PA SR 39: PA's Water for Sale - AGAIN?

 

PA SENATE RESOLUTION 39

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REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, MARCH 13, 2013

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 estimate the revenue-generating potential of the fees; 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!

 

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