WeConservePA: Water & Green Infrastructure - A Good Fit For PA American Rescue Plan Funding

WeConservePA sent a letter to all Senate and House members and to Gov. Tom Wolf on May 20 urging them to dedicate federal American Rescue Plan funding to support projects to improve water quality and green infrastructure.

"The American Rescue Plan presents a tremendous opportunity to begin addressing the Commonwealth’s enormous backlog of green infrastructure needs."

"American Rescue Plan dollars applied to green infrastructure would support myriad small businesses and good-paying jobs with them."

The text of the letter follows--

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

Click Here for a copy of the letter.

American Rescue Plan Funding

Pennsylvania state government is due to receive about $7.4 billion in federal American Rescue Plan funding to invest through this year’s state budget.

Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming), Majority Chair of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, has proposed to allocate $250 million from the federal American Rescue Plan Act to establish a Clean Streams Fund for Pennsylvania.  Read more here.

Senators John Gordner (R-Columbia) and Bob Mensch (R-Montgomery) have proposed allocating $500 million from the federal American Rescue Plan to fund Growing Greener watershed, farm conservation, mine reclamation and recreation projects.  Read more here.

For more information on programs, initiatives and upcoming events, visit the WeConservePA website, Click Here to sign up for regular updates from WeConservePA, Like them on Facebook, and Follow them on Twitter.  Click Here to support their work.

More than 100,000 Pennsylvanians contribute to local land trusts.

Related Articles:

-- 90% Of Voters Want MORE Funding For Critical Environmental, Conservation Programs & Local Projects-- Whose Budget Proposal Does That?

-- PA Farm Bureau Calls On Senate, House To Pass And Fund Legislation To Support On-Farm Conservation Efforts To Improve Water Quality

[Posted: May 20, 2021]  PA Environment Digest