PRINTER'S NO. 1404
No. 246 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY ADOLPH, BARRAR, CIVERA, RAYMOND, BAKER, FAIRCHILD,
BELFANTI, BISHOP, CAPPELLI, COSTA, CREIGHTON, CRUZ, DALLY,
DeLUCA, DeWEESE, DiGIROLAMO, GEIST, GEORGE, HARHAI, HARPER,
HENNESSEY, HERSHEY, HUTCHINSON, JAMES, W. KELLER, KOTIK,
LEVDANSKY, MANN, MARKOSEK, MARSICO, McILHATTAN, MELIO,
MICOZZIE, MUNDY, PHILLIPS, PRESTON, READSHAW, REED, RUBLEY,
SANTONI, SCHRODER, SOLOBAY, STABACK, STERN, R. STEVENSON,
TANGRETTI, THOMAS, WALKO, WATSON, WOJNAROSKI, YEWCIC,
YOUNGBLOOD AND MARSHALL, APRIL 24, 2007
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
APRIL 24, 2007
A RESOLUTION
1 Designating the month of May 2007 as "Watershed Awareness Month"
2 in Pennsylvania.
3 WHEREAS, The land, rivers, streams, lakes, wetlands and
4 groundwater resources of this Commonwealth are interconnected to
5 form a rich mosaic of watersheds; and
6 WHEREAS, These treasured water resources provide citizens
7 with clean drinking water and recreational and business
8 opportunities; and
9 WHEREAS, This Commonwealth contains more than 83,000 miles of
10 rivers and streams; and
11 WHEREAS, There are eight distinct river basins in
12 Pennsylvania, including Lake Erie, Ohio River, Genesee River
13 (Lake Ontario), Susquehanna, Delaware, Potomac, Elk and
14 Northeast/Gunpowder; and
1 WHEREAS, There are 104 watersheds, the basic building blocks
2 of the natural environment, in this Commonwealth; and
3 WHEREAS, More than 13,400 miles of streams and rivers in
4 Pennsylvania are so impaired that they do not meet current water
5 quality standards; and
6 WHEREAS, The Commonwealth invests enormous resources to
7 restore and protect water, including the remediation of polluted
8 water from 180,000 acres of abandoned coal mines and the more
9 than 2 billion tons of coal refuse which contaminates more than
10 6,200 miles of streams and associated groundwater; and
11 WHEREAS, Abandoned mines, coal refuse and their associated
12 polluted water discharges are the main reason contaminated
13 streams do not meet water quality standards; and
14 WHEREAS, The Congress of the United States last year
15 reauthorized the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund fee to help
16 provide Pennsylvania with an estimated $1.4 billion in Federal
17 funding over the next 15 years to reclaim abandoned mines and
18 treat abandoned mine drainage; and
19 WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania AML Campaign, made up of watershed
20 and environmental groups, the coal industry, conservation
21 districts, state and local governments and many others, lobbied
22 tirelessly for action on the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund
23 fee; and
24 WHEREAS, The Commonwealth is committed to a watershed
25 approach to resource management where concerned community
26 members come together as watershed guardians to address and
27 resolve problems; and
28 WHEREAS, The Commonwealth empowers and assists local
29 watershed organizations working in partnership as watershed
30 guardians to resolve or remediate current water quality and
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1 water quantity problems within watershed boundaries; and
2 WHEREAS, This watershed approach to environmental protection
3 leads to cleaner rivers and streams, safer drinking water and
4 greater protection of aquatic wildlife habitats; and
5 WHEREAS, There are more than 400 active watershed groups in
6 this Commonwealth, and new watershed groups are forming
7 continuously; and
8 WHEREAS, Watershed groups have reclaimed more than 5,000
9 acres of abandoned mines, planted more than 1,500 miles of
10 stream buffers and created or restored more than 3,000 acres of
11 wetlands since 1999; and
12 WHEREAS, More than 11,000 citizens are actively engaged in
13 monitoring water quality throughout this Commonwealth, in
14 particular more than 2,500 volunteers in 52 counties covered by
15 local chapters of the Pennsylvania Senior Environment Corps; and
16 WHEREAS, Local watershed groups are a cost-effective
17 investment in environmental cleanup for the Commonwealth: for
18 every $1 invested by the Commonwealth, watershed groups have
19 matched it with $1.25 of their own funds, more than doubling the
20 Commonwealth's investment; and
21 WHEREAS, Educational forums connecting adults and children to
22 their watersheds, including the land, water and people,
23 ultimately provide long-term protection for these important and
24 valuable water resources; and
25 WHEREAS, The Commonwealth recognizes and celebrates the
26 efforts of hardworking volunteers within watershed groups who
27 improve their communities today and for future generations;
28 therefore be it
29 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate the
30 month of May 2007 as "Watershed Awareness Month" in
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1 Pennsylvania; and be it further
2 RESOLVED, That the theme "Reclaiming Abandoned Mines to
3 Reclaim Pennsylvania's Waterways" celebrate the success of the
4 effort to reauthorize the Federal Abandoned Mine Reclamation
5 Fund fee and the steps taken by the Pennsylvania AML Campaign,
6 Federal and state governments and watershed groups throughout
7 this Commonwealth to address Pennsylvania's number one threat to
8 clean water.
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