Good Samaritan Act
The Environmental Good Samaritan Act was signed into law, along with Growing Greener, on Dec. 15, 1999. At the time, Growing Greener was the largest environmental initiative in Pennsylvania’s history, investing $1.3 billion through 2012 to address the commonwealth’s critical environmental priorities. The Environmental Good Samaritan Act is also one of the program initiatives of Reclaim PA, a program designed to maximize reclamation of Pennsylvania’s quarter-million acres of abandoned mineral extraction lands, through increased mine operator, volunteer and DEP efforts. For the first time in 2017, DEP began approving applications for well plugging under the provisions of the Good Samaritan Act. The agency expects that the release of training material and the enhanced application process will help fill a critical funding gap for addressing the thousands of known legacy well locations in the commonwealth. This work not only is promoting environmental protection and public health and safety, but is also allowing development projects and economic opportunities to be realized.
After review of the above training materials, parties interested in applying for Good Samaritan liability protection can access the application and forms through the below link.