PRINTER'S NO. 2800
No. 2241 Session of 1993
INTRODUCED BY SAURMAN, BUNT, HENNESSEY, TRELLO, CLARK, M. COHEN
AND E. Z. TAYLOR, NOVEMBER 24, 1993
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON CONSERVATION, NOVEMBER 24, 1993
AN ACT
1 Authorizing local enforcement of environmental laws.
2 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
3 hereby enacts as follows:
4 Section 1. Short title.
5 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Local
6 Environmental Enforcement Act.
7 Section 2. Definitions.
8 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
9 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
10 context clearly indicates otherwise:
11 "Department." The Department of Environmental Resources of
12 the Commonwealth.
13 Section 3. Notification to department.
14 Whenever a local municipality, by reason of receipt of a
15 complaint or otherwise, becomes aware of and, after
16 investigation, has reason to believe that there has been a
17 violation of any environmental law of the Commonwealth which
1 endangers or may cause a threat to public health and safety, the
2 municipality may notify the regional office of the department.
3 Section 4. Content of notice.
4 The notice to the department under section 3 shall be in
5 writing and signed by an authorized official of the
6 municipality. The notice shall contain sufficient information
7 which includes the type of environmental violation, the time or
8 times the violation or violations occurred, the name of the
9 alleged violator, the address of the violator and the location
10 of the violation. The department will then respond to the notice
11 as required by this act.
12 Section 5. Response by department.
13 Upon receipt of the notice of an alleged violation, the
14 department shall investigate and respond within seven days of
15 receipt of the notice of the violation. The response shall
16 contain information advising the municipality of the action
17 which the department will take in response to the notice of an
18 alleged violation. If the department determines that a violation
19 does not exist or determines that no action is necessary, the
20 response shall advise the municipality of the reasons for that
21 determination.
22 Section 6. Response by municipality.
23 If the department does not respond within seven days as
24 required by section 5, the municipality may send a second notice
25 to the department as provided in section 4. If the department
26 does not respond within seven days of receipt of the second
27 notice, the local municipality may take appropriate enforcement
28 action as provided in section 7.
29 Section 7. Enforcement by municipality.
30 Unless the statute under which the action arises specifically
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1 preempts local enforcement upon failure of the department to
2 respond to the notice as provided in section 3, any district
3 attorney of a county or any solicitor of a municipality may
4 proceed in courts of law or equity to abate violations of the
5 environmental laws of this Commonwealth and to abate nuisances
6 under other existing laws of this Commonwealth. Nothing in this
7 section shall be construed as preventing the Commonwealth from
8 proceeding with enforcement actions authorized under existing
9 environmental laws or other existing laws.
10 Section 8. Effective date.
11 This act shall take effect immediately.
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