— La oca star Farming, Saturday. Nov, is 197!
20
Flood control hill draws mail
Two
Editor: Lancaster .Far
ming: We have received
from Senator Franklin L.
Kury a copy of a letter to the
editor of Lancaster Far
ming. In it, he is critical of
the action taken by the
Pennsylvania State Grange
regarding Senate Bill No. 1,
the proposed Flood Disaster
Prevention Act.
First, let me assure you
that Lancaster Farming
accurately reported the
action taken by the Penn
sylvania State Grange at its
annual convention in Lan
caster.
Second, let me assure you
that the Pennsylvania State
Grange stands solidly behind
meaningful flood control
legislation. We sincerely
endorse Senator Kury’s
efforts and intentions in
seeking useful and helpful
flood control legislation. We
know he has worked long and
hard in this endeavor, and
we are happy that the
Grange was privileged to
have a part in the initial
planning for this legislation.
The real concern of the
Pennsylvania State Grange
is for the language of the bill
that is so wordy that un
derstanding and clarity is
lost.
For example, in his letter taking full and explicit ac-
Senator Kury states that: count of nonmonetary and
“What the bill proposed to intangible values as well as
regulate is new construction monetary and tangible
within the 100 year flood values.” That, it seems, can
plain in each watershed. mean just about anything to
“The key definition in the anybody,
bill is ‘flood area,’ which is In his letter Senator Kury
defined as the land area contends that the Grange
subject to flooding by waters action was based on “faulty
of the Commonwealth on the information because the bill
average of once every 100 does not regulate ‘water
years as shown on flood plain sheds.”’
maps prepared by the U.S. Section 203, on Page 13 of
views
Corps of Engineers or an
interstate river basin
commission. Farm ponds
are specifically excluded."
Senator Kury’s statement
of purpose is clear and
distinct. It leaves no doubt
about what he Intends the
legislation to accomplish.
But the compromise bill
(Printer’s No. 1345) requires
35 lines and 303 words to set
forth the policy and purposes
of the proposed act. The last
sentence of the printed
version includes a statement
that the legislation is in
tended to:
“Encourage local ad
ministration and
management of flood areas
consistent with State and
Federal supervision, with
the enumerated legislative
findings, policy and purposes
of this act, and with the
objective of managing flood
area lands and subsurface
and surface waters as in
terrelated and precious
resources in accordance
with sound and long-range
land and water use planning
and the people’s con
stitutional right to the
preservation of natural,
economic, scenic, aesthetic,
recreational and historic
values of the environment,
presented by Senator and Grange Master
the planting, cultivation, and °* Bfr®*rn* rn ° n *
harvesting of field and or- existent basis. Without this
chard crops, including the bm. some municipalities will
maintenance of necessary R l ®** efforts to protect
appurtenant agricultural themselves from future flood
fencing, shall not be subject djJPJJR® only thclr
to regulation under this act, ®ff° r * 3 jeopardized by up-
I have worked on this bill **■“ municipalities which
for over three years and it * r * permitting construction
has always been ray in- to continue in the flood plain,
tention to limit the bill's ™® of Penn
coverage to the 100 year » y v"** over $2OO
flood rone, the same area million for flood relief after
subject to federal law for . m ° ney
flood insurance purposes. ***** otherwise could have
There is nothing in this bill to R on * * or *** refief. We are
support the conclusion that it s P*"ding
is a state-wide land use bill. future
mM not SJsSsSrfcs
Bill 1 has one why lam hopelnl « can
purpose - to reduce future ye4r
flood damage by regulating inanK you ‘
new construction in the 100 Sen. Franklin Kury,
year flood rone for the entire Chief Sponsor of S.B. 1
the proposed legislation
states:
"Department of En
vironmental Resources;
Coordination and Super
vision - The powpr to coor
dinate and supervise the
management of Rood areas
in the Commonwealth shall
be vested in the department,
including the power and duty
to;
“(1) Insure that flood area
management and
regulations in adjoining
municipalities are com
patible throughout the
watershed and consistent
with the policies of this act."
On page 8, Line 2, is the
following definition:
“Watershed’ means the
entire region or area drained
by a river or other body of
water, whether natural or
artificial.”
I repeat, there is no
disagreement between the
Grange and the intent of this
legislation as stated in
Senator Kury’s letter. It is
our contention that what is
needed is sound editing of the
proposed bill to bring the
language into lice, clearly
and distinctly, with the
purpose stated by Senator
Kury.
Luther J. Snyder
Pa. Grange Master
Without work, all life goes
rotten. But when work is
soulless, life stifles and dies.
Albert Camus
The only way to be just is
to judge our own actions by
the best part of you, and to
judge the actions of others by
the worst part of you.
Sidney J, Harris
Editor: l,ancastcr Far
ming, I was surprised and
disappointed to read the
resolution of the Penn
sylvania Grange on Senate
BUI 1, the Flood Disaster
Prevention Act as reported
on page one of your edition
November 1, 1975
The surprise came
because the first person I
discussed the bill with before
introducing it back in 1973
was A. Wayne Ecadinger,
then Master of the Grange. I
introduced the bill only after
we agreed the bill would be
limited to flood zones and
would not aUow DEE to
regulate all land in the
Commonwealth.
I was disappointed
because the Grange, which is
usually quite accurate on
legislative matters, acted on
bad information if your
reporting is correct. Ac
cording to your report, the
Grange resolution “con
tended that the definition of
watershed is too broad and
could allow the DER to
regulate all land in the
Commonwealth.”
This is faulty information
because the bill does not
regulate “watersheds.”
What the bill proposed to
regulate is new construction
within the 100 year flood
plain in each watershed.
The key definition in the
bill is “flood area”, which is
defined as the land area
subject to flooding by waters
of the Commonwealth on the
average once every 100
years as shown on flood plain
maps prepared by the U.S.
Corps of Engineers or an
interstate river basin
commission. Farm ponds
are specifically excluded.
The bill also provides that
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