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ARP for Water and Green Infrastructure

Open Letter to Members of the General Assembly
and Governor Wolf

June 2, 2021

 

Pennsylvania’s waterways need help. The American Rescue Plan can clearly play a major role in providing this assistance. At least $500 million (7%) of state government’s $7 billion share of Rescue money should be directed to our huge green infrastructure needs:

  • Billions of dollars in water investments are needed on a multitude of fronts to restore 25,468 miles of Pennsylvania waterways that are unsafe for drinking, swimming, and fishing.
  • Lack of investment in addressing stormwater management and flood prevention leave many Pennsylvanians highly vulnerable to loss of property, health, and life.
  • Farmers need help to implement conservation practices like forested stream buffers to keep soil and nutrients on the land instead of running into the water.
  • Untreated abandoned mine drainage, desolate abandoned mined lands, and uncapped oil and gas wells harm our water and drag down local economies.

Funding these needs out of the American Rescue Plan is a great fit:

  • These are lasting capital investments! They are not operational expenditures that have to be supported with state general funds after the federal money is gone.
  • Tens of millions of dollars in green infrastructure projects are shovel ready now. Many more can be ready in short order if money is made available.

The American Rescue Plan presents a momentous opportunity to begin addressing the Commonwealth’s enormous backlog of green infrastructure needs. In addition to water-related projects, other states are moving to invest more broadly in other green infrastructure needs. American Rescue Plan dollars might also be appropriate for addressing:

  • Our State Parks and Forests, which require nearly $1 billion in restoration and repair work.
  • Local parks and community open spaces that are seeing a surge (often doubling) in public usage and resulting wear-and-tear in this new era of increased interest in outdoor recreation.

American Rescue Plan dollars applied to green infrastructure would support myriad small businesses and good-paying jobs with them. Projects involve surveyors, appraisers, legal services, engineers, planners, drafters, environmental remediators, hydrologists, geologists, agricultural consultants, nurseries, architects, landscape architects, landscapers, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, heavy equipment operators, painters, roofing contractors, fencing installers, paving contractors, material delivery, sign makers, archaeologists, and arborists. Supplies and equipment are needed from nurseries, lumber yards, quarries, building material suppliers, hardware stores, equipment manufacturers, and equipment rental businesses.

Investing in Pennsylvania’s environment makes strong fiscal sense. It is well established that state environmental investments provide tremendous rates of return—whether the measure is job creation and economic activity, costs avoided (such as public health and flooding), net tax revenues, or the wellbeing of people and communities. (See the numerous studies documenting the benefits in the Economic Benefits section of https://conservationtools.org.)

For more information, please reach out to the people and organizations of the Growing Greener Coalition including but not limited to:

Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Shannon Gority, PA Executive Director
[email protected]

Conservation Voters of PA
Joshua McNeil, Executive Director
[email protected]

Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds
John Dawes, Executive Director
[email protected]

Lancaster Farmland Trust
Jeffrey Swinehart, Chief Operating Officer
[email protected]

Natural Lands
Oliver P. Bass, President
[email protected]

PennFuture
Jacquelyn Bonomo, President & CEO
[email protected]

Pennsylvania Environmental Council
John Walliser, Senior Vice President
[email protected]

Pennsylvania Recreation & Park Society
Tim Herd, CEO
[email protected]

Sierra Club PA Chapter
Jen Quinn, Legislative and Political Director
[email protected]

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
Tom Sexton, Northeast Regional Director
[email protected]

The Conservation Fund
Kyle D. Shenk, Northeast Region Director
[email protected]

The Nature Conservancy, PA/DE Chapter
Ronald L. Ramsey, Senior Policy Advisor
[email protected]

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
Derek Eberly, Pennsylvania Field Organizer
[email protected]

 The Trust for Public Land
Owen Franklin, PA State Director
[email protected]

Trout Unlimited
Jennifer Orr-Greene, Eastern Policy Director
[email protected]

WeConservePA
Andrew M. Loza, Executive Director
[email protected]

Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
Cynthia Carrow, Vice President
[email protected]

 

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23 Pennsylvania Water Conservation Groups Support Significant Clean Water Investments from American Rescue Plan Funding

Dear Governor Wolf and Members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly:

We, the undersigned groups of the conservation, business, environmental protection, and faith communities, are writing today to ask your support for increasing clean water funding—specifically, dedicated funding through a program such as the creation of a Clean Streams Fund as well as a reinvigorated Growing Greener III program.

Pennsylvania is faced with a unique opportunity. The recent passage of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 provides the Commonwealth with $7 billion in federal funds. We’re advocating that a portion of this money—at least $500 million1—should be invested in our water resources which in turn supports jobs, a vibrant recreation economy, and supplies our drinking water. The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership found that outdoor recreation in Pennsylvania contributes to over 390,000 jobs with a total value of $26.9 billion, including over $7 billion in federal, state, and local tax revenue.

Poll after poll demonstrates wide, bipartisan support for increases in state investments for clean water. Most recently, a poll commissioned by Conservation Voters of PA and the Growing Greener Coalition in the fall of 2020 showed that nearly 90 percent of voters support funding for Pennsylvania’s land, water and wildlife, even during the economic downturn of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We ask all members of the General Assembly and Governor Wolf to stand with voters and protect our waterways by providing dedicated funding to watershed improvement and best management practice implementation and reinvigorating Growing Greener III.

Growing Greener III

These funds provide critical support to community-driven work that improves and protects our cities and towns. Since 1999, Growing Greener has been a lifeline to conservation and clean water projects across the state. These investments bring lasting benefits to communities across Pennsylvania from clean water to open spaces to recreational pursuits for Pennsylvanians and tourists alike. Examples and success stories from these investments can be found on the Environmental Stewardship Fund’s website: https://esfund.info/.

Growing Greener was established with bipartisan support in the General Assembly as well as in public referenda and they continue to receive overwhelming public support today. In March, Senators John Gordner and Bob Mensch released a co-sponsor memo for support of a Growing Greener III program that would use $500 million from the American Recuse Plan funding to invest in our water resources and benefit our farmers, towns, and more.

Clean Stream Fund

Pennsylvania is blessed to be a water rich state with 86,000 miles of streams. However, around one-third of our streams are polluted. A dedicated fund devoted solely to cleaning up and protecting our waterways will support jobs and benefit Pennsylvania’s economy, towns, and farmers. In March, Senators Gene Yaw, Scott Martin, and Daniel Laughlin put forth a co-sponsor memo that would create the Clean Streams Fund using $250 million from the American Rescue Plan.

For years, our groups have called on increased investments for our water resources. Now is the time to act. We thank you for supporting healthy rivers and streams across the Commonwealth. Please contact Ezra Thrush at [email protected] with questions or for more information.

Respectfully submitted,

Jacquelyn Bonomo
President & CEO
PennFuture

Katie Blume
Political Director
Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania

Jessica Brittain
President
Action Together NEPA

Bobby Hughes
Executive Director
Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation

Kate Fritz
CEO
Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay

Anne McCarthy, OSB
Coordinator
Erie Benedictines for Peace

Elizabeth Brown
Director, Delaware River Watershed Program
Audubon Mid-Atlantic

Brook Lenker
Executive Director
FracTracker Alliance

Shannon Gority
Pennsylvania Executive Director
Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Annette Marshall
Executive Director
Inner-City Neighborhood Art House

Reed Perry
Manager of External Affairs
Chesapeake Conservancy

Ted Evgeniadis
Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper
Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association

Diane Rosencrance
Executive Director
Delaware Highlands Conservancy

Oliver Bass
President
Natural Lands

Michael T. Sellers, Esq.
President
Newtown Creek Coalition

Julie Slavet
Executive Director
Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership, Inc.

Pat Leary
President
Penns Valley Conservation Association

Jennifer Orr-Greene
Eastern Policy Director
Trout Unlimited

Rev. Sandra L. Strauss
Director of Advocacy & Ecumenical Outreach
Pennsylvania Council of Churches

George Hludzik
President
Western Pocono Trout Unlimited

Louise Troutman
Executive Director
Pocono Heritage Land Trust

Leigh Altadonna
President
Wyncote Audubon Society

Bill Reichert
President
Schuylkill Headwaters Association

 

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Water & Green Infrastructure: A Good Fit for ARP

May 20, 2021

Re. Conservation Needs and Investments: A Good Fit for the American Rescue Plan

Dear Pennsylvania Senators, Representatives, and Governor Wolf:

I write on behalf of the 70 member organizations of WeConservePA (formerly the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association) and the more than one hundred thousand Pennsylvanians they count as members and supporters.

Pennsylvania’s waterways need help. Although spending parameters may not be fully understood, the American Rescue Plan can clearly play a major role in providing this assistance:

  • Billions of dollars in water investments are needed on a multitude of fronts to restore 19,000 miles of Pennsylvania waterways unsafe for drinking, swimming, and fishing.
  • Municipalities face huge costs regarding MS4; farmers badly need help with designing and implementing conservation practices like forested stream buffers to keep soil and nutrients on the land instead of running into the water.
  • Untreated AMD, desolate abandoned mined lands, and uncapped oil and gas wells harm our water and drag down local economies.
  • Lack of investment in addressing stormwater management and flood prevention leave many Pennsylvanians highly vulnerable to loss of property and life.

Funding these needs out of the American Rescue Plan is a great fit:

  • These are capital investments, not expenditures that have to be repeated (and supported out of the state general fund) after the federal money is gone.
  • Tens of millions of dollars in green infrastructure projects are shovel ready now.
  • Many more can be ready in short order if the money is made available.

The American Rescue Plan presents a tremendous opportunity to begin addressing the Commonwealth’s enormous backlog of green infrastructure needs. In addition to the water-centric needs, American Rescue Plan dollars might also be appropriate for addressing:

  • Our State Parks and Forests, which require nearly $1 billion in restoration and repair work.
  • Local parks and community open spaces that are seeing a surge (often doubling) in public usage and resulting wear-and-tear in this new era of increased interest in outdoor recreation.

American Rescue Plan dollars applied to green infrastructure would support myriad small businesses and good-paying jobs with them. Projects involve surveyors, appraisers, legal services, engineers, planners, drafters, environmental remediators, hydrologists, geologists, agricultural consultants, nurseries, architects, landscape architects, landscapers, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, heavy equipment operators, painters, roofing contractors, fencing installers, paving contractors, material delivery, sign makers, archaeologists, and arborists. Supplies and equipment are needed from nurseries, lumber yards, quarries, building material suppliers, hardware stores, equipment manufacturers, and equipment rental businesses.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Andrew M. Loza
Executive Director

cc: member organizations

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Call Now. Tomorrow’s Too Late for Environment.

Please call your state senator today, preferably now, and urge them to support the pending Killion amendment to SB 575: A02156.

First and foremost, the pending Killion amendment will stop the practice of using Environmental Stewardship Fund monies to pay the debt service on the Growing Greener 2 bonds issued during the Rendell administration. This will free up $26 million annually for new projects that can be funded by ESF.

Demand for Environmental Stewardship Fund investments hugely exceeds funding availability. Senator Killion’s pending amendment takes a small but important step in boosting ESF’s ability to fund projects in communities across the commonwealth.

Check out today’s Growing Greener Coalition letter to Pennsylvania Senators on this subject.

Why act today? Because the vote is expected today.

Why a pending amendment? It’s because the amendment hasn’t been formally introduced but is informally available. You can find its content here. (There’s another Killion amendment—officially published—with different content that’s not of consequence, which potentially could cause confusion for some.)

The Killion amendment also makes a few tweaks to the Environmental Stewardship Fund supported by the Coalition: one, ensuring that increased ESF investments channeled through DCNR go to both state parks and forests and community grants on a 50/50 basis; and two, providing a pathway to leverage untapped federal tax incentives and private philanthropy for farmland preservation while increasing funding levels for county programs (by allocating a small portion of ESF to privately initiated agricultural conservation easements).

Find your senator here.

Coalition Testimony: “The Time for Boosting Investments in Growing Greener Is Now”

On August 16, at the request of the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, Growing Greener Coalition Executive Committee member Andy Loza testified at a hearing on SB 799 about the need for renewed investments in Growing Greener. Below is the full text of his testimony. View/download the PDF here.

To: Chairman Maher, Chairman Carroll, and Members of the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Re: 8/16/2018 Informational Meeting on Senate Bill 799

Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony today regarding Growing Greener. With over half the current members of the State House being elected since passage of the most recent Growing Greener legislation, I appreciate the opportunity to provide a historical look at the program and the need to greatly boost Growing Greener investments to address Pennsylvania’s environmental needs.

Article 1 is the Pennsylvania Constitution’s bill of rights. Section 27 of Article 1 guarantees Pennsylvanians—including future generations—the right to clean air, pure water, and the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic, and esthetic values of the environment. This Constitutional right stands equal and together with the rights of Pennsylvanians to freedom of speech and religion, the right to bear arms, and other core rights.

Recognizing that this environmental right couldn’t be upheld through environmental regulation alone, in 1999 Governor Ridge and a bipartisan group of legislative leaders established Growing Greener. Over the subsequent 19 years, Growing Greener investments have supported many hundreds of projects to ensure clean water and conserve the best of Pennsylvania. Steadily and incrementally, Growing Greener has made Pennsylvania a better place to live, work, and play.

Growing Greener grants have helped locally-based organizations help their communities. Watershed associations, land trusts, conservation districts, and other groups have brought hundreds of miles of stream back to life, made our water safer to drink, reduced the threat of flooding, and made fishing, swimming, and paddling possible where once there was only death. These organizations have used proven, cost-effective methods to get results, including:

  • Passive and active treatment of abandoned-mine drainage.
  • Tree plantings along waterways.
  • Streambank stabilization and habitat structures.

Growing Greener investments have also:

  • Restored 1600 acres of abandoned mine lands and 250 acres of brownfields to productive use.
  • Plugged more than 700 abandoned oil and gas wells.
  • Rebuilt water treatment infrastructure.
  • Conserved 80,000 acres of open space for outdoor recreation and wildlife.
  • Preserved more than 80,000 acres of productive farmland that preserve rural traditions and stabilize rural economies.
  • Improved hundreds of parks, planted tens of thousands of trees, rehabilitated dams, and fixed stormwater infrastructure.
  • Supported more than 130 infrastructure projects in state parks and forests, ensuring that they are sanitary, safe, and accessible for millions of visitors each year.

Growing Greener has built a tremendous record of success. But due to cumulative environmental damage dating back to the 1800s and the needs of today’s population, there is much more to do:

There are still more than 19,000 miles of rivers and streams toxic to life— unsafe for drinking, swimming, fishing, and boating.

  • 200,000 acres of abandoned mine land and thousands of brownfield sites pollute our water and threaten human health and safety. What’s more, these are wasted lands—lands that, if restored, could be contributing to local economies and jobs.
  • Hundreds of thousands of unplugged wells (8,000 documented by DEP so far) present local hazards and vent immense quantities of methane into the air.
  • The funding gap to fix aging water-treatment facilities is $18 billion.
  • Farmland is disappearing rapidly—since 1982, nearly a million acres have been permanently lost.
  • State parks and forests require nearly $1 billion in necessary repairs and improvements.
  • The list goes on.

We have almost two decades of evidence showing that Growing Greener investments provide effective solutions to these challenges. The cost effectiveness of Growing Greener projects is particularly evident when we compare them to other taxpayer-funded projects. For example:

  • For the cost of building one mile of highway, you can restore vegetation along 2500 miles of streams or build 77 miles of multi-use trails.1
  • For the cost to build one pro sports stadium, you can permanently preserve 600 family farms or build 6,400 new playgrounds or thoroughly rehabilitate a third of our state park and forest infrastructure.

Setting cost-effectiveness, community needs, and environmental rights aside, Growing Greener on economic considerations alone, is a good deal for Pennsylvania. For example:

  • Every dollar invested in conservation returns $7 in flood prevention and water treatment savings.
  • Every dollar spent on watershed restoration leverages $1.25 in local investments.
  • By stabilizing local farm economies, preserved farms preserve jobs and business tax receipts. These farms pay more in taxes than they receive in services.
  • The outdoor recreation industry, which depends on a natural resource base supported by Growing Greener investments, sustains 251,000 direct jobs (tens of thousands more than the entire energy sector3).

But Growing Greener is underfunded relative to its much higher, past funding levels and it’s underfunded relative to the tremendous backlog of environmental needs waiting to be addressed. Quite simply there’s a huge number of projects to complete and nowhere near enough money to complete them. Without a substantial injection of new funding:

  • 19,000 miles of unsafe stream will remain burdens on their communities— useless for drinking, fishing, swimming, and boating—useless to the economy and useless for life.
  • Productive farms and the local economies they support will disappear.
  • Abandoned mine land and brownfields will continue to burden their communities—wasting away when they should be sparking jobs and redevelopment.
  • Communities will lose open spaces crucial to their identities and recreational needs.
  • State parks and forests will become increasingly unpleasant, unsafe, and inaccessible—or closed altogether.

Polling shows that 91% of Pennsylvanians support increasing state funding to protect water, conserve open space, and create opportunities for outdoor recreation. This overwhelming support cuts across party lines:

  • 75% of Republicans
  • 82% of Democrats
  • 87% of Independents

…are willing to pay $10–20 more in taxes each year (per household) for these purposes.

Given this strong bipartisan support, the pressing challenges our commonwealth is facing, and the constitutional right of all Pennsylvanians to clean air, pure water, and open space, the time for greatly boosting investments in Growing Greener is now.

Respectfully submitted,

Andrew M. Loza
Executive Committee Member, Growing Greener Coalition
Executive Director, Pennsylvania Land Trust Association

John Dawes Op-Ed: Renew Conservation Commitment

Pennsylvania House leaders have an opportunity to honor and advance the constitutional right of Pennsylvanians to clean air, pure water and the conservation of our public resources by scheduling a vote on Senate Bill 799, which, if appropriately funded, would reinvigorate the state’s successful Growing Greener program.

In 1999, the General Assembly passed the first Growing Greener program. This and subsequent initiatives have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in projects to restore polluted waterways, protect water supplies, conserve productive farmland and open space important to communities, improve community and state parks and forests and trails and other advancements.

While these investments have been tremendously effective and successful, new challenges threaten Pennsylvania’s natural resources. SB 799, if coupled with new state funding commitments to Growing Greener, would address these challenges. A renewed Growing Greener would deliver real, tangible, and lasting benefits to all Pennsylvanians.

Growing Greener has and will continue to empower our communities to address critical environmental priorities in three key areas:

  •  Conserving land and water resources.
  • Restoring damaged waterways and land.
  • Creating prosperous and sustainable communities.

More than $300 million in annual Growing Greener project investments have been identified as needed to address Pennsylvania’s needs for environmental restoration and conservation. Although this number may not be attainable now, the General Assembly could make a reasonable down payment by committing $50 million more to Growing Greener annually — less than $4 for every resident of the commonwealth.

In making this down payment, the General Assembly would also leverage federal matching dollars, which Pennsylvania otherwise would miss out on.

The bill passed the Senate by a 47-2 vote at the end of January and now sits in the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee chaired by Rep. John Maher. A companion to SB 799 in the General Assembly’s lower chamber has 109 sponsors representing more than one-half of the body’s 203 members.

Maher enjoys complete discretion over what legislation his committee considers. We hope that he and House Speaker Mike Turzai recognize the tremendous good that Growing Greener has done for Pennsylvania. They can lead the General Assembly in injecting new life into Growing Greener and do their part to uphold our state constitution, which affirms that Pennsylvania’s public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come.

***

This op-ed was published in The Times–Tribune on June 14. View it here.

John Dawes Op-Ed: Renew Conservation Commitment

By R. John Dawes

Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds Executive Director

Pennsylvania House leaders have an opportunity to honor and advance the constitutional right of Pennsylvanians to clean air, pure water and the conservation of our public resources by scheduling a vote on Senate Bill 799, which, if appropriately funded, would reinvigorate the state’s successful Growing Greener program.

In 1999, the General Assembly passed the first Growing Greener program. This and subsequent initiatives have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in projects to restore polluted waterways, protect water supplies, conserve productive farmland and open space important to communities, improve community and state parks and forests and trails and other advancements.

While these investments have been tremendously effective and successful, new challenges threaten Pennsylvania’s natural resources. SB 799, if coupled with new state funding commitments to Growing Greener, would address these challenges. A renewed Growing Greener would deliver real, tangible, and lasting benefits to all Pennsylvanians.

Growing Greener has and will continue to empower our communities to address critical environmental priorities in three key areas:

  •  Conserving land and water resources.
  • Restoring damaged waterways and land.
  • Creating prosperous and sustainable communities.

More than $300 million in annual Growing Greener project investments have been identified as needed to address Pennsylvania’s needs for environmental restoration and conservation. Although this number may not be attainable now, the General Assembly could make a reasonable down payment by committing $50 million more to Growing Greener annually — less than $4 for every resident of the commonwealth.

In making this down payment, the General Assembly would also leverage federal matching dollars, which Pennsylvania otherwise would miss out on.

The bill passed the Senate by a 47-2 vote at the end of January and now sits in the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee chaired by Rep. John Maher. A companion to SB 799 in the General Assembly’s lower chamber has 109 sponsors representing more than one-half of the body’s 203 members.

Maher enjoys complete discretion over what legislation his committee considers. We hope that he and House Speaker Mike Turzai recognize the tremendous good that Growing Greener has done for Pennsylvania. They can lead the General Assembly in injecting new life into Growing Greener and do their part to uphold our state constitution, which affirms that Pennsylvania’s public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come.

***

This op-ed was published in The Times–Tribune on June 14. View it here.

Legislators Call on House Leaders to Move Growing Greener III Legislation

Rep. Alex Charlton (R-Delaware), accompanied by a bipartisan group of fellow legislators, called on House Environmental Resources and Energy Chairman John Maher (R-Allegheny) to schedule a vote on legislation that would reinvigorate Pennsylvania’s Growing Greener program at a Capitol press conference earlier today.

“This legislation, if coupled with new state funding commitments for Growing Greener, would deliver real, tangible, and lasting benefits to all Pennsylvanians,” said Charlton. “It would empower our communities to address critical environmental priorities such as conserving land, protecting water resources, restoring damaged waterways and providing for healthier, prosperous and sustainable communities.”

The framework for Growing Greener III exists in two pieces of legislation, Senate Bill 799, which passed the Senate by a 47-2 vote in January and House Bill 2485.

Larry Williamson of the Growing Greener Coalition who joined the legislators today, said, “The Growing Greener Coalition has been working for close to a decade on a fully-funded Growing Greener III program. I guess patience is a virtue. We believe that a $50 million down payment will provide immediate support to green infrastructure.”

“Growing Greener is one of the greatest success stories to come out of the General Assembly,” stated Senator Tom McGarrigle (R-Delaware and Chester). “It marked an unprecedented, bipartisan commitment to funding vital environmental protections in a fiscally responsible manner.”

“Growing Greener is a critically important program that has a successful track record of preserving Pennsylvania’s natural resources,” said Senator Tom Killion (R-Delaware and Chester). “Growing Greener III will continue to protect our land and waterways. This legislation is the first step in renewing our commitment to the environment and enhancing the quality of life for Pennsylvania’s families.”

“I echo the sentiments of my colleagues, Senators McGarrigle and Killion,” declared Senator Rich Alloway (R-Adams, Cumberland, Franklin and York), sponsor of Senate Bill 799. “It is long overdue to modernize Pennsylvania’s wildly successful Growing Greener program. SB 799 is a great first step to implementing a 21st century Growing Greener program as well as a public- private partnership to address PA’s growing responsibilities to the Chesapeake Bay.”

“The Growing Greener Program has a significant environmental and economic impact across Pennsylvania,” said Senator John Yudichak (D- Carbon and Luzerne) and the Minority Chair of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee. “The program has helped forge public-private partnerships between the Earth Conservancy and Northpoint Development leading to the reclamation of thousands of acres of abandon mine land and the creation of more than three thousand jobs in the South Valley corridor of Luzerne County.”

“Safeguarding our land, our water and natural resources is essential to maintaining a healthy, thriving economy,” noted Rep. Rob Matzie (D-Allegheny and Beaver). “Exciting, large scale manufacturing development is happening in Beaver County and southwest Pennsylvania as we speak. Reclaimed brownfields are a big part of the reason why.”

Noted Rep. Hal English (R-Allegheny), prime sponsor of House Bill 2485, “I look forward to funding Growing Greener III to renew our commitment to help us protect our wonderful and abundant natural resources today and for future generations.”

Senate Passes GGIII Framework Legislation

For Immediate Release:  January 31, 2018
Contacts: Andrew Heath, Growing Greener Coalition, (717) 824-2281

COALITION APPLAUDS SENATE’S PASSAGE OF GROWING GREENER III
FRAMEWORK LEGISLATION 

(HARRISBURG, PA) The Pennsylvania Growing Greener Coalition, the largest coalition of conservation, recreation and preservation organizations in the Commonwealth, today expressed its appreciation to the Pennsylvania Senate for passing the Growing Greener III framework legislation originally introduced by Senator Tom Killion (R-Delaware) by an overwhelming vote of 47 to 2.

“Today is a great day for the Growing Greener program, the communities and non-profits which it supports, and Pennsylvania as a whole,” said Andrew Heath, executive director of the Pennsylvania Growing Greener Coalition. “The Coalition applauds Senator Tom Killion for offering an amendment to Senate Bill 799 that included the Growing Greener III framework language. This represents a positive step in achieving a viable Growing Greener III program, and we are encouraged that the Senate understands how important the Growing Greener III program is in tackling the ever-increasing unmet needs facing communities throughout the state.”

Established in 1999, the state’s Growing Greener program has funded hundreds of local parks and trail projects, conserved more than 80,000 acres of threatened open space, and restored hundreds of miles of streams and waterways. The program has also protected more than 78,000 acres of farmland, restored more than 1,600 acres of abandoned mine land, and helped reduce flooding and water pollution through 400 watershed protection projects and more than 100 drinking and wastewater treatment improvements.

The Growing Greener III framework legislation enhances the state’s current Growing Greener program by adding agencies and additional programs to the already existing authorizations to better address the present-day needs facing the Commonwealth.

The framework legislation also reflects the urgent need to address water quality issues in the Chesapeake Bay by requiring certain state agencies to allocate a percentage of its Growing Greener Environmental Stewardship Funds for projects in Susquehanna River watershed. Once fully-funded, the Growing Greener III program will be the largest investment ever made by the Commonwealth to meet its commitment to improving the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay.

The Coalition has identified more than $300+ million in annual needs to ensure Pennsylvanians continue to have access to clean water, locally grown food, and parks, trails and other recreational opportunities.

“We acknowledge that this is a process, and the Coalition is committed to working with the General Assembly and the Governor to ensure that additional funding needed for the program can be achieved this year,” said Heath.

The legislation now moves to the House.

Growing Greener Bill Introduced

For Immediate Release:  May 24, 2017 

COALITION APPLAUDS INTRODUCTION OF GROWING GREENER BILL
First Step Toward Increased Investment to Protect Water, Land and
Other Natural Resources

(HARRISBURG, PA) The Pennsylvania Growing Greener Coalition today applauded the introduction of legislation that establishes a framework for renewed and increased investment in the state’s Growing Greener program. The legislation was introduced by Sen. Tom Killion (R-Delaware), Sen. Richard Alloway (R-Adams) and Sen. Chuck McIlhinney (R-Bucks).

“We are thankful to Senators Killion, Alloway and McIlhinney for standing up for the Growing Greener program and recognizing the importance of protecting our water and other natural resources,” said Andrew Heath, executive director of the Pennsylvania Growing Greener Coalition. “This legislation is a good first step as we work with the Governor and the General Assembly to identify a bipartisan, sustainable revenue source for increased investment in the Growing Greener program.”

Established in 1999, the Growing Greener program has a long history of success, but there is still much more work to be done. The Coalition, the largest coalition of conservation, recreation and preservation organizations in the state, has identified more than $315 million in annual needs to ensure Pennsylvanians continue to have access to clean water, locally grown food, and parks, trails and other recreational opportunities.

However, funding for the program is at an all-time low, down 75 percent since the mid-2000s.

“It will take greater investments in the right people, places and practices for Pennsylvania to get back on track toward meeting its clean water commitments. Renewed and increased funding of conservation efforts like the Growing Greener III program is a step in the right direction,” said Harry Campbell, Pennsylvania executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. “Pennsylvania has roughly 19,000 miles of impaired waters.  We look forward to working with legislators as they pursue additional revenue streams that will clean up and save our rivers and streams.”

Senate Bill 705 updates the current Growing Greener program, adding the Department of Community and Economic Development, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission to the agencies eligible to receive Growing Greener money.

The bill also authorizes the funding of a Working Forest Conservation Easement initiative to protect the state’s forests and ensure a healthy forest industry and reflects the urgent need to address water quality issues in the Susquehanna River watershed by requiring certain state agencies to allocate a percentage of Growing Greener funds for projects in the Susquehanna River watershed. It also enables the Department of Agriculture to use Growing Greener dollars to support best management practices on farms and help improve local water quality.

“As budget negotiations continue, the Coalition looks forward to working with our elected leaders in Harrisburg to ensure funding to keep our water clean, conserve our land, and provide parks, trails and other recreational opportunities for residents and visitors alike,” said Heath. “We must act now to Keep Pennsylvania Growing Greener.”

The bill has strong bipartisan support with the following 27 cosponsors:

Sens. Richard Alloway (R-Adams), David Argall (R-Schuylkill), Lisa Baker (R-Susquehanna), Camera Bartolotta (R-Washington), John Blake (D-Lackawanna), Lisa Boscola (D-Lehigh), James Brewster (D-Allegheny), Jay Costa (D-Allegheny), Andrew Dinniman (D-Chester), Wayne Fontana (D-Allgeheny), John Gorder (R-Northumberland), Stewart Greenleaf (R-Bucks), Art Haywood (D-Philadelphia), Tom Killion (R-Delaware), Wayne Langerholc (R-Bedford), Chuck McIlhinney (R-Bucks), Thomas McGarrigle (R-Delaware), Robert Mensch (R-Montgomery), John Rafferty (R-Montgomery), Guy Reschenthaler (R-Allegheny), John Sabatina (D-Philadelphia), Judy Schwank (D-Berks), Patrick Stefano (R-Somerset), Randy Vulakovich (R-Allegheny), Kim Ward (R-Westmoreland), Donald White (R-Armstrong), John Yudichak (D-Luzerne).