New grant program available in tri-couty

Potomac Highlands Grant Program would fund eco-restoration projects

March 3, 2011 - By John McVey, Journal staff writer

MARTINSBURG - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday a new grant program to help restore and protect waterways, woodlands and clean water in Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan counties, according to a news release from American Rivers, which will administer the program.

The $1.8 million Potomac Highlands Implementation Grant Program will fund projects through a competitive process, Amy Kober, senior director of communications for American Rivers, said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

"We'll look for the projects with the greatest benefit and that are ready to go," she said. "We're excited to talk with all groups, anyone interested in working with the program."

In addition to the tri-county, West Virginia's Hampshire, Hardy, Mineral, Grant, Randolph, Pocahontas and Tucker counties are included in the Potomac Highlands area as well as counties in south-central Pennsylvania, western Maryland and northwest Virginia.

There will be no set-asides dedicated specifically for projects in the various states, counties or regions, Kober said. Projects will compete for funding against other projects regardless of location.

Stephanie Lindloff, senior director of American Rivers' river restoration program, said that the organization is in the process of finalizing with the EPA who exactly the recipients of the grants can be.

"We expect recipients to include local governments - municipalities, counties - state governments, nonprofit organizations, academic institutions, for-profit groups and individuals," she said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

"The grants will fund a whole range of projects and these will be significant awards, large grants," Lindloff added.

Grants are expected to range between $150,000 and $300,000, the news release indicates, and will be available for the implementation phase of projects, not for the planning and design phase of projects.

Also, the release says that "a 1 to 1 federal-to-nonfederal match will be strongly preferred."

A single-round grant award is planned, according to the release. Application details are expected to be released in the spring, and proposals probably will be due in August, the release states.

According to the release, Congress directed the EPA in 2002 to establish and implement the Mid-Atlantic Highlands Action Program to improve the natural resources and socio-economic conditions in the region, which includes all of West Virginia, most all of Pennsylvania, western Maryland and western Virginia.

Earlier this year, after a competitive process, EPA selected the nonprofit American Rivers to administer the grant program. American Rivers is based in Washington, but has offices across the United States.

Lindloff explained that the the Mid-Atlantic Highlands Action Program and the Potomac Highlands Implementation Grant Program are different from the Chesapeake Bay Restoration program, although the programs overlap.

"This is a distinct program," she said. "EPA felt that because of the unique diversity of the Potomac Highlands, it deserved its own funding for river protection, land protection, floodplain protection, but the Potomac Highlands is linked to the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac Highlands program will have benefits for the Chesapeake Bay."

- Staff writer John McVey can be reached at 304-263-3381, ext. 128, or at jmcvey@journal-news.net