The PA Association of County Conservation Districts Tuesday thanked Gov. Corbett for his investment of $3.3 million from the General Fund to support county conservation districts.
“On behalf of the state’s conservation districts, we sincerely thank Governor Corbett and his administration for recognizing the contribution we make in supporting local agriculture, the economy and infrastructure improvement projects for our residents,” said Brandi Hunter-Davenport, PACD Director of Education. “We knew this was going to be a tough budget year and appreciate the administration’s stance, seeing the expertise and value we bring to enhancing quality of life measures throughout the commonwealth.”
Conservation districts implement several programs on behalf of the state. One of the most notable is the Erosion and Sediment Control (Chapter 102 or NPDES [National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System] Permit) Program.
“In 2012, conservation districts conducted more than 11,000 Chapter 102 plan reviews, including the initial review and follow up, their workload accounting for more than 57,000 technical assistance events on behalf of the state Department of Environmental Protection,” noted Hunter-Davenport.
“In addition to this outreach, districts also conduct permitting for PENNDOT projects at no charge to their department. These two aspects combined resulted in a loss of an estimated $3.3 million to the districts’ bottom lines. Now, with the line items included in the state budget at $3.3 million, we will be able to continue tackling these permit workloads, resulting in more efficiency for current infrastructure projects as well as those to be undertaken with the influx of work coming as a result of the comprehensive transportation bill and PENNDOT’s Public-Private Transportation Partnership (P3) legislation,” added Hunter-Davenport.
Every day, conservation districts are on the front lines of conservation efforts throughout the commonwealth. They implement projects and environmental programs to preserve their individual pockets of Pennsylvania. Collectively, these locally-led efforts support the wise use of the state’s natural resources.
For more information, visit the PACD website.