Davanzo bill heads to governor’s desk after clearing legislature

The bill, sought by land surveyors and engineers, passed 48-1 in the Senate with no opposition in the House.

For the MVI

A bill long sought by land surveyors and engineers has been passed in the Pennsylvania House and Senate and sent to the governor’s desk for enactment, state Rep. Eric Davanzo, R-Smithton, announced Wednesday.

“Having worked in construction, I know how important careful planning and accurate measurements is to a project,” Davanzo said. “This bill gives surveyors and engineers an updated framework for that work. I appreciate the professionals who brought this issue to our attention and my colleagues in both chambers for helping move this practical legislation to the governor’s desk.”

House Bill 513 updates the State Plane Coordinate System, commonly used by surveyors, engineers, GIS professionals, transportation agencies and others to describe precise locations.

The updated system will now be consistent with the federal geographic reference framework developed by the National Geodetic Survey.

The bill also makes future updates more seamless when future federal systems are updated by linking it directly to the system used by the National Spatial Reference System.

“First and foremost, this is a modernization bill, so it was important to me that future updates occur without having this topic come back to the General Assembly,” Davanzo said. “Technology certainly moves faster than government and if we want to position Pennsylvania to be a serious competitor in the global economy, we have to continue improving the tools our business owners and landowners rely on to get things done.”

The bill passed 48-1 in the Senate with no opposition in the House.