One year ago, Congress pushed the start button on a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 assistance measure. It also spurred a surge in spending for environmental causes.
The American Rescue Plan Act was primarily designed to provide financial stimulus to households and accelerate the country’s response to the pandemic.
Credit: Timothy B. Wheeler
The aid package also provided $100 million to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It was divided in half: $50m for environmental justice initiatives and $50m for air-quality monitoring.
It also allocated $350 billion to states and local governments with some restrictions on how it could spend. Many of those funds are still at risk as jurisdictions struggle with spending plans and, sometimes, the ability to implement them.
The first wave payment of last summer’s second wave was largely directed at filling budget gaps created by the economic recession and pandemics. Many cities and counties have held meetings online and in person to discuss how best to spend the money in preparation for the second wave. This will begin in May. Officials and community members in some areas are pushing for clean water and conservation projects. They point out that some projects have multiple benefits such as outdoor recreation, green jobs, and the reduction of urban heat island.
All funds must have been committed by the 2024 end and spent by 2026.
Some funding announcements are coming in from the Chesapeake Bay area. Here’s a look at some of these recipients (and their proposals) in green sector.
District of Columbia
The District received $2.3Billion. The District had already spent $83 million by the end last August, when the deadline for federal reporting expired.
- $16 million to DC Department of Energy & Environment for grants to low-resourced buildings to perform energy audits and predevelopment design, and construction work. Senior care centers, schools and hospitals are eligible facilities.
- $17.5 million to DOEEs Solar for All Program to provide solar energy assistance funds for an additional 3,800 low- and moderate-income households, and to install more community solar projects.
Maryland
The act allocated $3.9 billion for state governments. The budget for this year took in $2.1 billion. The remaining $1.7 billion is.
Maryland’s city and county governments will each split a $2.3 million pot.
- $200,000 for Baltimore’s YH2O mentoring program. This is an on-the job training program for young adults. Participants learn water quality monitoring, sampling, and reporting skills that will allow them to transition into jobs in water infrastructure. They must be 18-24 years old, have a GED or high school diploma, and be unemployed. The new funding comes from $50 million that was set aside by the EPA to support environmental justice nationwide.
- $13,000 to Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art, Salisbury to help develop materials for a new series of artwork that highlights Black experiences on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The funding comes from an Institute of Museum and Library Services grant program, which is tied to the rescue plans.
- Baltimore County: $1.5 million (proposed) to plant trees where the existing tree canopy may be thin.
- Proposed Baltimore County contribution of $6.6 million to complete an aquatic habitat and living shoreline project along the Middle Branch, Patapsco River.
- Prince Georges County has received almost $23 million in stormwater and flooding assistance. The $2.3 million was also used to develop a stormwater management strategy. One of the projects will restore 3,100 feet of streams in Eagle Harbor, a historically Black community. This is where flooding has been worsened by a nearby power station in recent years.
Virginia
Virginia received $4.3Billion at the state level while its cities and county received $2.9B. The current state budget absorbs $3.2Billion of the funding. There is $1.1B left to be spent in the near future.
- $50 million to the Department of Health to support equal access to clean drinking water in small and disadvantaged communities.
- $125 million to the Department of Environmental Quality to help pay for sewage treatment plant upgrades aimed at reducing the frequency of overflows. Alexandria and Richmond would each be awarded $50 million, Lynchburg would receive $25 million. Each city must contribute 100% of the matching funds.
- $75 million to DEQ in septic, pipe, and sewer system repairs and upgrades
- $2 million to Norfolk (proposed), to reduce flooding along Surrey Crescent in the low-lying Larchmont/Edgewater neighbourhood.
- $850,000 to Norfolk Botanical Garden (proposed), to establish Natures Wonderland. This would include a new destination exhibition, renovations to Butterfly House, and the creation of a staff-guided Kayak program on Lake Whitehurst.
- $1.5 Million to Richmond to purchase land for new parks on Richmond’s Southside. This is an area that has been historically underserved. The goal of the project is to reduce the number residents who do not have access within a 10 minute walk of their homes to park space.
- $19 million to Richmond for environmental spending, which includes $12.5 million for stormwater system upgrades. $1.5 million is also needed to fund a climate-risk assessment plan.
- Fairfax County to receive $1 million from the Department of Conservation and Recreation in order to connect the trail system to Lake Royal Park.
- $25 million to DCR to help with outdoor recreation area maintenance, construction and other needs.
Pennsylvania
The act made available $7.2 billion to the state government. The state’s current budget used approximately $1 billion of the total. $6.2 billion remains to be spent before the 2026 deadline.
Federal officials allocated $6 billion to local governments in Pennsylvania. Palmyra Borough in Lebanon County was awarded $752,000 to bore a stormwater line below a railroad line and extend the system.
There are also bills in the General Assembly that would allow more funds from the American Rescue Plan Act for clean water projects throughout the state.
This article was originally published by The Bay Journal.
