March 11, 2022

After passing the Senate, the legislation is now heading to the President’s office for signing

Today, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin (both D-Md.) announced that more than $9.5 million in direct federal funding for local projects in the East Coast region was included in omnibus funding legislation for fiscal year 2022, which senators passed. pass Thursday evening. The projects encompass a wide range of local and regional priorities, from improving infrastructure to economic development and supporting local schools and universities. Overall, senators secured more than $104 million in federal dollars directly for Maryland in the omnibus. The bill now goes to President Biden to be signed into law.

“Making direct federal investments in our communities helps create opportunities, create jobs and grow our economy. Working with local leaders from across the East Coast, we have identified these projects that will strengthen our communities by driving job growth, modernizing our infrastructure, improving public safety, strengthening educational resources and small businesses. , and more “, said Senator Van Hollen, a member of the appropriations committee. “We look forward to bringing these funds across the finish line and making these investments on the East Coast.”

“We worked with local officials and organizations across the East Coast to identify projects that could benefit from a strong federal partner. Congressional-directed spending is one of the best tools for maximizing how we use taxpayer dollars where it can make a real difference for Maryland and the region,” said Senator Cardin.

Funding secured by the Senators includes:

• Nearly $4 million for infrastructure and economic development projects, including for the expansion of Belvidere Road in County Cecil, the extension of the runway at Salisbury-Ocean City Wicomico Regional Airport, the new wastewater treatment infrastructure in County Cecil, The Good Stuff Packing House to support food entrepreneurs and replacement of Cambridge Historic West End sewer lines
• $1.3 million for educational initiatives, including Carolina County Public School’s development of the Greensboro Judy Center Early Learning Hub Facility, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Interdisciplinary Research Center, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Historical Digitization Project
• Over $4 million to support health care in our communities through Choptank Community Health Federalsburg Health Center and Ashley Addiction Treatment Mental Health Initiative in Cecil County
• Nearly $300,000 for the Chesapeake Bay and the environmentincluding surveying the federally authorized Pocomoke River navigation channel for future dredging, the expansion of the Nature Conservancy’s Supporting Aquaculture and Restoration (SOAR) initiative in Maryland, as well as equipment and research at NCCOS Cooperative Oxford Laboratory
• $116,000 for public safety via Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office Body Worn Camera System

INFRASTRUCTURES AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Project Name: Cecil County Belvidere Road Expansion
Project Location: Cecil County, MD
Applicant: Cecil County Government
Amount received: $500,000
Description: Funds will be used for the planning and engineering of the Belvidere Road expansion as part of the approved new Interstate 95 interchange, improving local traffic and travel.

Project Name: Salisbury-Ocean City Wicomico Regional Airport Runway Extension
Project location: Wicomico County, MD
Claimant: County of Wicomico
Amount received: $500,000
Description: Funds will be used to extend a runway and taxiway to meet local air carrier needs, secure air services and airline jobs in the region, and support future air demand and growth. ‘airport. The FAA approved the runway extension on the airport development plan.

Project Name: New Cecil County Wastewater Treatment Infrastructure
Project Location: Cecil County, MD
Applicant: County of Cecil
Amount received: $1,000,000
Description: Funds will be used for Phase II of the Highway 40 West Sanitary Sewer Sub-District, which includes the installation of a sanitary sewer collection line. This will help connect existing homes and businesses with failing on-site septic systems to the county’s sewer system and promote economic development in a county-designated growth area.

Project name: 411 Kitchen
Project location: Cambridge, Maryland
Candidate: Cross Street Partners
Amount received: $1,400,000
Description: The funding will help complete the physical construction of the 411 Kitchen project and purchase the necessary equipment for a fully functional commercial kitchen. Kitchen 411 will be a shared use commercial kitchen designed to empower, uplift and establish a thriving food entrepreneur community in Cambridge and the greater Mid-shore region.

Project Name: Cambridge Historic West End Sewer Line Replacement
Project location: Cambridge, Maryland
Applicant: City of Cambridge, Maryland
Amount received: $504,000
Description: Funding will enable the City of Cambridge to replace its century-old sewer lines on Willis Street.

EDUCATION

Project name: Greensboro Judy Center Early Learning Hub Facility
Project location: Greensboro, MD
Applicant: Carolina County Public Schools
Amount received: $500,000
Description: Funds will be used to complete the development of the Greensboro Judy Center Early Learning Hub on the campus of Greensboro Elementary School to provide quality child care and services all day/year round to relatives in the community.

Project name: Establishing an Interdisciplinary Research Center at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Project location: Princess Anne, Maryland
Candidate: The University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Amount received: $350,000
Description: The new center will support the research and learning environment for faculty and graduate students at Historically Black College and University with the goal of increasing graduate student graduation rates and increasing research productivity and maintenance of the Carnegie classification (High Research Activity

Project Name: University of Maryland East Coast Historical Digitization Project
Project location: Princess Anne, Maryland
Applicant: University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Amount received: $500,000
Description: These funds will be used to digitize historical records regarding the State of Maryland, the East Coast, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore to make these educational resources more accessible to Marylanders and the University community.

HEALTH CARE

Project Name: Construction of Federalsburg Health Center for the Choptank Community Health System
Project location: Federalsburg, Maryland
Applicant: Choptank Community Health System
Amount received: $2,889,000
Description: The new health center will better support medically underserved residents of Caroline County. The facility will house training and classrooms for the Choptank Community Health System Rural Residency Program and the development of the Educational Health Center.

Project name: Cecil County Mental Health Initiative, Ashley Addiction Treatment
Project location: Cecil County, Maryland
Applicant: Ashley’s drug treatment
Amount received: $1,150,000
Description: Funding will increase access to mental health services for patients in need by addressing mental health staffing shortages in Cecil County.

CHESAPEAKE BAY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Project name: Pocomoke River, Maryland
Project location: Somerset County, Maryland
Candidate: Army Corps of Engineers
Amount received: $8,000
Description: Funding will allow the US Army Corps of Engineers to survey the federally authorized Pocomoke River shipping channel, which was last dredged nearly 20 years ago and serves heavy industry , commercial fishers and recreational boaters, to provide a definitive cost estimate for future dredging efforts. .

Project name: Supporting Oyster Culture and Restoration (SOAR) in Maryland
Project location: Maryland
Applicant: The Nature Conservancy
Amount received: $150,000
Description: The expansion of this program will support oyster farmers by purchasing mature oysters and using them in local oyster rehabilitation projects. This will help replace the commercial market for oysters which has been significantly reduced due to COVID-19 related restaurant closures.

Project name: NCCOS Cooperative Oxford Laboratory Equipment and Research Funding
Project location: Oxford, Maryland
Applicant: NCCOS Cooperative Oxford Laboratory
Amount received: $120,000
Description: Funds will be used to purchase equipment and better support research regarding the environmental health of the Chesapeake Bay and the health of aquatic life in the Chesapeake Bay and along the Atlantic Coast.

PUBLIC SECURITY

Project Name: Wicomico County Body Worn Camera System
Project location: Salisbury, MD
Claimant: County of Wicomico
Amount received: $116,000
Description: Funds will be used to deploy body cameras to all sworn deputies in the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office