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PA Fair Share Coalition Asks Gov. Rendell to Keep Commitment on Bay Cleanup

In a letter this week to Gov. Rendell, the PA Fair Share for Clean Water Coalition asked the Governor to keep his commitment to help sewer system ratepayers and farmers finance improvements needed to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus pollution going to the Chesapeake Bay by supporting the PA Fair Share for Clean Water Plan.

The PA Fair Share for Clean Water Coalition includes the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, Pennsylvania Builders Association, Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and a growing list of 26 other environmental, business and local government groups.

“Last December Gov. Rendell made a commitment to the Chesapeake Executive Council to convince the General Assembly to provide state funding to meet nutrient reduction requirements when the federal government provided funding,” said Matthew Ehrhart, Pennsylvania Executive Director for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. “Congress has now acted by passing the federal Farm Bill which provides Bay states with $440 million to help comply with these mandates and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency just increased Pennsylvania’s funding for clean water projects by $20 million.”

“Pennsylvania’s entire Congressional Delegation was involved in the Farm Bill effort, but we would especially like to thank U.S. Senator Bob Casey and Congressmen Tim Holden for their leadership on this issue,” said Ehrhart. “Now we hope Gov. Rendell will keep his commitment by supporting the Fair Share for Clean Water Plan and working with the General Assembly to provide this much needed funding.”

"Farmers welcome the help included in the new Farm Bill, but it is nowhere near enough to cover the $600 million cost the Department of Environmental Protection estimates farmers will have to invest in conservation practices,” said Joel Rotz, State Governmental Relations Director for the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. "Farmers are more than willing to do their fair share in meeting federal and state regulations, but they cannot do it alone. State funding is urgently needed as farmers face the potentially crippling costs of meeting these new state and federal mandates."

“For the last several years we’ve seen cuts in the state budget for vital programs that help farmers install conservation practices,” said Susan Marquart, Executive Director of the PA Association of Conservation Districts. “Without technical assistance provided by county conservation districts, Pennsylvania agriculture cannot meet its mandated nutrient reduction goals.”

The Department of Environmental Protection has already issued new permits to the first 63 of over 184 wastewater treatment plants that will have to meet the new nutrient reduction mandates in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The cost of the improvements needed at the plants to comply is estimated to be over $1 billion.

"Mandated nutrient reductions under the state Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy for sewage treatment plants impose a heavy financial burden on communities and ratepayers that could see a doubling or tripling of sewer rates if no help is provided by state government,” said John Brosious, PMAA Deputy Director. "Unlike Virginia and Maryland, Pennsylvania has provided no significant funding to meet these mandates.”

The Coalition pointed to the need for the Commonwealth to improve the existing Nutrient Credit Trading Program to help farmers, wastewater plants, future homeowners and businesses meet the federal and state mandates.

"A functioning, viable nutrient credit trading program, combined with a funding plan that targets money where it can make the greatest environmental impact, can provide sewage treatment plants with a stable, economically feasible alternative to costly capital upgrades and protect future economic opportunity," said Robert J. Fisher, president of R. J. Fisher and Associates representing the Pennsylvania Builders Association. "But, without help from state government, economic growth and development in large portions of Pennsylvania will be severely curtailed.”

The PA Fair Share for Clean Water Plan would invest $170 million in 2008-09 in several ways to reduce the financial burden on ratepayers and farms:

· $100 million to help wastewater plants finance required improvements;

· $50 million in direct cost share aid to farmers to install conservation practices ($35 for REAP farm tax credits and $15 million in cost share grants);

· $10 million to county conservation district to expand technical assistance to farmers;

· $10 million to restore cuts to the Department of Agriculture budget in farm programs; and

· Proposes reforms to the state’s nutrient credit trading program that will help to make it a viable alternative to provide for both environmental improvements to the Bay and sufficient future sewage capacity for new development.

Over the course of seven years the Fair Share for Clean Water Plan will invest up to $890 million in upgrades to sewage treatment plants and agricultural practices for nutrient reduction efforts for the Chesapeake Bay and cleaning up streams statewide.

(The text of the letter to Gov. Rendell follows)

Dear Governor Rendell,

Millions of wastewater system ratepayers and thousands of farmers, future homeowners and businesses need your immediate help to deal with the financial cost of meeting new nutrient reduction limits being imposed now by the Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a result of federal Clean Water Act mandates.

These new nutrient limits are now in place in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed that covers over half the Commonwealth, but already wastewater plants in Southeast and Western Pennsylvania have been given these new standards by EPA as well.

For the first time a broad coalition of interests involved in water quality cleanup, including the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, Pennsylvania Builders Association, Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, Chesapeake Bay Foundation and many other supporting groups, have put together a plan that asks state government to be a partner in these efforts.

The Pennsylvania Fair Share for Clean Water Plan proposes to invest $500 million to help finance the upgrades needed by wastewater plants to meet the new nutrient reduction standards and $390 million to help farmers install conservation practices over seven years. In both cases, local wastewater system ratepayers and farmers would shoulder half the costs of the upgrades and practices.

The proposal also calls for improvements to the state’s Nutrient Credit Trading Program that will help reduce the costs of complying with these new limits by promoting wastewater plant-farmer cooperation on projects to reduce nutrients and allow for future growth and development.

In the Chesapeake Bay Watershed alone, Pennsylvania wastewater system ratepayers will be asked in the next seven years to pay up to $1 billion for treatment plant upgrades to meet these new standards. The Department of Environmental Protection has estimated the cost to farmers, who cannot pass along these costs, will be $600 million.

We note that Maryland and Virginia have already committed over $1.6 billion to help their wastewater plants meet these new mandates.

We appreciate your efforts in convening the Governor’s Sustainable Water Infrastructure Task Force to develop a long range plan for funding infrastructure improvements across the state. However, the specific permit deadlines imposed by the DEP require wastewater plants to make design and project financing decisions now on how they are going to comply with their new nutrient limits and achieve the necessary reductions.

Over the last few months wastewater system ratepayers have received letters from their local system operators saying they will see their sewer rates double and triple over the next few years to meet these mandates and are loudly expressing their concerns about the devastating impact such rate increases will have on homeowners and businesses.

Ratepayers and farmers are not asking for a “bailout.” They will do their share to finance these improvements-- but they are asking state government to be a partner in meeting these requirements as it has been since the 1970s.

At last December’s Chesapeake Executive Council meeting, you said you would work with the General Assembly to provide additional state funding to help comply with the nutrient reduction mandates, if the federal government provided more funding.

Congress has now acted. In the new federal Farm Bill passed by Congress, over $440 million is provided to the Chesapeake Bay states to help farmers install conservation practices. In addition, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency increased funding for clean water projects in Pennsylvania by $20 million.

The coalition proposing the Fair Share Plan asks for your support and leadership in helping to resolve this time-sensitive issue and to keep the commitment you made last December.

Thank you for your past leadership on environmental issues and we look forward to working with you to help state government to again be a partner in taking the next step in cleaning up Pennsylvania’s rivers and streams.

Sincerely, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, Pennsylvania Builders Association, Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts.

Other supporting groups include: Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors, County Commissioners Association of PA, Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs, Pennsylvania Association of Realtors, Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmens Clubs, American Farmland Trust, Environmental Defense Fund, Middletown Township Land Conservancy, Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper, Northumberland County Conservation District, Lancaster Farmland Trust, Brubaker Farms, Juniata Valley Audubon, PA Landscape and Nursery Association, Tioga County Conservation District, Chester County Economic Development Council, Tioga County Concerned Citizens Committee, Inc., PA No-Till Alliance, PA State Grange, PA Project Grass, GreenTreks Network, Inc., Warwick Township Municipal Authority, PA Association for Sustainable Agriculture, Cedar Meadow Farm, Somerset County Conservation District, and Dover Township

For more information on the PA Fair Share for Clean Water Plan, visit www.PaFairSharePlan.org .

NewsClips: Williamsport Sanitary Authority – Worst Case No State Funding

Farm Bill Includes Influx of Funds for Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Bill Would Help Farmers, Municipalities Pay For Bay Cleanup

Chambersburg Seek Relief in Court from Bay Cleanup Burden

Video Blog: Remarks By Coalition Partners on the Fair Share Clean Water Plan

Video Blog: Sen. Brubaker’s Remarks on Fair Share Plan

Links: Coalition Proposes Fair Share Clean Water Funding Plan, Original Announcement

16,000 Miles of Polluted Streams Add Urgency to Call for Clean Water Funding

CBF, Other Groups Ask State to Be a Partner in Chesapeake Bay Cleanup Plan

40,000 More Acres of Corn, Soybeans Increase Conservation Needs

Brubaker, Musto Say Senate Infrastructure Bill Should Be Expanded