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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2017 - 2018
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | February 13, 2017 04:13 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Charles T. McIlhinney, Jr. |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Safe Drinking Water |
| In the near future I will be reintroducing legislation to strengthen Pennsylvania’s Safe Drinking Water Act and safeguard the health of the Commonwealth’s residents by requiring special protection of the groundwater, rivers and aquifers that supply our drinking water. Our groundwater sources are vulnerable to contamination by various land uses – gas stations, industries and storage tanks can leak pollutants into the ground below – thus contaminating the groundwater. The intakes on our rivers and streams are also vulnerable to a wide range of pollutants including runoff pollution, industrial discharges, leaks and spills. This legislation establishes ‘critical zones’ for surface water intakes and ‘wellhead protection areas’ for community groundwater wells. The Department of Environmental Protection is responsible to develop regulations and model ordinances which are to be deemed statewide minimum requirements for surface water intake protection and wellhead protection. Local zoning ordinances are to include wellhead protection ordinances and/or surface water protection ordinances. Any violation of this act – or the rules, regulations or Departmental orders adopted pursuant to it – may be assessed civil as well as criminal penalties as prescribed. This legislation was introduced last session as Senate Bill 571 with the following cosponsors: ALLOWAY, FONTANA, SCHWANK, COSTA, RAFFERTY, KITCHEN, BOSCOLA, and HUGHES. I invite you to join me in cosponsoring this legislation. Please call Gail Paduch Reinard at 787-7305 if you have any questions. |
Introduced as SB707