The Commonwealth Financing Authority will be accepting applications for grants funded by Act 13 drilling impact fees for watershed restoration, abandoned mine drainage abatement, baseline water quality data, orphaned or abandoned well plugging, sewage facilities, flood mitigation programs and recreation starting February 1 through May 31.

[Note: New grant guidelines for the Act 13 Programs were approved by the CFA on January 26, so read them carefully.]

These grants are funded by the Act 13 drilling impact fees paid by natural gas drillers.

Here’s a quick summary of what’s available and the links for more details--

-- 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.

-- 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.

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

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

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

-- 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.

-- Greenways, Trails And Recreation Program: Projects which involve development, rehabilitation and improvements to public parks, recreation areas, greenways, trails and river conservation.

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

For more information and instructions on how to apply, visit the Commonwealth Financing Authority Act 13 Programs webpage.  Questions should be directed to 717-787-6245.

Related Article:

-- IFO: 2021 Act 13 Drilling Impact Fee Revenue $233.8 Million; Still Short Of 2018 Revenue Of $251.8 Million

[Posted: January 27, 2022]

1/31/2022