The Corbett Administration announced Thursday the Commonwealth Financing Authority will begin accepting applications for a program established by the Act 13 Marcellus Legacy Fund to support flood mitigation throughout the state. 

The deadline for applications is July 31 for consideration at the November 13 CFA meeting.

The CFA offers other project funding opportunities under Act 13, including: abandoned mine, watershed, recreation funding, alternative, clean energy funding, high performance building funding and PennWorks Program water supply, wastewater infrastructure funding.

"Act 13 reaffirms Gov. Corbett's commitment to responsible natural gas development here in Pennsylvania," Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary C. Alan Walker said.

"The CFA has now successfully implemented six of the seven programs created by the Act 13 Marcellus Legacy Fund to provide critical resources to local governments for flood mitigation and environmental conservation projects."

The CFA funding to assist with flood mitigation projects is part of the $14.5 million made available this year to fund seven Marcellus Shale Legacy Fund programs.

At its February meeting, the CFA approved guidelines for abandoned mine drainage, abatement and treatment, watershed restoration and protection, water quality data, greenways, trails and recreation, and orphan and abandoned well plugging programs in the state. 

Act 13, which Gov. Corbett signed into law in 2012, authorized counties to impose an impact fee on unconventional natural gas wells.

Last year, the fee generated more than $204 million that is benefiting every Pennsylvanian. The majority of the revenues are distributed to local governments where drilling is taking place, with the remainder of the money used for statewide programs or distributed to counties based on population.

The flood mitigation guidelines approved by the CFA will make funding available to: acquire land, rights-of-way, and easements necessary to construct eligible projects. Eligible projects include construction, improvement, expansion, repair or rehabilitation of flood control projects; engineering costs; inspection costs; and permitting fees. 

The $14.5 million in CFA funding is in addition to $10.9 million in impact fee funding for conservation and recreation programs that has already been distributed to counties, as well as $7.2 million to the state's Growing Greener fund.

Applicants can begin applying immediately under the new guidelines for the Act 13 Programs through DCED's electronic single application system. [Note: The guidelines will be posted soon on the CFA’s webpage.]

The programs are administered jointly by the Department of Community and Economic Development, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and the Department of Environmental Protection, under the direction of the CFA and DCNR.

Notify Your Legislators: If you plan to apply for funding under this program, PA Environment Digest strongly urges you to notify your local House and Senate member that you have applied and make sure they know how important it is to you.

For more information, visit the Commonwealth Financing Authority website.  Eligible applicants are encouraged to contact Brian Eckert or Matthew Karnell at 717-787-6245 to discuss potential projects before commencing the application process.

3/25/2013