The question is-- how will they spend their limited time in Harrisburg?
Since 2010, the Growing Greener Coalition, hunting and fishing, farm and local government groups have been urging the General Assembly and the Governors to come together to provide significant funding to protect people from flooding, restore watersheds, support the installation of green infrastructure, improve our parks and trails and preserve open space.
Those calls have been ignored except for the adoption of the Act 13 drilling per well impact fee in 2013-- after the General Assembly and Gov. Corbett repeatedly rejected proposals for a severance tax on natural gas production.
But this revenue source for some environmental projects is declining. This year, impact fee revenue will drop by over $55.5 million and overall has dropped by over 42 percent in the last two years. Read more here.
Overall, the politicians who run the Senate and House have diverted over $3 billion in environmental funding over the last 18 years from the Environmental Stewardship-- Growing Greener-- Fund and other sources that support local flood prevention and watershed restoration projects to non-environmental restoration purposes. [FY 2021-22 - FY 2020-21]
They did these diversions even in years with good state revenues and when billions of federal aid was available.
They also made these cuts and raids on funds set aside for environmental restoration in the face of overwhelming voter support. Polls have repeatedly shown 90 percent or more of voters want more funding for critical environmental and conservation programs. Read more here.
Hurricanes and tropical depressions and micro-storms have repeatedly lashed out at communities and caused significant damage and deaths in Pennsylvania over the last 10 years.
In 2011, it was Tropical Storm Lee, in 2017, it was Tropical Depression Harvey, in 2018 it was micro-storms causing flooding in communities all over the state and again with the $117 million in damage from Hurricane Ida in the last month.
Several reports issued over the last 10 years show there has been a 71 percent increase in very heavy precipitation events in the last 54 years in Pennsylvania [Read more here] and that trend is likely to continue into the future with the impacts of climate change [Read more here].
It’s not like we haven’t been warned…. repeatedly.
Mine Reclamation Funding
Pennsylvania is also facing another huge environmental funding issue-- the federal Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fee that funds the state’s abandoned mine reclamation program will expire at the end of September-- this month.
In August, the U.S. Senate passed the bipartisan infrastructure bill that includes an $11.3 billion investment in abandoned mine reclamation over 15 years and the legislation reauthorizes the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fee for 13 years at 80 percent of its level. Read more here.
But the U.S. House has not taken final action on this legislation leaving the issue in limbo.
Neither the Pennsylvania House or Senate have taken any action to urge Congress to extend this critical source of environmental funding this year. Read more here.
Time For Action
The General Assembly now has over $5 billion in American Rescue Fund money laying around doing nothing. They are not investing it to make Pennsylvania better and to prevent flooding, restore watersheds and support local recreation and other environmental improvement projects. Read more here.
The Growing Greener Coalition, hunting and fishing, farm and other environmental groups have vigorously urged legislators to invest some of those funds to prevent flooding, for local watershed restoration, recreation, open space and farm conservation projects. Read more here.
In March, Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming), Majority Chair of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, proposed legislation-- Senate Bill 832-- to allocate $250 million from the federal American Rescue Plan Act to establish a Clean Streams Fund for Pennsylvania. Read more here.
In March, a bipartisan group of Senators including John Gordner (R-Columbia), Bob Mensch (R-Montgomery), Vincent Hughes (D-Philadelphia) and Carolyn Comitta (D-Chester), Minority Chair of the Senate Environmental Committee, proposed legislation-- Senate Bill 525-- allocating $500 million from the federal American Rescue Plan to fund Growing Greener watershed, farm conservation, mine reclamation and recreation projects. Read more here.
Yes, you read that right-- these proposals have been sitting around since March. Other proposals have been sitting around much, much longer.
The Senate and House also have over a $200 million surplus in their legislative operating accounts that’s doing nothing. Read more here.
But the General Assembly has failed to act over and over again in the face of overwhelming need.
State legislators are awash in money… they need to get off their butts and invest it.
The question is-- how will they spend the little voting time they have back in Harrisburg?
I guess we’ll find out.
Related Articles This Week:
-- DEP Blog: Cambria County Coal Waste Reclamation Project Wins National Award [Federal Mine Reclamation Fee Expires This Month]
-- WeConservePA: Sept. 28 - Understanding Funding Opportunities Thru The American Rescue Plan
Related Articles:
-- Growing Greener Coalition: American Rescue Plan For Water & Green Infrastructure
[Posted: September 15, 2021] PA Environment Digest
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