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Alert: Your voice counts

By PennFuture
in
June 27, 2012
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Click this logo to go to PennFuture's website, which will open in a new browser window.The Pennsylvania House of Representatives could vote as early as Wednesday on House Bill 1659. 
This dangerous legislation would severely limit — or even eliminate — the ability of the Department of Environmental Protection to adequately review pollution, mining, gas drilling, landfill and other permits. Please act now to defeat this bad bill.

Use the Take Action button to get to our online action center and contact your representative.
What's bad about this bill?
  • House Bill 1659 imposes short and arbitrary deadlines on DEP’s review of permit applications.
  • Permits will be deemed automatically approved if DEP cannot meet the deadlines, regardless of the complexity of the permit or the potential impact on our environment and communities.
  • DEP has diminished capacity to meet these short and arbitrary deadlines due to cuts in the agency's budget over the past five years.
  • The bill requires DEP within 90 days to develop a plan to outsource the review of permit applications to private contractors. This puts the interests of the public in the hands of entities that have no accountability to the public.
  • DEP is opposed to the bill.
Shape
Pennsylvania's
future.		 Take action!

How can you help? 
Urge your representative today to oppose final passage of House Bill 1659.

Let him or her know that the bill would make the fundamental mission of DEP — to protect our air, water, land and public health — take a back seat to serving the interests of permit applicants.

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