PA Recalcitrance Get Bay Diet Reward

PA to get largest share of federal funds to help cut Chesapeake Bay pollution

The federal government is steering $6 million in grants to help states curb agricultural runoff in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The lion’s share is going to Pennsylvania, which has been struggling to meet its share of the Bay cleanup goals.

The funding, announced May 18 by Andrew Wheeler, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is part of the $12 million allotted to Bay restoration in the budget Congress approved for this year.

Of that, $6 million went to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to be distributed through its grant programs that fund pollution control initiatives in the watershed. The remaining $6 million is to be used to fund state efforts to reduce pollution in the “most effective basins.”

As a result, the agency decided to direct the money toward reducing agricultural runoff, which is typically less costly to control than sources from developed land, and is where states need to make the greatest headway to meet clean water goals for the Bay and its tributaries.

In what world is $6 million in grants a lot of money? Remember, in all likelihood 30-50% of that will be spent on "administrative overhead" by the groups receiving the funds.

I have no problem with PA receiving a majority of the money the feds are allocating to restore the Bay, PA is a big part of the problem with nutrients from agriculture, but because it has no Chesapeake Bay shoreline, it has little incentive to clean up, bearing costs but not benefits.