Republicans On House Committee Report Out Bill To Take Away DEP’s Authority To Adopt Carbon Pollution Reduction Programs

On June 8, Republicans on the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee reported out House Bill 637 (Struzzi-R-Indiana) which takes away DEP’s authority to adopt carbon pollution reduction programs covering power plants and any other source.

Reps. Pam Snyder (D-Greene) and Manuel Guzman (D-Berks) also voted for the bill.

The legislation is part of the Republican initiative to oppose DEP’s proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Program covering power plants that is consistent with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.  Read more here.

This House Bill is companion legislation to Senate Bill 119 (Pittman-R-Indiana) that was reported out of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee on April 27 and now sits in the Senate Appropriations Committee. Read more here.

Gov. Wolf vetoed similar legislation in September. Read more here. 

The strategy by Republicans seems to be to do exactly the same thing again and see if they get a different result.

Four DEP advisory committees recently recommended DEP move ahead with the final Carbon Pollution Reduction regulation which is expected to go to the Environmental Quality Board for a vote in July.  Read more here.

Click Here for more background on this issue.

Other Legislation

The Committee unanimously reported out House Bill 668 (James-R-Venango) which would add another member to DEP’s Mining and Reclamation Advisory Board representing the coal refuse energy industry.

Both bills will now go to the full House for consideration.

Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) serves as Majority Chair of the House Environmental Committee and can be contacted by calling 717-783-1707 or sending email to: dmetcalf@pahousegop.com. Rep. Greg Vitali (D-Delaware) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by calling 717-787-7647 or sending email to: gvitali@pahouse.net. 

NewsClip:

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--Senate Republicans Report Out Bill Taking Away DEP Authority To Reduce Carbon Pollution From Any Source, Including Power Plants

[Posted: June 8, 2021]  PA Environment Digest