Rep. Art Hershey

Gearing up for the new year, the Chesapeake Bay Commission held a productive meeting last week in Annapolis, Maryland, reported Sen. Mike Waugh (R-York).

Rep. Art Hershey (R-Chester) was elected Chairman of the Commission during the meeting. Other Pennsylvania members include: Rep. Michael Sturla (D-Lancaster), Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty, Sen. Mike Brubaker (R-Lancaster), Rep. Russ Fairchild (R-Mifflin), and George Wolff, a citizen member of the Commission.

Among the many topics discussed during the Commission's first quarterly meeting of the year was a plan to co-host a Cellulosic Biofuels Summit in September 2008, along with Gov. Rendell.

The Summit will be held in conjunction with the third quarterly Commission meeting, and is a follow-up to one of the recommendations from the Commission's Biofuels and the Bay report released in 2007.

"This Cellulosic Biofuels Summit is timely considering Pennsylvania's efforts to move towards energy independence through the use of alternative fuels," said Sen. Waugh, who has introduced Special Session Senate Bill 41 to encourage the planting and use of switch grass and other perennial grasses in the making of cellulosic ethanol.

In addition to the summit, the Commission has agreed to support new funding for conservation practices in the Federal Farm Bill, as well as champion efforts to upgrade the Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant in Washington, D.C. The largest treatment plant in the Bay area, it needs improvements to reduce the nitrogen pollution being released into the Bay.

Similar efforts for Pennsylvania are being discussed, and will be on the agenda for the state's Commission Delegation meetings throughout the year.

Additional topics at the meeting included a strategy to build state-local partnerships to further implement the forest and land conservation goals recently established by the Chesapeake Executive Council and innovative solutions to accelerate agricultural conservation efforts in the Bay watershed.

The election of the 2008 Commission Officers were held, and the Chairmanship, as was slated, returned to Pennsylvania with the election of Rep. Art Hershey as the 2008 Commission Chairman.

"I am pleased that Rep. Hershey will be leading us in 2008," said Sen. Waugh. "He is a good man who is very dedicated to the efforts of the Commission."

Rep. Hershey announced his retirement from the House at the end of this year.

Created in 1980, the Chesapeake Bay Commission is a tri-state group that serves in an advisory role to the members of the General Assemblies of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia on matters of Bay-wide concern. Of its 21 members, 15 are lawmakers – five each from PA, MD, and VA.

1/11/2008