This Act is a result of the Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee's ("JLOSC") review of the Delaware Health Resources Board, which this Act renames the Delaware Health Resources Advisory Board ("Advisory Board"). Based on the research, review, and discussion of both the JLOSC and a task force created to assist the JLOSC's research, JLOSC approved recommendations to change the Advisory Board into an advisory council and move the Advisory Board's decision-making authority to the Delaware Health Care Commission's executive director. In addition to those approved recommendations, this Act also implements JLOSC's approval to amend the Advisory Board's statute in the following ways: - Renames the certificate of public review process to the nationally-recognized name of "certificate of need." - Clarifies procedures and review considerations, including removing the Health Resources Management Plan ("Plan") and codifying relevant sections of the Plan. The Plan will be replaced by a statewide health-care facility utilization study, be conducted on a biennial basis, and include utilization information to process certificate of review applications. - Adjusting for inflation, updates the monetary threshold that triggers the requirement for a certificate of need application. The monetary threshold has not been updated since 2007. - Removes references to the Bureau of Health Planning and Resources Management, because staff support was transferred in 2012 to the Delaware Health Care Commission and DHSS, Office of the Secretary. This Act takes effect 6 months after the date of enactment. This Act does not apply to applications that are submitted before the enactment date of this Act.
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This Senate Concurrent Resolution designates May 21, 2024, as "Wastewater Management and Drinking Water Management Professionals Day" in the State of Delaware.
This Act ensures that all individuals, regardless of housing status, have equal opportunity to live in decent, safe, sanitary, and healthful accommodations and enjoy equality of opportunities. To that end, this Act sets forth the rights of individuals experiencing homelessness, many of which are existing constitutional rights, and creates a process by which the State Human and Civil Rights Commission and the Division of Human and Civil Rights may accept and investigate complaints of discriminatory treatment, attempt conciliation, and refer enforcement actions to law enforcement Internal Affairs if necessary. These entities already exist and administer Delaware’s Fair Housing and Equal Accommodations laws. This act is intended to prohibit discrimination on the sole basis that one is experiencing homelessness. It does not give preferential treatment to those experiencing homelessness, but merely prohibits discriminatory treatment. The complaint process requires that conciliation is attempted before a public hearing is held, as set forth in lines 151-160 and 167-169. This Act is a successor to House Bill No. 55, and differs from that bill in the following ways: 1) The new Chapter it creates is entitled “Anti-Discrimination Provisions for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness” instead of “Bill of Rights for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness.” 2) Defines the term reasonable search. 3) Expands the definition of “individuals experiencing homelessness” to include those who may be staying with different friends or family without a permanent home. 4) Eliminates a reference to voting rights, since such rights are addressed elsewhere in the Code. 5) Clarifies that the right to seek or maintain housing does not preclude or limit a municipality’s enforcement of its housing, building, and sanitation laws. 6) Changes the right to occupy a motor vehicle or recreational vehicle, provided that the vehicle is legally parked "on public property" to "in a public parking lot." 7) Confirms that the right to be free from discrimination by landlords on the basis of experiencing homelessness does not preclude a landlord’s consideration of any other factor that is permissible under State or federal law. 8) Removes the provision that the Commission and the Division may consult with state, county, and municipal officials, and other interested parties, to learn the extent, if any, to which discriminatory acts exist in the State, county, or municipality, and whether and how state, county, or municipal enforcement programs might be utilized to combat the discrimination. 9) Mandates reporting on the Division's educational activities. 10) Provides that upon preliminary confirmation that the party alleged to have engaged in a discriminatory act is a law enforcement officer or law enforcement agency, the Division shall refer the matter to the applicable Internal Affairs department (instead of the Department of Justice) for further appropriate investigation and resolution. 11) Provides that the Commission shall issue an annual report identifying organizations who has committed three or more substantiated violations of § 4504A of this title in a 12 month period. 12) Clarifies that judicial review is done in accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act. 13) Provides respondents with a cause of action for damages, including attorneys’ fees, costs, and punitive damages, against a complainant who abuses the process set forth in the act.
This resolution recognizes the importance and expertise of Direct Support Professionals to the State of Delaware on the occasion of May 21st as “Direct Support Professional” Advocacy Day, co-sponsored by the Ability Network of Delaware A Team Delaware.
Accessory dwelling units (ADUs), also known as in-law units or garage apartments, are valuable and convenient forms of housing that can help to increase Delaware’s housing supply. In order to expand affordable housing opportunities, this Act requires local governments to permit the construction of ADUs within their jurisdictions without prohibitive barriers or onerous application or zoning requirements. This substitute differs from the original by removing requirements related to the size of the single-family dwelling, clarifying requirements related to additional parking, making exceptions for aesthetic requirements within historic districts, allowing water and sewer impact fees, and allowing for local regulations that do not otherwise violate this Act. This Act carries a 2/3 vote requirement as it may indirectly affect municipal charters.
This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 2. Like Senate Bill No. 2 this Act does all of the following: (1) Creates an application process to obtain a handgun qualified purchaser permit to authorize the purchase of a handgun. While an applicant will incur costs related to fingerprinting and required training, a fee will not be charged to obtain the permit. A holder of a valid concealed carry permit, a qualified law-enforcement officer, and a qualified retired law-enforcement officer are not required to obtain or present a handgun qualified purchaser permit. (2) Prohibits a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer, as well as unlicensed persons, from selling or transferring a handgun to an individual unless the individual has a handgun qualified purchaser permit. (3) Requires that an applicant complete a firearms training course within 5 years before the date of application, similar to what is required by Delaware’s concealed carry permit law. (4) Makes clear that § 904A of Title 24 is not intended to prohibit law-enforcement officials from keeping records. (5) Requires the Department of Safety and Homeland Security to develop and administer a firearms training voucher program for low-income residents to provide low-income residents with a voucher to cover the costs of the firearms training course required under Section 1 of this Act. (6) Makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. This Act differs from Senate Bill No. 2 as follows: (1) By increasing the time a handgun qualified purchaser permit is valid from 180 days to 1 year. (2) By requiring the Superior Court to schedule the de novo hearing within 15 days of the filing of the appeal rather than to hold the hearing within 21 days of the filing of the appeal. (3) By extending the implementation timeline of Sections 1 and 5 of this Act from a maximum of 6 months from the date of the Act’s enactment to a maximum of 18 months from the date of the Act’s enactment.
Maddy summaryThis bill designates May 16, 2024, as Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated Day in Delaware to honor the organization's history and its mission of promoting scholarship, service, and social justice. The resolution acknowledges the sorority's founding principles and its extensive work in advocating for community upliftment, including initiatives focused on social, health, and economic equity. By officially recognizing this date, the legislation highlights the group's contributions and encourages awareness of its advocacy efforts within the state.
This resolution marks May 17, 2024, as the 70th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case and honors the courage and fortitude of all who sparked the action leading to the Bulah v. Gebhart and Belton v. Gebhart cases in Delaware. It also recognizes that the work against institutional racism must be continued by all Delawareans.
House Bill 162 authorizes the process of natural organic reduction to be used in this State. Natural organic reduction is the gentle, respectful process that accelerates the decomposition of human remains to soil. This process uses large vessels to hold human remains together with straw, wood chips, or other natural materials for about 30 days. The human remains and organic materials, mixed together with warm air, are periodically turned and the process eventually results in reduction of the human remains to a soil material that can then be provided to the deceased individual's family. Natural organic reduction is considered a more eco-friendly cremation alternative, forgoing the usage of formaldehyde and the release of carbon dioxide and mercury into the atmosphere. The process also uses 1/8 the energy of cremation. Section 3 removes "and by the Attorney General or a deputy attorney general" from § 3163 of Title 16, which was overlooked when Chapter 164 of Volume 68 of the Laws of Delaware was enacted, removing similar language in § 3159 of Title 16. Section 12 of this Act replaces the citation to § 3162 of Title 16 with a citation to § 3159. Section 3162 was transferred to § 3159 when Chapter 31 was reenacted by Chapter 274 of Volume 68 of the Laws of Delaware, but this citation was overlooked. This Act takes effect the earlier of 1 year from the date of the Act's enactment or notice in the Register of Regulations that final regulations to implement this Act have been adopted. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 28 of Article IV of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to expand the scope of an existing crime within the jurisdiction of the Court of Common Pleas, Family Court, or Justice of the Peace Court. This Substitute No. 1 to HB 162 adds requirements to those already set forth in HB 162 for natural organic reduction facilities and changes the permissible chemical limits for final remains after natural organic reduction. This Substitute also sets forth circumstances that preclude remains from being admitted to a natural organic reduction facility. This Substitute defines “final remains” and “last remains” identically in Title 12 of the Delaware Code to allow for the use of either phrase throughout that Title. This Substitute also makes typographical and technical corrections to conform existing and drafted law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act defines certain facilities which will require an applicant seeking a permit for a new facility, or expansion of an existing facility, or renewal of an existing permit, located in an overburdened community, as defined in the Act, to provide an environmental justice impact report. Facility includes the following commercial, municipal, or industrial businesses located in, or within, a ½ mile radius of an overburdened community: (1) manufacturers of animal food, meat, seafood, tobacco, manufactured homes, chemicals, cement, asphalt, ready-mix concrete, primary metal, nonmetallic mineral products, ammunition or transport equipment; (2) manufacturers of fossil or bio-based fuels, distillates, chemicals and pharmaceuticals; or industrial scale storage of such materials; (3) pulp, paper, paperboard and sawmills; (4) commercial rail, port or water freight docks; (5) landfills, transfer stations, resource recovery, scrap metal or recycle centers or compost operators; (6) warehouses, and distribution, trucking and logistic centers larger than 75,000 square feet; (7) industrial or municipal sewage treatment centers, animal waste management or processing operations and sludge processors; (8) large, concentrated animal feeding operations, as defined by the size threshold in the federal Clean Water Act, regardless of their discharge status; (9) energy generators, as defined in §1001 of Title 26; (10) medical waste incinerators (with the exception of those attendant to a hospital or university intended to process self-generated medical waste); and (11) commercial, municipal, or industrial projects or installations that are not listed in (1) through (10) that are similar in scale, and that currently contribute or upon permit approval would contribute to the cumulative pollution in an overburdened community, which are identified by the Department in conjunction with the Environmental Justice Board. For all permit applications, the environmental justice impact report would be required at least 60 days before a required community information session and public hearing. Under the Act an “overburdened community” is defined as any geographic locations that potentially experience harms and risks a determined by the Environmental Justice Board or any census tract, as delineated in the most recent U.S. Census, in which one or more of the following is greater than .75 standard percentage of the State average for any of the following: (1) 35% of the residents are below 185% of federal poverty level. (2) At least 25% or more identify as minority or member of a state or federally recognized tribal community or immigrant. (3) 25% or more have limited English proficiency as defined by U.S. Census Bureau. The Department would be required to create and post on its website a list of “overburdened communities” and update the list every 2 years. The Act establishes the Environmental Justice Board to review and make recommendations on the environmental justice impact reports, conduct community information sessions and public hearings, and other measures to help the Department fulfill the purpose of this chapter. The community information session and public hearing on the permit would be required to provide an opportunity for meaningful public participation by the overburdened community. Following the public hearing the Secretary would be required to consider the recommendation of the Environmental Justice Board and the testimony presented at the public hearing and an analysis of the environmental justice impact report. The Secretary could impose conditions to the permit that may be necessary to reduce the adverse impact to the public health or to the environment in the overburdened community. The Secretary would have the authority to deny a permit application in an overburdened community upon a finding that the cumulative impact imposed by the new or expanded facility would constitute an unreasonable risk to the health of the residents of the overburdened community or to the environment in that community. The Act requires the Department to establish rules and regulations to implement the Act, in consultation with the Environmental Justice Board, within 6 months after its enactment.