GASP to County Council: You Must Take Action to Protect Public Health

Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP) again joined residents and fellow advocates to tell Allegheny County Council: You must get the long-sought air quality permit fee schedule changes on the agenda for a discussion and vote at the next possible meeting.

Our executive director Patrick Campbell was among those who addressed the board. Here's what he told them:

Good evening, Allegheny County Council. I'm Patrick Campbell, executive director of the Group Against Smog and Pollution, or GASP. We’ve been tirelessly working to improve our region’s air quality since 1969.

Now that the important work of democracy finished yesterday, I hope we have the capacity to attend to the people’s business.

One of which is protecting their health and wellbeing by putting ACHD’s permit fee increase proposal on the agenda for a discussion and vote.

Your constituents have been turning out in droves, meeting after meeting, practically begging you to do something. Anything that meaningfully demonstrates where you are in this process!

This isn't some abstract philosophical debate. The fee schedule changes are not punitive. They are administrative. The increased fees are based on what it costs ACHD to provide professional services to the companies that are seeking permits so they can do business here in Allegheny County.

Those services include modeling our air quality, assessing health risks, and processing permits for major industrial facilities.

And The Clean Air Act is quite clear: Allegheny County must have the resources and personnel to effectively manage these essential services and publish complete, effective permits.

That means charging fees that actually cover the cost of administering the program.

The proposal progressed efficiently through the established channels – that is, until it reached this body. And then, poof! It vanished into the procedural abyss.

Despite our collective pleas, we still don’t have any idea why there is such opposition to the proposal.

Your inaction has already come at a cost. Because it looks to the public like this body put politics above good governance, nearly a half million dollars that should have gone directly to community-led projects to improve public health instead will be used to cover the very administrative costs this fee increase was meant to address.

While public shows of support for the Health Department are good and appropriate, providing them with the resources they need is far better.

Please put the fee schedule changes on the next agenda for a discussion and vote. Thank you.

Editor's Note: After the meeting concluded, Council President Pat Catena and Health and Human Services Committee Chair Paul Klein could be heard discussing the issue briefly, mulling a June vote. GASP continues to follow this issue closely and will keep you posted.