Pennsylvania Lags on Bay Restoration. To Catch Up, the Legislature Must Spend Smarter not Harder
The central concept behind Moneyball–the acclaimed philosophy, book, and movie about playing a smarter kind of baseball–can be summed up in four words: buy runs, not players. Luckily for the Chesapeake Bay, this same philosophy can be applied: buy outcomes, not practices. If Pennsylvania has any hope of meeting its Bay cleanup targets without breaking the bank, the state needs to learn from Oakland Athletics Manager Billy Beane and spend its hard-earned tax dollars directly purchasing the most cost-efficient nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment reduction outcomes. This session, state leaders have the opportunity to do just that with the Pennsylvania Clean Water Procurement Program.
SB 832 (and its companion HB 1901) creates a Nonpoint Source Pollution Reduction chapter in the state code that authorizes a Clean Streams Fund to underwrite six different programs intended to address nonpoint source pollutants. This injection of cash from the American Rescue Plan into nonpoint source cleanup is crucial considering Pennsylvania is responsible for 69% of Chesapeake Bay watershed-wide nitrogen reductions required by 2025, and 80% of that must come from agriculture, according to the Department of Environmental Protection. However, the program in the package with the most potential is called the Clean Water Procurement Program. The Clean Water Procurement Program is a $25 million fund that empowers the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST) to directly buy–through either a request for proposals or a competitive bidding process–verified sediment or nutrient reductions that count toward meeting the Chesapeake Bay TMDL.
This is possible only through pay for success contracting, as the legislation states that contracts “...shall require that payment be conditioned on the achievement of specific outcomes”. While most conservation programs have been focused on paying farmers based on their practices, pay for success uses modeling to pay directly for ecosystem services. This targeted approach ensures farmers who provide the greatest environmental benefits get the largest compensation and ensures the state isn’t paying for practices that end up having little benefit.
Reductions are modeled using the Chesapeake Assessment Scenario Tool, an agreed-upon model across the Bay watershed, that can convert practices to pounds of nitrogen, phosphorus, or sediment reduced, and the projects must have a verification plan to ensure they have been installed correctly. Projects will be prioritized for funding based on their cost effectiveness (dollar per pound of nutrient reduced), as well as co-benefits related to ”mitigation of flooding, human exposure to toxic substances and climate change”. Not picking winners and losers ahead of time allows the most cost-efficient practices to be prioritized and saves taxpayers money.
As Pennsylvania legislators work through the state budget process, you can make your voice heard in support of this ground-breaking program. If you live in Pennsylvania, find your state legislators and send them a letter or email asking them to support the Clean Water Procurement Program as part of SB 832/HB 1901: The Clean Streams Fund. If you don’t, consider contacting either the bills’ sponsors to thank them or the Chair of the Appropriations Committee to explain why the Clean Water Procurement Program is a homerun for Pennsylvanians and everyone in the Bay watershed.
For more information, see EPIC’s explainer on the Clean Water Procurement Program or contact Harry Huntley at hhuntley@policyinnovation.org.