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Public commenters urge Council to fully fund health department air program; fee increase proposal remains in committee
Summary
Speakers at the Allegheny County Council meeting urged passage of a proposed health-department fee increase to restore staffing and oversight of air permits, citing recent incidents at an industrial facility and the Environmental Rights Amendment.
Speakers at the July 15 Allegheny County Council meeting urged council members to approve a fee increase to fund the health departments air program and prevent staffing reductions.
Madeline Darnell of District 10 told council members the Pennsylvania Constitution guarantees the publics right to clean air and water and asked members to back a proposal that would increase permitting fees for regulated industries. “I urge council members to get together to work out a proposal that will fully fund the health departments air program and be worthy of most everyones vote,” Darnell said.
Karen Hanchett, who said she grew up in Allegheny County, warned that reduced health-department staffing could lead to weaker permit scrutiny for polluting businesses and cited a recent incident at a US Steel facility as evidence of the risks. “If industries that process with, produce, or create hazardous waste to our air, water, and land are not held to the highest standards of operation, incidents like this will happen,” Hanchett said.
Darnell and Hanchett referenced the Environmental Rights Amendment (Article I, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution) and urged the council to act. Darnell also thanked council members for a 2022 action that amended parks and recreation code to prohibit certain industrial uses in county parks.
At least one speaker noted the fee-increase proposal had been returned to committee because it lacked enough votes for immediate passage. Darnell and others urged council members to negotiate a version that would secure sufficient support and fully fund the health departments air program.
No formal vote on the fee increase occurred during the July 15 meeting.
Clarifying details: speakers urged funding for the health departments air program; the fee-increase proposal was described as having been sent back into committee for further work and not voted on at the meeting.
What happens next: speakers requested that council members reconvene to craft a proposal that would win majority support.
