The Environmental Good Samaritan Act
by Jeffrey Gerard, AmeriCorps OSM/VISTA
In most cases, anyone who exacerbates a mining discharge is legally on the hook to treat the mine water perpetually. Pennsylvania’s “Environmental Good Samaritan Act,” passed in 1999, aims to encourage citizens to improve the environment by offering protections against much of this civil and environmental liability. The Act, which applies to mineral extraction lands, including abandoned coal mines and oil and gas wells, provides a defense to volunteers who install a remediation project, even if something goes wrong. Good Samaritans are also free from the project’s maintenance or repair responsibilities.
Any landowner, volunteer, or organization can apply to be an Environmental Good Samaritan through the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), as long as he or she provides equipment or services without profit and was not responsible for the pollution in the first place. Applications for protection are not competitive: any project that is feasible, environmentally-sound, and likely to reclaim land or improve water quality will be approved. The applicant is required to obtain rights of entry, but DEP will handle the necessary public notices. DEP’s Greensburg District Mining Office says about half of their construction-type projects apply for Good Samaritan coverage.
The Act doesn’t protect the landowner against willful misconduct or if he or she fails to disclose dangers about the area. Moreover, Pennsylvania’s Environmental Good Samaritan Act applies only to state laws, not federal laws, such as the Clean Water Act. However, a bill in congress, the “Good Samaritan Clean Watershed Act” (H.R.5404 and S.2780), would offer similar protections on a national level, with oversight by the Environmental Protection Agency.
For more information…
Fact sheet about the act (PDF)
from the PA Department of Environmental Protection
Full Text of the Environmental Good Samaritan Act
PA Statutes Title 27, Chapter 81
Application for protection under the act (MS Word)
from the PA Department of Environmental Protection
Outline of the federal Good Samaritan Clean Watershed Act
from the Environmental Protection Agency