Pennsylvania Constitution
Environmental Rights Amendment 

The Pennsylvania Environmental Rights Amendment was passed by voters on May 18, 1971. 
It was officially added to the Pennsylvania Constitution as Article I, Section 27. 
This "Green Amendment" establishes that citizens have a right to clean air, pure water,
and the preservation of natural, scenic, historic, and aesthetic values of the environment.

 Pennsylvania Environmental Rights Amendment

     § 27.  Natural resources and the public estate.   The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the     preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic  values of the environment. Pennsylvania's public natural  resources are the common property of all the people, including  generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the   Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of  all the people.

     (May 18, 1971, P.L.769, J.R.3)

        1971 Amendment.  Joint Resolution No.3 added section 27

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‌Remembering the ‘visionary’ author of Pennsylvania’s environmental rights amendment

By Marie Cusick, Inside Climate News, August 25, 2026

Franklin Kury, who passed away last week, helped make Pennsylvania one of the first governments in the world to guarantee a healthy environment as a basic right.