Apr. 05, 2017
By State Rep. Kristin Phillips-Hill
93rd Legislative District
When the General Assembly is not in session, members of the House and Senate spend a significant amount of time examining both existing legislation that may soon be coming up for a vote and issues in need of a legislative “fix.” Last week, I joined a number of my House and Senate colleagues in Harrisburg to examine an ongoing problem that is begging to be addressed legislatively.
The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) was created in 1970 when the Susquehanna River Basin Compact was drafted and signed into law. The compact, as adopted by the Congress of the United States, and the legislatures of New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland, provides the mechanism to guide the conservation, development and administration of the water resources of the river basin.
On its website, SRBC lists its mission as enhancing “public welfare through comprehensive planning, water supply allocation, and management of the water resources of the Susquehanna River Basin.” Unfortunately, the commission has overstepped its bounds and Pennsylvania taxpayers are paying for it.
At our meeting, members of the General Assembly and representatives from local municipalities pleaded our case to Acting Secretary Patrick McDonnell from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Pennsylvania’s designated representative on the SRBC. We conveyed stories of overreach by the commission, as well as instances of requests for services that are already provided by DEP but nevertheless requested at an ever-increasing cost to you, the ratepayer.
“Buck” Buchanan, president of Shrewsbury Borough Council, provided more than enough examples of why the SRBC must be reined in. Among them is the commission requiring daily reports of the depth of each of the borough’s six wells, two of which have been in use for more than 45 years. After examining how many man hours this would require, the borough, which has less than 4,000 residents, was forced to purchase a computerized monitoring system. The purchase resulted in three rate hikes over seven years and long-term waterline replacement projects being placed on hold - all the result of needing to accumulate data that essentially benefits no one. The commission’s justification - “we now know more about our wells.”
Buchanan told of the more than $141,000 price tag associated with permitting two wells and the commission’s decision to reduce the length of permits from 30 to 15 years. Representatives from other water authorities conveyed similar incidents. One mentioned escalating compliance fees that went from $200 to $800. Their only choice was to pass along the cost to consumers.
The General Assembly members in attendance heard even more stories after a press release on the meeting was issued. Stewartstown Borough reached out to me with their own issues. Rep. Dan Moul (R-Gettysburg) was contacted by a local golf course owner who told him SRBC charges them an exorbitant amount of money for water usage, even though it comes from their own lakes and ponds. He also heard from a Lock Haven utility that is facing a more than $100,000 bill from the commission for field work already performed by DEP. Other House members who did not attend the meeting got wind of it and have contacted us with similar tales from their district. They want to know what the next step is.
Moul said it best when he told DEP the commission had become “a kingdom unto itself.” SRBC has been allowed to operate virtually unchecked and has abused this privilege. Commission employees are even part of the Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System; however, Rep. Will Tallman from Adams and Cumberland counties has authored House Bill 922, which would remove all future SRBC employees from the system.
We, as legislators, aren’t stopping there. The 2016-17 budget reduced state finding for SRBC. The 2017-18 budget bill passed by the House this week would cut that funding figure in half. We are exploring all of our legislative options for dealing with this out-of-control government entity that threatens to bankrupt our townships and boroughs and further drive up your local water bill.
Representative Kristin Phillips-Hill
93rd Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Scott Little
717.260.6137
slittle@pahousegop.com
RepKristin.com / Facebook.com/RepKristin