Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced today that 15 projects in the state’s northcentral region were awarded a total of $2,478,520 through DEP’s Growing Greener Plus grant program. These projects work to protect waterways and watersheds, reclaim abandoned mine sites, and work to reclaim and plug abandoned oil and gas wells. This year’s awards exceed $12 million statewide.
“The Growing Greener Plus grant program empowers communities to pursue environmental progress and innovation,” said Interim Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley. “This support fuels vital Pennsylvania initiatives that protect our land and restore local watersheds. As a result, our Commonwealth can look forward to a greener future.”
Growing Greener is the largest single investment of state funds in Pennsylvania's history to address critical environmental concerns. Growing Greener grants can be awarded to watershed groups, local or county government, municipal authorities, county planning commissions, county conservation districts, council of governments, educational institutions, or non-profit organizations. Grantees have up to three years to implement their projects.
The full list of approved Growing Greener Plus projects, funded by the Environmental Stewardship fund, in Northcentral Pennsylvania includes:
Bradford County:
- Bradford County Conservation District— $350,000
- The project will implement three streambed and bank rehabilitation projects to reduce sedimentation. The project will also replace three undersized stream culverts.
- Bradford County Commissioners— $228,000
- The project will complete up to six streambank and crossing projects totaling approximately 1,700 linear feet (LF) of stream. Approximately 1 acre (ac.) of forested riparian buffer will be created or maintained.
Cambria County:
- Cambria County Commissioners— $242,000
- The project will address eroding streambanks utilizing bioengineering methods such as live stakes, riparian plantings, and fish habitat structures. These methods will reduce sediment loading, a pollutant, into local waterways.
Centre County:
- Spring Creek Chapter Trout Unlimited— $211,341
- The project will restore 4,409 LF of streambank reconnecting the stream with the floodplain in the marsh and providing structures to limit streambank erosion.
- Spring Creek Chapter of Trout Unlimited— $108,365
- The project will restore 1,810 ft. of streambanks and reconnect the stream to the floodplain.
Clearfield County:
- Clearfield County Conservation District— $122,842
- The project will accelerate nutrient and sediment reductions in Clearfield County by installing agricultural best management practices (BMPs) on farms, implementing a stream restoration project, and providing incentives to encourage greater cover crop use and adoption.
- Clearfield County Conservation District— $282,500
- The proposed project will implement a regional technical assistance program that supports current programs by creating public/private partnerships; implement private sector technical assistance on farms, and develop shovel-ready projects for future installation.
Clinton County:
- Trout Unlimited, Inc.— $85,000
- The project will implement a streambank stabilization project on Kettle Creek reducing nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment. Trout Unlimited will restore and maintain a minimum of 0.5 ac. of forested riparian buffer, and develop a Manure Management plan, if required, and an Agricultural Erosion and Sediment Control Plan.
- Clinton County Conservation District— $45,000
- The project will create and enhance wetland and waterfowl habitat around an area where waterfowl is known to frequent. The project involves the creation of 12 pothole areas that vary in size from 0.20 to 0.56 ac. for a total of 4.48 ac. These potholes will create micro-habitats for waterfowl.
Columbia County:
- Columbia County Conservation District— $24,000
- The project will promote soil health practices through education on using cover crops and cost-sharing custom roller crimping.
Lycoming County:
- Lycoming County Conservation District— $90,000
- The project will continue the district's cover crop incentive payment program.
Snyder County:
- Snyder County Conservation District— $100,000
- The project will install 10 ac. of forested riparian buffers and agricultural BMP's, including streambank fencing, stabilized stream crossings, and watering facilities.
- Snyder County Conservation District— $12,000
- The project will reduce nonpoint source pollution by installing two poultry manure storages.
- Chesapeake Conservancy, Inc.— $269,972
- The project will implement farm restoration projects in rapid stream delisting catchments within the Northcentral Region. The project includes design, permitting, and construction for one named and other, to be determined, agricultural BMP projects.
Multi-County Projects:
- Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy— $450,000
- Eroding streambanks will be stabilized and floodplain access restored on agriculturally-impaired streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed portion of DEP's northcentral region through the project. The project will address sediment sources by using BMPs such as exclusionary fencing, stabilized stream crossings, and vegetative stabilization/riparian buffers.
Statewide Projects:
- Pocono Northeast Resource Conservation Development Council— $400,000
- The proposed project is a group of service providers that collaborate with watershed and lake management organizations and municipalities to enhance the programmatic and technical skills of these groups to successfully monitor, protect, and restore Pennsylvania's waterways throughout the state.
- Stream Restoration, Inc.— $352,583
- The project will provide watershed groups, nonprofit organizations, conservation districts, and governmental agencies technical assistance related to the monitoring, operation, and maintenance of abandoned mine drainage (AMD) treatment systems.
- Stream Restoration, Inc.— $268,432
- The project will provide watershed groups, nonprofits, conservation districts, and governmental agencies involved with the restoration of AMD impaired watersheds a free, user-friendly, web-based, GIS-enabled data and project management tool to help with monitoring, assessment, evaluation, management, and maintenance of watershed restoration projects with a major emphasis on AMD treatment systems.
For more information on the Growing Greener Plus grant program, application guidance, and to sign up for notifications when grant programs reopen, visit DEP’s webpage, Growing Greener Plus Grants Program.
You can also visit the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s website, or follow DEP on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
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