PRINTER'S NO. 3343
No. 300 Session of 1990
INTRODUCED BY REBER, GEORGE, HASAY, SAURMAN, REINARD,
S. H. SMITH, JAROLIN, LEVDANSKY, ARGALL, CLYMER, MARSICO,
DIETTERICK, WOZNIAK, NAHILL, BOWLEY, MAINE, FREEMAN, MURPHY,
BILLOW, STISH, YANDRISEVITS, SCHEETZ, PHILLIPS, J. H. CLARK,
FOX AND BUNT, APRIL 4, 1990
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON RULES, APRIL 4, 1990
A RESOLUTION
1 Directing the House Conservation Committee to investigate the
2 overall operation of the Department of Environmental
3 Resources in relation to its ability to administer and
4 enforce the statutory responsibilities currently entrusted to
5 its care and to make recommendations to the House of
6 Representatives concerning the future responsibilities for
7 the administration and enforcement of the environmental
8 protection statutes of this Commonwealth.
9 WHEREAS, The Department of Environmental Resources, formerly
10 the Department of Forests and Waters and the Department of Mines
11 and Mineral Industries, was created by Act No. 275 of 1970; and
12 WHEREAS, The department has the responsibility to administer
13 and regulate programs in a variety of subject areas which are
14 constantly expanding, in and of themselves; and
15 WHEREAS, The implementation of the Municipal Waste Planning,
16 Recycling and Waste Reduction Act has imposed upon the
17 department extensive responsibilities on a Statewide basis for
18 proper administration of the act and for the alleviation of the
19 solid waste problem in this Commonwealth; and
1 WHEREAS, The implementation of the Hazardous Sites Cleanup
2 Act has required the department to develop additional staffing
3 provisions for hazardous material investigation and for cleanup,
4 including associated technical staff; and
5 WHEREAS, The implementation of the Storage Tank and Spill
6 Prevention Act has required the department to not only assume
7 the responsibilities, administration and enforcement of Federal
8 and State storage tank legislation, but also the responsibility
9 for the registration, testing and regulation of thousands of
10 aboveground storage tanks; and
11 WHEREAS, The department must establish new and expanded
12 programs for the regulation of the disposal of solid waste under
13 the Municipal Waste Management Regulations, effective April 9,
14 1988, which include the repermitting of all municipal waste
15 disposal facilities by April 9, 1990; and
16 WHEREAS, In addition to the administrative responsibilities
17 thrust upon the department in the past two years, the department
18 has continuing responsibility for the regulation and enforcement
19 of a multitude of other environmental matters concerning air
20 quality, water quality, air emissions, on-lot septic systems,
21 wetlands, dams, sewage treatment plants, community water
22 systems, nuclear power, gas, oil, coal, mine subsidence, land
23 reclamation, minerals, quarries, blasting, radon, X-rays, State
24 parks, State forests, timber harvesting, campgrounds, etc.,
25 affecting the lives of each of the citizens of this
26 Commonwealth; and
27 WHEREAS, In addition to the new legislative and regulatory
28 mandates, the department also has the continuing responsibility
29 for administering and enforcing the provisions of many major
30 environmental statutes, including:
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1 Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act
2 The Clean Streams Law
3 Dam Safety and Encroachments Act
4 Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Act
5 Infectious and Chemotherapeutic Waste Law
6 Plumbing System Lead Ban and Notification Act
7 Oil and Gas Act
8 Oil and Gas Conservation Law
9 Noncoal Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act
10 Air Pollution Control Act
11 Radiation Protection Act
12 Conservation District Law
13 Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act
14 Pennsylvania Used Oil Recycling Act
15 Pennsylvania Solid Waste - Resource
16 Recovery Development Act
17 Pennsylvania Safe Drinking Water Act
18 Solid Waste Management Act
19 Pennsylvania Anthracite Coal Mine Act
20 Pennsylvania Bituminous Coal Mine Act
21 Storm Water Management Act
22 Water Well Drillers License Act
23 The Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act
24 Flood Plain Management Act
25 The Land and Water Conservation and Reclamation Act
26 The Pennsylvania Conservation Corps Act
27 Coal and Gas Resource Coordination Act;
28 and
29 WHEREAS, In recognition of the increased responsibilities
30 since its inception in 1970, and its expansion by over 550
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1 positions in the past several years, and State funding increases
2 of over one-third in the same time; and
3 WHEREAS, With the increased responsibilities imposed upon the
4 department as a result of new legislation and of the increased
5 regulatory responsibilities of the department under the many
6 present legislative mandates, there is concern by industry,
7 government officials and consumers as well as to whether the
8 department can effectively address these many concerns;
9 therefore be it
10 RESOLVED, That the House Conservation Committee examine the
11 effectiveness of the Department of Environmental Resources to
12 properly and efficiently carry out the duties and
13 responsibilities currently delegated to it; and be it further
14 RESOLVED, That the committee investigate the organization and
15 operation of the department, including consideration of
16 alternate organizational structures, and the transfer of some
17 program responsibilities to other agencies of State or local
18 government; and be it further
19 RESOLVED, That the committee may hold hearings, take
20 testimony and make its investigations at such places as it deems
21 necessary in this Commonwealth. The chairman of the committee
22 shall have power to administer oaths and affirmations to
23 witnesses appearing before the committee; and be it further
24 RESOLVED, That the committee shall report to the House of
25 Representatives on its activities, findings and recommendations
26 by November 30, 1990.
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