The Chesapeake Bay Foundation set letters to all members of the Senate and House and to Gov. Rendell urging Pennsylvania’s political leadership to make the environment more of a legislative priority, in particular the cleanup of our rivers and streams.

CBF noted that farmers, wastewater treatment plants, conservation districts and environmental agencies are not only facing significant challenges in meeting state and federal mandates to cleanup our waterways, but the production of biofuels will put additional strains on conservation programs.

CBF intends to work with all parties and its partners to provide the financial resources to meet these challenges. The text of the letter follows--

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and over these past four decades, CBF has worked tirelessly with the agriculture community, wastewater treatment plant owners, state and federal governments and citizens to cleanup our waterways right here in Pennsylvania in order to restore the Chesapeake Bay and its many tributaries. We thank you for your support.

All of us can be proud of the many public and private actions taken by Pennsylvanians to protect our water resources, but we cannot ignore that serious challenges lie ahead. With the Chesapeake Tributary Strategy deadline for implementation just around the corner, and state and federal mandates to clean up our rivers and streams in place, we have much work to accomplish.

Conservation Help for Farmers

Fortunately, we can build on recent and important successes. Last year, thanks to your support and leadership, Pennsylvania enacted the Resource Enhancement and Protection Act (REAP) program, a new tax credit program and the first of its kind in the country, to help farmers install conservation practices on their farms.

The demand for REAP tax credits surpassed all expectations; in fact, it was so great that the entire $10 million in credits was gone in the first 10 days of the enrollment period for projects in 50 counties across the Commonwealth.

It is true that we reap what we sow; those $10 million in state credits leveraged another almost $10 million in private investment by farmers.

REAP provides an effective and efficient program to deliver needed conservation practices and from this first year we know the demand is there for many more projects. CBF looks forward to working with state leaders to expand this program to $50 million in this year’s budget to meet the demand of the agricultural community to help protect Pennsylvania’s clean water.

Help to Pay for Sewage Treatment Upgrades

In addition to finding innovative ways to help promote farm conservation, Pennsylvania needs to find ways to meet the federal Clean Water Act’s required nutrient limits for sewage treatment plants.

While there is disagreement over the estimated total cost for compliance, there is no disagreement that meeting the Chesapeake Bay nutrient limits will impose a significant financial burden upon municipalities. By closing the existing funding gap that currently precludes many of Pennsylvania’s municipalities from moving forward on these projects, Pennsylvania can protect rate payers from absorbing the high cost of the necessary “green infrastructure” upgrades required to meet existing permit limits.

We must include, as a budget priority, significant state funding in this year’s budget so wastewater treatment plants can comply with federal Clean Water Act requirements.

Help for Conservation Districts

The effectiveness of REAP, Growing Greener Watershed Grants and other similar programs is significantly threatened by severe cuts to Conservation District funding as proposed in this year’s budget request. Fully staffed and operational Conservations Districts are essential to effective delivery of conservation programs, particularly to our agricultural community.

These cuts to conservation districts are more significant as the Commonwealth seeks to encourage the use of “home-grown” biofuels by planting more corn and soybeans. Last year alone more than 100,000 more acres of corn were planted in the state putting a higher demand on farm conservation assistance programs.

General cuts to the budgets for the departments of Environmental Protection and Agriculture are also of concern. The overall budget for DEP has been significantly reduced in recent years, as has the department’s overall staff capacity. These funding cuts, in addition to federal funding cuts, hamper Pennsylvania’s ability to provide critical services and to support Pennsylvania’s citizens and businesses in their stewardship of natural resources. Without strong and fiscally empowered agencies, the health of our communities and natural resources will inevitably be compromised.

There is no doubt that the steps we have taken so far are critical to our progress toward cleaning up our rivers and streams here in Pennsylvania and paramount for future improvement in the health of the Chesapeake Bay, but we have a long way to go.

The impairment of our rivers, streams and the Bay is much more than an environmental issue. The health of these resources relates to the health of our communities, the well-being of our citizens, the vitality of our economy, and directly or indirectly, the livelihood of the 17 million people who live in our region.

We look forward to working with you and your colleagues in the coming year to ensure that Pennsylvania is doing everything possible to protect its precious natural resources.

2/8/2008