House Bill No. 1565 proposes to, among other
things, amend the Clean Streams Law pertaining to the use of
riparian buffers.
In short, the proposed legislation, as per a
summary of House Bill No. 1565 prepared by the House Committee on
Appropriations, would add to the Clean Streams Law "a new
subsection allowing the use or installation of riparian buffers and
riparian forest buffers to be optional and no longer mandatory
among best practices, design standards and alternatives to minimize
the potential for accelerated erosion and sedimentation and to
protect, maintain, reclaim and restore water quality and for
existing and designated uses."
One of the members of the House who introduced
House Bill No. 1565 was Representative Marcia Hahn, who represents
a portion of Northampton County and has been a member of the House
since 2010. In a memorandum summarizing the
proposed legislation, Representative Hahn provides that
"[b]usinesses and landowners alike have
