PRINTER'S NO. 573
No. 540 Session of 1989
INTRODUCED BY FUMO, LYNCH, DAWIDA, MUSTO, STOUT, SALVATORE AND
AFFLERBACH, FEBRUARY 15, 1989
REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY,
FEBRUARY 15, 1989
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of January 8, 1960 (1959 P.L.2119, No.787),
2 entitled, as amended, "An act to provide for the better
3 protection of the health, general welfare and property of the
4 people of the Commonwealth by the control, abatement,
5 reduction and prevention of the pollution of the air by
6 smokes, dusts, fumes, gases, odors, mists, vapors, pollens
7 and similar matter, or any combination thereof; imposing
8 certain powers and duties on the Department of Environmental
9 Resources, the Environmental Quality Board and the
10 Environmental Hearing Board; establishing procedures for the
11 protection of health and public safety during emergency
12 conditions; creating a stationary air contamination source
13 permit system; providing additional remedies for abating air
14 pollution; reserving powers to local political subdivisions,
15 and defining the relationship between this act and the
16 ordinances, resolutions and regulations of counties, cities,
17 boroughs, towns and townships; imposing penalties for
18 violation of this act; and providing for the power to enjoin
19 violations of this act; and conferring upon persons aggrieved
20 certain rights and remedies," further providing for attorney
21 costs for citizen suits; and requiring the department to
22 operate certain facilities determined to be in violation of
23 the law.
24 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
25 hereby enacts as follows:
26 Section 1. Section 10 of the act of January 8, 1960 (1959
27 P.L.2119, No.787), known as the Air Pollution Control Act, is
28 amended by adding subsections to read:
1 Section 10. Civil Remedies.--* * *
2 (g) The court, in issuing a final order in an action brought
3 under this section, may award costs of litigation, including
4 attorney and expert witness fees, to a party if the court
5 determines the award is appropriate. The court may, if a
6 temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction is sought,
7 require the filing of a bond or equivalent security in accord
8 with the Rules of Civil Procedure.
9 (h) The department shall have the power and shall, after
10 thirty (30) days' written notice of a violation, assume the
11 operational responsibility of an operating sewage treatment
12 facility at the expense of the municipality or authority, if the
13 violation is not corrected within the thirty (30) day period. If
14 the department takes no action under this subsection within
15 fifteen (15) days after the expiration of the thirty (30) day
16 period, then a resident affected by the air pollution shall have
17 standing to bring suit against the department in the court of
18 common pleas of the resident's county to force compliance with
19 the operational provisions of this subsection. The resident need
20 only prove that the department was notified of the air pollution
21 violation and that the problem has not been corrected. An
22 aggrieved party may appeal the decision of the court of common
23 pleas to the Commonwealth Court.
24 Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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