Environmental Hearing Board Rules Committee

Abstract

If you practice before the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board, you are no doubt familiar with its Rules of Practice and Procedure found at 25 Pa. Code Chapter 1021. The rules are the product of a small group of hard-working and dedicated attorneys who volunteer their time as members of the Environmental Hearing Board Rules Committee (Rules Committee). The statutorily-created Rules Committee was established by the Environmental Hearing Board Act, Act of July 13, 1988, P.L. 530, 35 P.S. §§ 7511-7515, at § 7515, and has been in existence since 1989. The nine-member Committee is charged with the task of drafting and recommending procedural rules to the judges of the Environmental Hearing Board (EHB or Board).

Although the EHB Act imposes a minimum requirement for Rules Committee members to have three years of practice before the Board (or comparable experience), most attorneys who have served on the Committee have extensive experience handling matters before the Board, and in many instances it is a significant part of their practice. The members of the Rules Committee are named by various appointing authorities.