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| THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION |
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| INTRODUCED BY GEORGE, BELFANTI, CALTAGIRONE, DeLUCA, GOODMAN, HALUSKA, HARHAI, JOSEPHS, MAHONEY, MUNDY, MURPHY, SIPTROTH, THOMAS AND YOUNGBLOOD, MAY 25, 2010 |
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| REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, MAY 25, 2010 |
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| A RESOLUTION |
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1 | Directing the Department of Environmental Protection to cease |
2 | and desist issuing, on an expedited basis, Erosion and |
3 | Sediment Controls General Permits for natural gas drilling |
4 | activities before conducting a technical review of the permit |
5 | application. |
6 | WHEREAS, The Constitution of the Commonwealth of |
7 | Pennsylvania, Article I, section 27, states that: "The people |
8 | have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation |
9 | of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the |
10 | environment. Pennsylvania's public natural resources are the |
11 | common property of all the people, including generations yet to |
12 | come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall |
13 | conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people"; |
14 | and |
15 | WHEREAS, The Department of Environmental Protection, since |
16 | March 2009, has been issuing Erosion and Sediment Controls |
17 | General Permits for earth disturbance activities related to |
18 | natural gas drilling operations on an expedited basis without |
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1 | conducting technical review of the permit applications; and |
2 | WHEREAS, Already three of the permits issued on an expedited |
3 | basis without technical review were based on applications that |
4 | failed to disclose information with respect to their impacts on |
5 | Exceptional Value or High Quality watersheds, including trout |
6 | streams, flaws which were detected not by the Department of |
7 | Environmental Protection but by a nonprofit organization and |
8 | which permits were revoked as a result; and |
9 | WHEREAS, Permits were issued on an expedited basis without a |
10 | technical review for earth disturbance activities related to |
11 | natural gas drilling in floodplains, thereby risking the |
12 | possibility of a severe case of water pollution in the event of |
13 | a flood; and |
14 | WHEREAS, The practice of issuing expedited permits without |
15 | conducting a minimal review of basic technical facts and |
16 | conditions necessary to protect the environment is unsustainable |
17 | and unwise; therefore be it |
18 | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives direct the |
19 | Department of Environmental Protection to cease and desist |
20 | issuing, on an expedited basis, Erosion and Sediment Controls |
21 | General Permits for natural gas drilling activities before |
22 | conducting a technical review of the permit application. |
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