Environmental Advisory Council

Responsibilities and duties:

The responsibility of the Environmental Advisory Council is to identify environmental problems and in response, recommend plans and programs to the Township Board of Supervisors. These recommendations are for the promotion and conservation of natural resources, for the protection and improvement of the quality of the environment within Hellam Township, and are to be consistent with the Township Comprehensive Plan. If requested by the Board of Supervisors, it is also their responsibility to make recommendations as to the possible use of open land areas within the  Township.

EAC Activities Authorized by State Law

An environmental advisory council may serve its municipality and its governing body in many different ways, and its role in the municipality may change over time as the municipality’s needs and priorities change. An EAC’s potential mix of activities is authorized and limited by Pennsylvania’s Act 148 of 1973 (amended in 1996 as P.L. 1158, No. 177), which states that EACs “shall have the power to:

1. Identify environmental problems and recommend plans and programs to the appropriate agencies for the promotion and conservation of the natural resources and for the protection and improvement of the quality of the environment within its territorial limits.
2. Make recommendations as to the possible use of open land areas of the municipal corporations within its territorial limits.
3. Promote a community environmental program.
4. Keep an index of all open areas, publicly or privately owned, including flood-prone areas, swamps and other unique natural areas, for the purpose of obtaining information on the proper use of those areas.
5. Advise the appropriate local government agencies, including the planning commission and recreation and park board or, if none, the elected governing body or bodies within its territorial limits, in the acquisition of both real and personal property [by a variety of means for environmental purposes].”

(Title 53 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statues, Part III, Subpart D, Chapter 23, Subchapter B Environmental Advisory Councils §2324 (a))