The Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee this week recommended the confirmation of Russell Redding as Secretary of Agriculture and who was confirmed unanimously by the full Senate the same day.

Asked by Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming), Majority Chair of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, during his Committee confirmation hearing what his plans were to help farmers meet the Chesapeake Bay nutrient and sediment reduction standards, Redding said the issue “looms large.”  “We understand our obligations and we understand what we have to do to get there.”

He noted no other state in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed has been at these pollution reduction efforts longer than Pennsylvania.  Pennsylvania was the first state to outline requirements for a nutrient management plan and a manure management plan.

He also said farmers had already done a lot of work, some of which is not counted now by the federal Chesapeake Bay Program and it should be.

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5/18/2015