Set To Consider Bills On June 10 To Block Regulations Because They Have Too Many Words; Promote 3rd Party Permit Reviews

-- House Committee To Consider Bill Taking Away DEP’s Authority To Enact Carbon Pollution Reduction Programs For Power Plants June 9

-- House Environmental Committee Meets June 10 On Bill Exempting A 1,600 Tons/Day Garbage Processing Plant From DEP Waste Regulations

Related Articles:

-- Senate Republicans Move Bill Out Of Committee To Kill Regulations By Doing Nothing

-- Analysis: What If The Senate And House Had To Adopt Laws Like DEP Adopts Regulations?

-- House Republicans Pass Bills To Kill Regulations By Doing Nothing, Waive Penalties, Provide Defenses To Violators

-- House Passes Bill To Require Repeal Of 2 Regulations For Every New Regulation Adopted, Create Duplicate $695,000 Office Of The Repealer

-- New PA Poll: 72% Of Pennsylvania Voters Say It's Important Their Electricity Comes From Energy Not Creating Carbon Emissions

-- New Poll Finds 79% Of Pennsylvania Voters Support Limits On Carbon Pollution From Power Plants

-- New PEC Podcast: Fmr Gov. Tom Ridge On Conservatives Being Out Of Touch On The Environment

-- Op-Ed:My Fellow Conservatives Are Out Of Touch On The Environment - Fmr. Gov. Tom Ridge

[Posted: June 6, 2020]  PA Environment Digest