Delaware’s Department of Agriculture (DDA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are starting a new joint effort to support cleaner water and sustainable farms.
Delaware’s Ag Secretary Mike Scuse says a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) seeks to make sure a relationship that’s improved in recent years stays on track.
“Our Regional Administrator Cosmo Servidio contacted me and said 'You know, we’ve been doing a really good job of working together, but you and I both won’t be here forever,' and we want to make sure the good relationship that we have continues to build and go forward when we’re no longer here,” said Scuse.
Scuse says the first-of-its-kind MOU formalizes the two agencies’ partnership and covers funding, coordinating on regulatory issues, recognizing farmers for environmental stewardship and provide educational opportunities for producers.
He points that funding is the number one issue facing Delaware farmers today and the MOU addreses that.
“Working together to coordinate and leverage federal, state and private funding to support our environmental programs to look at ways that we can use grant funding directly here to the Department of Agriculture - again - to help us with some of the needs that the agricultural community has,” said Scuse.
The MOU was signed during Delaware’s Agriculture Week in Harrington on Wednesday.
The EPA is currently developing similar agreements with other states in the Mid-Atlantic region.
