Governor Ehrlich Makes Good on Promise; Continues to secure additional Federal Funds for Chesapeake Bay Restoration Efforts

ANNAPOLIS -- Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr., today announced another victory in the ongoing efforts to seek federal funds for his top environmental priority, the restoration of Chesapeake Bay. In response to Governor Ehrlich’s efforts, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will make $5 million in Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) available to Chesapeake Bay Watershed states in 2005. The funds are in addition to the annual funding allocation that the states receive through the various USDA conservation programs. Maryland, along with Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia, and New York will be eligible for the funds.

“We've long identified the challenges that we face to restore the Bay to historically pristine conditions; and we know that in order to make real progress, securing, significant funding is needed. I applaud the USDA for making these additional funds available to the Chesapeake Bay watershed,” said Governor Ehrlich. “Maryland looks forward to working with our watershed neighbors and developing proposals for the best use of these funds.”

CIG is offered to a variety of potential applicants, including state and local agencies, nonprofit organizations, for-profit companies, tribes and individuals, to help develop, test, implement and transfer innovative environmental solutions. Projects may be from one to three years in length and must address at least one of the CIG natural resource concerns identified annually by the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Grants will fund projects targeting innovative on-the-ground conservation, including pilot projects and field demonstrations.

Selected applicants may receive grants up to 50 percent of the total project cost. Applicants must provide nonfederal matching funds for at least 50 percent of the project cost, of which up to 50 percent may be from in-kind contributions. An exception allows for beginning and limited resource farmers and ranchers, tribes and community-based organizations representing these groups to obtain up to 75 percent of project matching funds from in-kind contributions. The federal contribution may not exceed $1 million for a single project.

The CIG will add to Governor Ehrlich’s accomplishments in the ongoing effort to push for more federal funding for bay restoration activities. In 2004, in response to requests by Governor Ehrlich, President Bush included $10 million in his FY05 Budget proposal for a Chesapeake Bay Pilot Program under the EPA’s Targeted Watershed program. Congress ultimately funded the proposal at $8 million. Also, in 2004, USDA provided an additional $5 million in conservation funding for Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware over and above the $38 million that those states would have received from the formula allocation.

Governor Ehrlich’s “Road to Bay Restoration” is a three-pronged effort focusing on restoring oysters which help filter the bay, restoring bay grasses which provide oxygen and a fishery habitat for Bay life, and removing excess nutrients in the bay that lead to oxygen depletion. Restoration projects include developing new technologies to plant massive amounts of grasses, planting cover crops that remove nitrogen from agricultural lands and studying the feasibility of introducing a new oyster species into the Bay.

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