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Pennsylvania Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan Team Virtual Meeting July 20

Pennsylvania’s Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan Team is scheduled to have a virtual meeting on July 20 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

The Implementation Team is chaired by the Secretaries of Agriculture, DEP and DCNR and team members include stakeholder representatives of agriculture, forestry, county and local governments, authorities, Penn State and more that all helped to develop Pennsylvania’s Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan.

While there is no posted agenda, a lot has happened since the last Team meeting on January 30--

-- Lawsuit Notice: The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, other Bay states gave notice to EPA they would be suiting over the failure to hold Pennsylvania and New York accountable for meeting Bay cleanup milestones. Read more here.

-- Proposed Budget: Gov. Wolf’s proposed FY 2020-21in February took tentative steps to address a few resource needs to meet Chesapeake Bay cleanup goals [Read more here], however, that’s all out the window as a result of the state budget impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even before Gov. Wolf presented his proposal, legislative leaders like Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming), Majority Chair of the Senate Environmental Committee, said raising enough money to implement the Bay Clean Water Plan “isn’t going to happen.” Read more here.

Those comments were made at the end of a Senate Committee hearing on Plan implementation where stakeholders put the spotlight on the need for additional resources. Read more here.

-- Hard Decisions In November: The state passed a five-month FY 2020-21 budget in May that pushed all the hard decisions about making up a $4 to $5 billion state budget deficit to after the election in November. Read more here.

-- Raid Of Dedicated Funds: New House Speaker Bryan Cutler (R-Lancaster) said the first place Republicans will look first to fill deep budget holes is dedicated funds, many of which are used to fund farm conservation and environmental restoration projects. Read more here.

-- House Funding Freeze: House Republicans passed House Bill 1822 that freezes state funding for county conservation districts, local farm conservation and environmental restoration projects. Lancaster Clean Water Partners said it would be ‘devastating’ to their efforts. Read more here.

-- House Reallocating Conservation Funding: House Republicans also moved House Bill 2004 which allows the reallocation of the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund which is used, in part, for permanent land conservation initiatives. Read more here.

-- Farm Excellence Grants: Dept. of Agriculture solicited applications for Farm Conservation Excellence Grants in Lancaster and York Counties. Read more here.

-- Organic Farming Grants: Dept. of Agriculture accepted applications to help farmers transition to organic farming. Read more here.

-- Penn State Farm Survey: Penn State sent a new survey to farmers in Lancaster, York, Franklin & Adams counties to document conservation practices. Read more here.

-- Stream Habitat Grants: Fish & Boat Commission accepting applications for $100,000 stream habitat improvement in Lancaster, York counties. Read more here.

-- Wildlife Habitat Grants: EPA, NFWF announced $2.4 million for projects to improve streams in the Pennsylvania portion of the Bay Watershed. Read more here.

-- Additional EPA Funding: EPA provided an additional $3.7 million in funding for farm conservation practices in the Bay Watershed. Read more here.

-- PennVEST Funding: PennVEST loaned a Centre County farmer $800,000 to install farm conservation practices. Read more here. And funded additional nonpoint source pollution control measures. Read more here.

-- Keystone Tree Partnership: Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership invests $2.6 million in 710,000 trees for planting in the Bay Watershed and across the state. Read more here.

-- Keystone Tree Fund: On July 1 PennDOT began giving drivers and vehicle owners the option of donating $3 to the Keystone Tree Fund to fund DCNR riparian buffer planting programs. Read more here.

-- Fertilizer Bill: The Senate passed Senate Bill 915 regulating turf use of fertilizer and sent it to the House where it died last session. Read more here.

-- Bay Storymap: DEP released a new storymap showing the benefits of improving water quality in the state’s part of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Read more here.

-- Climate Impact Report: New DEP Climate Impact Assessment Report finds the livestock industry is likely to grow in the state making it more difficult to meet water quality cleanup goals. Read more here.

Click Here to register to join the meeting online via WebEx or join by conference call: 1-415-655-0003 Access code: 132 628 0421.

For more information about the meeting [when posted], visit DEP’s PA Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Team webpage [scroll to bottom of the page].

Related Articles - PA Chesapeake Bay Last 6 Months:

-- Bay Journal: Coronavirus Causing Loss Of Critical Farm Conservation BMP Installation & Design, Tree Planting; Slamming State Budgets, Nonprofits [March]

-- Bay Journal: Sustainability Sells: Firms Funding Farm Conservation Measures

-- Bay Journal: State Pollution Goal Aims To Put The 'Sylvan' Back In Pennsylvania

-- Bay Journal: PA Initiative To Convert 10,000 Acres Of Lawns Into Meadows, Forests

-- Bay Journal: Soil Health Practices Increasingly Help Farmers Hit Pay Dirt, Improve The Environment

-- Bay Journal: EPA Intends To Achieve 2025 Chesapeake Bay Cleanup Goals, But Assurances Fail To Mollify Concerns Over PA Cleanup [January]

-- PA Chesapeake Bay Phase III WIP State Team Hears Implementation Off To Fast Start [January]

-- New Director Of DEP Chesapeake Bay Office Wants To Move Quickly On Implementation [January]

Related Articles This Week - Water:

-- PennVEST Awards $800,000 Loan To Install Agricultural Best Management Practices On Centre County Farm

-- Turkey Hill Clean Water Partnership Wins U.S. Dairy Innovation Award