McELHATTAN — Members of the Department of Environmental Protection discussed what Restore Pennsylvania could do for local municipalities in terms of infrastructure improvements during a media event in Zindel Park on Friday afternoon.

DEP chose the area to highlight the improvements that Lock Haven must make to both Boyd R. Keller and Warren H. Ohl reservoirs in the next five years.

Restore Pennsylvania is a bill introduced to the Senate and House of Representatives by Governor Tom Wolf in February that would allocate $4.5 billion towards infrastructure improvements throughout the Commonwealth, DEP Community Relations Coordinator Megan Lehman said.

“The governor’s plan would be to enact a natural gas severance tax that would be used to back a bond to front load money to do some really big infrastructure projects,” Lehman explained.

Restore Pennsylvania spans various forms of infrastructure including high speed internet access, storm preparedness, downstream manufacturing, business development and energy infrastructure, demolition, revitilization and renewal and transportation capital projects.

The city falls under the storm water preparedness category.

The plan comes after an uptick in rain, 2018 being one of the wettest years on record in the state, according to the governor’s website.

“2018 left us with approximately $63 million in public infrastructure damages alone that were not reimbursable through federal disaster programs,” a press release from DEP said. “This has left communities and individuals in every corner of the Commonwealth with massive cleanup costs and few options for assistance.”

Restore Pennsylvania is proposed to help alleviate the financial burden on municipalities throughout the state through four funding usages: Disaster Assistance Trust Fund, Stream Improvement Program Grants, Grants for flood control system infrastructure and grants to municipalities for storm water management.

Disaster Assistance would be set up by the state Emergency Management Agency that would provide grants to meet disaster related expenses as well as serious needs of individuals or families affected by a major disaster.

The grants would be limited to expenses or needs that aren’t covered by private insurance or don’t qualify for federal assistance.

Stream Improvement funding would be directed to DEP to provide grants to municipalities and county conservation districts for stream restoration and maintenance. Priorities would be placed on municipalities identified as high-risk and flood prone.

Flood control grants, which would be controlled by the state’s Infrastructure Investment Authority, would be provided to state agencies and political subdivisions for acquiring, constructing, improving, installing or expanding security measures, repairing, or rehabilitating all or part of a flood control system.

Storm water management grants would be established by DEP to provide funds to municipal storm sewer communities and implement pollution reduction plans.

Further information regarding the plan can be found on the governor’s website at www.governor.pa.gov.