PRINTER'S NO. 3007
No. 2205 Session of 1986
INTRODUCED BY MICHLOVIC, GEORGE, MANDERINO, FREEMAN, LEVDANSKY,
LASHINGER, McCALL, MORRIS, RYBAK, FEE, LUCYK, JOSEPHS,
KOSINSKI, SERAFINI, ARGALL, TIGUE, MURPHY, SHOWERS, LINTON,
KUKOVICH, D. W. SNYDER AND J. TAYLOR, FEBRUARY 19, 1986
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON CONSERVATION, FEBRUARY 19, 1986
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of October 15, 1980 (P.L.950, No.164), entitled
2 "A supplement to the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.177, No.175),
3 entitled 'An act providing for and reorganizing the conduct
4 of the executive and administrative work of the Commonwealth
5 by the Executive Department thereof and the administrative
6 departments, boards, commissions, and officers thereof,
7 including the boards of trustees of State Normal Schools, or
8 Teachers Colleges; abolishing, creating, reorganizing or
9 authorizing the reorganization of certain administrative
10 departments, boards, and commissions; defining the powers and
11 duties of the Governor and other executive and administrative
12 officers, and of the several administrative departments,
13 boards, commissions, and officers; fixing the salaries of the
14 Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and certain other executive
15 and administrative officers; providing for the appointment of
16 certain administrative officers, and of all deputies and
17 other assistants and employes in certain departments, boards,
18 and commissions; and prescribing the manner in which the
19 number and compensation of the deputies and all other
20 assistants and employes of certain departments, boards and
21 commissions shall be determined,' implementing the addition
22 of section 4.1 to Article IV of the Constitution of
23 Pennsylvania; establishing the Office of Attorney General
24 elected by the citizens and setting forth powers and duties
25 of the Attorney General; creating an Office of General
26 Counsel and providing for legal services for Commonwealth
27 agencies; transferring, reorganizing or reconstituting
28 certain boards, commissions and agencies; placing certain
29 duties upon the courts and district attorneys; repealing
30 certain acts and parts of acts and making appropriations,"
31 providing for a Protector General to enforce the
32 environmental laws of this Commonwealth; providing for his
1 powers and duties; and making an appropriation.
2 The General Assembly hereby finds that:
3 (1) Adequate law enforcement under this Commonwealth's
4 police power statutes has been grossly deficient.
5 (2) Effective enforcement of such statutes is absolutely
6 material for the protection of the public health, safety and
7 welfare and for the vindication of the rights of all
8 Pennsylvanians pursuant to section 27 of Article I of the
9 Constitution of Pennsylvania.
10 (3) Deficient and ineffective enforcement of such
11 statutes has created numerous immediate threats to the public
12 health, safety and welfare and a state of public health
13 emergency in this Commonwealth.
14 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
15 hereby enacts as follows:
16 Section 1. Section 204 of the act of October 15, 1980
17 (P.L.950, No.164), known as the Commonwealth Attorneys Act, is
18 amended by adding a subsection to read:
19 Section 204. Legal advice and civil matters.
20 * * *
21 (c.1) Environmental protection.--Any other provision of law
22 to the contrary notwithstanding, the Protector General of the
23 Department of Environmental Resources shall represent the
24 Commonwealth with respect to all civil litigation pursuant to
25 such statutes as the Department of Environmental Resources is
26 charged to enforce, subject to the right of the Attorney General
27 to intervene in behalf of the Commonwealth as the interests of
28 justice may indicate. The Protector General shall, after
29 investigation and upon his own motion, initiate such prosecution
30 or enforcement action under the environmental protection
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1 statutes of this Commonwealth as he deems appropriate.
2 * * *
3 Section 2. The act is amended by adding a section to read:
4 Section 404. Protector General for the Department of
5 Environmental Resources.
6 (a) Establishment; powers and duties.--
7 (1) There is hereby established in the Department of
8 Environmental Resources the Office of Protector General. The
9 Office of Protector General shall be an autonomous and
10 independent office and shall not be subject to the
11 jurisdiction or supervision of any other person or office.
12 The powers and duties of the Office of Protector General
13 shall be to enforce vigorously and effectively all laws of
14 this Commonwealth pertaining to environmental protection and
15 to provide such other services to the Department of
16 Environmental Resources as specified in this chapter to the
17 extent not inconsistent with this section.
18 (2) The Protector General shall vigorously pursue those
19 parties responsible for environmental degradation resulting
20 in payments from the Hazardous Waste Abandoned Site Cleanup
21 and Compensation Fund under Article VII-A of the act of July
22 7, 1980 (P.L.380, No.97), known as the "Solid Waste
23 Management Act," and shall seek to obtain reimbursement to
24 the fund to the maximum extent possible.
25 (b) Appointment.--The Protector General shall be appointed
26 by the Governor upon the advice and consent of the Senate, to
27 serve a fixed term of five years.
28 (c) Removal.--The Protector General shall not be removed
29 from office during his term except by resignation or by reason
30 of his conviction of misbehavior in office or of any infamous
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1 crime.
2 (d) Compensation.--The compensation of the Protector General
3 shall be $55,000 per annum and shall not be diminished during
4 the term of office.
5 (e) Deputies and assistants.--The Protector General shall
6 appoint such deputy and assistant protectors general as he deems
7 appropriate, and such deputy and assistant protectors general
8 shall serve at the sole pleasure of the Protector General.
9 (f) Investigations.--The Protector General shall appoint
10 such investigators and such other staff as he deems appropriate
11 to carry out the investigative duties of his office and these
12 investigators shall serve at the sole pleasure of the Protector
13 General. Investigators, upon order of the Protector General,
14 shall immediately initiate an investigation whenever the
15 Protector General is presented with information which gives him
16 reason to believe that the Department of Environmental Resources
17 has failed to take appropriate action on any violation of any
18 requirement of the environmental statutes of this Commonwealth
19 or any condition of permits issued under those acts or any order
20 of the department.
21 (g) Transfer of personnel, appropriations, records,
22 equipment, etc.--All personnel, allocations, equipment, files,
23 records, contracts, agreements, obligations and other materials
24 which are used, employed or expended in connection with the
25 powers, duties or functions transferred by this act to the
26 Office of Protector General are hereby transferred to the Office
27 of the Protector General with the same force and effect as if
28 the appropriations had been made to and said items had been the
29 property of the Office of Protector General in the first
30 instance and as if said contracts, agreements and obligations
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1 had been incurred or entered into by said Office of the
2 Protector General.
3 (h) Compensation of employees.--The secretarial, clerical
4 and other employees of the Protector General and their
5 successors whose positions on the effective date of this section
6 are under the classified service provisions of the act of August
7 5, 1941 (P.L.752, No.286), known as the "Civil Service Act,"
8 shall continue under such provisions. The compensation of all
9 other persons appointed shall be determined by the Protector
10 General and shall be consistent with the standards established
11 by the Executive Board.
12 (i) Funding.--
13 (1) The costs of all activities of the Office of
14 Protector General shall be appropriated from the General
15 Fund.
16 (2) Annually, at the time and in accord with the
17 procedures otherwise established by law for the General Fund,
18 the Protector General shall submit a proposed budget for the
19 operation of the office. Such proposed budget shall be
20 submitted to the Governor and the General Assembly for
21 consideration in accordance with the procedures for
22 appropriations from the General Fund as provided in sections
23 610 through 620 of the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.177,
24 No.175), known as "The Administrative Code of 1929." It shall
25 be unlawful for the State Treasurer to honor any requisition
26 for the expenditure of any moneys out of the General Fund by
27 the Protector General for any purpose in excess of the
28 amounts appropriated by the General Assembly.
29 (3) Moneys appropriated from the General Fund shall be
30 paid out of the fund upon warrant of the State Treasurer
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1 drawn after requisition by the Protector General.
2 (j) Initial nominee.--The Governor shall, within 30 days
3 from the date of final enactment of this section, submit to the
4 Senate his nomination for the Protector General. In the event
5 that the Governor so fails to do, the Attorney General shall
6 appoint an acting Protector General until such time as the
7 Governor submits his nominee and such nominee is confirmed to
8 office by the Senate.
9 Section 3. Funding.
10 (a) Appropriation.--The sum of $219,000, or as much thereof
11 as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to the Department of
12 Environmental Resources for the Office of the Protector General
13 for the fiscal year July 1, 1985, to June 30, 1986, to carry out
14 the provisions of this act. This appropriation shall be a
15 separate line item from any other State or Federal appropriation
16 to the Department of Environmental Resources.
17 (b) State fund transfer.--In addition to the sum
18 appropriated in section 3(a), the unexpended State fund
19 allocation for the Office of General Counsel from the Department
20 of Environmental Resources' General Government Operations
21 1985/86 State line item shall be transferred to the State line
22 item in section 3(a).
23 (c) Federal fund transfer.--The unexpended Federal fund
24 allocations for the Office of General Counsel from the
25 Department of Environmental Resources' General Government
26 Operations 1985/86 Federal augmentation line items shall be
27 transferred to appropriate Federal line items for the Office of
28 Protector General which are hereby established.
29 Section 4. Application of certain provisions.
30 The provisions of sections 204(c.1) and 404 of the
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1 Commonwealth Attorneys Act, relating to the powers and duties of
2 the Protector General and the transfer of personnel,
3 appropriations, records and equipment shall apply on the date
4 upon which the Senate confirms the initial nominee of the
5 Governor, or the date upon which the Attorney General appoints
6 an acting Protector General as described in section 404(j),
7 whichever occurs first.
8 Section 5. Effective date.
9 This act shall take effect immediately.
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