Last year, the Pennsylvania legislature did something fairly radical -- it passed a program that would allow farmers to receive tax credits for implementing conservation practices that enhance water quality --- stream buffers, grass waterways, etc. The farmers could then transfer those credits to businesses, effectively having others pay for them to do the expensive work of protecting the bay without breaking the bank. They called it REAP- the Resource Enhancement and Protection Program.

No one knew exactly how it would go, though the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, which fought hard for the legislation, was confident it would be highly successful.

Recently, CBF's Pennsylvania's staff said the program's money was quickly gobbled up. And today cones word, via this small Pennyslvania newspaper , that the $10 million set aside for the tax credits was gobbled up within weeks of the deadline. By today, the state had requests for $11.3 million in projects. So, they will have to turn people away if they can't find mroe funding.

Matthew Ehrhart, director of CBF's Pennsylvania office, said the foundation was going to try to get some more money in the REAP pot to accommodate the requests.

Could it work in Maryland? Why not? The main complaint here is that there's never enough money to get the farmers to do what they need to do to protect the bay. And Maryland has always had the reputation of being more progressive in it bay protection efforts than its neighbors. So, if REAP can make it in Harrisburg, it might be able to make it in Annapolis. Maybe in a year when we aren't so strapped for cash.