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Joined by members of Maryland’s Congressional Delegation, the Environmental Protection Agency awarded MDE a $121.6 million check to fund Maryland water quality and drinking water projects under President Barack Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). ARRA funding will enable construction of water infrastructure projects that are estimated to create hundreds of jobs, and that will protect public health, improve the environment, and help clean up the Chesapeake Bay and Maryland waterways.
Every county in Maryland is proposed for clean water recovery funding per MDE’s extensive screening process to review nearly 600 applications. A total of $92.8 million is proposed for pollution reduction projects, including wastewater treatment improvements, sewer upgrades, and stormwater runoff controls; $26.4 million is proposed for improvements to drinking water treatment, water storage, and wells.
“I want to thank President Obama and Maryland’s federal delegation for working so hard to secure these Recovery and Reinvestment funds,” said Governor O’Malley. “Today, thanks to the EPA, our Congressional Delegation, and President Obama, the state of Maryland has a ‘shot in the arm’ for clean water and the Chesapeake Bay. This clean water recovery funding will not only create jobs; it will directly benefit public health and quality of life and protect our environment – including our Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts and our work to fight climate change.”
MDE Secretary Shari T. Wilson said: “This much-needed funding will not only provide hundreds of jobs across our State, it will help safeguard our drinking water and accelerate our efforts to restore the Chesapeake Bay.”
The EPA provided funding from the ARRA for grants and/or loans through MDE’s existing Water Quality and Drinking Water Quality Revolving Loan Funds. In February 2009, just days after President Obama signed the federal recovery act into law, the MDE announced its anticipated ARRA funding and encouraged local jurisdictions to apply. In response, the Agency received an unprecedented number of requests for the ARRA funding; in February and March 2009, MDE received $3.7 billion in requests for water/wastewater projects. With available funding of $122 million, demand exceeded availability by 30 to 1.
The proposed funds were allocated based on readiness to proceed, as well as maximum environmental and health benefits, and will benefit every region of the State. Click here for more information including the list and a map of ARRA projects to be funded through the Water Quality and Drinking Water Revolving Loan.
Besides providing funding for clean water projects, the ARRA has aided Maryland in many other ways. In May, The EPA awarded $1.73 million in recovery funds to tackle diesel pollution, funds that Secretary Wilson says “will cut down on harmful air emissions and reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gases.” The ARRA also gave $3.7 million to the Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) Trust, which will allow ten additional sites to be cleaned this year.
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