Joint Legislative Air & Water Pollution Control & Conservation Committee

According to current Committee chair, Senator Scott Hutchinson (R, 21st District): 

‘The Committee was established [in 1968] with a unique mission: to monitor abandoned mine reclamation efforts, to assess water quality projects, and, most importantly, to identify further practical options for change. It has earned a solid reputation for crafting important environmental legislation, conducting major inquiries into conservation initiatives, and by monitoring key developments that influence the way environmental policies are determined in the future.

The value of the Committee’s work lies in its ability to select the environmental issues of importance, along with those stakeholders having the greatest impact on those issues, and report its findings in the most objective way possible.” 

The transformation of the committee from its focus (and success) on the issue of abandoned mine reclamation over its 50 years (and going strong) history is related in the Committee’s 50 Year Retrospective published in December 2018.

(The effects of acid mine drainage mitigation on a Conemaugh River tributary is shown in a photo from a 2014 article from The Allegheny Front. Photo: Rosebud Mining Company.)