Hill-Evans announces funding for local Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts; reappointment to Chesapeake Bay Commission
Rep. Carol Hill-Evans December 17, 2024 | 12:43 PM
YORK, Dec. 17 – Rep. Carol Hill-Evans is pleased to report a state and federal investment to ensure tributaries in York County that feed into the Chesapeake Bay Watershed are kept clean and pollution-free.
The York County Planning Commission was awarded $404,219 in funding directed by the Department of Environmental Protection through 2025 Countywide Action Plan (CAP) Implementation Grants, awarded to county teams across Pennsylvania’s share of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed to reduce pollution and restore local streams, rivers, and lakes.
“Runoff from storms and agricultural waste is the main culprit when it comes to poor water quality in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, and this funding will help York County take the steps to remediate our share,” said Hill=Evans. “It’s our moral obligation to restore the Chesapeake Bay for not just our health, but for the environment and wildlife as well. I’m excited to help keep up the progress we’ve made the last two years through the Chesapeake Bay Commission.”
Speaker of the House Joanna McClinton appointed Hill-Evans to serve on the Chesapeake Bay Commission (CBC) for the 2023-24 Legislative Session in March 2023, and has reappointed her to serve again for the 2024-25 Legislative Session.
The CBC was established in the early 1980s after a study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found the Chesapeake Bay was in serious environmental decline, experiencing a rapid loss of wildlife and aquatic life. It is tasked with coordinating state legislative and policy action among Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia to restore the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. It also serves as a liaison to the U.S. Congress on policy and budgetary matters related to the watershed’s restoration. It’s comprised of 21 members, including five legislators from each partnering state.
Earlier this year, the Shapiro administration announced that for the first time in its history, the Chesapeake Bay has showed steady overall improvement, earning a C+ grade for 2023 from the University of Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay and Watershed Report Card – the highest grade ever awarded to the overall health of the Bay since the report was created in 2002.
The 2025 CAP Implementation Grants include $9.6 million from the state Environmental Stewardship Fund and $14.4 million in EPA funding, including $7.1 million in Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) funds, to support counties’ implementation of their local priority initiatives in their CAPs.
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