Van Hollen, Cardin Submit Funding Requests for Community-based Projects

U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin (both D-Md.) have submitted their first requests to provide direct federal investments in our communities (Congressionally Directed Spending) for the Fiscal Year 2023 Appropriations process. The Senators worked hand-in-hand with local community leaders to identify these project requests, which range from helping improve energy efficiency to supporting local economic growth. These initial asks are for the fiscal year that begins October 1, 2022. Included are projects for the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee, Agriculture & Food and Drug Administration Subcommittee, and the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.

Last year, FY2022, the first year in a decade that permitted earmarks, Senator Van Hollen and Cardin initiated over $104 million in specific spending to benefit Maryland.

“Investing federal dollars directly in our communities spurs job growth, boosts infrastructure projects, creates economic opportunity, and so much more. That’s why we’ve worked together with local partners to identify projects that will benefit Marylanders and our communities – from increasing our energy efficiency to providing key services to residents to improving the health of the Bay. We’ll be fighting to get these priorities through Congress and deliver these funds directly to our state,” said Senator Van Hollen, a member of the Appropriations Committee.

“Team Maryland is united in our ongoing effort to bring new federal resources back to Maryland based on local needs and priorities,” said Senator Cardin, a senior member of the Environment and Public Works Committee. “If funded, these projects will have a transformative effect throughout Maryland with new town halls and libraries, energy efficient projects, food security programs and sustaining economic growth. Our goal is to maximize taxpayer dollars in the most meaningful way for our communities.” 

While not all requests may receive funding in the final annual appropriations legislation, potential projects initiated by the Van Hollen and Cardin requests include small, rural municipal government facility improvements, renovations of the Indian Head Naval Surface Warfare Center, energy efficiency improvements, needed waterway improvements for Maryland’s small channels, and environmental restoration projects across the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

Senator Van Hollen’s requests can be found at this link and Senator Cardin’s requests can be found at this link. All are listed below. Website pages will be updated as requests to the Appropriations subcommittees are submitted.

ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT SUBCOMMITTEE

Project Name: Chesapeake Bay Environmental Restoration and Protection Program
Applicant: United States Army Corps of Engineers
The Section 510 program is an important tool for advancing efforts to restore the health of the Chesapeake Bay through implementation of the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement’s 2025 milestone for integrated water resources management. This program authorizes the Corps to design and construct water-related resource protection and restoration projects within the Chesapeake Bay watershed in partnership with non-federal sponsors. An additional $5 million in Congressionally Directed Spending will allow the Corps to continue to fund these critical restoration projects throughout the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.
Project Location: Maryland
Amount Requested: $11,250,000

Project Name: Chesapeake Bay Oyster Recovery
Applicant: United States Army Corps of Engineers
Funds will be used to continue oyster restoration projects in Maryland and Virginia, including constructing and rehabilitating reefs and planting oysters. Federal restoration funding has led to significant improvements in oyster population in the Bay.
Project Location: Talbot County, MD
Amount Requested: $4,000,000

Project Name: Cybersecurity Education Research Training (CERT) Center for Critical Infrastructure (CI) at University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Applicant: University of Maryland, Eastern Shore
Funds will be used to establish the Cybersecurity Education, Research, and Training Center for Critical Infrastructure at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES). This facility will conduct research to protect critical infrastructure for energy and water systems and train students in computer networking and cybersecurity in order to increase the pipeline of certified workers in the state.
Project Location: Princess Anne, MD
Amount Requested: $468,000

Project Name: Goucher College Model Green Campus
Applicant: Goucher College
Funds will support the installations of 3 acres of photovoltaic panels across campus grounds and rooftops, equating to 1 percent of campus, which will allow the college to reduce significantly its reliance on fossil fuels and reduce expenditures on utilities by $2 million annually. This project supports one of the key components of Goucher College’s campus master and sustainability plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least half from 2005 levels by 2030.
Project Location: Baltimore County, MD
Amount Requested: $750,000

Project Name: Hoopers Island Causeway Breakwater and Bulkhead
Applicant: United States Army Corps of Engineers
Funds will be used to design and construct jetties along the Hoopers Island causeway on Chesapeake Bay side to protect the shoreline and prevent roadway and structure damage.
Project Location: Dorchester County, MD
Amount Requested: $500,000

Project Name: Montgomery County Low- to Moderate-Income Housing Electrification
Applicant: Montgomery County Government
Funds will support the Montgomery County Low- to Moderate-Income Housing Electrification pilot program, which will identify nonprofit, multifamily housing units that use existing, fossil fuel-fired systems and replace them with more cost-effective, energy-efficient, and comfortable technologies that will benefit low- to moderate-income tenants and building owners. This will serve as a demonstration to show to other local multifamily housing operators that electrified technologies are market-ready and cost-effective. It also will help ensure that there is a readily qualified workforce to install these new, energy-efficient technologies.
Project Location: Montgomery County, MD
Amount Requested: $1,000,000

Project Name: Potomac River Basin Water Resources Plan
Applicant: Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin
Funds will be used to implement the Commission’s Potomac River Basin Comprehensive Water Resources Plan to help protect, preserve, and restore the water quality of the Potomac River Basin. The Potomac River Basin supplies 78% of the drinking water for the DC Metropolitan Area.
Project Location: Rockville, MD
Amount Requested: $650,000

Project Name: Queenstown Harbor and Queenstown Creek Operations & Maintenance
Applicant: United States Army Corps of Engineers
The federally authorized navigation channel last was dredged more than 35 years ago and serves recreational boaters, community and municipal piers, and maritime transit to protected anchorages in the Queenstown Harbor and Queenstown Creek. Due to severe shoaling since the last dredging, the channel is narrow and dangerous, making it difficult for boaters to maneuver and leading to vessel groundings. Federal funding of $200,000 to support engineering and design will allow the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to establish a definitive cost estimate for dredging this navigation channel.
Project Location: Queen Anne’s County, Maryland
Amount Requested: $200,000

Project Name: Salisbury Airport and Technology Park Natural Gas Pipeline Extension
Applicant: Wicomico County Government
The Salisbury Airport and Technology Park Natural Gas Pipeline Extension project will allow for alternative and lower-cost energy for new businesses looking to build in the Airport Technology Park. An estimated 26 new facilities could benefit when the technology park is fully built-out, replacing potentially 85,000 gallons of propane per year. With new and existing facilities all using natural gas in the future, there is a potential of more than 175 metric tons of carbon dioxide reduction per year.
Project Location: Salisbury, Maryland
Amount Requested: $715,000

AGRICULTURE & FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION SUBCOMMITTEE

Project Name: Charlestown Town Hall Addition and Restoration
Applicant: Town of Charlestown, Maryland
The Charlestown Town Hall is in the town’s original one-room schoolhouse, with half of the building leased to the U.S. Post Office. The Addition and Restoration of the Town Hall will allow the town to more adequately serve local residents, comply with Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, and restore the historic building in a way similar to other buildings in the Charlestown community, in line with the Secretary of the Interior Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. The Maryland and Delaware USDA state director has certified this project as eligible for USDA Community Facilities Grant funding.
Project Location: Charlestown, Maryland
Amount Requested: $30,000

Project Name: Critchlow Adkins Children’s Centers Preschool Site Air Quality Improvement Project
Applicant: Chritchlow Adkins Children's Centers
The Critchlow Adkins Children’s Centers Preschool Site provides year-round, full-day education and care for children ages 2-4, and 74% of the families served are low-income. Funds will be used to help replace four HV/AC units and make related repairs, improving air circulation and quality at the preschool.
Project Location: Easton, MD
Amount Requested: $43,000

Project Name: Eastern Shore Farm to Freezer Project
Applicant: Eastern Shore Entrepreneurship Center (ESEC)
The Eastern Shore Farm to Freezer Project involves the establishment of a processing and aggregation facility that will help increase the availability and consumption of local, nutritious food to areas of the Eastern Shore that have limited access. It will expand opportunities for local food banks to diversify the products offered to individuals in need, and it will support local growers in supplying a marketable product all year long. Federal funds will support the build-out of a pilot processing facility, help with equipment purchases, and provide initial operational support and working capital for the pilot-scale phase. The Maryland and Delaware USDA state director has certified this project as eligible for USDA Community Facilities Grant funding.
Project Location: Denton, Maryland
Amount Requested: $985,000

Project Name: Frostburg Childcare Center
Applicant: City of Frostburg
Funds will be used to construct the Frostburg Childcare Center within the Frostburg Community Park area. This new space will allow for the city’s first childcare center serving children of all ages, supporting low-income families with children ages 0-3, and offering a Summer Day Camp.
Project Location: City of Frostburg and surrounding communities in Allegany County.
Amount Requested: $700,000

Project Name: Rock Hall Town Hall Restoration Project
Applicant: Town of Rock Hall, Maryland
Funds will support the renovation and/or replacement of Rock Hall’s nearly 100-year-old Town Hall facility to provide essential government administration and community services. Prior to the closure of the Town Hall due to COVID-19, it provided residents with government, police and community services. This includes a multipurpose room and kitchen for civic organizations and private gatherings, the Town Museum, a branch of the Kent County Library and federally funded programs such as Kent County’s Head Start. The remaining work on the facility will include planning, roof replacement, mold and asbestos remediation, foundation repairs, HVAC, electrical, and plumbing repairs and upgrades. The Maryland and Delaware USDA state director has certified this project as eligible for USDA Community Facilities Grant funding.
Project Location: Rock Hall, Maryland
Amount Requested: $7,037,000

Project Name: Talbot County Free Library – St. Michaels Branch Library Expansion and Renovation
Applicant: Talbot County Free Library
The St. Michaels Branch Library is more than 40 years old and the community’s needs have outgrown the space of the existing library. In particular, the community meeting space is insufficient to meet current demands and it limits opportunities for the library to expand into new, in-demand programming. Federal funds will complete the design of the renovation and expansion of the St. Michaels Branch Library from the existing 7,716 square foot-site into a fully renovated, 10,787 square foot-site, a nearly 40 percent increase in size. The Maryland and Delaware USDA state director has certified this project as eligible for USDA Community Facilities Grant funding.
Project Location: St. Michaels, Maryland
Amount Requested: $70,000

Project Name: Town of Charlestown Stream Restoration and Water Quality Retrofits
Applicant: Town of Charleston
Funds will be used for the design of stream restoration and water quality retrofits on and adjacent to Charlestown Elementary School and the Charleston Athletic Complex. The stream restoration will help mitigage stormwater flooding and reduce sediment runoff downstream towards the Chesapeake Bay.
Project Location: Town of Charlestown, MD
Amount Requested: $96,000

Project Name: Town of Midland Town Hall Replacement
Applicant: Town of Midland, Maryland
The Midland Town Hall has been in use for more than 120 years, outgrowing the needs of the community. Its occupancy is currently limited to approximately 15 people – for a town of almost 500 residents. A new facility also would be able to expand services for the community’s low-income residents, including the installation of 10 broadband connected internet work stations for students, an Americans with Disabilities Act accessible community gathering space, and increased environmental benefits from green design elements. The Maryland and Delaware USDA state director has certified this project as eligible for USDA Community Facilities Grant funding.
Project Location: Midland, Maryland
Amount Requested: $375,000

MILITARY CONSTRUCTION, VETERANS AFFAIRS, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE

Project Name: Accelerator-based neutron radiography system at Naval Surface Warfare Center
Indian Head NSWC is continuing construction of a system that will allow for N-ray inspection to be conducted on-site. Neutron radiography is an industrial, Non-Destructive Testing technique that can reveal features and defects such as cracks or voids in objects without dismantling or damaging them. X-ray inspections are unable to produce these same revelations. These defects can lead to unforeseen complications, such as potentially fatal misfiring of ammunition and faulty deployment of parachutes. The Navy currently uses N-ray technology to inspect Cartridge Actuated Devices and Propellant Actuated Devices (CAD/PADs). These are explosive devices installed within aircraft escape and safety systems and within personnel gear used for life-saving measures, such as aircrew ejection or parachute deployment. On-site N-ray capabilities will allow NSWC Indian Head to provide timely inspections of materials and allow the facility to broaden its capacity in fulfilling a wider range of projects for the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, NASA, and other agencies that lack immediate access to N-ray technology.
Project Location: Indian Head, Maryland
Amount Requested: $9,000,000