Air Pollution Legislation To Raise Fines, New Alert System
HARRISBURG (KDKA)-- State representative. Austin Davis recently introduced legislation in response to the Clairton Coke Works fire.
On Monday, Davis said the new legislation, H.B. 1752, would, "enact larger fines for industrial sites that exceed pollution thresholds and require facilities to create a municipal warning system."
Davis was inspired to proactively clean the air after the unfortunate Clairton fire and a more recent incident at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery complex.
"The time to act is now, which is why I've introduced legislation that will increase fines and put some teeth into preventing air pollution in the first place," said Davis.
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The new bill is expected to significantly increase fines for facilities found to exceed pollution thresholds, in hopes that the larger fines will act as a stronger deterrent and encourage investments to avoid future violations.
It would also raise the Air Quality violation in Pa. from $20,000 to $37,500 and enforce required notifications as soon as possible within 12 hours of the breakdown or accident.
