Lebanon PA council almost rejects hazard plan because of climate change - Lebanon Daily News

Lebanon PA council almost rejects hazard plan because of climate change

Lebanon officials barely approve hazard mitigation plan because of climate change language
Matthew Toth

Lebanon City Council members barely passed a resolution adopting a new hazard mitigation plan, with members protesting language defining climate change.

In a 3-2 vote Monday, council members adopted the Lebanon County 2023 Hazard Mitigation Plan as the official plan for the city. By voting to approve this plan, officials said it makes the city eligible for federal disaster relief funds.

"By this council adopting this resolution, we then are protected under the Stafford Act," Council Chairman Joseph Morales said. "If we do have a natural disaster where the governor declares or the mayor declares we have a disaster of some sort, we are then eligible for FEMA aid."

Morales said that could be individual assistance, like a homeowner dealing with flooding. That homeowner could receive relief from the federal government that they would not have to pay back.

"Along with that, the city would also be covered if we incur any damages to our infrastructure (or) equipment," he said. "If we do declare an emergency, and we open our emergency operation center, we can then start to bill for hours. All of this then is reimbursable through the federal government."

Council members Brian Martin and Sean Maguire voted against adopting the plan, saying they had issues with the plan's language regarding climate change.

In part of a two-page definition on climate change, the plan states that activities like large scale consumption of fossil fuels and deforestation have caused atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration to significantly increase. The result of rapid climate change being "unparalleled in Earth's history and an extinction event approaching the level of a mass extinction."

"The corresponding rise of average atmospheric temperatures is intensifying many natural hazards, and further threatening biodiversity," the plan states. "The effects of climate change on these hazards are expected to intensify over time as temperatures continue to rise, so it is prudent to be aware of how climate change is impacting natural hazards."

Martin said that while he does not reject the plan as a whole, he does reject some of the language regarding climate change and cited the definition laid out in the plan.

"This is just one example of a few definitive and deemed unwavering statements in this document in what is has throughout related to climate change in that particular subject," he said to council. "I do believe we need to guard against this type of language permeating further into the future language and culture of our citizens."

Maguire stated that he felt the plan prognosis future events with certainty with language he was uncomfortable adopting. He added that the plan assigns blame for future events that he finds "unhelpful."

"I was able to read through it, and there is language in the plan that I find irrelevant to mitigating disasters that do occur," he said.

According to the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, which amended the Stafford Act, county and local governmental agencies need to have a hazard mitigation plan that is updated every five years to receive certain types of federal assistance. These plans must be updated in accordance with the requirements set forth by the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Morales said that city officials are not required to adopt the same hazard mitigation plan as the one proposed by the county, but the city would then need to create their own plan if they wanted to receive federal funds.

"They can leave it and then pay to have one done, or spend the time and effort to put one together that they then have to get approved by PEMA and FEMA," he said.

The county hazard mitigation planning team identified 23 hazards within the county, two more than were identified in the previous 2018 plan. The new hazards included blighted properties and emergency services responder shortage.

Other hazards identified from the planning team included natural hazards such as wildfires, hurricanes and tropical storms, pandemics and infectious diseases, and extreme temperatures. The team also listed human-caused hazards that included utility disruption, civil disturbance and the opioid epidemic.

The local planning team kick-off meeting was conducted Feb. 2, 2023, with several public meetings both in person and online on the plan held throughout 2023 for residents to provide input on updating the plan. Planners also held online surveys to gain public input into the process.

The Lebanon County Commissioners unanimously approved the hazard mitigation plan at their Feb. 3, 2024 meeting.

Mayor Sherry Capello said she did attend the kick-off meeting, and a staff person for the city attended meetings held by the planning team.

"I was told because of this staff person, the term blighted properties got added into the language because of the city," she said. "So this person was offering feedback, and was very involved."

When asked Monday if they participated in these meetings or online surveys before the plan was approved, Lebanon city council members indicated they had not.

Despite voting to adopt the hazard mitigation plan, Morales, along with council members Karen Haitos and George Potash, said they also had issues with the language defining climate change.

"The language that's contained within the document, as it relates to climate change, the certainty of it, and the statement that it is 'an extinction event that will lead to a level of mass extinction' I think is a tad of an over statement," Haitos said. "I don't see the relevance of including it so pervasively throughout the document."

Capello told council members that she would bring their concerns about the language to the county commissioners and Bob Dowd, director of the Lebanon County Department of Emergency Services.

An online copy of the Lebanon County 2023 Hazard Mitigation Plan can be found at the Lebanon County Department of Emergency Services website lcdes.org/hazard-mitigation.

Matthew Toth is a reporter for the Lebanon Daily News. Reach him at mtoth@ldnews.com or on X at @DAMattToth.