republic-os/legislation/us/states/ky/2024rs/hb-136.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT relating to environmental audits."
description: "Create a new section of KRS Chapter 77 to define \"environmental audit\" and to provide that a person or facility subject to the requirements of KRS Chapter 77 that performs an environmental audit according to the requirements of KRS 224.1-040 shall be entitled to all of the benefits, privileges, and protections afforded by that section; amend KRS 224.1-040 to allow facilities regulated by air pollution control districts established under KRS Chapter 77 to avail themselves of the same environmental audit process available to facilities regulated by the Energy and Environment Cabinet under KRS Chapter 224; allow owners or operators of facilities regulated by air pollution control boards under KRS Chapter 77 to make voluntary disclosures as a result of the findings of an environmental audit; create an environmental audit privilege to protect the confidentiality of communications relating to voluntary internal environmental audits of facilities regulated under KRS Chapter 77; prohibit an air pollution control district from seeking civil penalties against a facility for a violation of KRS Chapter 77 or the rules, orders, or administrative regulations promulgated thereunder if certain conditions are met."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ky"
legislature: "Kentucky General Assembly"
session: "2024RS"
identifier: "HB 136"
citation: "Kentucky HB 136 (2024RS)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Audits and Auditors", "Boards and Commissions", "Civil Actions", "Environment and Conservation", "Pollution"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["A. Bowling", "J. Bauman", "J. Gooch Jr.", "P. Flannery"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 39
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2024-01-03T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2024-04-12T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/74172ce6-266e-4ac8-8181-618f8dafb303"
source_url: "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/24RS/hb136.html"
source_hash: "2537440d1a2f108af4309e9eda13b7cce87705614af661c8c114688ccac1c738"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ky"]
---

# Kentucky HB 136 (2024RS) — AN ACT relating to environmental audits.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 77 to define "environmental audit" and to provide that a person or facility subject to the requirements of KRS Chapter 77 that performs an environmental audit according to the requirements of KRS 224.1-040 shall be entitled to all of the benefits, privileges, and protections afforded by that section; amend KRS 224.1-040 to allow facilities regulated by air pollution control districts established under KRS Chapter 77 to avail themselves of the same environmental audit process available to facilities regulated by the Energy and Environment Cabinet under KRS Chapter 224; allow owners or operators of facilities regulated by air pollution control boards under KRS Chapter 77 to make voluntary disclosures as a result of the findings of an environmental audit; create an environmental audit privilege to protect the confidentiality of communications relating to voluntary internal environmental audits of facilities regulated under KRS Chapter 77; prohibit an air pollution control district from seeking civil penalties against a facility for a violation of KRS Chapter 77 or the rules, orders, or administrative regulations promulgated thereunder if certain conditions are met.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/24RS/hb136/orig_bill.pdf)
2. **Acts Chapter 178** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/acts/24RS/documents/0178.pdf)
3. **Current/Final** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/24RS/hb136/bill.pdf)

## Votes

- Veto Override HB 136 — **pass** (pass) · lower
- Pass — **pass** (pass) · lower
- Veto Override — **pass** (pass) · lower
- PASS HB 136 — **pass** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- A. Bowling — primary (person)
- J. Bauman — primary (person)
- J. Gooch Jr. — primary (person)
- P. Flannery — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2024-01-03T05:00:00+00:00** introduced in House `introduction`
- **2024-01-03T05:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (H) `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-09T05:00:00+00:00** to Natural Resources & Energy (H) `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-18T05:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar `committee-passage`
- **2024-01-19T05:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules `reading-2`
- **2024-01-19T05:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Monday, January 22, 2024
- **2024-01-22T05:00:00+00:00** floor amendment (1) filed `amendment-introduction`
- **2024-01-23T05:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed 80-12 with Floor Amendment (1) `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-01-24T05:00:00+00:00** received in Senate
- **2024-01-24T05:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (S) `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-26T05:00:00+00:00** to State & Local Government (S) `referral-committee`
- **2024-03-06T05:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar `committee-passage`
- **2024-03-07T05:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules `reading-2`
- **2024-03-15T04:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Friday, March 22, 2024
- **2024-03-22T04:00:00+00:00** passed over and retained in the Orders of the Day `passage`
- **2024-03-25T04:00:00+00:00** passed over and retained in the Orders of the Day `passage`
- **2024-03-26T04:00:00+00:00** passed over and retained in the Orders of the Day `passage`
- **2024-03-27T04:00:00+00:00** passed over and retained in the Orders of the Day `passage`
- **2024-03-28T04:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed 30-5 `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-03-28T04:00:00+00:00** received in House
- **2024-03-28T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House `passage`
- **2024-03-28T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by President of the Senate `passage`
- **2024-03-28T04:00:00+00:00** delivered to Governor
- **2024-04-08T04:00:00+00:00** Vetoed `executive-veto`
- **2024-04-12T04:00:00+00:00** received in House
- **2024-04-12T04:00:00+00:00** to Rules (H) `referral-committee`
- **2024-04-12T04:00:00+00:00** taken from Rules
- **2024-04-12T04:00:00+00:00** posted for passage for consideration of Governor's veto
- **2024-04-12T04:00:00+00:00** veto overridden `veto-override-passage`
- **2024-04-12T04:00:00+00:00** passed 77-20 `passage`
- **2024-04-12T04:00:00+00:00** received in Senate
- **2024-04-12T04:00:00+00:00** to Rules (S) `referral-committee`
- **2024-04-12T04:00:00+00:00** posted for passage for consideration of Governor's veto
- **2024-04-12T04:00:00+00:00** veto overridden `veto-override-passage`
- **2024-04-12T04:00:00+00:00** passed 26-6 `passage`
- **2024-04-12T04:00:00+00:00** received in House
- **2024-04-12T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House `passage`
- **2024-04-12T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by President of the Senate `passage`
- **2024-04-12T04:00:00+00:00** delivered to Secretary of State (Acts Ch. 178) `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/74172ce6-266e-4ac8-8181-618f8dafb303`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Kentucky legislature records).