The Commonwealth Financing Authority has scheduled the application period for the next round of grants under the watershed restoration, abandoned mine drainage abatement, baseline water quality data, orphan or abandoned well plugging, sewage facilities and flood mitigation programs funded by the Act 13 Marcellus Legacy Fund.

Applications for these programs will be accepted between March 1 and June 30--

-- Watershed Restoration: The overall goal of the Watershed Restoration and Protection Program  is to restore, and maintain restored stream reaches impaired by the uncontrolled discharge of nonpoint source polluted runoff, and ultimately to remove these streams from the Department of Environmental Protection’s Impaired Waters list. Contact: 717-787-6245.

-- Abandoned Mine Drainage Abatement and Treatment: Projects which involve the reclamation of Abandoned Mine Well(s), construction of a new AMD site, remediation and repair of existing AMD project sites, operation and maintenance maintaining current AMD remediation sites, establishment of trust fund to ensure ongoing maintenance is achieved, and monitoring of water quality to track or continue to trace nonpoint source load reductions resulting from AMD remediation projects. Contact: 717-787-6245.

-- Orphan or Abandoned Well Plugging Program: Projects which involve the cleaning out and plugging of abandoned and orphan oil and gas wells; stray gas mitigation systems; and well venting projects. Contact: 717-787-6245.

-- Baseline Water Quality Data: Projects which involve practices for water sample collection and analysis to document existing groundwater quality conditions on private water supplies. Contact: 717-787-6245.

-- Sewage Facilities Program: Costs associated with the planning work required under Act 537 Sewage Facilities Act. Contact: 717-787-6245.

-- Flood Mitigation: Projects authorized by a flood protection authority, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) or the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) or identified by a local government for flood mitigation are eligible for the program. Contact: 717-787-6245.

Applicants are strongly urged to contact their House and Senate member to make them aware you intend to submit an application for funding under theses programs.

For more information and instructions on how to apply, visit the Commonwealth Financing Authority webpage.

1/16/2015