PA SENATE RESOLUTION 39
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A RESOLUTION
Directing the Legislative
Budget and Finance Committee to conduct a study of the
establishment, implementation and administration of fees for
the consumptive use and degradation of water.
WHEREAS,
Pennsylvania is estimated to have more than 86,000 miles of
streams, nearly 4,000 lakes and 80 trillion gallons of groundwater;
and
WHEREAS, The
commercial demand for water continues to grow, with
withdrawals of surface and groundwater estimated to exceed 10
billion gallons per day; and
WHEREAS,
Billions of gallons of water are either never returned to
Pennsylvania's water cycle or returned in a degraded condition
each day; and
WHEREAS, The
Commonwealth receives no compensation for either the
consumptive use or degradation of water; and
WHEREAS,
Section 27 of Article I of the Constitution of Pennsylvania
provides as follows: "The people have a right to clean
air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic,
historic and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania's
public natural resources are the common property of all the
people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these
resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them
for the benefit of all the people"; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That
the Senate direct the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee
to study the establishment of both a fee for the consumptive
use of water and a fee for the degradation of water; and be it
further
RESOLVED, That
the study examine proposed and successful attempts of other
states to assess fees for the consumptive use or degradation
of natural resources; and be it further
RESOLVED, That
the study identify the consumptive and degrading uses to which
the fees would apply; and be it further
RESOLVED, That
the study recommend conservation purposes and programs that
should benefit from the revenues generated by the fees; and be
it further
RESOLVED, That
the study evaluate how to assess, collect, manage and allocate
the proceeds of the fees, including, but not limited to, an
evaluation of existing models within this Commonwealth; and be
it further
RESOLVED, That
the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee be authorized to
seek a contractor or consultant to assist in this study; and
be it further
RESOLVED, That
the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee report all
findings and conclusions on this issue to the Senate within 12
months of the adoption of this resolution.
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The online link to the resolution can be found here.
So, the PFBC wants to charge for the consumptive use of our commonwealth's waters. Gee, I thought the Susquehanna River Basin Commission already did that? AND...they also want to charge a fee for the degradation of our waters as well?
Read more about it here, and check out what the SRBC already charges here!
Read more about it here, and check out what the SRBC already charges here!
I find it damn interesting that not one person, reporter or otherwise, has mentioned the SRBC in any of the articles or comment forums so far. Tells me a lot about how myopic and uninformed most of these "experts" really are.
My first Q?: Who will determine/define what constitutes degradation? The PFBC? I thought the DEP was responsible for overseeing water quality issues? And will both the PFBC and SRBC be charging the natural gas folks for water withdrawals? Now that will definitely not fly in Corbettsburg.
Here are my thoughts: Amend the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to make the Secretary of the DEP ( for starters ) an elected vs. an appointed position. Let the people decide who they want in charge of protecting our commonwealth's public natural resources.
Then let the fireworks begin.
Photo by Don Williams - Susquehanna @ Wysox, PA
Charging for water is part of Director Arway's initiative to 'shore up' the finances of the PFBC---which in a couple of years is facing a $9 million shortfall. They're already not hiring new WCO's (or in business parlance--'reducing unneeded staff') and had to find outside funding to keep two hatcheries open. And, there is a movement afoot to combine them with the Game Commission, so that Corbett gets another 'yes' man, since Director Arway has been pushing DEP.
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