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Motion Expressing the Sense of Council of Allegheny County supporting the efforts of the Pittsburgh Geological Society Geohazard Committee in its presentation to the Pennsylvania Council of Professional Geologists (PCPG) requesting that they lobby the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to create legislation to assist the owners of property who have been affected by the geotechnical hazards of landslides and stray gas migration.
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WHEREAS, Allegheny County is plagued with several geohazards, such as flooding, mine subsidence, landsliding and stray gas migration; and
WHEREAS, these geohazards cause severe damage to private property and public property such as roads and infrastructure and create a financial burden on property owners and municipalities; and
WHEREAS, flooding and mine subsidence each have mechanisms available for providing financial relief to the affected individuals; and
WHEREAS, landsliding and stray gas (particularly methane) migration currently have no mechanism for financial relief for impacted individuals; and
WHEREAS, the inability of the affected individuals to afford to repair the damage caused by these geohazards often results in the loss of use of the property and a lowering diminishment? reduction? of the properties property's value; and
WHEREAS, the financial burden placed on municipalities affected by geohazards is often passed on to the taxpayers, and
WHEREAS, the loss of property value translates into a loss of revenue for the County, local municipality and school district; and
WHEREAS, legislation is required to provide financial relief to those already affected by these geohazards and to establish programs to provide for local ordinances and regulations to prevent future problems from occurring.
NOW THEREFORE, IT IS MOVED, AND IT IS THE SENSE OF THE COUNCIL OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY, that we support the efforts of the Pittsburgh Geological Society Geohazard Committee in its presentation to the Pennsylvania Council of Professional Geologists (PCPG) requesting that they lobby the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to create legislation that willto assist the owners of property that property owners and municipalities that who has have been affected by the geotechnical hazards and will also provide means to ameliorate future geohazard problems.of landsliding and stray gas migration