On Monday the PA Land Trust Association sent a letter opposing House Bill 1565 (Hahn-R-Northampton) eliminating the nearly 4 year old requirement for stream buffers in High Quality and Exceptional Value streams. The text of the letter follows--
Dear Senator:
The Pennsylvania Land Trust Association urges you to oppose House Bill 1565. Enactment of this legislation would cause irreversible harm to Pennsylvania’s water quality and increase the destruction wrought by flooding.
The bill cannot be fixed because its central feature—the neutering of buffer requirements—is fundamentally wrong. The pressing need and scientific consensus that resulted in the establishment of riparian buffer protections for High Quality and Exceptional Value streams four years ago has not changed. Riparian buffers are by far the most effective and least expensive approach to sustaining water quality and reducing the harm caused by erosion, sedimentation and flooding.
An individual’s exercise of his or her rights should not be unreasonably burdened by government regulation. However, with rights come responsibilities. Each of us has a responsibility to not degrade the waters and fisheries shared by all; we all have an obligation to not cause flooding for those downstream of us.
The riparian buffer regulations targeted by House Bill 1565 feature carefully balanced provisions to protect water quality and prevent flooding while assuring that no-one pursuing development is unreasonably burdened.
Rather than eliminate buffer protections for HQ and EV streams, the General Assembly should be exploring sensible modifications to the Clean Streams Law that would encourage the protection of riparian buffers along Pennsylvania’s other streams to guard against their further degradation.
On behalf of the 75 member organizations of the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association and the 120,000 Pennsylvanians they count as members, thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Andrew M. Loza
Executive Director