The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) is celebrating that $50 million in new annual funding for the Clean Streams Fund, which extends the Agriculture Conservation Assistance Program (ACAP), is included in Pennsylvania’s General Fund budget for fiscal year 2024-25.
The $47.6 billion budget was signed by Governor Josh Shapiro on Thursday.
The legislature took the historic step of creating the Clean Streams Fund in 2022, funded initially by a comprehensive package of $220 million in federal investments from the American Rescue Plan. The fund dedicated $154 million to ACAP as investments to be passed through conservation districts to help farmers design and pay the costs of implementing conservation practices.
“We are thrilled that the Governor and legislators have made increased and sustained investments in the new budget for family farms and cleaner rivers and streams. It is a watershed moment like no other for Pennsylvania,” said Julia Krall, Pennsylvania Executive Director for CBF.
“It was a historic day when the General Assembly created the Clean Streams Fund, which invested in ACAP,” Ms. Krall added. “The extension in the new budget is momentous. Our elected leaders have shown their commitment to creating a legacy of clean water, healthy soils, and resilient communities for future generations.”
The new funding in the fiscal year 2024-25 plan extends ACAP. Otherwise, the initial historic federal investments would have been exhausted by the end of 2026.
On Tuesday, Governor Shapiro praised Pennsylvania’s progress in reducing pollution to local waters and the Chesapeake Bay as noted in a recent report. “We are seeing real results and improvement in the Chesapeake Bay,” the Governor said. “We’re not talking about fixing the Bay anymore, we are fixing the Bay, and we are making sure Pennsylvania does its fair share.”
Governor Shapiro also made it clear that the Commonwealth plans to continue its clean water work for the long haul. “You have my commitment that this work will continue,” he added. “Pennsylvania is all in.”
The Clean Streams Fund tackles the top three sources of stream impairment in the Commonwealth: some agricultural activities, acid mine drainage, and urban/suburban stormwater runoff.
ACAP will receive $35.75 million (71.5 percent) of the $50 million the new budget allocates for the Clean Streams Fund. Other allocations of that funding include: $6 million for the Clean Water Procurement Program; $5 million for the Nutrient Management Fund; $2 million for Stormwater grants and reimbursements; $1 million to the Acid Mine Drainage Abatement and Treatment Fund; and $250,000 to the Keystone Tree Restricted Account.
A statewide cost-share program did not exist in Pennsylvania before ACAP. The State Conservation Commission distributes ACAP funds to all 67 counties in the Commonwealth. Importantly, under ACAP, project decisions on local agricultural practices to reduce polluted runoff are made locally.
Farmers appreciate the value and importance of keeping soil and nutrients on the land instead of running off into the water. But they cannot be expected to implement needed measures on their own.
In just over 16 months since the program was launched, more than 500 conservation projects statewide, totaling more than $73 million, are in the early stages of design because of ACAP.
The design of the legislation that created ACAP was a collaborative effort between CBF, the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, and the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences. The Clean Streams Fund and ACAP were introduced by State Senator Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming).
