House Resolution Introduced To Designate April 16 to 22 Clean Streams Week In PA

A resolution was introduced by Rep. Stephen McCarter (D-Montgomery) Tuesday to designate the week of April 16 to 22 as Clean Streams Week in Pennsylvania.

House Resolution 787 has 22 co-sponsors from both parties.   The text of the resolution follows--

A RESOLUTION

Designating the week of April 16 through 22, 2018, as "Clean Streams Week" in Pennsylvania.

WHEREAS, There are more than 62,000 streams in this Commonwealth covering nearly 83,000 miles that provide drinking water, recreational opportunities, natural beauty and habitat for Pennsylvania's wildlife; and

WHEREAS, The Commonwealth's Clean Streams Law was passed by the General Assembly in 1937 to preserve and improve the purity of the waters of this Commonwealth for the protection of public health, animal and aquatic life, industrial consumption and recreation; and

WHEREAS, Streams and rivers are an important source of drinking water for Pennsylvania residents, making clean streams vital to this Commonwealth's water security; and

WHEREAS, Fishing in Pennsylvania's streams is a popular pastime and is part of an outdoor recreation industry that contributed more than $20 billion in consumer spending to this Commonwealth's economy in 2016; and

WHEREAS, Trout populations serve as an indicator of a stream's overall health; and

WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and Trout Unlimited are currently working together to classify all of Pennsylvania's streams based on trout habitat; and

WHEREAS, The flora and fauna found in streams are the foundation of a healthy ecosystem; and

WHEREAS, Excessive agricultural runoff of nutrient-rich soil into streams can damage ecosystems and create "dead zones" from algae blooms; and

WHEREAS, Agricultural runoff is a major contributor to the degradation of the Chesapeake Bay; and

WHEREAS, Pennsylvania has already spent billions of dollars on Chesapeake Bay cleanup and is obligated to spend billions more; and

WHEREAS, According to the Department of Environmental Protection, nearly 20,000 miles of Pennsylvania's waterways are considered impaired, mostly from agricultural runoff and acid mine drainage; and

WHEREAS, According to the United States Geological Survey, more than 3,000 miles of streams in this Commonwealth are contaminated by acid mine drainage, with many of the impacted streams containing no fish; and

WHEREAS, Storm water runoff is another major source of water pollution in this Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, During rainstorms, litter, motor oil, antifreeze and other chemicals, including salt used to treat roadways in the winter, washes off roads and into storm drains, eventually polluting our streams and rivers; and

WHEREAS, The Congress of the United States recently overturned the United States Department of the Interior's Stream Protection Rule, which regulated waterway contamination from surface coal mining; and

WHEREAS, The Federal Government has sought to change the definition of "waters of the United States" covered under the Clean Water Act so that certain small streams, headwaters and wetlands are no longer included; and

WHEREAS, The health of our waterways is crucial to the well-being of this Commonwealth; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate the week of April 16 through 22, 2018, as "Clean Streams Week" in Pennsylvania.

Click Here for a sponsor summary.

(Photo: Worlds End State Park, Sullivan County.)