From the Pennsylvania Landscape and Nursery Association:
HARRISBURG - The PLNA Government Relations Committee voted earlier this month to throw its support behind a bill that would repair the damage done to state riparian buffer requirements by Act 162 passed last session by the General Assembly. Act 162 removed the requirement that 150 foot riparian buffers be maintained along high quality and exceptional value streams in Pennsylvania.
The new bill, SB 560, was introduced by Senator John Rafferty (R-Montgomery County) and requires a 300 foot riparian buffer for high quality and exceptional value streams, plus a minimum 100 foot riparian buffer for other streams, rivers and lakes.
The width of the buffer could be increased based upon other factors such as the slope adjacent to the waters and whether the stream is designated as “impaired” by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Forested riparian buffers have been shown to be the best means of protecting and enhancing water quality in Pennsylvania’s streams. In a recent review of the scientific literature, staff at Pennsylvania’s Stroud Water Research Center in Avondale found that forested riparian buffers provide the following benefits:
· Provide cooling shade to the stream allowing the water to hold more dissolved oxygen necessary for the health of fish and other aquatic species;
· Slow storm water runoff to the stream allowing more infiltration to ground water and reducing flash flooding downstream;
· Remove nitrates from stormwater runoff, improving stream water quality;
· Trap sediment that would otherwise enter the stream, improving stream water quality;
· Reduce stream channel meandering and stabilize the stream banks.
In addition, the restoration and maintenance of riparian buffers and other "green" infrastructure has become an important business for many PLNA members. Member nurseries grow the native trees and plants used to restore forested riparian buffers and landscape contractors install the trees and plants and do the maintenance work on the buffers. For many PLNA members, it's an economic and business issue as well as an environmental issue.
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