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Each week, the Sun-Gazette will be talking to candidates for public office on topics impacting voters. This week, a question was posed to candidates for state House and Senate seats. The candidates are Jeff Wheeland, Republican, and Airneezer Page, Democrat, 83rd House; Joe Hamm, Republican, and Amanda Waldman, 84th House; Gene Yaw, Republican, and Jackie Baker, Democrat, 23rd Senate.
Question: Over the years, Pennsylvania has failed to meet pollution reduction benchmarks to help with other states in the costly cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay. What can be done throughout the state to help better reach those goals?
Wheeland: "Approximately one half of Pennsylvania's land mass drains to the Chesapeake Bay from four major river basins. Our Susquehanna River is by far the largest of those, providing roughly 50 percent of the total freshwater flow to the Bay. It has been determined that the health of the Bay is determined by controlling and reducing the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment entering the Bay. Although, according to the EPA, Pennsylvania has failed to meet pollution reduction benchmarks established by them, we have made great strides in Lycoming County. We have done this by upgrading our sewage treatment plants, reducing outflows from business, industry and agriculture.
"Agricultural practices are some of the most cost effective ways reduce nutrient. Soil health practices like no-till and cover crops, grassed and forested stream buffers, compliance with existing erosion and nutrient management regulations will achieve more than 50 percent of Pennsylvania's assigned reduction goal for one third the total cost. The Commonwealth must financially help our farmers implement 'best practices' that we know will bring about needed reductions.
"From a residential perspective I would suggest we all look around our own property. If you have erosion, work towards elimination. If you fertilize your yard keep it in the yard and if some of it ends up in the street, sweep it up. Every pound of nitrogen that is prevented from entering our streams is helpful. Individuals may want to consider getting involved with local watershed who are doing excellent work cleaning up our local tributary creeks and streams that flow to the Susquehanna River.
"The water quality of the Chesapeake Bay cannot be restored without Pennsylvania's support. I have stated many times that we here in Lycoming County should concentrate on our own waterways first. If we clean up our own backyards the results will benefit the Bay but more important we all benefit from pristine county streams and a healthy Susquehanna River."
Page: "First of all, we can stop putting garbage in the Susquehanna River. Mainly, we can raise the consciousness of humans for what we can do to protect the environment. We have a constitutional right to protect air and water. Legislators write the guidelines for maintaining a healthy environment. If we as human beings don't protect the environment, we will have pollution of the river and the Chesapeake Bay. We can make all the rules we want, but if we don't follow them, we won't have clean water. Everyone has a responsibility, including the corporations. If we can get everyone educated toward this goal, we can reach the benchmarks we must meet."
Hamm: "We all have an important role in making sure that our local waterways are clean and free of pollution. As a Hepburn Township Supervisor, I am intimately familiar with the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) program administered by DEP under the Federal Clean Water Act. In Hepburn Township we have focused on streambank stabilization projects, street sweeping and cleaning out our storm basins to reduce our impact on our waterways. The reality is that stormwater is a minimal contributor to the pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. A study was completed and the pollution problems in the Chesapeake Bay sit squarely on areas much further south of Lycoming County. While we have a role in keeping our local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay clean, our local municipalities should not be burdened with projects that cost millions of dollars and ask hard working families to dig further into their pockets to pay for it. It is time for Harrisburg to stop kicking the can down the road and picking the low-hanging fruit – review the study and address the issues causing the pollution in the Chesapeake Bay."
Waldman: "The Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint is underfunded by $324 million annually. Investing in clean water pays dividends in many ways. Fully implementing Pennsylvania's Clean Water Blueprint would result in flooding reduction and more productive farms.
"The Department of Environmental Protection launched two programs in July that provide $3.7 million to help farmers carry out best practices that will improve the bay's health. In addition, the EPA also redirected $3.84 million in funding from previous years to the Conservation Excellence Grant Program. While these funds are helpful, given the annual budget underfunding, this still leaves our farmers, and the plan, severely underfunded.
"The legislature should focus on passing legislation to create programs, such as dedicated cost sharing, that would provide financial and technical assistance to farms across our Commonwealth to help implement efforts such as conservation tillage, advanced nutrient management, cover crops, animal waste storage systems, forested buffers, and cropland conversion to pasture, hay, or other vegetation. Investment in these programs would benefit local economies and create jobs, while local control of these programs would ensure funds are used where they will have the most impact.
"In addition to the agricultural sector conservation efforts, the state must also fulfill the MS4 (Municipal Separate Stormwater Sewer) program, and ensure continued township and municipal compliance of the program's requirements. Not only do our municipalities need funding assistance, enforcement efforts do as well. The Pennsylvania legislature is great at passing short-sighted, or band aid, legislation, but not so great at taking into account long-term enforcement or potential problems created by the laws it passes. The legislature must also prevent the usage of funds dedicated to farm conservation and environmental restoration projects to fill budget gaps in the general fund left by the pandemic. The state Constitution guarantees us the right to clean water, air and land, and it is the responsibility of the Commonwealth's legislators to ensure these rights are protected."
Yaw: "When considering what we must address, however, it is important to recognize some Pennsylvania-specific facts concerning the Bay. The Susquehanna watershed supplies approximately 50 percent of the freshwater going into the Bay. This watershed includes almost one-half of Pennsylvania and includes 43 of our 67 counties. Unfortunately, this expanse contributes 43 percent of the Bay's nitrogen load, which is approximately what Maryland and Virginia contribute together. Lancaster County alone has twice as many dairy cows as the entire state of Maryland and 25 percent more than the state of Virginia. Lancaster County has more layer chickens, beef cattle and meat producing hogs than the combined watershed of all Bay states outside of Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, about 80 percent of our nutrient reduction, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), must come from farms. Those are the challenges faced.
"Over the past several years, the Pennsylvania legislature has devoted more attention to the Chesapeake Bay and water quality issues than ever before. In 2019, the Hellbender was designated the state amphibian to show Pennsylvania's commitment to clean water throughout the state. Also, in 2019, the Conservation Excellence Grant program was established to support best management practices on farmland. The Keystone Tree Fund driver's license contribution fund was established in 2019 to provide funds for riparian buffers on farmland. These measures are already in practice.
"Several additional measures are pending before the legislature currently. One is a bill introduced at the request of the Department of Agriculture, which would rewrite Pennsylvania's fertilizer law that has not been addressed in almost 60 years. A bill has been introduced that would create a cost-sharing program to fund agricultural conservation practices similar to the successful Dirt and Gravel Road Program. There is a bill pending addressing the problem of stream maintenance and obstruction removal. A bill has also been introduced which would create a competitive bidding program to encourage participation of private business in a process for nutrient reductions.
Without question, funding is an issue for the programs which have been proposed. Some estimate that as much as $324 million of additional funds is needed annually to meet the EPA requirements. Others suggest that we can meet more than half of the obligations with $100 million directed to farmland alone. Many of the legislative overtures were in the process to be considered this year. Unfortunately, these important matters took a back seat to issues generated by the COVID 19 pandemic. It is expected that Pennsylvania's efforts will resume anew in the new 2021-2022 legislative session."
Baker: "I am a proud member of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation because I believe it is vitally important to conserve and protect this valuable natural resource and all of its wildlife. I have always lived along the Susquehanna River and I know that here in Northeast and Central Pennsylvania, everything we do, affects the watershed that flows directly into the Chesapeake Bay. The Susquehanna River and its watershed runs through Senate District 23. According to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Pennsylvania is not on target to reach its 2025 goals to reduce pollution as outlined in Pennsylvania's Blueprint for Clean Water. 'Despite success in reducing pollution from wastewater treatment plants, it is not enough to make up for the massive need to reduce pollution from agriculture, which accounts for roughly 93 percent of the total remaining nitrogen reductions the Commonwealth must make to meet the Blueprint goals. The Commonwealth is significantly behind in helping farmers implement the practices necessary to reduce pollution. If there is any chance of success, this must change,' says the CBF.
"So, if we want things to change, we need to elect leaders who care about this issue and are willing to help our farmers meet the clean water goals. My opponent sits as chair of the state Environmental Resources & Energy Committee despite his environmental rating of zero by the Conservation Voters of PA. He is also the chairman of the Tri-State Chesapeake Bay Commission, in which he said he doesn't know how he became chair of this committee, that he must have drawn the short stick. He has said that funding to clean up the Chesapeake Bay isn't going to happen. If my opponent isn't interested in doing the job, continues to fail our farmers and fails to clean, conserve, and protect our natural resources and habitats, including the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay, then it's time to change the leadership in our area. I am willing to do the work needed to create a cleaner, healthier, and safer commonwealth. I believe in conserving and protecting our valuable natural assets that boost our economy and improve our quality of life. Our children, families, communities, and future generations deserve and have a right to clean air, clean water, and a healthy environment. It's time for change."