ICYMI: Clean Water Procurement Program Signed into Law 1 Month Ago Today

By Harry Huntley

In 2021, Maryland became the first in the nation to commit state funding to directly buy nonpoint nitrogen reduction outcomes with the Clean Water Commerce Act. One month ago today, Pennsylvania followed suit with its own program, signaling that this innovative procurement strategy to improve waterways is rapidly picking up steam.

The Pennsylvania Clean Water Procurement Program (CWPP) was authorized and funded on July 8, 2022 as part of Pennsylvania’s 2022-2023 budget. The CWPP is a $22 million fund—paid for by the American Rescue Plan Act—that empowers the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST) to directly buy the most cost-effective verified sediment or nutrient reductions that count toward meeting the Chesapeake Bay TMDL—just like the state now buys office supplies and other commodities.

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. But for the citizens of Pennsylvania, this is not just about a distant Bay; it’s about the creeks in their backyards, the streams in their neighborhoods, and the rivers in their cities fouled by ugly and sometimes toxic algae. More than a third of Pennsylvania’s rivers and streams are impaired, an issue that regularly reduces citizens’ quality of life while also devastating wildlife populations. Outcomes-based procurement has the potential to dramatically speed up restoration of these waterways while saving the state money and stimulating the green economy.

And Pennsylvania could go even further. Earlier this year, Maryland expanded its conservation finance authorities, including by allowing the direct purchase of all environmental outcomes. In Pennsylvania–where acid mine drainage is the leading cause of stream impairment–going beyond the CWPP to expand the kinds of environmental outcomes the state can purchase could help address these poisonous pollutants and make more rivers safe for all kinds of recreation and commerce.

As momentum for environmental outcome procurement builds, proliferation of opportunities is accelerating, but there’s also work to be done. States outside of the Bay region need quantification tools that are more accepted, inclusive, and expansive. More states should pass authorities to purchase environmental outcomes, and the federal government should incentivize this through a Clean Water Outcomes Matching Program in the Farm Bill. Maybe what Pennsylvania accomplished will soon be the model for the federal government to begin purchasing water quality outcomes.