When we first started fighting the dump's expansion plans, we went in front of the Environmental Hearing Board and they reminded DEP that they have a duty to both protect the citizens of PA and to uphold the PA Constitution regarding our right to a clean and healthy environment.

There's a movement underway in Harrisburg to change the agency's name and remove the word "Protection."

As this editorial cites, "The DEP provides services. The greatest one is protection. It protects Pennsylvanians’ right as spelled out in the state constitution: “The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment.”

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'Protection' still core of DEP's job

BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD

Farcically claiming that the state Department of Environmental Protection is an intimidating regulatory bully, state Senate Republicans have decided to promote a culture change at the agency by renaming it the Department of Environmental Services.

On a strictly party-line 28-22 vote, the Senate passed the name-change bill Wednesday.

“The word ‘protection’ carries the law enforcement or security connotation rather than that of an environmental resource and a partner to the citizens of Pennsylvania,” said Republican Sen. Gene Yaw, of Lycoming County, an ardent advocate of the natural gas industry and chairman of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

“Unfortunately, enforcer has become the prevalent view of the department,” he said.

Unfortunately? Pro-industry lawmakers long have perpetuated the myth that environmental regulators and industry can achieve compliance by working together, as if they share identical interests. Administrations over the years — most recently that of Gov. Tom Corbett — have tried that approach, providing empirical evidence that it doesn’t work.

The state, for example, provided $1.7 billion in tax credits for a massive Shell petrochemical refinery in Beaver County and cleared an array of hurdles to fast-track its construction. So far, the company has racked up more than $10 million in fines in less than six months of operation for heavily polluting the air. Perhaps the DEP should have adopted a “service” rather than “enforcement” approach to spare the company that expense.

The DEP provides services. The greatest one is protection. It protects Pennsylvanians’ right as spelled out in the state constitution: “The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment.”

The agency was named the Department of Forest and Waters in 1901 when it was created. To reflect a broader role to fight choking pollution, it changed in 1970 to the Department of Environmental Resources, when the Legislature spun off the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to oversee state parks and forests.

The House should reject the name change to emphasize the agency’s proper role. If it approves the change, Gov. Josh Shapiro should veto the bill.

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