The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) applauded the General Assembly for including provisions in Senate Bill 1102 (Gordner-R-Northumberland) to specifically authorize the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST) to use part of $350 million in new water and wastewater funds to finance Nutrient Reduction Technology (NRT) projects at municipal sewage treatment plants.

The bill is now on the Governor’s desk.

Sewage treatment plants are the second largest source of nutrient pollution that impacts waters in Pennsylvania and downstream waters in the Chesapeake Bay, contributing to the inclusion of the Bay on the nation’s list of dirtiest waters. NRT is advanced treatment technology that can dramatically reduce discharges of excess nutrients from these wastewater treatment facilities.

This action by the General Assembly will help the Commonwealth meet its nutrient reduction agreements made in March, 2003 as part of the implementation of the multi-state Chesapeake 2000 Agreement (C2K). The signatories to the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement committed to remove the Chesapeake Bay from the dirty waters list by 2010.

"While we are delighted that the General Assembly has included funding for NRT to help address our regional nutrient pollution problem, we are concerned that the legislation contains other provisions that may contribute to sprawl," said CBF's Pennsylvania Executive Director Matt Ehrhart

"Although the newly-passed legislation is a mixed bag of sorts, CBF encourages Gov. Rendell to sign the bill into law," said Ehrhart. "We will work closely with the government agencies involved to ensure that the funds are channeled into environmentally beneficial projects, such as NRT, while discouraging the use of funds for projects that devour our precious open space and farmland."

NewsClip: Lawmakers Debate Distribution Plans for Sewer Funds

11/26/2004