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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2019 - 2020
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | April 16, 2019 04:11 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Todd Stephens |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Funding for Clean Drinking Water and Infrastructure to Remediate PFAS in PA |
| In 2006, the federal government closed several military bases around the country, including the Willow Grove Naval Air Station in Montgomery County. As a part of the process to transfer the land, the federal government discovered significant environmental issues including contamination of the drinking water in some Montgomery and Bucks County communities caused by the use of firefighting foam at the military installation. To protect the public health, some of these communities worked to ensure their drinking water has no detectable levels of these contaminants. Despite the fact the federal government is responsible for the contamination, local ratepayers and taxpayers have been bearing the costs to remove these harmful contaminants from the drinking water. Despite the significant efforts of local municipalities, the federal government continues to pollute our waterways through ongoing runoff from the military base and continued pollution of the aquifer which is impacting surrounding communities. Additionally, these environmental and drinking water issues have delayed the redevelopment of the former military base. This delay in returning this land to productive use has cost the Commonwealth tax revenue and job opportunities. I am introducing legislation that redirects a portion of future state tax revenue generated on and around the former military installation to a newly created municipal authority who will utilize these funds to eliminate the local surcharges ratepayers have been paying for clean water, to remediate water contamination caused by the military installation, and for infrastructure to encourage redevelopment of the closed military installation. In addition, the legislation will direct Pennvest to develop a program to address these chemicals in communities across the Commonwealth. Please join me in cosponsoring this legislation. |
Introduced as HB1410