The Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Pennsylvania Executive Director, Harry Campbell, issued the following statement Wednesday in response to proposed budget cuts to vital tax credit programs that benefit Pennsylvania farmers and clean water efforts throughout the Commonwealth.
Of particular concern is the proposed two year suspension of Pennsylvania’s Resource Enhancement and Protection Program (REAP) farm conservation tax credit program included in House Bill 2188 (Cutler-R-Lancaster) passed by the House Tuesday.
The REAP Program provides tax credits to farmers and businesses all across the state in exchange for establishing agricultural conservation practices on Pennsylvania farms.
“The REAP tax credits are used to offset a portion of the farmer’s expense of making on-farm improvements that benefit both their bottom line and water quality,” said Campbell. “These improvements include things like reducing the manure that runs into streams and rivers, planting forested streamside buffers, converting traditional plowing methods to no-till cultivation, and many others
“The $10 million public investment in the REAP tax credit program, and the private investments that are required from farmers to receive the credits, have resulted in cleaner water and more profitable farms. The success of the program is evident as each year since it began farmer interest has exceeded the available budget.
“This program is an important component of Pennsylvania’s clean water blueprint to reduce pollution and restore Pennsylvania’s rivers and streams. CBF calls on the General Assembly to maintain existing funding for REAP.”
From 2007 to 2011, the REAP Program has provided tax credits for over 950 farming operations in 61 counties across Pennsylvania preventing 11.4 million pounds of nitrogen, 859,485 pounds of phosphorus and 877,059 tons of sediment from going into Pennsylvania’s streams and rivers.
Since farmers pay between 25 and 50 percent of the cost of installing farm best management practices, every dollar of taxpayer money invested in this program is matched by private investment stretching the effectiveness of the REAP investment.
When Gov. Corbett came to office in 2011, he restored the REAP Program to its full $10 million appropriation and recommended the full $10 million again in his proposed FY 2014-15 budget proposal.
The most recent 2010-11 Annual Report on the REAP Program is available online.