State bills address flood and stormwater damage prevention

While recent heavy rains have brought stormwater damage worries to the forefront, several property-owner-funded proposals for flood prevention are wending their way through Harrisburg.

The most recent -- introduced last week – is House Bill 2266, which would allow counties to create watershed-based stormwater management plans and authorities to oversee those plans. The authority could create funding by levying fees on property owners and users of authority services.

“Stormwater management is a really important and timely issue, especially considering the weather this week,” state Rep. Mike Carroll, D-Avoca, said. He noted he has not yet formed an opinion on HB 2266, adding that management needs “to be more careful and more streamlined.”

State Rep. Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake, said she will consult with constituents on HB 2266.

The idea’s good, but the funding is “controversial,” state Rep. Eddie Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre, said.

State Rep. Phyllis Mundy, D-Kingston, said it’s helpful to streamline the process but funding is the first concern.

“The bottom line is once you do the plan you have to fund the plan. … And if you don’t, the plan’s outdated in a year or two because you’ve got new development and new runoff,” she said. “I feel as if this bill, a standalone bill like this that isn’t in conjunction with (a funding bill), is pointless.”

Enter House Bill 1989, introduced last year by state Rep. Jim Wansacz, D-Old Forge, and co-sponsored by all six Luzerne County legislators. The bill would levy annually a $1 surcharge on property insurance policies to create a fund for flood-prevention projects and to repair flood-damaged property.

Mundy said it’s reasonable because “we’re all downstream of somebody. People who were never flooded before (are now being) flooded. … You’re next, I guess, unless you live on Pringle Hill.”

Pashinski said funding isn’t to protect development in flood-prone areas, but for those whose property has become a flood plain because of upstream development.

“Do I think we should pay for people’s mistakes? No, I don’t. But I also think that … unfortunately, there are times where, just out of the sake of humanity, you help people out,” he said.

The bill is similar to a proposal called Rebuild Pennsylvania in the governor’s budget. It calls for a levy of .07 percent assessment on property-insurance premiums to fund a flood-prevention program.