PRINTER'S NO. 280
No. 279 Session of 2001
INTRODUCED BY HERMAN, M. BAKER, BASTIAN, BELARDI, BELFANTI,
BENNINGHOFF, CALTAGIRONE, CLARK, COY, EGOLF, FEESE, FRANKEL,
GEIST, GRUCELA, HARHAI, HASAY, HENNESSEY, HESS, HORSEY,
HUTCHINSON, LAUGHLIN, LYNCH, MICHLOVIC, R. MILLER, S. MILLER,
PHILLIPS, SATHER, SCHULER, SHANER, B. SMITH, SOLOBAY,
STABACK, STEELMAN, STERN, SURRA, WASHINGTON, C. WILLIAMS,
WILT, WOJNAROSKI AND YOUNGBLOOD, JANUARY 30, 2001
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, JANUARY 30, 2001
AN ACT
1 Amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the
2 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, further providing for
3 damages in actions for conversion of timber.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Section 8311(a) of Title 42 of the Pennsylvania
7 Consolidated Statutes is amended to read:
8 § 8311. Damages in actions for conversion of timber.
9 (a) General rule.--In lieu of all other damages or civil
10 remedies provided by law, a person who cuts or removes the
11 timber of another person without the consent of that person
12 shall be liable to that person in a civil action for an amount
13 of damages equal to:
14 (1) the usual and customary costs of establishing the
15 value of the timber cut or removed and of complying with the
16 erosion and sedimentation control regulations contained in 25
1 Pa. Code Ch. 102 (relating to erosion control); [and]
2 (1.1) the cost of any surveys obtained in connection
3 with the civil action; and
4 (2) one of the following:
5 (i) three times the market value of the timber cut
6 or removed if the act is determined to have been
7 deliberate;
8 (ii) two times the market value of the timber cut or
9 removed if the act is determined to have been negligent;
10 or
11 (iii) the market value of the timber cut or removed
12 if the defendant is determined to have had a reasonable
13 basis for believing that the land on which the act was
14 committed was his or that of the person in whose service
15 or by whose direction the act was done.
16 * * *
17 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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