The Department of Environmental Protection will invest more than $23.2 million in 109 watershed protection projects to improve watersheds, reduce stormwater runoff and acid mine drainage (AMD), and support educational programs, among other environmental efforts.
Locally, the organizations that were awarded grants included $292,961 to Berks County Conservation District, BMP Implementation in Priority Agriculture Areas and $46,500 to The Trust for Tomorrow, The Maiden Creek Tributary Stream Restoration Project.
This year, the Growing Greener Program, funded by the Environmental Stewardship Fund, will award $17,393,100 for 90 projects around the state. More than $8.2 million of this year’s grants were funded by the natural gas impact fee.
Six additional grants, totaling $2,031,658, are funded by the AMD Set Aside Program. One additional project, funded by the Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Grant, will receive $352,867.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Section 319 Nonpoint Source Management Program is funding 12 additional projects, totaling $3,430,718. The program was created through the federal Clean Water Act to help reduce water pollution from nonpoint sources.
The 109 projects will reduce pollution in impaired streams by implementing agricultural and stormwater best management practices; developing, repairing or installing passive systems to treat AMD; and supporting the establishment of riparian buffers, among other methods.
Two of the primary goals under Pennsylvania’s Growing Greener Program are to invest in projects that protect watersheds from impairment and to restore waterways already impaired. Some examples include restoration work to reduce pollutants in impaired watersheds for which a pollution budget has been developed; projects that would reduce the source of impairment; and activities that lead to water quality restoration and protection.
In this latest grant round, 225 eligible applicants requested about $52.7 million. Applications came from counties, authorities and other municipalities; county conservation districts; councils of governments; watershed organizations that promote local watershed conservation efforts; and other authorized organizations involved in restoring and protecting the environment.
For more information about Growing Greener, email GrowingGreener@pa.gov, call 717-705-4500 or visit DEP’s website at www.dep.state.pa.us, keyword: Growing Greener.
