Saturday, February 29, 2020

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[Posted: February 29, 2020]  PA Environment Digest
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Friday, February 28, 2020

NSAC Blog: Comprehensive Climate And Agriculture Legislation Introduced In U.S. House


The New Deal had its Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) to address the pressing farm issues of its day in a powerful new way, one that became the predecessor of all subsequent federal farm bills.  
This week, Maine farmer and Representative Chellie Pingree (D-ME) introduced the Agriculture Resilience Act (ARA) to address the most pressing farm issue of our day: climate change.
The bill establishes a set of aggressive but realistic goals for farmers to help mitigate climate change and increase agricultural resilience, starting with the overarching goal of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. agriculture by no later than 2040. 
The legislation’s substantive programmatic sections are divided into six additional titles – agricultural research, soil health, farmland preservation and viability, pasture-based livestock, on-farm renewable energy, and food waste. 
Each of those titles of the bill also have 2040 goals (and 2030 interim goals) attached to them, such as retaining year round cover on at least 75 percent of cropland acres, eliminating farmland and grassland conversion, increasing crop-livestock integration by at least 100 percent, tripling on-farm renewable energy production, and reducing food waste by 75 percent.
The bill directs the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to develop detailed action plans to help attain each of the goals.
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) and many of its member organizations helped to develop the legislation and have endorsed the bill.  
We applaud Representative Pingree for her vision and leadership in setting the table for the critical legislative phase that must follow if agriculture is to survive and thrive and be part of the solution to the climate crisis.
For further information, please see Representative Pingree’s press release, the emerging list of endorsements, NSAC’s press comment, and the section-by-section summary of the bill.  Some of the extensive press coverage of the bill can be viewed here, here, and here.
For further information, please see Representative Pingree’s press release, the emerging list of endorsements, NSAC’s press comment, and the section-by-section summary of the bill.  Some of the extensive press coverage of the bill can be viewed here, here, and here.
For more information on programs, initiatives, upcoming events and more, visit the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition website.
[Posted: February 28, 2020]  PA Environment Digest
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Farmers In Lancaster, York, Franklin, Adams Asked To Document Conservation Practices In New Penn State Survey

By Chuck Gill, Penn State News

 If you’re a farm operator in any of four Pennsylvania counties--  Lancaster, York, Franklin and Adams-- you will have a chance to highlight what steps you have taken to protect and enhance water quality in your local streams and the Chesapeake Bay.
Several agricultural and governmental organizations have partnered to develop a survey that asks producers to document conservation practices they have adopted to promote water quality and soil health in the bay watershed.
"Pennsylvania agriculture has done much to improve water quality in our local rivers and streams and the Chesapeake Bay," said Matt Royer, director of the Agriculture and Environment Center in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. "Yet that positive story often is not told. We are giving farmers a chance to tell that story."
The survey follows a successful effort undertaken in 2016, when farmers across Pennsylvania’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed were invited to complete a similar survey. Nearly 7,000 did, resulting in many conservation practices reported and credited in Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts. 
Yet even with that successful effort, Royer explained, conservation practices on an estimated 80 percent of Pennsylvania farms in the bay watershed remain unreported. 
In addition, farmers who responded to the 2016 survey will have a chance to report new practices implemented since then, report on annual practices such as nutrient management and cover crops, and report on the continued success of previously reported practices.
This year’s survey focuses on the four highest-priority counties for Pennsylvania’s Chesapeake Bay cleanup effort — Lancaster, York, Franklin and Adams.
The survey is being administered by the Penn State Survey Research Center, which will mail the survey to farmers in these four counties, seeking their participation. 
College of Agricultural Sciences researchers will analyze the responses, and cumulative results will be provided to Pennsylvania’s Chesapeake Bay Office to document the practices farmers have adopted to conserve soil and water and protect water quality.
Farmers have the option of filling out the paper version of the survey or completing it online. Participants are asked to submit their responses by Wednesday, April 1.
Ten percent of the participants will be selected randomly for farm visits by Penn State Extension to assess inventory results and help researchers better understand the methods used and challenges encountered when adopting various management practices.
Responses will be completely confidential and never will be associated with a farmer’s name or location, according to Royer, the lead researcher for the survey.
"The results reported to Pennsylvania’s Chesapeake Bay Office will be provided in summary form and will not include any names or locations of survey participants," Royer said.
Rick Roush, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences, noted that many of the conservation practices that farmers have implemented over the years are not accounted for in tracking the progress made toward meeting priority water quality goals, including cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay.
"This is especially true where farmers have adopted these practices on their own initiative and by using their own dollars," Roush said. "This survey will allow farmers in the highest priority counties in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to report conservation practices implemented on their farms so the agricultural community can get the credit it deserves for improving water quality. We also hope it will help us set priorities for research and extension educational programs that can assist producers in identifying and adopting appropriate best management practices."
While this year’s survey targets Lancaster, York, Franklin and Adams counties, future phases of the project will reach out to farmers in other counties of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, Royer noted.
The survey was developed collaboratively by Penn State, the PA Farm Bureau, PennAg Industries Association, PA Farmers Union, PA Association for Sustainable Agriculture, Professional Dairy Managers of Pennsylvania, the Department of Agriculture, the PA State Conservation Commission, the PA Association of Conservation Districts and the Department of Environmental Protection.
[For more information on farm conservation, visit Penn State’s  Agriculture and Environment Center webpage. 
[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.

 (Reprinted from Penn State News.)
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[Posted: February 28, 2020]  PA Environment Digest
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Funding For Renewable Energy, Energy Conservation Projects Available From Sustainable Energy Funds

The four sustainable energy funds created as a result of electric competition have a wide assortment of funding available to support the development of sustainable and renewable energy and clean air technologies on both a regional and statewide basis.
To find out all the details contact the funds directly--
-- West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund: The West Penn Fund invests in deployment of sustainable energy technologies that benefit West Penn Power ratepayers in Pennsylvania.  Investments are focused in three broad categories--
     -- Deployment of sustainable and clean energy technologies
     -- Deployment of energy efficiency and conservation technologies
     -- Facilitating economic development, environmental betterment, and public education as they relate to sustainable energy deployment in the WPP service region
-- Met-Ed and Penelec Sustainable Energy Fund:  This fund provides grants, loans, and equity investments to promote projects in the Met-Ed and Penelec service territories:
     -- Development and use of renewable energy and clean energy technologies
     -- Energy conservation and efficiency
     -- Sustainable energy businesses
     -- Projects that improve the environment in the companies’ service territories, as defined by their relationship to the companies’ transmission and distribution facilities.
 -- Sustainable Energy Fund Of Central Eastern PA: The fund serves central and eastern Pennsylvania and provide funding for--
     -- Renewable energy, energy efficiency projects
     -- Educate the public about sustainable energy and provide training for industry professionals
     -- Invest in clean energy programs like C-PACE, Net Zero Office Buildings
-- Sustainable Development - Reinvestment Fund: Offers funding to support energy conservation, energy efficiency, renewable energy and other advanced clean energy technologies.
For more information on these programs, visit the PUC’s Statewide Sustainable Energy Fund Board webpage.
Other Renewable Energy Funding
There are some other renewable energy funding opportunities now open--
March 14-- CFA Alternative & Clean Energy Grants, Loans [also May 14, July 15]
March 14-- CFA Geothermal & Wind Grants, Loans [also May 14, July 15]
March 14-- CFA Solar Energy Grants, Loans [also May 14, July 15]
(Photo: West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund Try Again Homes.)
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[Posted: February 28, 2020]  PA Environment Digest
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CFA Accepting Applications For Alternative & Clean Energy, Geothermal, Wind And Solar Energy Projects

The Commonwealth Financing Authority is now accepting applications for several of its renewable and clean energy project funding programs.  The deadline for applications is March 14, May 14 and July 15-- 60 days before the CFA board meeting.
Alternative & Clean Energy
The Alternative and Clean Energy Program provides loans and grants for activities that promote the use, development and construction of alternative and clean energy, compressed natural gas infrastructure and liquefied natural gas fueling stations. 
Energy efficiency and conservation projects are also eligible.
Geothermal & Wind
The Renewable Energy Geothermal and Wind Projects Program provides loans and grants to promote the use of these alternative energy sources.
Loans for geothermal systems or wind energy generation or distribution projects may not exceed $5 million or 50 percent of the total project cost, whichever is less.
Grants for wind energy generation or distribution projects may not exceed $1 million or 30 percent of the total project cost, whichever is less.
Solar Energy
The Solar Energy Program provides loans and grants to promote the use of solar energy.  Eligible projects include facilities to generate, distribute or store solar photovoltaic energy.
[It is strongly recommended anyone applying for these programs contact their House and Senate members for an endorsement of their project.] 
For more information on funding assistance, visit the Commonwealth Financing Authority webpage.
Other Renewable Energy Funding
There are some other renewable energy funding opportunities now open--
(Photo: Solar energy installation at Northampton Community College.)

 (Reprinted, for the most part, from the PA Township News.)
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[Posted: February 28, 2020]  PA Environment Digest
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