Meeting to discuss Act 54 planned
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Information about the PA Bituminous Mine Subsidence Land Conservation Act (Act 54) will be presented to the public at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Morris Township Community Center in Nineveh.
This information will be helpful to landowners who might be affected by mining activity because it explains the regulatory guidelines for structural and water supply damage claims that are handled through Act 54 and the Department of Environmental Protection.
“Residents might believe that restoration, replacement or compensation for structure and water supply damage is easily navigated but there are nuances to Act 54 that may exclude restoration, replacement or compensation for certain structures and water supplies,” said Terri Davin of the Greene County Watershed Association.
Speaker Sarah Winner of Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services also will do a follow up on Act 54 information that was given at the center’s public meeting in October3.
Topics to be discussed include “Structures – Original Use vs. Current Use” and “Water Supplies – Current Use vs. Foreseeable Use.”
Winner earned her law degree at University of Pittsburgh School of Law and interned at the environmental law clinic, working on a variety of environmental matters involving coal extraction and natural gas development.
From last fall until this spring, Winner was legal director at Center for Coalfield Justice. Her work included permit review and commenting, regulatory analysis and drafting, and community education.
Fair Shake Environmental Services is a nonprofit law firm whose mission is environmental justice, community empowerment, education in entrepreneurship and access to justice for modest means clients in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
In 2011, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection announced the availability of the third Act 54 Five-Year Review Report. The report was prepared in accordance with a mandate in the Act 54 amendments to the 1966 Pennsylvania Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act.
A review titled “17April2011SchmidAct54Analysis.pdf” is available at www.citizenscoalcouncil.org.
For more information about the meeting, email greenewatersheds@gmail.com.