A coalition of nonprofit organizations is pressing Pennsylvania to better protect its extensive network of waterways by requiring that a broad swath of trees be preserved-and planted if necessary-along streams and rivers that flow through construction sites.

If successful, the requirement would be one of the most sweeping protection measures for streamside buffers in the Chesapeake watershed. Nearly 130 groups want the state DEP to incorporate the proposal in a rewrite of stormwater regulations that would affect new construction projects. The proposed revisions will be debated in the spring of 2009. Known as Buffers 100, the proposal would require a minimum 100-foot forested buffer on both sides of streams for any new construction site needing a stormwater permit. The required buffer width would expand to 150 feet along headwater streams and 300 feet along streams formally categorized as "high quality" or "exceptional value." http://www.paenvironmentdigest.com/newsletter/default.asp?NewsletterArticleID=10983 

Source: PA Environmental Digest, December 8, 2008