Susquehanna River Basin Commission Invites Comments On Right-To-Know Policy

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission published notice in the October 21 PA Bulletin of proposed changes to its Access To Records [Right-To-Know] Policy for public comment and notice of a November 2 public hearing in Harrisburg.

The proposed rule is designed to enhance the Commission’s commitment to open and transparent operations and accessibility of records to the public.

The Commission has a longstanding practice of providing information to the public in much the same manner as its member states.

The Commission first promulgated its Freedom of Information Policy on January 11, 1979, and then updated its open records policy by adopting its Access to Records Policy on September 10, 2009.

“We believe our policy has been successful in satisfying records requests. Over the past several years, the Commission provided records to more than 100 formal records requests and more than 50 distinct requests for data or information, as well as innumerable informal information requests,” said Andrew Dehoff, Commission executive director. “Over the years, the Commission has also implemented significant improvements to the data and information available on its website.”

The Commission will continue this long tradition of transparency by further formalizing the key elements of its Access to Records Policy in duly promulgated regulations.

Through this action, the Commission will be codifying its commitment to public access to records in a way that instills these new regulations with the status of law that can be enforceable against the Commission.

Public Hearing

A public hearing on the proposed policy will be held on November 2 from 2:30 to 5:00 in Room 8E-B East Wing of the Capitol Building in Harrisburg.

Those wishing to testify are asked to notify the Commission in advance, if possible, by contacting Jason E. Oyler, Esq., General Counsel, telephone: 717-238-0423, ext. 1312; fax: 717-238-2436; or send email to: joyler@srbc.net.

The deadline for public comments is November 13.

Comments may be mailed to: Jason E. Oyler, Esq., General Counsel, Susquehanna River Basin Commission, 4423 N. Front Street, Harrisburg, PA 17110-1788, or by email to regcomments@srbc.net . The public hearing is located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, State Capitol (East Wing, Room 8E-B), Commonwealth Avenue, Harrisburg, PA 17120.

For more information, visit SRBC’s Public Participation Center webpage.  Follow SRBC on Twitter, visit them on YouTube.