On August 12, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it is accepting applications for $3,695,112 million in grants to improve water quality in 38 Pennsylvania watersheds in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed where EPA believes installing best management practices to reduce excess nitrogen from agricultural operations will have the most impact.

The deadline for applications is September 25.

Nonprofit organizations, state and local governments, colleges, universities, and interstate agencies are eligible to submit applications.

The successful applicant shall be responsible for the design, installation, and implementation of agricultural BMPs in Pennsylvania’s most effective basins 

At the same time, EPA is providing an additional $300,000 to the Department of Environmental Protection to assist with projects that will result from the nearly $3.4 million appropriation.

Pennsylvania received the largest share of a pot of $6 million for targeted restoration actions across the Chesapeake Bay watershed.  The $6 million is part of an increase in the FY 2020 EPA Chesapeake Bay Program budget designated for “state-based implementation in the most effective basins.”

“This is part of EPA’s commitment to helping states in the watershed achieve their goals of restoring local waters and the Chesapeake Bay,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Cosmo Servidio.  “These funds will get pollutant reduction projects on the ground in Pennsylvania in the quickest and most efficient way possible.”

In a separate announcement on July 14, 2020, EPA reallocated $3.8 million to support priority actions in Pennsylvania to reduce agricultural-related pollution. Read more here.

The new EPA Request for Applications (RFA) will fund one or two multi-year cooperative agreements to accelerate the implementation of best management practices in Pennsylvania’s most effective basins, and to track, verify and report progress.

The intent of the RFA is to assist Pennsylvania in achieving its 2025 water quality goals under the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (Bay TMDL) and its Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP).

EPA analyses have shown that reducing nitrogen through improved agricultural practices in the bay watershed is far less costly – and more effective – than reducing phosphorus to improve water quality.

Each state in the Chesapeake Bay watershed submitted Phase III WIPs, in which they committed to reduce nitrogen loads from the agriculture sector from 2019 to 2025.

Each of the 383 basins in the Chesapeake Bay watershed was evaluated as part of a relative effectiveness determination. A total of 26 of the top 30 most effective basins are located in Pennsylvania, including all of the top 15.

As an upstream jurisdiction in the nation’s largest estuary, Pennsylvania has a significant impact on the Chesapeake Bay and much of its watershed and has a pivotal role in the ongoing restoration effort.

The Susquehanna River provides about 50 percent of the freshwater flows to the estuary, about half of the nitrogen, and more than a quarter of the phosphorus.

According to its Phase III WIP, Pennsylvania only meets 75 percent of its numeric planning target for nitrogen by 2025, resulting in a 10-million-pound nitrogen gap. 

Pennsylvania is planning to achieve more than 90 percent of its nitrogen reductions in the agriculture sector and has initiated county-wide pilot efforts in Lancaster, York, Adams, and Franklin counties to target the implementation of the most effective pollutant reduction practices in those locations with the largest opportunities for reducing pollutant loads.

Achieving the projected water quality goals in these counties, including initiating additional efforts to close the nitrogen gap, will require increased coordination and collaboration with the agriculture sector, as well as increased and accelerated levels of BMP implementation.

Click Here for a copy of the request for funding applications.

[For more information on how Pennsylvania plans to meet its Chesapeake Bay cleanup obligations, visit DEP’s PA’s Phase 3 Watershed Implementation Plan webpage.       

[Click Here for a summary of the steps the Plan recommends.]

[How Clean Is Your Stream?

[DEP’s Interactive Report Viewer allows you to zoom in on your own stream or watershed to find out how clean your stream is or if it has impaired water quality using the latest information in the draft 2020 Water Quality Report.]

Related Articles This Week:

-- CBF Assesses State Progress On Restoring Chesapeake Bay - PA Is Not On Track To Meet 2025 Goals

-- DEP Chesapeake Bay Office Newsletter Provides Update On PA Watershed Plan Implementation

-- DEP Invests $3.7 Million To Help Farmers Plan, Install Best Management Practices In Chesapeake Bay Watershed

-- DEP Invites Comments On Revised NPDES General Permit For Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations

Related Article - Chesapeake Bay:

-- EPA Finds PA Did Not Meet Targets For Reducing Water Pollution In Chesapeake Bay Watershed Area; Must Identify Funding Sources For 2020-21

-- CBF Blog: Why Is The Health Of Pennsylvania Streams Important For The Chesapeake Bay?

Related Articles - EPA:

-- Six Former EPA Administrators Call For An Agency Reset After Presidential Election

-- EPA Finalizes Methane Emission Standards For Oil & Gas Industry; Does Not Affect DEP Methane Proposal

-- Sen. Casey: Why The National Environmental Policy Act Rollback Hurts PA And The Environment

-- EPA Mid-Atlantic Region Celebrates 50 Years Of Research For A Healthier Environment

[Posted: August 13, 2020]

8/17/2020