Jun. 07, 2023
HARRISBURG – The House today passed legislation authored by Rep. Zach Mako (R-Lehigh/Northampton) to require timely notification of environmental violations at quarries and landfills.
The bill is the result of a several months-long lag in 2018 in notifying Whitehall Township and its residents that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice of non-compliance to a local landfill for high levels of PCBs in material accepted at the facility.
“While I am pleased that I am unaware of any further environmental violations at the quarry, I continue to push for this legislation so residents can be assured that they are alerted to anything that could possibly negatively affect their health or safety,” Mako said. “Quarry and landfill operators should be good neighbors to those living close by. This bill will help do that. I’m hopeful the Senate will consider the legislation quickly so that delayed notification doesn’t occur in the future.”
House Bill 718 would require the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to forward to municipalities within 14 days noncompliance notifications it receives from the EPA for violations of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and Solid Waste Management Act (SWMA).
The bill now goes to the Senate for its consideration.
The 183rd House District includes Lowhill and North Whitehall townships and Slatington Borough in Lehigh County. It also consists of Allen, East Allen, Lehigh and Moore (part) townships, and Bath, North Catasauqua, Northampton and Walnutport boroughs in Northampton County.
Representative Zachary Mako
183rd Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Tracy Polovick
717.260.6358
tpolovick@pahousegop.com
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