On January 5, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it will fully evaluate Pennsylvania’s amended plan to help restore the Chesapeake Bay.

Pennsylvania submitted an amended Phase III Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) to EPA on Dec. 30, 2021, intended to close a 9.8-million-pound gap in planned nitrogen pollution reductions needed to meet its Bay restoration commitments.

The state said the amended WIP also includes reductions to compensate for future climate impacts.

“We appreciate that Pennsylvania amended its WIP and engaged counties and other stakeholders in the planning process,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz. “We have begun a thorough review to determine if the plan measures up to Pennsylvania’s commitments to do its share to restore downstream waters and, in the process, improve the health of local rivers, streams, and drinking water.”

Ortiz said the Biden Administration strongly expects state and local partners to “join us in fully meeting our commitments” to achieve new high levels of environmental restoration.

He noted that EPA has provided significant financial and technical resources to support Pennsylvania’s Bay restoration goals – with potentially tens of millions of dollars of funding to come through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and other sources to help.

“However, EPA is serious about taking greater federal action to promote progress in Pennsylvania” if the amended plan does not meet 2025 cleanup targets or provide confidence to meet its goals, he said, citing greater federal oversight of permits, increased inspections and enforcement actions as potential options.

With a high percentage of the state’s pollution reductions expected to come from manure controls, EPA called on Pennsylvania to institute agricultural reforms.

“Notable progress has been made by state agencies and the farming community,” said Ortiz, who is planning a multi-day tour of innovative agriculture practices in Lancaster County in the coming weeks. “However, there are several critical missing statewide policies.”

            Click Here for a copy of Pennsylvania’s amended Plan.

Major Gap Is Farm Conservation Resources

In a letter emailed to state officials on Dec. 23, 2021, Ortiz laid out the seriousness of the expectations, that “existing resources and policies to control pollution in Pennsylvania do not include successful agricultural conservation measures established by downstream jurisdictions, such as a dedicated state agriculture cost share program, improved manure management practices, or requirements for stream buffers or fencing to keep animals from accessing local waters.”

“Despite these more recent improvements, agricultural conservation policies and programming to control pollution are insufficient or lacking – measures that had been established by downstream jurisdictions years ago.

“These include a dedicated state agriculture cost share program, improved manure management practices, or requirements for stream buffers or fencing to keep animals from accessing local waters.

“Healthy farm practices enable access to healthy water and better quality of life for farm families. Healthy farm practices also lead to healthy local waters and a healthier Bay for all the Mid-Atlantic states to enjoy.”

“I encourage Pennsylvania to create a State cost-share program and invest in collaborative approaches, especially with operators of small farms who have an important role and are deeply committed to land conservation and stewardship.

The American Rescue Plan and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provide ample opportunity for states to utilize funding.

“Tremendous technical and financial resources available to our state partners to advance our critical work.

“I urge Pennsylvania to take this opportunity to access assistance and not leave millions of dollars on the table.

“Now is the time for Pennsylvania to supplement our federal investment with a robust and targeted State agriculture cost-share program to close the nitrogen gap and return the state’s water resources to their communities.”

EPA said it has been working closely with the agricultural community to get more support to small farms for their conservation efforts. Pennsylvania Farm Bureau President Rick Ebert said that additional steps to help farmers and producers achieve clean water and healthy farms are necessary.

“Pennsylvania’s farmers have led the recent effort in achieving nitrogen reductions in the Bay watershed,” said Ebert. “Many farmers want to continue Pennsylvania’s current trend to improve water quality locally in the Bay watershed through increased conservation measures on their farms. But our farmers are also concerned about additional standards they cannot realistically meet. A predictable and reliable source of state funding to finance farm conservation measures would be a huge win in maintaining Pennsylvania’s recent momentum in water quality improvement and providing feasible opportunities for farmers to play a key role in achievement of water quality in the Bay.”

Click Here for a copy of the letter.

PA Has Just Half The Funding Needed Just For BMPs

Pennsylvania’s amended Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan documents the fact the state is devoting less than half the resources needed to implement agricultural, stormwater and forestry best management practices called for in the plan.

The Plan documents state investments of about $150 million a year in Pennsylvania’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay.  [page 138]

The latest estimates of the cost of implementing priority best management practices is just over $311 million annually.  [page 142]

And this estimate excludes the pilot counties of Adams, Franklin, Lancaster and York counties, all major contributors to nutrient and sediment loads. 

And there are more costs than just for BMPs, like for technical assistance to make the BMPs happen.

PA Senate, House Failed To Act - So Far

The Senate and House have so far failed to act on farm conservation cost-share legislation for more than a year.

In March of 2021, a bipartisan group of Senators led by Sen. John Gordner (R-Columbia) proposed Senate Bill 525 that would allocate $500 million from the federal American Rescue Plan to fund Growing Greener watershed, farm conservation and other conservation projects.

The bill is now sitting in the Senate Appropriations Committee.  The House has no similar proposal, but one is in the works. 

The bill is supported by the Growing Greener Coalition and other environmental groups.  Read more here.

Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming), Majority Chair of the Senate Environmental Committee, announced legislation in July 2020 and introduced a bill in September of 2020 to establish a new cost-share program to fund on-farm conservation measures, but it includes no funding. 

It was reintroduced as Senate Bill 465 in March of 2021 but is also sitting in the Senate Appropriations.  The bill is supported by the PA Farm Bureau, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and other groups.  Read more here.

Pennsylvania members of the Chesapeake Bay Commission, including Sen. Yaw, have been talking about creating a state Clean Water Fund to support water pollution cleanup since at least January 2017.  Read more here.

For more information on Pennsylvania’s Plan, visit DEP’s Chesapeake Bay Watershed webpage.  Click Here to subscribe to the Healthy Waters monthly newsletter.

Related Articles This Week:

-- DEP Announces How Pennsylvania Will Meet Its 2025 Pollution Reduction Goals in Chesapeake Bay Watershed; All Counties On Board

-- Chesapeake Bay Foundation: Pennsylvania Far Behind Where It Needs To Be In Meeting 2025 Chesapeake Bay Milestones

Related Articles:

-- Senate Committee Reports Out Bipartisan Bill Allocating $500 Million In American Rescue Fund Monies For Local Environmental Improvement, Recreation Projects

-- PA Farm Bureau Calls On Senate, House To Pass And Fund Legislation To Support On-Farm Conservation Efforts To Improve Water Quality

-- Bay Journal: Chesapeake Bay Program Figures Show PA Led Region In 2020 Cleanup Progress

-- Gov. Wolf Announces $17.4 Million To Improve Local Water Quality In 33 Counties In The Chesapeake Bay Watershed

-- Let’s Pass Some Good Environmental & Energy Legislation In 2022 - Instead Of Just Dog Whistles

-- Growing Greener Coalition: American Rescue Plan For Water & Green Infrastructure

-- Presidents Of PA Farm Bureau, Farm Groups In Chesapeake Bay Watershed Call For USDA To Create $737 Million Resilient Farms Initiative

-- Funding Flashback 2017: PA Chesapeake Bay Commission Members Spotlight Need For Clean Water Fund In PA

[Posted: January 5, 2022]

1/10/2022