July 27, 2020

Manchin, Capito Announce Funding For Water Protection Programs In West Virginia

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $2,158,944 for the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection for a Chesapeake Bay Watershed Program and the Brownfields State Response Program. This funding was made available through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and will be use to protect water quality in West Virginia.

“It is vital that we strive to keep our waterways healthy so every West Virginian and visitor can enjoy the great outdoors our state has to offer. As a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, we must work together with surrounding states to ensure we keep the watershed clean and healthy,” said Senator Manchin. “As Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I will continue to work with the EPA and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection as well as advocate for federal funding to keep our waterways, lakes, and rivers healthy so we can keep West Virginia Wild and Wonderful.”

 “Part of keeping West Virginia wild and wonderful is making sure our water systems are clean and free from pollutants,” said Senator Capito. “Funding like this will help us achieve this goal by protecting and restoring West Virginia head waters that contribute to the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, as well as provide additional oversight to our Brownfields sites where redevelopment or reuse may be complicated by the presence of hazardous substances. We must do all we can to protect our quality of water in West Virginia and make certain that our rivers, lakes, and streams remain clean.”

Individual Awards Listed Below:

·         Chesapeake Bay Watershed Protection Project – $1,691,594

·         Brownfields State Response Program – $467,350

Background:

Created by President Ronald Reagan and ratified by Congress in 1987, the current authorization for the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program expired in FY2005, although Congress has appropriated funds for it each year.

The Chesapeake Bay Watershed includes the states of Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. In June 2014, a new voluntary Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement was signed by the governors of the six states in the watershed and the federal government to work in partnership through the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program. The agreement has 10 goals to improve water quality in local rivers and streams and the Chesapeake Bay by 2025.

Last year, Senator Capito joined Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.) in introducing the Chesapeake Bay Program Reauthorization Act, bipartisan legislation that would reauthorize the Chesapeake Bay Program and its grant funding to West Virginia through FY2024.