Sen. Patrick Leahy and state officials are fishing for federal funds to clean up Lake Champlain. But cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget could jeopardize that effort.
Leahy, D-Vt., and members of the Shumlin administration visited the EPA administrator this month to discuss available federal funds for reducing phosphorus runoff into Lake Champlain.
“On the level of bringing home the money, I came home a little sobered,” David Mears, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, said of his recent trip to Washington, D.C. “That is going to require creativity.”
Mears and his team are drafting a new plan designed to reduce phosphorus loading into Lake Champlain, known as the total maximum daily load (TMDL). Phosphorus pollution is linked to toxic algae blooms. The EPA required Vermont to write a new plan after the Conservation Law Foundation successfully challenged the efficacy of the state’s TMDL reduction program in court.
The Department of Environmental Conservation released an updated plan last month and is now looking for federal money to back it up. Gov. Peter Shumlin, who will send a commitment letter to the EPA as soon as this month, wants to use federal funds instead of state money for the cleanup in the near term.
But this year the Obama administration is proposing a 3.8 percent cut to the EPA’s budget, which would affect funding for water quality programs in the state, such as the Lake Champlain Basin Program and stormwater treatment efforts.
Leahy, who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee, will play an active role in securing additional funds over the next several years.
Tom Berry, Leahy’s policy adviser on agriculture, conservation, energy and natural resources issues, told Vermont lawmakers last week that the senator is working to secure federal funds for Vermont despite significant cuts to the EPA’s budget.
Berry said Vermont can take advantage of a $1 billion climate resilience initiative the president announced last month, which is designed to prepare the nation for the impacts of climate change.
“We want to ensure that these are additive dollars to the greatest extent possible, and also to promote Lake Champlain and Vermont as a perfect area to do some of the work. We’ve learned a lot having gone through Irene,” he said.
Climate change must be addressed in the state’s final Lake Champlain TMDL, the EPA said this year in a letter to the state, which could include new floodplain management and culvert upgrades.
Vermont officials already have a climate resilience plan, and Mears said these programs could bring more money into the state that could also cut runoff into the lake.
The state secured about $15 million for five years through the farm bill, which includes money for capital projects designed to reduce runoff from farms and forests. There is an opportunity to direct more money to the state from the farm bill if Vermont is selected to team up with other states on land conservation programs.
Leahy is looking to spur cooperation between federal agencies over the next year, including the EPA; the departments of Agriculture, Transportation and Interior; the Army Corps of Engineers; and the National Park Service.
The federal Clean Water State Revolving Fund, a $1 billion-plus federal program designed to help states comply with regulations under the Clean Water Act, is used for stormwater treatment and sewage plants. The president’s budget cut the program by more than $300 million this year, according to the EPA.
The Lake Champlain Basin Program, a federal, state and local initiative to restore and preserve Lake Champlain’s water quality, will receive $1.4 million split between Vermont and New York. In 2010, the program received $4 million.
Both these programs are tied to other national water quality initiatives. Leahy will work with lawmakers to increase money for all of these programs, Berry told lawmakers.
