Water Resources Planning Act by Section
Section-by-Section Summary Water Resources Planning Act
SUBCHAPTER
A.: GENERAL PROVISIONS
Section 3101. Scope.
Section 3102. Definitions.
Section 3103. Intergovernmental cooperation and coordination.
The Statewide Water Resources Committee (Statewide Committee), the six regional committees and DEP are to cooperate and coordinate with appropriate Compact Basin Commissions, Federal, interstate, State, municipalities, public water supply and other agencies for efficient planning for the maintenance and enhancement of water resources in Pennsylvania.
Section 3104. Administrative agreements with other agencies.
DEP in consultation with the Statewide Committee, is empowered and directed to enter into administrative agreements with other agencies to avoid duplication of efforts and facilitate coordinated review of projects and actions related to water resources; provide for a coordinated system for registering significant water uses and coordinate the collection and maintenance of water resources data; monitor and enforce applicable statutes and regulations; accept delegation of authority and obtain services from Compact Basin Commissions, or federal or interstate agencies; and ensure coordinated responses to water resource emergencies.
The Statewide Committee is given no enforcement authority, nor is DEP or the Committee granted any power to regulate, control or require permits for the withdrawal or use of water.
SUBCHAPTER 13: WATER RESOURCES PLANNING
Section 3111. State water plan.
Through an open public process, the State water plan shall be completed and adopted within five years of the effective date of the act.
Reflecting the geographic diversity of Pennsylvania, the bill calls for the creation of regional committees in each river basin identified. These committees will guide the development of regional components of the State Water Plan. Coupled with the efforts of the Statewide Committee, this will guide the overall process.
DEP and the Statewide Committee, in consultation with the Regional committees, will establish priorities and guidelines for the level of detail appropriate for different planning areas in the state. The Statewide Committee will guide the development, and approve the State Water Plan. The Statewide Committee will recommend the DEP Secretary approve and adopt the State Water Plan.
The existing authority of the Department and the Environmental Quality Board will not be expanded or diminished in terms of regulating, controlling or requiring permits for the withdrawal or use of water.
Section 3112. Plan contents.
The State Water Plan and its regional components will include an inventory of water resources and their safe yield, an assessment and projection of future use, needs, and demands, potential conflicts and problems, and the identification of critical planning areas and critical area resource plans for such areas. The regional committees will identify needs in addition to the needs and priorities reflected in comprehensive plans and zoning. These will be taken into account with the application of equal and uniform treatment towards all water users, with no regard to political boundaries.
The State water plan will include a review and evaluation of statutes, regulations, policies, management alternatives, and institutional arrangements. The final plan is to recommend proposed methods for implementing various recommended actions, projects, programs, or management activities.
The Statewide Committee and DEP Secretary may, in advance of the formal adoption of a regional plan or the State water plan, designate an area as a critical water planning area, if recommended and justified by evidence presented from the regional committee in the planning process.
The regional committees will guide the development of Critical Area Resource Plans for watersheds within a critical planning area with advise from a critical area advisory committee. County, regional agencies, or expert consulting firms may be engaged to assist in the process of preparing a plan. The regional committees shall recommend the critical area resource plans to the Statewide Committee, after providing the appropriate planning agencies and municipalities with a 45-day comment period.
Section 3113. Regional committees.
Six regional committees will be established to represent the diverse geographic interests across Pennsylvania. The regions include (1) the Ohio River watershed, (2) the Lake Erie and Genesee River watershed, (3) the Potomac River watershed, (4) the Juniata River and Lower Susquehanna River watersheds, and the Gunpowder, Northeast and Elk Creek Watersheds, (5) West Branch Susquehanna River subbasin and the upper Susquehanna, middle Susquehanna and Chemung subbasins, and (6) the Delaware River watershed.
The regional committees shall advise and make recommendations to the Statewide Committee and DEP through an open public process in the development of regional components of the State Water Plan, advise in the selection of consultants and experts, and recommend the identification of critical water planning areas.
Membership of the regional committees will be comprised of 21 members appointed by the Governor, representing a cross-section of interests and a representative of the appropriate river basin commission.
One member of each regional committee will be a DEP employee appointed by the Secretary of DEP, who will be a non-voting member.
Section 3114. Statewide Water Resources Committee.
The Statewide Committee will be comprised of 18 appointed members representing various interests. Along with DEP, they will coordinate and guide development of the State water plan, recommend and adopt policies and guidelines for the State water plan, and approve and recommend the State water plan to the DEP Secretary. This will be a public process.
The Statewide committee will also include Secretaries of Environmental Protection, Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources; Executive Directors of Fish and Boat Commission and Emergency Management Agency, and the Chairman of the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission as ex officio voting members. The Secretary for Community and Economic Development and a representative of each Compact Basin Commission are non-voting ex officio members.
Section 3115. Development, adoption, amendment and period review of Sate water plan.
Through an open public process, the State water plan shall be adopted within five years of the effective date of the act and updated every five years thereafter.
DEP and the Statewide Committee will develop policies and guidelines for preparing or amending the State water plan.
Following the public participation process, the regional committees will recommend regional plan components to the Statewide Committee. Following consultation with the regional committees, the Statewide Committee will approve and will adopt the regional components and State Water Plan, and will recommend adoption to the Secretary of DEP. The Secretary will approve or disapprove the regional plan components and/or the State water plan within 90 days of receipt.
If the plans are disapproved, the regional committee, the Statewide Committee and the Secretary must undertake expeditious and diligent efforts to resolve the issues. The Statewide Committee must recommend a revised plan that addresses the issues within 90 days of disapproval.
Section 3116. Use of plan.
The State water plan is intended to serve as a policy and guidance document covering a broad range of water resource related issues. The State Water Plan is intended to provide information, objectives, priorities and recommendations to be considered in a broad range, of State, local, and private water resource decisions.
The State plan is not intended to constitute or contain legally binding regulations, prohibitions or prescriptions.
Section 3117. Statewide data system.
DEP, in cooperation with Federal, State, regional entities, and Compact Basin Commissions, will establish a statewide data system to gather, process and distribute information on the availability, distribution, quality and use of water resources.
Information gathered is subject to protection provided to confidential business information. Information not identified as confidential shall be made available to persons on payment of a reasonable fee to cover expenses of making the information available.
Section 3118. Water use registration and reporting.
Pending adopting of regulations, all public water supply agencies, each hydropower facility, and all other persons using more than 10,000 gallons of water a day will be required to register with the Department. Registrations are due no later than 12 months after the effective date of the act, or 30 days after initiation of such withdrawal or use.
The Environmental Quality Board will adopt regulations addressing water use registration, periodic reporting and record keeping. Regulations must allow for alternatives to metering where reasonably accurate methods exist to obtain an estimate of water use. Special consideration will be given to use of alternate methods for users of less than 50,000 gallons of water per day.
Metering of homeowners wells is expressly prohibited.
Registration is not a determination of a person's water rights or approval by an agency of a water withdrawal or use.
Section 3119. Confidential information.
Required information submitted to DEP shall be subject to the provisions of the Right to Know Law. Exceptions include identified confidential information. Any identified confidential information submitted to the Department, Statewide Committee or regional committees must be held in a separate file from the general records.
Section 3120. Water conservation.
A technical assistance center within the Department is established to promote voluntary water conservation and provide technical assistance on water resource issues. The center will establish a voluntary statewide conservation program, develop a water conservation education program for households and other users, identify and promote water conservation practices and technologies, and establish a Governor's Water Conservation Award to recognize outstanding conservation efforts.
To address unaccounted-for water loss from public water supply systems, PENNVEST is authorized to give special consideration to funding projects that implement water conservation practices that address unaccounted water loss and/or provide for interconnection between public water supplies agencies to improve reliability.
Section 3121. Grants.
The Department is authorized to provide grants to reimburse up to 75 percent of the cost of preparing a voluntary water use reduction plan in a critical water planning areas. Other grants will be for water resources education, technical assistance and water conservation.
SUBCHAPTER C: ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT
Section 3131. Administration.
The Department is authorized to use the fees collected from the use of the statewide data system to defray the cost of administering certain provisions of the act. To determine compliance, the Department may conduct inspections and access records for review. The bill creates a Water Resources Fund capitalized by fines and penalties to be used to implement the act, and enables the DEP to access the Clean Water Fund to carry out the provisions of the act.
Section 3132. Public nuisance.
Declares violations of the act to be a public nuisance.
Section 3133. Enforcement orders.
Authorizes the DEP to issue orders necessary to enforce the act, and establishes the duty of any person to proceed diligently in complying with orders of the DEP.
Section 3134. Civil remedies.
Establishes civil remedies and penalties, and authorizes penalties of up to $1000 per day for each violation of the act.
Section 3135. Preservation of rights and remedies.
Ensures the preservation of rights and remedies under other laws.
Section 3136. Relation to other laws.
Nothing in the act may be construed to authorize, expand or diminish the existing authority of DEP, including the Environmental Quality Board, to regulate, control or require permits for the withdrawal or use of water use.
Recognizing the need to manage water on a watershed basis, the bill states that no political subdivision will have any power to allocate water resources or to regulate the location, amount, timing, terms or conditions, of any water withdrawal by any person. The power of municipalities to adopt ordinances regulating the use of land is specifically preserved, as are municipal powers to adopt ordinances under the Emergency Management Services Code.
