EPA Mid-Atlantic Region Highlights Funding to Accelerate Chesapeake Bay Restoration
EPA expands support for Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund Small Watershed Grant and Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction Grant programs
PHILADELPHIA — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced more than $44 million in grant awards through its Chesapeake Bay Program Office to support water quality improvement, habitat restoration, and community stewardship efforts in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. This funding reinforces EPA’s commitment to protecting clean air, land, and water for all Americans and promoting cooperative federalism by building strong partnerships with state and local partners.
The grants were awarded through the Chesapeake Bay Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction (INSR) Grants and Small Watershed Grants (SWG) programs, which are administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). The grant programs are key funding mechanisms of the federal-state Chesapeake Bay Program partnership that aim to advance measurable progress toward partner commitments under the revised Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. These programs help local governments, conservation districts, tribes, nonprofits, and community partners implement conservation practices and nature-based solutions—reducing nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment while enhancing habitat.
“Both of these grant programs are part of the larger story of EPA's investments for the Chesapeake Bay,” said Amy Van Blarcom-Lackey, EPA Region 3 Administrator. “We’re making targeted investments in agricultural conservation practices, wetland and floodplain restoration, riparian buffers, and living shorelines. These investments will deliver cleaner water and healthier habitats, while fostering economic growth across the Chesapeake Bay watershed.”
Some of this year’s grant recipients include:
- Chemung County, NY ($148,719) will implement nature-based stormwater infrastructure in Elmira, New York, by retrofitting existing urban streetscapes with permeable pavers and street trees and constructing underground basins for stormwater storage and infiltration.
- District Department of Energy and Environment ($150,000) will retrofit three large regional stormwater ponds in Washington, DC, to improve the quality of stormwater being discharged to the Anacostia River, advancing the long-term restoration of 255 acres of combined drainage area, enhance pond performance, and reduce stress on downstream urban wildlife populations.
- Ducks Unlimited, Inc. ($1,163,839) will develop and implement novel practices that will restore 200 acres of wetlands and 70 acres of associated buffer habitat in Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia.
- Sustainable Chesapeake ($1,999,064) will increase the capacity of farmer-led organizations to help dairy and row crop farmers access conservation resources across Virginia's Chesapeake Bay watershed, supporting 10 dairy farmers in adopting whole-farm conservation plans, expanding manure injection on 1,000 acres, and providing incentives for 2,500 acres of cover crops.
- Trout Unlimited ($812,132) will reconnect and restore aquatic habitat and improve water quality in eastern brook trout strongholds in the North Branch of the Potomac River watershed in West Virginia and Maryland by installing more than two miles of agricultural exclusion fencing and riparian plantings, restoring 32 acres of riparian forest habitat, and implement agricultural conservation practices on 250 acres of farmland.
- Watershed Alliance of York ($847,682) will advance York County, Pennsylvania's successful Watershed Forestry Program to accelerate riparian forest buffer implementation and local freshwater mussel conservation efforts, implementing 100 acres of riparian forest buffers.
About the Grant Programs
Small Watershed Grants (SWG) support community-led restoration and conservation projects that deliver measurable improvements in water quality, habitat, and local benefits.
Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction (INSR) Grants help partners scale proven and emerging approaches to reduce nutrient and sediment pollution at watershed and regional scales.
Collectively, these awards will:
- Restore 75 miles of riparian forest buffers and implement 45 miles of livestock exclusion fencing;
- Restore 290 acres of wetland and marsh habitat;
- Implement a total of 120,000 acres of agricultural best management practices to improve water quality, soil health, and farm profitability, including 83,000 acres of agricultural nutrient management, 12,000 acres of cover crops, 12,000 acres of manure injection, 5,500 acres of improved tillage management, and 7,500 acres of other conservation practices;
- Treat stormwater runoff from more than 350 acres of developed land;
- Support more than 700 watershed restoration and conservation jobs; and
- Reduce annual nitrogen pollution by 1 million pounds, annual phosphorus pollution by 67,000 pounds, and annual sediment pollution by more than 78 million pounds.
For a complete list of funded projects, please visit the SWG and INSR pages. Additionally, the Chesapeake Bay Program and its partners offer multiple competitive and non-competitive grant opportunities to help fund restoration projects of all sizes across the Chesapeake watershed.
About the Chesapeake Bay Program
Founded after the first signing of the Chesapeake Bay Agreement in 1983, the Chesapeake Bay Program is a multi-state/federal partnership focused on restoring the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. The program is authorized under section 117 of the Federal Clean Water Act and is governed by the Chesapeake Executive Council consisting of the governors of the six states in the Chesapeake Bay watershed; the mayor of the District of Columbia; the Chair of the Chesapeake Bay Commission; and the EPA Administrator. Program priorities are outlined in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement which consists of four goals and 21 outcomes focused on various aspects of restoration.