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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 9, 2006
Contact: Tracy Polovick
Coordinator of Communications and Outreach
(717) 787-8524
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Vance, Nailor to Host Meeting on Chesapeake Bay Strategy

HARRISBURG –Sen. Pat Vance (R-Cumberland/York) and Rep. Jerry Nailor (R-Mechanicsburg) will hold a public meeting regarding the possible financial and developmental impact of pollution reduction efforts in the Chesapeake Bay watershed at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 22, at Mechanicsburg Middle School, 1750 S. Market Street, Mechanicsburg.

"There have been many questions raised about how implementation of the Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy will impact our communities," Vance said. "Some municipalities have said significant sewer rate increases will be needed to meet pollution reduction requirements. Others are concerned the strategy could prevent future economic growth and make development impossible. I'm pleased that Kathleen McGinty, the secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, has agreed to participate in this important meeting to listen to concerns and answer questions."

"Those who may be impacted by the bay strategy have a right to publicly raise questions and concerns about the ramifications of that strategy," Nailor said. "They also deserve to have those points sufficiently addressed by DEP, so I appreciate that Secretary McGinty will be there to offer her insight and the department's perspective. I hope she will be receptive to the input offered by those in attendance, and I hope all of us come away with a more complete understanding of the bay strategy."

Pennsylvania has been working with other states over the last two decades to implement programs to improve the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay. Early last year the governor unveiled Pennsylvania's bay strategy. It was designed by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to implement multi-state agreements intended to achieve significant reductions in the pollutants that have degraded the bay by 2010. These pollutants can come from a variety of sources: agriculture, storm water runoff, wastewater treatment plants, septic systems, forested lands and atmospheric deposition.

There have been complaints that stakeholders – individual homeowners, the agricultural community, local governments and businesses – were not included in the development of the strategy, and DEP has not been adequately responsive to concerns that have been raised. The General Assembly recently approved resolutions sponsored by Vance and Nailor to halt implementation of the strategy for nine months so that public and legislative input can be considered.

Vance's district includes all of Cumberland County and Carroll, Fairview, Franklin, Monaghan, Warrington and Washington townships and Dillsburg, Franklintown and Wellsville boroughs in York County.

Nailor's district includes Lower Allen, Monroe and Upper Allen townships and Lemoyne, Mechanicsburg, New Cumberland, Shiremanstown and part of Wormleysburg boroughs.