N E W S R E L E A S E COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
Dept. of Environmental Protection
Commonwealth News Bureau
Room 308, Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, PA 17120
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
1/17/2008
CONTACT:
Kerry Chippo
Phone: (717) 787-1323
PA’S AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY MEETING CHESAPEAKE BAY CLEAN UP OBLIGATIONS
State Conservation Commission Receives $10 Million in REAP Requests
STATE COLLEGE –
Pennsylvania’s farmers are meeting the mandatory nutrient reduction targets they are required to make under the state’s Chesapeake Bay Compliance Plan, said Environmental Protection Deputy Secretary Cathleen Curran Myers today during the State Conservation Commission’s winter meeting.
“Pennsylvania’s Chesapeake Bay Compliance Plan requires 25 million pounds of nutrient reduction from our farmlands—nearly five times the reduction required of our sewage treatment plants,” said Myers. “Our farmers are rising to that challenge, laying claim to more than half of all the nitrogen reductions made by farmers anywhere in the multi-state watershed thus far.”
According to Myers, agriculture, collectively, is the largest contributor of nutrients to Pennsylvania’s bay tributaries. The more than 40,000 Pennsylvania farms located within the watershed discharge 46 percent of the nitrogen and 58 percent of the phosphorus into these waterways and, consequently, farmers today face more stringent water quality requirements.
The state’s laws are requiring best management practices on larger Pennsylvania farms. Practices mandated for farms considered concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, include a thorough process to obtain a permit and comply with regulations more stringent than the federal requirements. Stronger regulations have expanded the number of CAFOs from 165 to 350. CAFOs are required to obtain permits that reduce nutrients and sediment flowing into local waterways. New manure requirements have added phosphorus to the nitrate regulations included as part of nutrient management plans.
The new regulations also establish vegetative buffers or setbacks along the edge of streams, while farms that import manure must now meet the same requirements as the farm that produces the manure.
With these sweeping changes, more than 5,000 farms will have full nutrient management plans, as well as stream setbacks or buffers, increasing the number of highly regulated farms in Pennsylvania by 600 percent.
Larger farms with animals must now meet standards for constructing and using manure storage structures, and must obtain a state permit when their structures reach a minimum level of storage capacity. Additionally, every farm in the state is required to develop and implement erosion and sedimentation plans that meet established minimum standards for control of soil and nutrient runoff. “Farmers are stepping up and taking advantage of the cost effective options available to meet their Chesapeake Bay obligations,” said Myers.
“In the past few years, Pennsylvania’s farmers made our Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program the largest in the country. Now they are exhibiting their willingness to invest in conservation measures and clean water as evidenced by the $10 million in REAP requests received to date.”Myers pointed to the number of applications received for the new Resource Enhancement and Protection, or REAP, Program. The State Conservation Commission began accepting applications on a first-come, first-served basis Jan. 2. This week, the requests from Pennsylvania’s farmers were expected to have exceeded the $10 million allocated to the program. With an average 50 percent tax credit, this represents an additional $10 million from farmer’s pockets to make these watershed investments.
More than 230 applications have been received by the State Conservation Commission.
Act 55 of 2007 established REAP and gave farmers and businesses the opportunity to earn tax credits in exchange for best management practices on agricultural operations that enhance farm production, protect natural resources and ultimately benefit the bay.
The program is administered by the State Conservation Commission and the tax credits are granted by the Department of Revenue. Eligible applicants may receive between 25 percent and 75 percent of project costs as state tax credits for up to $150,000 per agricultural operation. For more information on Pennsylvania’s Chesapeake Bay efforts, visit
http://www.depweb.state.pa.us, keyword: Chesapeake Bay. To learn more about REAP, visit
http://www.agriculture.state.pa.us, and enter “REAP” in the search field. ###
. I still have no idea if a study exists that outlines nutrient loading in the Little Juniata watershed and its causes (farms, treatment plants etc.) If one exists, I will ask again for someone to advise where it may be found.