On March 8, the PA Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan Steering Committee adopted a phased approach to implement the county-level clean water planning process to develop plans to meet Pennsylvania Bay pollution reduction goals.
The remainder of the 7 counties in DEP’s Tier 1 responsible for 50 percent of the state’s Chesapeake Bay water pollution reduction goal would start the planning process in July and complete planning by February.
The planning process for the remaining 36 counties in Tiers 2, 3 and 4 responsible for the other half of the reductions would start in October and be due in late 2020.
The Committee also heard presentations from Adams and Franklin counties on the plans they developed to meet their nutrient pollution reduction targets.
Adams, Franklin, Lancaster and York counties were selected to pilot the county clean water planning process.
Adams County
Representatives of Adams County gave a presentation on their planning process, recommendations for program changes and best management practices needed to be put on the ground to achieve needed reductions.
The County developed a plan that would achieve a reduction of 56 percent of the nitrogen goal and 99 percent of the phosphorus goal. These handouts describe their plan--
-- Handout A1 – Adams County Narrative (PDF)
-- Handout A2 – Adams County Snapshot (PDF)
Franklin County
Representatives of Franklin County said the plan they developed would achieve a reduction of 46 percent of the nitrogen goal and 70 percent of the phosphorus goal. These handouts describe their plan--
The plans presented by Lancaster and York counties at the last meeting were said to achieve these reductions--
-- Lancaster County: Plan would achieve a reduction of 80 percent of the nitrogen goal and 100 percent of phosphorus goal.
-- York County: Plan would achieve a reduction of 80 percent of the nitrogen goal and 100 percent of phosphorus goal.
Local Area Workgroup
The Local Area Goals Workgroup made recommendations on changing the County Planning Process. One of the biggest changes recommended is a phased approach to beginning the local county planning process based on 4 tiers of counties DEP developed earlier. Each tier is responsible for achieving 25 percent of Pennsylvania’s pollution reduction goals.
The tiers include--
-- Tier 1: Lancaster*, York*
-- Tier 2: Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin*, Lackawanna, Lebanon
-- Tier 3: Adams*, Bedford, Centre, Columbia, Huntingdon, Lycoming, Mifflin, Northumberland, Perry, Snyder
-- Tier 4: Berks, Blair, Bradford, Cambria, Cameron, Carbon, Chester, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk, Fulton, Indiana, Jefferson, Juniata, Luzerne, McKean, Montour, Potter, Schuylkill, Somerset, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Union, Wayne, Wyoming.
*Already part of the pilot program.
The proposed schedule for the phased approach would have Tier 2, begin their planning efforts in July and end in February. Tiers 3 and 4 would begin in October and end in late 2020.
Here are the handouts available from the Local Area Goals Workgroup--
-- Handout LAG3 -- Local Area Goals Workgroup Planning and Progress Template: Watershed Wide Approach(PDF)
The next meeting of the Steering Committee is on March 22.
For more information and copies of available handouts, visit the PA Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan Steering Committee webpage.
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