The House Environmental Resources & Energy Committee is scheduled to hold an information meeting January 24 on House Bill 1901 (Hershey-R-Juniata) allocating $250 million from federal American Rescue Plan funding to a new state Clean Water Fund to improve water quality in the Commonwealth.

The bill would establish an Agriculture Conservation Assistance Program to help farmers install conservation practices and a Municipal Stormwater Assistance Program.

Also included is a Clean Water Procurement Program proposal that has been around since 2013 in one form or another that would fund nonpoint source pollution reduction projects through a complicated, limited bidding program that diverts scarce funding away from on-farm projects.

This bill is a companion to Senate Bill 832 (Yaw-R-Lycoming).  [Read more here.]

House Bill 1901 is not the legislation preferred by environmental groups to allocate American Rescue Plan funding for conservation purposes.

The preferred bills are these bipartisan proposals--

-- $500 Million For Local Conservation Projects:  Senators John Gordner (R-Columbia), Bob Mensch (R-Montgomery), Carolyn Comitta (D-Chester) and others have introduced bipartisan legislation proposing to allocate $500 million from the federal American Rescue Plan to fund Growing Greener watershed, farm conservation, mine reclamation and recreation projects in Senate Bill 525. A companion House bill is being introduced shortly.  Read more here.

-- Farm Conservation Cost-Share: Senate Bill 465 (Yaw-R-Lycoming, Comitta-D-Chester) establishes a new program to pay for on-farm conservation measures administered by the State Conservation Commission. Read more here.

Click Here for more information on these bills.

The meeting will be held in Room 515 Irvis Building starting at 9:30 a.m.   Click Here to watch live.

Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) serves as Majority Chair of the House Environmental Committee and can be contacted by calling 717-783-1707 or sending email to: dmetcalf@pahousegop.com. Rep. Greg Vitali (D-Delaware) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by calling 717-787-7647 or sending email to: gvitali@pahouse.net.

Related Articles:

-- Chesapeake Bay Foundation Calls For Greater Investments To Reduce Pollution As Number Of Impaired Streams Increases In PA

-- Two Bipartisan Bills Just Sitting In Senate Waiting To Address Record Number Of Water Quality Impaired Streams Reported In 2022

-- DEP 2022 Water Quality Report Shows 27,886 Miles Of Streams With Impaired Water Quality In PA (33%) - An Increase From 25,468 In 2020  [

-- DEP Outlines 2022 Priorities: Make Up Deficit In Oil & Gas Funding; Get Resources Needed To Invest New Federal Mine Reclamation, Oil & Gas Well Plugging Funds

[Posted: January 19, 2022]

1/24/2022