CBF: Pennsylvania's Budget Proposal Does Little To Address Chronic Underfunding For Cleaning Up Water Pollution

On February 4, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation-PA issued the following statement from Pennsylvania Executive Director Shannon Gority, in response to Gov. Tom Wolf’s $37.8 billion General Fund budget proposal for fiscal year 2021-22. Ms. Gority said:

“In his budget address, Governor Wolf asked us to ‘Imagine, no more chronic underfunding’ when referring to investments in education. At CBF, we have been imagining what it would be like to have no more chronic underfunding of Pennsylvania’s commitment to clean water.

“This while the public health, social, and economic costs of living with over 25,000 miles of polluted rivers and streams continue to grow.

“Unfortunately, this proposal does little to help the Commonwealth change course from being significantly behind in meeting its clean water goals. It remains unclear how the state will close the over $320 million annual shortfall in investments needed to achieve its Clean Water Blueprint by 2025.

“In the coming months as the Governor and legislature work toward a final budget, we urge them not to raid 13 dedicated environmental and conservation funds, that support critical clean water efforts like  Growing Greener and others, in order to fill gaps in the General Fund to pay the state’s bills.

“Clean water is critical to the health, wellbeing, and quality of life of all Pennsylvanians and a lot of work lies ahead. It is time our elected leaders act on that.

“CBF looks forward to working with the Governor and legislators toward a legacy of clean water for future generations.”

For more on Chesapeake Bay-related issues in Pennsylvania, visit the Chesapeake Bay Foundation-PA webpage.  Click Here to sign up for Pennsylvania updates (bottom of left column).  Click Here to support their work.

Also visit the Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership to learn how you can help clean water grow on trees.

CBF has over 275,000 members in Bay Watershed.

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.

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-- York Daily Record/USA Today Special Report: PA’s Polluted Susquehanna River Is Poisoning The Chesapeake Bay - What Can Be Done

-- State, Local Partners Made Record Progress In 2nd Year Of Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan 

[Posted: February 4, 2021]  PA Environment Digest