From Penn Future…

Time is running out to register for a free clean water breakfast near you. Join PennFuture and our partners to learn about Pennsylvania’s commitment to clean water here at home and downstream in the Chesapeake Bay. The first of the series is less than a week away.

This is an event you won’t want to miss. Officials from the Department of Environmental Protection will outline the plan to limit the amount of pollution in the region (technically known as a total maximum daily load or TMDL) and Pennsylvania’s approach to meeting pollution reduction goals. Learn more about innovative stormwater solutions. And even better, find out about federal efforts to provide additional resources for local governments.

Clean water starts here — Pennsylvania provides half of the freshwater to the Chesapeake Bay, so clean water starts with the creeks, streams and rivers here at home. Speakers will discuss the impact our clean water commitments will have on local water quality and what local government officials and citizens can expect as we move forward.

This process cannot happen without your input. Join us for a FREE breakfast, and learn how you can be involved.

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From University of Delaware - Water Resources Agency Institute for Public Administration …

Gerald J. Kauffman, Director

Re: Clean Water Funding Legislation, H.R. 1262

We know that the political focus shifts as needs arise, as it should, from one topic to another. When bridges, roads, water delivery systems and waste collection systems fail in metropolitan areas, the focus shifts to infrastructure. When there is an oil spill, the focus shifts to stopping the leak, controlling the impact, cleaning what has leaked and restoring the environment to the conditions prior to the leak; or as close to those conditions as possible. This constant shift in focus means that federal and state funding sources should be assessed for their longevity and likeliness to be available into the future.

At the local level, the prudent approach to financing for small systems is to look at the long term effect of decisions. Even with the American Recovery and Reinvestment act money moving through the different levels of government, we need to keep in mind that this is (right now) a onetime Act of Congress and local leaders should have good reason not expect injections of money for infrastructure at this level in the future. The best case scenario then, is for leaders to employ full cost pricing which includes setting money aside for renewal or replacement of assets in the system enabling the system to be financially stable without any external assistance.

Our experience at the Environmental Finance Center shows that this is not usually the case. So, we must look at what is available in relative perpetuity as a funding source. One of the most stable funding sources is the annual capitalization of the States’ Clean Water State Revolving Fund and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. The federal funding appropriated to the individual States is a determining factor of whether your project for your system will be funded in a given year. There are, of course, other State-by- State criteria.

Currently, H.R. 1262, the “Water Quality Investment Act of 2009″, has passed the House of Representatives and is currently in the Senate Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. One of the important things to remember is that this bill determines the allotment formula for the State Revolving Funds through FY 2014. This is the type of legislation that should be tracked by municipal and district leaders so they can understand how this long-term funding resource will be administered.

I encourage everyone responsible to their community for providing water, wastewater and stormwater services to look at the text of H.R. 1262 and spend the necessary time to understand what its implications are to your upcoming infrastructure projects.

You can find the State-by-State Allocation for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund here>>

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The Temple-Villanova Sustainable Stormwater Initiative (T-VSSI) is excited to announce an informational workshop, “Financing Opportunities for Green Infrastructure”.  T-VSSI is a research initiative that includes Temple University’s Center for Sustainable Communities and Villanova University’s Urban Stormwater Partnership.  This program is made possible through funding from the William Penn Foundation under a new T-VSSI grant. The workshop seeks to provide municipal officials and others in Southeastern Pennsylvania and surrounding areas with detailed information about federal and state green infrastructure (broadly defined to include stormwater, alternative energy, green buildings, energy conservation, etc.) programs.

Financing Opportunities for Green Infrastructure
Monday, March 29 2010: 1-4 pm
Temple University Ambler Campus Learning Center Auditorium

Preliminary Agenda

Welcome/Introductions

• Jeffrey Featherstone, T-VSSI Co-Principal Investigator and Research Professor,  Department of Community and Regional  Planning, Temple University.

Overview of Financing Opportunities Available Through the Commonwealth

• Jim Creedon, Secretary Department of General Services and Chief Implementation Officer for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Green Infrastructure Financing Programs (speakers to be announced)

• PA Department of Environmental Protection: Upcoming Request for Proposals for ARRA funded energy opportunities in Green Building and Geothermal
• PA Department of Community and Economic Development:  Progress and status of the Weatherization Assistance Program, and an overview of the ARRA Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds and Recovery Zone Facility Bonds
• PA Department of General Services: Overview of the ESCO concept, its success in the Capitol complex and how local governments can use this concept

Success Stories (speakers to be announced)

PENNVest 2009 Stormwater project awards and early results

Who Should Attend?

County and municipal officials, planners, engineers and others engaged in funding, planning, designing and managing green infrastructure projects and programs.

Registration

Registration for this free workshop is required.  To register please send an e-mail with your name, title and name of organization to Judy Shatz at judy.shatz@temple.edu

Directions

Directions to the Ambler Campus and Ambler Learning Center (building 2 on the campus map) are available here.

admin Funding, green infrastructure ARRA, BMPs, green infrastructure, PA DEP, stormwater best management practices

Attention: Nonpoint Source Grants! Section 319 of the Clean Water Act-administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-establishes a grant program to assist in nonpoint source pollution mitigation efforts. States, territories, and tribes receive grants which support a variety of water quality activities, including:

• technical assistance
• financial assistance
• education & training
• technology transfer
• demonstration projects
• monitoring

Find out more!

From the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay’s Bay Journal… 6 Bay Governors Unite in Drive to Put Runoff Controls in Highway Bill.  Officials and cleanup activists sent letters asking that road construction using federal money include measures to protect water.  Bay region leaders and cleanup activists from around the watershed are hoping that a new federal highway bill can put the brakes on stormwater runoff into the Chesapeake.  Their goal is to require that any new or reconstructed highways using federal money install state-of-the-art stormwater controls to protect local streams and ultimately the Bay.  Read more.

Chester County Conservation District Receives Federal Economic Stimulus Funding. The Chester County Conservation District will receive a total of $2,172,084 for agriculture and urban stormwater best management practices through the federal economic stimulus funding. The Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST) Board met July 21, 2009 and among others across the State, approved 40 green infrastructure projects for Chester County made possible by funds allocated in the American Resource Recovery Act (ARRA), 2009.  Read more.

Farms in Cumberland, Potter, and Sullivan counties win Clean Water Awards.  The Clean Water Farm Award, initiated in 1986, recognizes farmers within Pennsylvania’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, who manage their daily farm operation while keeping a watchful eye on water quality. The farms’ conservation plans address issues that help control potential pollutants such as eroded soil, pesticides, and fertilizers from entering streams or groundwater supplies.  To find out more read the press releases at the new and improved PACD website.

From Richmond BizSense… Rainwater Rules Cast Cloud Over Development.  Developers are lining up in opposition to new storm water requirements they say will dramatically increase the cost of development in Virginia, and may even scare off the sort of large companies that could bring thousands of new jobs.  The proposed regulations, part of Gov. Tim Kaine’s environmental agenda, would reduce the amount of phosphate runoff permitted by new developments from .45 pounds per acre a year to .28 pounds.  Environmental advocates say that will help improve the water quality in the Chesapeake Bay.  But critics say the rules put too high a burden on builders.   What do you think? Read more and add your comment.

New Report on Urban Stormwater by the National Research Council.  The National Research Council Water Sciences and Technology Board has released the report “Urban Stormwater Management in the United States.”  The report is the product of a two-year study by national experts, commissioned by the EPA in 2006 to evaluate the NPDES stormwater program and make recommendations for improvement.  The report describes the history of stormwater management in the US, gives an overview of federal stormwater regulations, and provides information on relevant scientific and technological issues such as hydrology, geomorphology, biology, monitoring, and modeling.  It also provides significant findings and recommendations on how stormwater management in the US should be improved to achieve better environmental outcomes.  This presentation summarizes the findings and discusses EPA activities to implement its recommendations.  See report.

From the Stormwater Journal’s Editor’s Blog… Density Done Well, posted By Janice Kaspersen.  Amid all the debate about land use and the benefits of high-density versus low-density development, it’s refreshing to see some examples of how to get it right. Kaid Benfield, the director of the National Resource Defense Council’s Smart Growth Program, recently posted a slide show illustrating some excellent examples of Smart Growth. Put together by Rachel Sohmer of the NRDC, the slides illustrate neighborhoods around the country that have successfully incorporated Smart Growth.  View article and slide show.

Upcoming Events

8^th Annual StormCon -  world’s largest stormwater conference, August 16-20 at Anaheim CA.  Go to StormCon.com for program details.  Registration is open.

From the Pennsylvania DEP… PUBLIC COMMENT SOUGHT ON RECOVERY ACT-FUNDED DRINKING WATER, WASTEWATER PROJECTS Public Meeting Set for July 29, 2009. HARRISBURG - The Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority and the Department of Environmental Protection will accept public comment on proposed drinking water and wastewater projects slated to be funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, DEP Secretary John Hanger announced today. “This is an opportunity for the public and water system professionals to review the proposed projects and comment on how the recovery funds are being spent to improve water quality across Pennsylvania,” said Hanger.

Reminders!

July 28, 2009: Managing Wet Weather with Green Infrastructure webcast series

July 31, 2009: CALL FOR STORMWATER BMP PROJECTS hosted by The Stormwater BMP Recognition Program

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At PennFuture’s well-attended Sixth Annual Watershed Workshop held at the Brandywine Conservancy, speaker Steven A. Hann, Principal at Hamburg, Rubin Mullin Maxell & Lupin, discussed the pros and cons of forming Stormwater Authorities in Pennsylvania.  With an ever-expanding and sometimes somewhat daunting array of stormwater management responsibilities required of municipalities designated as MS4s (about 940 of the 2550+ total municipalities in Pennsylvania), municipal stormwater authorities, with some adjustments in the law, can be established to assume many of these responsibilities, from permitting to inspections to operation & maintenance of BMPs, as well as paying for it all.  Mr. Hann suggested that such working to incorporate stormwater authorities in Pennsylvania’s stormwater program could result in “smarter” infrastructure that yielded  better stormwater management at lower costs - an important challenge facing most MS4 municipalities.

REMINDER: The Philadelphia Water Department, Villanova University, Temple University and partners are currently accepting submissions for the 2009 Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMP) Recognition Program.   They are looking for innovative stormwater management projects that are already in the ground and that could serve as model demonstration projects. The selected projects will be highlighted at the Pennsylvania Stormwater Management Symposium, held at Villanova University, in October, 2009.  Deadline for submissions = June 1^st, 2009 .  For more information and to submit your project, go here.

Last week, we featured Berks County’s Stormwater BMP trail, and this week we encourage you to check out Dauphin County’s Stormwater BMP Tour.  You can take a self-guided walking tour of 14 BMPs installed by the conservation district, and can find fact sheets for all the BMP. Details.

Learn how changing your own lawn-care practices can help reduce pollution in “How does your lawn and garden affect the Chesapeake Bay.” Goto the article.

The Pennsylvania Environmental Council is encouraging Hatboro, Upper Moreland, and Horsham townships in Montgomery County to apply for stimulus funds to reduce stormwater with green infrastructure projects.  Hatboro hopes to receive close to $1 million of the ARRA money, which is distributed by the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority. Read more.

The Department of the Interior says that a building permit for the American Revolution Center at Valley Forge should not be issued until Montgomery County first grants a stormwater mitigation permit.  The DOI preformed an independent review of the construction plans and determined that the project, which includes a museum, trailhead building, and conference center, would have negative impacts on the Schuylkill River and Valley Forge Park. More information.

From DEP: Gov. Rendell Says Pa. Will Operate Three Vital Delaware River Gauges to Keep Communities Safe

HARRISBURG (April 29) — Governor Edward G. Rendell announced today that Pennsylvania is taking steps to ensure three important river gauges on the upper Delaware River continue to operate and provide critical information that protects residents by monitoring flood conditions and water quality.  Get the full story.

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