The Pennsylvania Land Trust Association urges senators to oppose HB 1565. In a letter delivered to the senate today, PALTA wrote:
Enactment of this legislation would cause irreversible harm to Pennsylvania’s water quality and increase the destruction wrought by flooding.
The scope of the bill goes far beyond the supposed problems with the implementation of the regulations. The bill effectively eliminates the requirement of a riparian forest buffer, essentially replacing it with a grass buffer standard. The science is crystal clear and without challenge: grass buffers are grossly inferior to forested riparian buffers in keeping our water clean and minimizing flooding.
The pressing need and science that resulted in the establishment of the regulations has not changed. Riparian forest buffers are by far the most effective and least expensive approach to sustaining water quality and reducing the harm caused by erosion, sedimentation and flooding.