House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

NEW!

Subscribe to receive notifications of new Co-Sponsorship Memos circulated

By Member | By Date | Keyword Search

House of Representatives
Session of 2019 - 2020 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted:	January 11, 2019 03:42 PM
From:	Representative David H. Zimmerman
To:	All House members
Subject:	Moving DEP Farm Permitting to SCC (Prior HB 1256 – 17/18 Session)

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) oversees permitting for activities and projects in many different areas. If those activities or projects take place on a farm, there is often little expertise within DEP for reviewing the permit application, which leads to frustration and delays. These are projects to install best management practices to improve environmental quality! In the near future, I will re-introduce legislation (prior HB 1256 – 17/18 Session) which will require DEP to transfer its permitting authority for projects on farms to the State Conservation Commission (SCC). The SCC is an administrative commission under the concurrent authority of both DEP and the Department of Agriculture and therefore has the expertise within its staff of both the environmental laws and agricultural practices. Since the SSC is already responsible for on-farm inspections and enforcement on behalf of DEP, it is the more logical place for agricultural permit application reviews. Please join me in cosponsoring this legislation.

---