News & Notes May 2006

On April 12, Governor Edward G. Rendell said Pennsylvania is investing $1.8 million to advance its nutrient trading program through a unique partnership with the state's agricultural community.

Working with local farmers, county conservation districts will invest in conservation projects to generate environmental improvement credits that can be traded to help them meet water quality goals for the state's rivers and streams, and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay, in a more cost-effective way.

"Our priority is making sure the water in Pennsylvania is safe to drink, healthy enough to sustain aquatic life and abundant in supply to sustain our growing economy," Governor Rendell said. "We are putting state resources to work for our communities, giving them the tools they need to make improvements now and meet the water quality challenges of the future."

To get this project off the ground, the conservation districts in Chester, Dauphin, and Bradford counties will receive $225,000 to assist in certifying credits and implementing best management practices on farm operations to generate credits for the nutrient trading program. The credits can be sold to developers or sewage treatment facilities faced with the challenge of reducing nutrient loads to meet state and federal permitting requirements. When credits are sold, farmers will be reimbursed for the loads they reduced through best management practices (BMP) implementation.

Consistent with that approach, the conservation districts in Cumberland and Lancaster counties will take it one step further, bringing together the sewage treatment plants, developers and other sources in need of nutrient reduction credits with the farming community. Cumberland County will receive $200,000 and Lancaster County will receive $150,000 to support this effort, providing a cost-effective solution to meet nutrient loading goals, as well as protect the land and water resources of both counties.

"These investments balance the needs of the state's agricultural and wastewater treatment communities with efforts to protect the integrity of commonwealth water resources," Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty said.

To maintain these aggressive nutrient reduction efforts, a $425,000 revolving fund will be established, providing a framework to continue to support a market for credits generated through conservation practices. The revolving fund will be used only for the installation of credit-generating BMPs. The credit income derived from the sale of these BMPs will replenish the fund for the cost of additional implementation of conservation practices on farm operations, thus creating and sustaining a healthy bank of credits.

In addition, Franklin and Marshall College will receive a $130,000 grant that will support research efforts to characterize the occurrence, distribution, nutrient characteristics, and environmental impacts of legacy sediments in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Legacy sediment is sediment that has been eroded and stored in valley bottoms during centuries of intensive land clearing, agriculture, and milling.

Building on the Agriculture, Communities and Rural Environments initiative, or ACRE, the Governor awarded an additional $700,000 for enforcement through the conservation districts. All conservation districts that applied for ACRE funding will receive some funding. This effort coincides with DEP's focused effort to ensure compliance with existing prohibitions against un-permitted discharges to Pennsylvania waters under the state's Clean Streams Law.

Funding for all the grants announced comes from the Environmental Stewardship Fund. In executing the contracts for the grants, DEP will specify trading rules for the projects, including ratios, thresholds, and baselines.

For more information on the nutrient and sediment trading pilot projects, contact PACD Government Relations/Policy Specialist Brenda Shambaugh at brenda-shambaugh@pacd.org or (717) 238-7223 x 19.

You are Invited

July 23-27, 2006

You will not want to miss the upcoming combined NACD North East Region Meeting and PACD/SCC Joint Annual Conference. Not only will participants attend informative and exciting sessions, they will also have the unique opportunity to share with other conservation minded individuals from all over the NACD North East Region. Read on for some of the meeting highlights.

SESSIONS OF INTEREST

Sunday, July 23, 2006

• Legacy Sediment and Sight-Seeing Tour Hosted by the Northeast Association of Conservation District Employees (NACDE)
  
• Welcome Program Keynote: Disconnected Streams and the Legacy of Sediment Storage
  Professors Dorothy J. Merritts and Robert C. Walter Franklin and Marshall College, Department of Earth and Environment

Monday, July 24, 2006

• North East Conservation Districts Policy Position for Future Conservation Programs
  
• State Leaders Meeting: Building the North East Legacy
  
• Concurrent Conservation Sessions (These sessions repeat from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm.)
  
  • Better Roads, Cleaner Streams: Environmentally Sensitive Maintenance of Dirt and Gravel Roads
    
  • Nutrient Management Session
    
  • Stormwater Management Session
    
  • Air Quality and Agricultural Odors Session
    
• Tailgate Party Theme Dinner and Reception

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

• Memorial Breakfast
  
• Conservation Tours
  
  • Dirt and Gravel Roads Field Tour
    
  • Nutrient Management Field Tour
    
  • Stormwater Management Field Tour
    
• "State of the States" Reports
  
• Building for Tomorrow: An Overview of Pennsylvania's Leadership and Professional Development Program
  
• Building for Tomorrow: Breakout Workshops
  
  • Director Development
    
  • Staff Development
    
  • Districts Helping Districts

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

• Acid Rock Drainage Tour

REGULAR PACD/SCC JOINT ANNUAL CONFERENCE EVENTS

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

• PACD/SCC Awards Luncheon
  
• Pennsylvania State Conservation Commission Meeting

Thursday, July 27, 2006

• PACD Executive Council Annual Meeting

OTHER EVENTS TO BE HELD THROUGHOUT THE CONFERENCE INCLUDE:

• PACD Committees.
  
• Sponsor Exhibits, PACD Silent Auction and NACD Silent Auction will be held in the Sponsor Exhibit/Silent Auction Hall on Monday and Tuesday.
  
• Hospitality Suite will be offered on Sunday and Tuesday nights.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Registration forms and programs were mailed in early May. Please refer to the program for more details or view the program online at www.pacd.org. Get your registrations in by June 23, 2006 to take advantage of the early registration discount. Registrations cannot be accepted after July 17, 2006.

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