Delaware SB 9: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE CREATION OF A WORK A DAY EARN A PAY PUBLIC WORKS JOBS PROGRAM.

Bill Text

Engrossment 

 SPONSOR: 

 Sen. Hansen & Sen. Townsend & Rep. Heffernan 

 Sens. Buckson, Cruce, Hoffner, Huxtable, Lockman, Pinkney, Seigfried, Sokola, Sturgeon; Reps. Berry, Bolden, Burns, Gorman, Griffith, Lambert, Morrison, Osienski, Phillips, Romer, Snyder-Hall 

 DELAWARE STATE SENATE 

 153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY 

 SENATE BILL NO. 9 

 AS AMENDED BY 

 SENATE AMENDMENT NO. 1 

 AND 

 HOUSE AMENDMENT NO. 1 

 AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 7 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE PROTECTION OF WETLANDS. 

 WHEREAS, healthy wetlands reduce, store, and filter stormwater runoff and can help remove harmful bacteria and pollutants, thereby protecting sources of Delaware’s water supply; and 

 WHEREAS, wetlands provide flood storage capacity thereby protecting public and private property from flooding and the resultant financial and personal impacts associated therewith; and 

 WHEREAS, the preservation, restoration, creation, and enhancement of wetlands plays a critical role in mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change, supporting biodiversity and ensuring water resource sustainability for our State; and 

 WHEREAS, wetlands are one of the most powerful natural carbon sinks on Earth, storing a disproportionately large share of terrestrial carbon; and 

 WHEREAS, while the State has acted to protect tidal wetlands, it has not taken action to protect the State's nontidal wetlands relying instead on federal regulations enforced by the United States Army Corps of Engineers pursuant to the Clean Water Act; and 

 WHEREAS, the federal government has shifted its definition of what qualifies as a wetland under its jurisdiction three times from 2015 to 2023; and 

 WHEREAS, in a 2022 report to the General Assembly titled “Options for a Nontidal Wetland Permitting Program,” the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control determined that the approximate acreage of nontidal wetlands no longer protected under federal jurisdiction was roughly 30,000 acres; and 

 WHEREAS, the U.S. Supreme Court case of 
 Sackett vs. EPA 
 decided in 2023 further reduced federal jurisdiction over wetlands, now leaving approximately 75,000 acres unprotected in Delaware; and 

 WHEREAS, it is important that the State modify its existing wetlands permit program to add necessary protections for nontidal wetlands, as Delaware is the only state in the mid-Atlantic region without state-level protections, and thus is especially vulnerable to changes at the federal level; and 

 WHEREAS, protection of all wetlands will be consistent with the current policy of this State to preserve and protect the productive public and private wetlands to prevent their loss and impairment and consistent with the historic right of private ownership of lands. 

 NOW, THEREFORE: 

 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE (Two-thirds of all members elected to each house thereof concurring therein): 

 Section 1. Amend Chapter 66, Title 7 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows and by redesignating accordingly: 

 § 6601. Short title. 

 This chapter shall be known and may be cited as “The Wetlands 
 Stewardship 
 Act.” 

 § 6602. Purpose. 

 It is declared that much of the wetlands of this State have been lost or despoiled by unregulated dredging, dumping, filling and like activities and that the remaining wetlands of this State are in jeopardy of being lost or despoiled by these and other activities; that such loss or despoliation will adversely affect, if not entirely eliminate, the value of such wetlands as sources of nutrients to finfish, crustacea and shellfish of significant economic value; that such loss or despoliation will destroy such wetlands as habitats for plants and animals of significant economic and ecological value and will eliminate or substantially reduce marine commerce, recreation and aesthetic enjoyment; that such loss or despoliation will, in most cases, disturb the natural ability of wetlands to reduce flood damage and adversely affect the public health and welfare; that such loss or despoliation will substantially reduce the capacity of such wetlands to absorb silt and will thus result in the increased silting of channels and harbor areas to the detriment of free navigation 
 , and that such loss or despoliation substantially impairs our resiliency as a State to withstand the impacts of climate change 
 . 
 It is hereby determined that the coastal areas of Delaware are the most critical areas for the present and future quality of life in the State and that the preservation of the coastal wetlands is crucial to the protection of the natural environment of these coastal areas. 

 It is hereby determined that the transitional areas between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems of Delaware, and the wetlands in or about such areas of Delaware, are critical areas for the present and future quality of life in the State and that the preser