As Bay Deadline Looms, Coalition Says ‘The Time to Act Is Now’
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 04/11/2008 - 10:09am.
Charlene M. Shupp Espenshade
Special Sections Editor
HARRISBURG, Pa. — The clock is ticking on the Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy and many groups across Pennsylvania are starting to feel the heat. State budget cuts, problems with the nutrient trading program and the flatlining of key conservation and municipal grant programs has placed the state in a precarious situation.
“We have come to the point in time where we can no longer talk about solutions. We must make solutions happen,” said Matthew Ehrhart, Pennsylvania executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
Members of the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, Pennsylvania Builders Association, Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation rallied at the Capitol Rotunda Wednesday. They unveiled a $170 million program they believe is needed in the 2008-2009 budget to assist farmers, municipal authorities and others meet Chesapeake Bay goals.
Ehrhart cited troubles across all sectors of business and industry. More stringent water quality regulations affecting wastewater treatment facility permits, more rules for agriculture, and nutrient load caps for the building and development community are just a few challenges that are impacting all Pennsylvanians.
The coalition is calling for the Rendell Administration and General Assembly to use the proposed funds for waste plants improvements, direct cost share aid to farmers to install conservation practices including additional funds to the Pennsylvania REAP (Resource Enhancement and Protection) program, and additional county conservation district funding to expand technical assistance. It also proposes reforms to the state’s nutrient credit trading program that will help make it a viable alternative to provide for both environmental improvements to the bay and sufficient future sewage capacity for new development.
“This is a comprehensive package that will enable Pennsylvania to meet our Chesapeake 2000 Agreement obligations, improve statewide water quality, secure vital funds to all county conservation districts and provide for future economic development,” said Ehrhart.
“Pennsylvania farmers have a proud history of striving to be good environmental stewards. Our farmers operate under some of the most stringent environmental regulation in the nation and have committed hundreds of millions of dollars of their own money in addressing nutrient and sediment loading in our commonwealth’s waters,” said Joel Rotz of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. “However, it seems at times the more our members strive towards environmental compliance the more is required of them as standards keep being raised.”
The greatest limitation to farmers implementing best management practices, Rotz said, is their limited financial resources.
Robert Fisher of the Pennsylvania Builders Association called the state’s nutrient trading program broken and that several improvements needed to be made. “Due to a number of flaws with the current structure and implementation of the trading program, it has not been viewed as a viable option either by potential credit users or generators,” he said.
Fisher recommends the creation of a nutrient credit bank that would guarantee the availability of credits for 20 to 30 years at a fixed cost. It would also concentrate funding efforts to the primary source of pollution in southcentral Pennsylvania, including farmland.
The burden to meet the bay cleanup is also impacting Pennsylvania households, according to John Brosious of the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association. More than 180 wastewater plants have been mandated to reduce nutrient loads. Without state funding for the updates, the costs are being passed onto ratepayers.
Conservation districts are on the front lines of many nutrient programs, but have not received the needed funding to deliver the needed services, according to Susan Marquart of the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts. A 2005 legislative budget study said conservation districts “are struggling for funds.” Funding has remained the same from the state departments of agriculture and environmental protection for eight and 10 years respectively. She stressed more than $7 million is needed to fully implement district programs.
We must act now,” said Ehrhart. “These mandates are facing the communities, farmers, and future homeowners and businesses of Pennsylvania right now.”
Charlene M. Shupp EspenshadeSpecial Sections Editor
HARRISBURG, Pa. — The clock is ticking on the Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy and many groups across Pennsylvania are starting to feel the heat. State budget cuts, problems with the nutrient trading program and the flatlining of key conservation and municipal grant programs has placed the state in a precarious situation.
“We have come to the point in time where we can no longer talk about solutions. We must make solutions happen,” said Matthew Ehrhart, Pennsylvania executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
Members of the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, Pennsylvania Builders Association, Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation rallied at the Capitol Rotunda Wednesday. They unveiled a $170 million program they believe is needed in the 2008-2009 budget to assist farmers, municipal authorities and others meet Chesapeake Bay goals.
Ehrhart cited troubles across all sectors of business and industry. More stringent water quality regulations affecting wastewater treatment facility permits, more rules for agriculture, and nutrient load caps for the building and development community are just a few challenges that are impacting all Pennsylvanians.
The coalition is calling for the Rendell Administration and General Assembly to use the proposed funds for waste plants improvements, direct cost share aid to farmers to install conservation practices including additional funds to the Pennsylvania REAP (Resource Enhancement and Protection) program, and additional county conservation district funding to expand technical assistance. It also proposes reforms to the state’s nutrient credit trading program that will help make it a viable alternative to provide for both environmental improvements to the bay and sufficient future sewage capacity for new development.
“This is a comprehensive package that will enable Pennsylvania to meet our Chesapeake 2000 Agreement obligations, improve statewide water quality, secure vital funds to all county conservation districts and provide for future economic development,” said Ehrhart.
“Pennsylvania farmers have a proud history of striving to be good environmental stewards. Our farmers operate under some of the most stringent environmental regulation in the nation and have committed hundreds of millions of dollars of their own money in addressing nutrient and sediment loading in our commonwealth’s waters,” said Joel Rotz of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. “However, it seems at times the more our members strive towards environmental compliance the more is required of them as standards keep being raised.”
The greatest limitation to farmers implementing best management practices, Rotz said, is their limited financial resources.
Robert Fisher of the Pennsylvania Builders Association called the state’s nutrient trading program broken and that several improvements needed to be made. “Due to a number of flaws with the current structure and implementation of the trading program, it has not been viewed as a viable option either by potential credit users or generators,” he said.
Fisher recommends the creation of a nutrient credit bank that would guarantee the availability of credits for 20 to 30 years at a fixed cost. It would also concentrate funding efforts to the primary source of pollution in southcentral Pennsylvania, including farmland.
The burden to meet the bay cleanup is also impacting Pennsylvania households, according to John Brosious of the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association. More than 180 wastewater plants have been mandated to reduce nutrient loads. Without state funding for the updates, the costs are being passed onto ratepayers.
Conservation districts are on the front lines of many nutrient programs, but have not received the needed funding to deliver the needed services, according to Susan Marquart of the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts. A 2005 legislative budget study said conservation districts “are struggling for funds.” Funding has remained the same from the state departments of agriculture and environmental protection for eight and 10 years respectively. She stressed more than $7 million is needed to fully implement district programs.
We must act now,” said Ehrhart. “These mandates are facing the communities, farmers, and future homeowners and businesses of Pennsylvania right now.”
