DEP, Partners Provide Progress Report On First Phase Of Chesapeake Bay Implementation Plan To EPA; New DEP Guide To Permitting For Watershed Projects

On January 15, the Department of Environmental Protection and its state and local partners provided a report to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on the first phase of the PA Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan progress.

The progress report puts in one place the items DEP and the State Implementation Team reported on in January and July of last year and through its monthly Chesapeake Bay WIP newsletter..

The report was just one of the highlights in DEP’s January WIP newsletter published on January 19.

Other major updates included in the newsletter include--

-- New DEP Guide To Permitting For Watershed Improvement Projects;

-- 26 counties agreed to develop local Countywide Clean Water Action Plans, including: Berks, Blair, Bradford, Cambria, Chester, Clearfield, Clinton, Columbia, Dauphin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming, Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, Perry, Potter, Schuylkill, Snyder, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga and Union counties;

-- Nutrient Credit Trading Program had an active year: 581,000 pounds of nitrogen and 48,000 pounds of phosphorus credits, more than 90 percent generated by wastewater treatment plants;

-- Updates from Adams, Bedford, Centre, Cumberland, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon and York counties;

-- Examples of watershed restoration projects from Lancaster County--

     -- Rapho Township streambank stabilization and riparian buffer project funded by the Lancaster Clean Water Fund

     -- Donegal Chapter of Trout Unlimited streambank restoration and riparian buffer project, also funded by Lancaster Clean Water Fund

     -- Culliton Park Renovation Project, funded by DEP implementation grant.

Click Here to read the entire newsletter.

Next State Team Meeting Jan. 26

The next meeting of the State Chesapeake Bay Implementation Team meeting is January 26 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.  Click Here for information on how to join the meeting, when posted.

PA Chesapeake Bay Plan

For more information on how Pennsylvania plans to meet its Chesapeake Bay cleanup obligations, visit DEP’s PA’s Phase 3 Watershed Implementation Plan webpage.

Click Here for a summary of the steps the Plan recommends.

How Clean Is Your Stream?

DEP’s Interactive Report Viewer allows you to zoom in on your own stream or watershed to find out how clean your stream is or if it has impaired water quality using the latest information in the draft 2020 Water Quality Report.

Related Articles - Water:

-- Bay Journal: Can Chesapeake Bay Region Dredge Its Way Out Of Conowingo Dam Problem? 

-- CNH Industrial-New Holland Ag Partners With Alliance For The Chesapeake Bay On Riparian Buffer Project In Lancaster County

-- Feb. 3 Webinar: Managing Polluted Runoff In Southeastern PA

-- PA Organization For Watershed & Rivers Hosts 3-Part Engagement In Local Government Decision Making For Community Watershed Groups Webinars

-- Middle Susquehanna RiverKeeper Songs Of The Susquehanna River Project Entries Due Jan. 31 

-- Registration Open!  Delaware Estuary Science & Environment Summit; DRBC Climate Change Forum March 1-3

[Posted: January 19, 2021]  PA Environment Digest