Rabb announces legislation amending CHRIA, ensuring public health transparency

HARRISBURG, March 20 – State Rep. Chris Rabb, D-Phila., announced today that he is drafting legislation that would amend the Criminal History Record Information Act to ensure disclosure of public health and community safety risks.

Public health reports from 2016 and 2023 revealed that there is an extensive list of contaminants in the Dimock water supply in Pennsylvania. However, CHRIA prohibits the Office of Attorney General from disclosing the results of its independent report analyzing the Dimock water supply.

This legislation would provide exceptions for CHRIA that allow the public to be notified of public health and community safety risks and would require the Office of Environmental Justice to investigate information pertaining to potential or prospective harm to public health.

“The public has a right to information regarding potential health hazards,” Rabb said. “We cannot allow polluters to pollute our environment anywhere across our commonwealth under the veil of benign government bureaucracy.”