Proposed regulation caters to industry and will harm water quality
Contact: Jennifer Quinn, Legislative and Political Director, Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter, jen.quinn@sierraclub.org
HARRISBURG, PA — In an unexpected move, the Environmental Quality Board recently issued a draft rulemaking that would weaken the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law, one of our bedrock environmental laws, by allowing industry to decide whether or not they need to report spills or discharges that enter our waterways.
If finalized, this regulation would allow the person responsible for a spill to postpone reporting a discharge while they evaluate fifteen complicated factors to determine whether they believe that the spill will pollute our waters or endanger downstream users. The factors to evaluate are complex, difficult to implement, and will likely lead to more spills going unreported. If this happens, downstream users will not be aware of possible contaminants until after people have drunk the water or the contaminants have entered the public water supplies.
The regulation also adopts a Federal list of reportable quantities of specific hazardous substances that, if exceeded, would require reporting to the DEP. DEP had previously opposed defining pre-established threshold quantities or concentrations, but has now reversed its position.
The Environmental Quality Board held a virtual public hearing on May 15 in which the majority of speakers strongly opposed the rule change. Public comments will be accepted until June 4th, and can be submitted by visiting https://www.ahs.dep.pa.gov/eComment/.
Jen Quinn, Legislative and Political Director of the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter, released the following statement:
This proposed regulation allows polluters to decide if they need to report their spills and puts the drinking water of 13 million Pennsylvanians at risk. The current reporting requirements under the Clean Streams Law exist to protect downstream water users who are possibly in harm’s way. When a spill occurs, the immediate priority should be stopping the spill and preventing harm to waterways and downstream users. These requirements shouldn’t be weakened to appease those who don’t want to follow the rules.
The Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law is currently more protective of public health and waterways than federal water laws. We are baffled and disappointed that the Shapiro administration would also choose to adopt a federal list of reportable quantities, especially now, when federal environmental regulations are being dismantled.
We urge everyone who wants safe drinking water and values healthy streams and rivers to speak up against this weakening of standards before the comment deadline on June 4th. The Clean Streams Law has also been used effectively for decades, both to compel corrective action and impose civil penalties against companies that polluted our waters and contaminated drinking water supplies. It is unclear to us what problem this proposed regulation would fix.
About the Sierra Club: The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.