The Coalition for Affordable Bay Solutions (CABS) is a non-profit advocacy group formed to support the creation of a competitively-bid procurement program for nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) reductions in Pennsylvania. Such a program would stimulate private sector investment and development of lower-cost alternative solutions.
A bipartisan 2013 Pennsylvania Senate Budget and Finance Committee report showed that a competitive procurement program will save taxpayers 80 percent of Chesapeake Bay compliance costs – $1.5 billion annually by 2025. The study was updated in 2018, showing savings of more than 90 percent.
Current Issues:
CABS testimony (presented by Jeremy Rowland on Jan 6, 2021) to the Lower Susquehanna Regional Advisory Committee Meeting re the PA State Water Plan
CABS Support for House Resolution 874 (providing for a 2-yr delay to comply with federal MS4 requirements)
CABS Comments on the PA DEP’s Draft Phase 3 Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP)
CABS Urges Legislature to Pass Senate Bill 575, House Bill 1642
PA Senate Bill 575
PA Senate Bill 575 was introduced to implement the findings of the LBFC study. Note that SB 575 is the successor to SB 799, which was introduced in the 2017-18 Session and passed a Senate vote 47-2. HB575 passed in the Senate on June 26, 2019, by a vote of 33-17 and was referred to the House State Government Committee. It was calendared for a vote in the State Government Committee on March 16, 2020. The morning of March 16, all committee meetings were canceled due to the corona virus. On December 31, 2020, SB575 ‘expired’ with the 2019-20 Legislative Session. It remains to be seen if a successor bill will be introduced.
Click the button below to sign the SB575 Petition
Coalition for Affordable Bay Solutions
1080 Camp Hill Road
Fort Washington, Pennsylvania 19034