Clifford Township Susquehanna County Pennsylvania

Box 339 Clifford Pa 18413

CliffordTownship.com cliffordtwp@yahoo.com

Clifford Township Municipal Building
119 Cemetery Street (State Route 2050)
Between State Route 106 and State Route 2012
Clifford, PA 18413-0339
United States
ph: 570-222-9364
cliffordtwp@yahoo.com

PSATS News

Article in Scranton Times

January 31, 2012

Dear Editor:

In a January 17 editorial, titled “Fire Service Clue for State,” the Times-Tribune urges the legislature to “launch a project to rework the municipal classification system in the state to mandate...consolidated services.”

You are not the first newspaper to jump on the forced municipal merger bandwagon, and you certainly won’t be the last, but I feel it’s important to once again set the record straight. At the end of the editorial, you espouse the virtues of county government taking over many municipal services. This bigger-is-better approach, you say, will reduce redundancy and save money.

Please, take off your rose-colored glasses and look around the state. Where are the failures? It’s the big governments – places like Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and Scranton – that are in financial distress, not the hundreds of townships in your own back yard. And where is the proof that forced mergers will save money? Sure, reformers like to entice the public with this utopian bait, but no study has ever confirmed these findings. Instead, experts say, the only thing consolidation will do is create another layer of bureaucracy – a bloated, expensive, unaccountable, and unresponsive one at that.

Yes, Pennsylvania has a number of local governments, and we have them for a reason: Pennsylvanians like being able to shape their communities and having a voice in what happens. We can’t get around the fact that Pennsylvania is one of those places where government of the people, by the people, and for the people still exists – nor should we attempt to try. It’s time we take a look at Pennsylvania’s real issues – namely, the financial damage that collective bargaining is causing, especially on cities. Because the reality is, the commonwealth does have problems, but local governments aren’t one of them.

Sincerely,

David M. Sanko, Executive Director
Pa. State Association of Township Supervisors

Grassroots Lobbying 2011

legis.state.pa.us/index.cfm Type bill # in Find Legislation by box in upper left corner of the

Pennsylvania General Assembly

HB 1804 (Pashinski, D-Luzerne) (PN 2321):
Would amend Title 72 (Taxation and Fiscal Affairs) to place a tax on the privilege of extracting natural gas from the Commonwealth. The tax rate would be set at five percent of the gross value of units severed at the wellhead during a reporting period, plus 4.6 cents per unit severed. Certification and application process and procedure with the Department of Revenue is provided for within the legislation, as are details for penalties, assessments, and recordkeeping. Tax collected would be placed in the newly-created Natural Gas Severance Tax Account which would make distributions to the Local Government Services Account and transfers as otherwise directed by the General Assembly.
Last Action: Introduced and referred to the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee (8/22/11)

HB 1813 (Tobash, R-Schuylkill) (PN 2323):
Would amend the Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act to require DEP establish a program to provide land reclamation financial guarantees to qualified operators to insure reclamation of suitable permitted surface mining activities. The legislation provides for the collection of premiums for such guarantees, and for the creation of an account within Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Fund to support the guarantees. Other duties, responsibilities and powers afforded to the department are also provided for in the legislation.
Last Action: Introduced and referred to the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee (8/22/11)

HB 1814 (Pashinski, D-Luzerne) (PN 2324):
Would amend Title 65 (Public Officers), in ethics standards and financial disclosure articles, defining the terms "oil" and "gas" and prohibiting any public official or public employee from representing a company engaged in exploration or extraction of oil or gas within the Commonwealth for two years after he leaves the governmental body.

HB 1821 (Boyle, B, D-Philadelphia) (PN 2331):
Would amend the Emergency and Law Enforcement Personnel Death Benefits Act to include natural gas responders to the provisions of the act.
Last Action: Introduced and referred to the House Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee (8/22/11)

HB 1796 (Mundy, D-Luzerne) (PN 2301): www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=PDF&sessYr=2011&sessInd=0&billBody=H&billTyp=B&billNbr=1796&pn=2301
Would amend Title 66 (Public Utilities) to provide a definition of "gathering line" as a pipe that carries uncompressed gas and is used to gather gas from a producing gas well or production facility for transport to a compressor station, other well sites, or to transmission or distribution lines or mains. Gathering line companies would also be added to the definition of a "public utility."
Last Action: Introduced and referred to the House Consumer Affairs Committee (7/26/11)

HB 1800 (George, D-Clearfield) (PN 2305): www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=PDF&sessYr=2011&sessInd=0&billBody=H&billTyp=B&billNbr=1800&pn=2305
Would amend the Oil and Gas Act to provide for definitions and for the protection of the water supply by mandating the inspection of Marcellus Shale formation well sites at various times during the drilling process. The amount and types of bond would be changed and certain chemical disclosures would be mandated. The legislation would provide for the adoption of wells and require drilling permitees, upon the completion of drilling activity, to restore each roadway in the inventory to at least its condition prior to application for the permit, as determined by PennDOT. The legislation would require the use of surface impoundments for temporary flowback storage, require certain records be kept regarding fracking fluid used, and provide for a severance tax. The tax rate would be 30 cents per unit severed, to be annually adjusted according to the Consumer Price Index and a provided for adjustment formula. Payment of the tax and refunds are provided for. The state Department of Revenue would be authorized to charge a reasonable application fee for registering to pay the tax. Civil and criminal penalties and certain recordkeeping requirements are also provided for. The Department of Revenue would be granted certain powers and duties to enforce the collection of the severance tax. The legislation would establish the Natural Gas Severance Tax Account, the Local Government Services Account, and the Oil and Gas Environmental Disaster Recovery Account. Thirty-five percent of the money in the Natural Gas Severance Tax Account would be distributed to the Local Government Services Account for distribution as follows: 30 percent to host counties, 40 percent to host municipalities, 20 percent to non-host municipalities in host counties, and ten percent to PEMA to be distributed to fire and ambulance services in host counties. The remaining revenue in the Natural Gas Severance Tax would be distributed as follows: 20 percent to PENNVEST to be used solely for the construction and upgrade of wastewater treatment plants, 15 percent to the Environmental Stewardship Fund, ten percent to PennDOT for the construction and repair of state roadways and bridges impacted by Marcellus Shale gas drilling, six percent to the Liquid Fuels Tax Fund for the repair of state roads and bridges and to be distributed evenly to all 67 counties, three percent to the Conservation District Fund, three percent to the Fish and Boat Commission, two percent to the Game Commission, two percent to the Department of Public Welfare under LIHEAP, two percent to the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund, and two percent to the Oil and Gas Environmental Recovery Account provided for in the legislation. The bill would also provide for a Marcellus Shale job creation tax credit for companies creating jobs in Pennsylvania relating to Marcellus Shale. Qualifications for receiving the tax credit are provided for and a company could claim a tax credit of $2,500 per job created up to the maximum amount in the commitment letter. A company would be authorized to apply the tax credit to 100 percent of the company's corporate net income tax, capital stock and franchise tax, or the capital stock and franchise tax of a shareholder of the company if the company is a Pennsylvania “S” corporation, personal income tax, or the personal income tax of shareholders of a Pennsylvania “S” corporation, or any combination thereof. $25 million would be made available to the department for tax credits. The legislation also would provide for reporting requirements and for powers and duties of the Department of Revenue and Department of Environmental Protection. It would provide for the preemption of certain local ordinances relating to zoning and establish a two-year moratorium on the leasing, issuing permits to drill, and drilling for natural gas on state forest lands.
Last Action: Introduced and referred to the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee (7/26/11)

- Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski (D-Luzerne) will www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/CSM/2011/0/8669.pdf soon introduce legislation to provide for a natural gas severance tax.

- Rep. Curt Sonney (R-Erie) will www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/CSM/2011/0/8676.pdf soon introduce legislation to require an owner or operator of a facility that uses or stores hazardous or toxic chemicals to maintain appropriate liability insurance.

Open Burning - To Burn or Not to Burn? Townships have the Final Say - to Some Extent
Drive through a rural area of Pennsylvania in just about any season of the year, and you are almost sure to see a plume of smoke rising through the trees from a backyard burn barrel. For many folks, especially in municipalities without curbside trash collection or mandated recycling, burning is the easiest way to get rid of household trash and yard waste.
Many townships have adopted ordinances restricting open burning and have come under fire from residents who feel it is their right to dispose of trash and yard waste in that manner. In other places, opponents of the practice say the state does not allow open burning of any kind. All of which leads to the question: What are townships allowed to do about open burning? That’s where the picture gets a little, well, smoky.
On one hand, the Solid Waste Management Act states that no open burning may be done without a permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection. However, DEP does not issue permits for open burning, leading to the conclusion that open burning is banned under the act.
On the other hand, Title 25 of the Pennsylvania Code states that open burning is banned only in a handful of designated air basins. Outside of air basins, open burning is allowed with certain restrictions, and even those are subject to exceptions, such as fires set for agricultural, cooking, recreational, and ceremonial purposes.
Townships that are mandated to recycle under the Recycling Act of 1988, or Act 101, face other criteria when it comes to allowing open burning.
Because all of this gets rather confusing, the Pennsylvania Township News, the monthly magazine of the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors, decided to try to clear the air on the open burning issue and get some straight answers.
No statewide prohibition
“There is no statewide prohibition on burning of residential waste,” says Ron Ruman of the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Communications Office. There are restrictions, however.
For example, a township that is mandated to recycle under Act 101 or that receives recycling grants must enact an ordinance that prohibits the burning of any materials it recycles, Ruman says. Certain materials are also restricted statewide, he says, including demolition and construction waste, furniture, tires, mattresses and box springs, appliances, batteries, and petroleum products.
And then there’s Title 25 of the Pennsylvania Code. It states that open burning is allowed outside of designated air basins, as long as the smoke cannot be seen or smelled outside of the property where the burning is taking place; does not “interfere with the reasonable enjoyment of life or property”; does not cause damage to vegetation or property; and is not harmful to human or animal health. Exceptions to the restrictions include fires set:
• to prevent or abate a fire hazard, when approved by DEP and set by or under the supervision of a public officer;
• to instruct firefighting personnel, when approved by DEP; • to prevent and control disease or pests, when approved by DEP; • in conjunction with the production of agricultural commodities in their raw state on farms; • to burn household waste generated in a home occupied by no more than two families; • for recreational or ceremonial purposes; and • for cooking food.
But the bottom line is that it is up to township supervisors to decide the open burning issue for their community, as long as they do not defy state laws, Ruman says. “It is a local issue,” he says. “In Pennsylvania, we have a very strong tradition of local government.”
DEP’s fact sheet on open burning states the issue plainly: “Under state law, local officials have the authority to address the needs of their communities by enacting open burning ordinances for household waste with requirements that are equal to or more stringent than state regulations.”
In other words, a township may ban all open burning if it wants to do so, which Ruman says is what DEP prefers because of the environmental impact. In fact, the Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania cite the following as environmental hazards linked to open burning:
• An EPA study found that a single household burn barrel may release as many toxic chemicals as a large municipal incinerator.
• Products and packages containing vinyl produce hydrogen chloride gas when they burn, which combines with water to form hydrochloric acid in human lungs. Burning also produces toxic dioxin chemicals.
• Children are particularly sensitive to the toxins from burn barrels, absorbing up to six times the amount of byproducts that adults absorb from the same air.
• Burning releases at least seven known cancer-causing agents into the air, including one believed to be a major factor in lung cancer.
• Open burning has been linked to numerous health problems, including sudden infant death syndrome, asthma, and other respiratory ailments.
“The truth is that burning trash and yard waste is not good for air quality,” Ruman says. “We strongly encourage both individuals and municipalities to find alternatives to burning.”
Finding alternatives
So there you have it. While DEP encourages alternatives to burning of household trash and yard waste, such as composting, in the end, it is up to local governments to regulate the practice
in their communities as long as they follow at least the minimum of the state statutes, Ruman says.
With once-rural townships becoming more and more developed, open burning is more of an issue, he says.
“Burning is not as isolated as it once was,” he adds. “The more we can encourage folks to find other ways to dispose of trash and yard waste, the better.”

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Clifford Township Municipal Building
119 Cemetery Street (State Route 2050)
Between State Route 106 and State Route 2012
Clifford, PA 18413-0339
United States
ph: 570-222-9364
cliffordtwp@yahoo.com

Clifford Township Susquehanna County Pennsylvania

PSATS News

Open Burning - To Burn or Not to Burn? Townships have the Final Say - to Some Extent