HARRISBURG – Legislation authored by Rep. Zach “Mayko” (R-Lehigh/Northampton) to require timely notification of environmental violations at quarries and landfills passed The House yesterday.
The bill comes after 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 encouraged that there have been no additional environmental violations at the quarry to my knowledge, I remain committed to advancing this legislation so residents can be confident they will be notified promptly of any incident that could affect their health or safety,” Mako said.
House Bill 2229 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.