Environment and Agriculture committee recesses SB302 to May 13 for hearing on non‑germane amendment

The House Environment and Agriculture Committee recessed consideration of SB302, the bill that would require background checks for owners of solid waste facilities, to Tuesday, May 13 at 10 a.m. in the Legislative Office Building, Rooms 301/303, so members can hold a required hearing on a non‑germane amendment (2025‑2012h).

Committee Chair (name not specified) told members the committee has two options: exec SB302 with the amendment prepared by the Office of Legislative Services (OLS) — which incorporates language from Senator Pearl and technical changes requested by Director Wimsatt of the Department of Environmental Services (DES) — or recess to allow a special hearing on the additional amendment Representative Potenza proposed. "We can exec this bill today with the amendment that I have, which incorporates Senator Pearl's language and Director Wimsatt's language," the chair said, and gave Representative Potenza time to explain her proposal.

Representative Potenza said she put the governor's site evaluation committee (SEC) language, public‑benefit provisions and moratorium language that had been included in the governor's budget (HB2) into a standalone amendment because those provisions are the governor's priority and could disappear if the budget fails. "This is truly her priority, and we did all of the work as a committee to get there," Representative Potenza said, urging a standalone vehicle so the policy survives budgeting uncertainties.

Members debated the tradeoffs. Representative Bixby and others said having a standalone bill would preserve their ability to select committee conferees and avoid having the provisions buried exclusively in the budget process. Representative Scully objected to using a non‑germane amendment and said she would support the OLS amendment but oppose adding Representative Potenza's non‑germane language. Several members voiced support for proceeding with the standalone option as a "belts and suspenders" approach in case HB2 changes or fails in the other chamber.

The committee resolved the procedural question by a show of hands; the chair announced the result as "All but 1," and recessed the SB302 executive session to May 13 at 10 a.m. for a hearing on the non‑germane amendment 2025‑2012h and a return to exec session that day. The chair read the logistics during the meeting and thanked members for staying late.

The record shows the amendment the chair prepared (OLS version, referenced as 20251687 in committee email) incorporates Senator Pearl's changes plus technical language Director Wimsatt requested to align FBI background‑check processing. Representative Potenza's separate amendment would add language taken from the governor's budget establishing the site evaluation committee, including moratorium and public‑benefit/harm‑and‑benefit provisions; because it was not the subject of a prior public hearing, committee rules require a separate hearing before execing that amendment.

Representative Potenza and several colleagues urged the committee to create a standalone vehicle so the work already completed — which she described as having been coordinated with the governor's office and DES — would not be lost if HB2 is altered in the other chamber.

The committee chair also reported having spoken with Senator Rochefort, who indicated the Senate may move the budget language into a separate bill (HB171) if needed; committee members said they would pursue multiple tracks to keep the policy alive.

Ending: The committee will reconvene for a hearing and executive session on Tuesday, May 13 at 10 a.m. in LOB Rooms 301/303 to consider Representative Potenza's non‑germane amendment 2025‑2012h to SB302. No final vote on the underlying policy was taken at the meeting; the recorded procedural outcome was a recess and scheduling of the required hearing.