Significant investments through the Clean Water Procurement Program improve water quality in Pennsylvania and help Pennsylvania to meet its obligations under the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load.
Harrisburg, PA – Pennsylvania’s Fiscal Year 2022-2023 budget, Act 54 of 2022, allocated $22 million of non-lapsing funds to the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST) for the establishment of the PENNVEST Clean Water Procurement Program (CWPP) and the purchase of verified nutrient and sediment reductions by PENNVEST through a competitive bidding process. PENNVEST issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) on March 15, 2024, and on June 11, 2024 and June 28, 2024 PENNVEST issued Notices to Proceed for the two Nutrient and Sediment Reduction Purchase Agreements being awarded funder the RFP for the purchase of up to 38,472.25 pounds of verified nitrogen reductions, and the associated 6,040.81 pounds of verified phosphorus and 261,703.25 pounds of sediment reductions annually for 20 years, for a maximum purchase price of $7.1 million.
“The Clean Water Procurement Program was designed as a results-based framework to incentivize best management practices with the intent to reduce nutrients flowing into local waters and the Chesapeake Bay,” said PENNVEST Executive Director, Robert Boos. “These investments in best management practices provide a supplemental method for PENNVEST to support clean water projects in the Commonwealth in addition to the customary financing programs we offer.”
A list of the successful bidders follows:
HGS, LLC - received a maximum contract award of $5,869,832.24 for the purchase of up to 29,438.95 pounds of verified nitrogen reductions along with the associated 4,609 pounds of verified phosphorus and 106,362 pounds of sediment reductions annually. This project, taking place at a 240-acre beef farm in Lancaster County, will achieve pollutant reductions through large-scale wetland and riparian grass buffers restoration on Conowingo Creek. The Conowingo Creek Watershed has a local Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP). Approximately 7.6 acres of wetland will be restored by using a wetland creation best management practice by reconnecting the stream to the floodplain for wetland generation. This restoration effort will include 19.3 acres of grassed riparian buffer, of which 5.7 acres drains into the mainstem Conowingo Creek on the farm parcel. The Best Management Practices (BMPs) used in this project have an estimated 20-year lifespan.
Lancaster Farmland Trust – received a maximum contract award of $1,248,763.39 for the purchase of up to 9,033.30 pounds of verified nitrogen reductions along with the associated 1,431.81 pounds of verified phosphorus and 155,341.25 pounds of sediment reductions annually. The twofold plan includes the installation of BMPs on two (2) farms within Lancaster County. The first farm, located in the Conestoga River watershed, is a small dairy and sheep operation intending to incorporate stormwater practices that will create and annual reduction of 5,778.40 pounds of nitrogen, 923.58 pounds of phosphorus and 106,801 pounds of sediment to an unnamed tributary of Black Creek. Similarly, the second project will also utilize stormwater management practices on a small dairy farm, located in the Conowingo Creek watershed. The Conowingo Creek Watershed has a local Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP). Once construction is complete, the project is expected to create annual reductions of 3,254.90 pounds of nitrogen, 508.23 pounds of phosphorus, and 48,540.25 pounds of sediment. The BMPs used in both projects have an estimated 20-year lifespan.