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Support Environmental Impact Assessments
Background
There Ought to Be a Law
Take Action Now
Talking Points
Sample Letter
Full text of HB2799
Pennsylvanians take pride in the fact that their state public lands are some of the most extensive in the nation. These state forests, parks and other special lands contribute greatly to the quality of residents' lives. Unfortunately, there is now no requirement that those who manage our special places consider the environmental impact of management decisions on the recreation, fisheries, wildlife, air and water quality of these lands.
Now, State Rep. Chuck McIllhinney has introduced legislation in the General Assembly (HB 2799) that would require land managers to assess the environmental impacts of actions and to involve the public fully in those decisions. We, and Pennsylvania's special places, need your help to ensure that the legislation gains the support it needs to become law.
Won't you please take a moment to call your state representative and urge her or him to co-sponsor HB 2799 and to call for a legislative hearing for the bill? We've provided talking points below. You can look up your representative's phone number here: http://tws.ctsg.com/wac/legDirectory/index.asp?step=2&state=PA
If you have more time, you can also email a letter to your state representative. We've provided a sample letter below, and you can look up your representative's email address at: http://tws.ctsg.com/wac/legDirectory/index.asp?step=2&state=PA
There Ought to Be a Law
The plain, sad fact is that there's no legal requirement that state land management agencies in Pennsylvania:
- Complete an adequate, scientifically sound environmental analysis of the impacts of proposed actions;
- Inform the public of their findings; or,
- Ask the public to comment on logging, oil and gas development or other significant projects on state land.
Take Action Now!
There could be - with your help! Rep. Chuck McIllhinney (R) has introduced legislation that would fill this dangerous gap. Titled "The Pennsylvania Environmental Policy Act," HB 2799 would require Pennsylvania agencies that manage public lands to give the state's citizens a role in major land management decisions-and enough information, far enough in advance, to make such participation meaningful. The bill is a balanced approach, a sensible approach and is long overdue.
The McIllhinney bill would require the development of an environmental impact statement detailing the potential effects of a proposed action. It would prescribe a formal public participation process and would require agencies to respond to concerns the public raises. Many other states and the federal government already require such a process, a way to ensure that the "public" in public land means something. Pennsylvanians should have the same right and the McIllhinney bill would ensure that they do.
Talking Points
Supporters of this legislation include PennEnvironment, the Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters and The Wilderness Society. Your state legislators need to know that you support it, too.
Please take the time to call or write your representative, urging him or her to:
- Please co-sponsor HB 2799, which would lay out a science-based process for management decisions on Pennsylvania's forests, parks and other special natural areas. It would also require that the public be involved in such important decisions.
- Please call for legislative hearings for the bill.
Sample Letter
Dear Rep.
I write to urge you to support Rep. Chuck McIllhinney's legislation, the Pennsylvania Environmental Policy Act, HB 2799. The measure would set out a process for bringing science to decisions that could have an impact on the Commonwealth's important forests, parks and other special places. And it would, for the first time, require that the public be involved in state land management decisions from the outset.
The need for such a process in Pennsylvania became painfully clear last spring. The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources announced its intention to lease half a million acres of the Commonwealth's forests and parks to oil and gas interests. The industry was very much involved in discussions leading to that decision; the public was never given a full account of the environmental risks of the project or a meaningful opportunity to comment.
HB 2799 is balanced and sensible. It is also long overdue. It would require:
- Development of an environmental impact statement detailing potential effects of a proposed action, such as logging and oil and gas development; and,
- A formal public comment process, and an agency response to any public concerns that emerge during that process.
Management decisions on federal public lands have long been subject to the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, including careful analysis of potential impacts, full and timely notice to the public and careful provisions for public involvement. Many other states have similar processes. It is time that Pennsylvania did.
Please cosponsor the Pennsylvania Environmental Policy Act. The measure would ensure that our environmental rights are protected when state agencies make decisions about the use of our public lands. And please urge the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee to schedule hearings on this legislation as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
REMINDER: You can look up your representative's email address at: http://tws.ctsg.com/wac/legDirectory/index.asp?step=2&state=PA
Thanks for doing all you can to protect America's wild places.
