Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced today that five projects in the state’s northeastern region were awarded a total of $1,052,401 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 Northeast Pennsylvania includes:
Lehigh County:
- Wildlands Conservancy, Inc.— $200,000
- The project will stabilize two areas along Laurel Run to restore habitat and prevent damage to park infrastructure. The project will install instream habitat structures, grade and stabilize eroding streambanks, and establish a native riparian buffer along the stream.
Lehigh, Carbon, Bucks, Monroe, Philadelphia & Northampton County:
- Partnership for the Delaware Estuary— $149,802
- The project will develop and expand a newly formed water quality collaborative for the direct Delaware River drainage north of Philadelphia in Philadelphia, Bucks, and Lehigh Counties and beyond. The project will bring together various stakeholder groups to work together towards the common goal of improving water quality.
Monroe County:
- Monroe County Conservation District— $407,599
- The project will permit and construct agricultural best management practices (BMPs) in the Pine Creek subwatershed of Buckwha Creek. The project site is a 119 acreage (ac.) beef operation.
Northampton County:
- Wildlands Conservancy— $175,000
- The project will design, permit, and construct a large-scale dam removal and stream restoration project along a priority site in the Bushkill Creek. It will involve dam removal, instream habitat restoration, and riparian buffer plantings to address impairment issues and provide long-term, sustainable benefits to the water quality and biological health of the Bushkill Creek.
- Bushkill Stream Conservancy— $120,000
- The project will enhance instream and riparian habitat along a 1,500 linear feet (LF) section of Bushkill Creek flowing through Wildlands Conservancy’s Binney and Smith Preserve. The project area is located immediately upstream from a run-of-the-river dam that was removed in 2021 and is accessible from the nearby Palmer Township Bike Path.
As part of the FY2022-23 budget, Act 54 of 2022 allocated funds to DEP for grants and reimbursements (up to 75 percent of allowable costs) to municipalities and counties for eligible activities. The primary focus of the Act 167 Plan grants for is for the preparation or revision of Act 167 Plans by counties.
The full list of approved Act 167 Stormwater Management Planning Grants, funded by the COVID- American Rescue Plan Act, in Northeast Pennsylvania includes:
Lehigh & Northampton County:
- Lehigh Valley Planning Commission— $30,000
- The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission (LVPC), the official planning agency for Lehigh and Northampton Counties, will create a consistent, up-to-date Act 167 Stormwater Management Plan (SWMP). The revised SWMP will regulate the impacts of subdivision and land development activities, ensure best management practices including the expansion of green infrastructure, identify and develop a plan to mitigate adverse impacts on equity communities, among other social, economic, environmental, and resiliency benefits.
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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