PRINTER'S NO. 2298

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE RESOLUTION

No.

149

Session of

2021

INTRODUCED BY RIGBY, PICKETT, STEPHENS, ZIMMERMAN, MOUL AND

SCHEMEL, OCTOBER 25, 2021

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY,

Pennsylvania's Phase 3 Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Implementation Plan and to provide for a moratorium on

revisions to General Permit PAG-07, General Permit PAG-08 and

General Permit PAG-09 until the Legislative Budget and

Finance Committee reports its findings and conclusions to the

House of Representatives.

WHEREAS, The Chesapeake Bay is the nation's largest estuary,

with a watershed spanning 64,000 square miles, including parts

of six states and the District of Columbia; and

WHEREAS, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found,

WHEREAS, Portions of the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal rivers

are listed as impaired waters under the Federal Water Pollution

Control Act; and

WHEREAS, The environmental status of the Chesapeake Bay has

led the Chesapeake Bay Program, consisting of the states of

Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia, the District of Columbia,

the EPA and the Chesapeake Bay Commission, a tristate

legislative commission representing the legislatures of

Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia, to adopt agreements to

restore the environmental integrity of the bay; and

WHEREAS, The Commonwealth is a signatory to the Chesapeake

consideration and potential incorporation of a revised

Phosphorous Index into planning requirements for land

application of biosolids; and

WHEREAS, In 2021, the DEP released revisions to the General

Permit for the Beneficial Use of Exceptional Quality Biosolids

by Land Application (PAG-07), General Permit for the Beneficial

Use of Biosolids by Land Application (PAG-08) and General Permit

for the Beneficial Use of Residential Septage by Land

Application (PAG-09) to include requirements for the monitoring

of polyfluoroalkyl substances and Phosphorus Index based land

WHEREAS, It has not been addressed how waste management

facilities, communities and the agricultural industry would, in

practice, comply with the proposed revisions to PAG-07, PAG-08,

PAG-09; and

WHEREAS, The increased costs necessary to comply with the

proposed revisions to PAG-07, PAG-08 and PAG-09 may be passed

down the economic chain to residents across this Commonwealth

who are struggling with financial hardships due to the COVID-19

pandemic; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives direct the

PAG-09; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee

identify the financial resources that other states have

committed to assist permit holders in achieving compliance with

similar permit revisions and the financial resources currently

available to permit holders in this Commonwealth to meet the

proposed changes to PAG-07, PAG-08 and PAG-09; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee

report its findings and conclusions to the Governor, the

Department of Environmental Protection of the Commonwealth and

PAG-07, PAG-08 and PAG-09 until the Legislative Budget and

Finance Committee has reported its findings under this

resolution so that the economic consequences of a revision can

be adequately analyzed.