News & Notes May 2004

PACD Supports the Quality of Life Initiative

At the March PACD meeting, the PACD Executive Council voted to support Governor Rendell's Quality of Life Initiative (Growing Greener II) which aims to enhance the quality of life and improve the environment in Pennsylvania. This $800 million initiative will be funded through added fees onto municipal solid waste, residual waste, air emissions and the issuing of bonds.

PACD urges it's members to speak with their legislators and ask them to support this initiative. This will be an important source of future funding for programs such as acid mine drainage and the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. The Growing Greener II initiative will help sustain the Environmental Stewardship Fund with $21 million per year for watershed groups and county conservation districts (for projects and watershed specialist positions).

Specifically, the $800 million is proposed to be spent as follows:

ADVANCED ENERGY TECHNOLOGY

• Secure $80 million over four years for Pennsylvania Energy Harvest to encourage clean and renewable energy projects that will help the state grow its own energy to shore up the economy, bolster national security and improve air and water quality.
• Provide $2 million per year to redouble the state's Green Energy purchases to 20 percent, and encourage the development of advanced energy sources such as biomass, wind, solar, small-scale hydroelectric, landfill methane, coal-bed methane and waste-coal.
• Finance a $2.6 million per year Green Sales Tax Holiday to promote the purchase of energy efficient products.

COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION

• Provide $40 million over four years to clean up brownfields and pave the way for the next generation of redevelopment projects that will contribute to the sustained economic growth of this Commonwealth.
• Bring back the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund from the brink of bankruptcy by securing dedicated funds to continue the cleanup of hazardous sites and promote brownfield redevelopment projects that contribute to the state's sustained economic growth.

ACID MINE DRAINAGE

• Provide $100 million over four years to clean up some 5,000 mine sites with an array of associated environmental and public health hazards, including underground mine fires, water-filled surface mining pits, dangerous highwalls and open mine entries that tempt the curious to test their luck in unpredictable and unstable abandoned underground mines.

RIVERS & STREAMS

• Provide $80 million over four years to improve the health of Pennsylvania's 83,161 miles of rivers and streams by offering assistance to upgrade sewer system infrastructure, expand the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program to reduce runoff, cap some of the 7,900 listed abandoned and orphan oil and wells; and prevent nonpoint source pollution.

RECYCLING

• Provide $25 million per year to the Recycling Fund to support a growing industry and assist municipalities that recently started new recycling programs mandated by Act 101.

GROWING GREENER

• Enhance the Environmental Stewardship Fund with $21 million per year and invest in watershed groups and county conservation districts that have achieved such astounding success in cleaning up the environment and revitalizing their communities.

For more information on Growing Greener II, visit the DEP website at, http://www.dep.state.pa.us/.