Twenty-eight thousand miles of unpaved roads provide local service to Pennsylvania's rural residents and the major enterprises of agriculture, tourism, mining/mineral industries, and forest products. Although they are inexpensive to maintain, loss of fine materials from the roads and their drainage areas creates dust and sediment.
Dust is both a nuisance and a pollutant. Sediment is one of the greatest sources of pollution to waters of the Commonwealth. Excessive amounts of sediment can adversely affect aquatic life in many ways. Sediment can smother species of plants, insects and fish eggs, and destroy the habitat they require.
Section 9106 of the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code -- Dirt and Gravel Road Maintenance was signed into law on April 17, 1997. The program came into being in response to concerns voiced by members of Pennsylvania Trout (a council of "Trout Unlimited") over problems cause by sediment pollution from unpaved roads in the state's premier trout streams. Subsequent follow-up efforts included creation of a Task Force on Dirt & Gravel Roads that was a cooperative working group consisting of state department personnel, sportsmen, environmental resource agency officials, local government representatives, private companies, Penn State researchers, legislative staff, and citizen environmental group members. Both Pennsylvania Trout and the Task Force recommended a locally based, locally controlled, cooperative approach to eliminate non-point source pollution occurring along these rural roadways.
A Quality Assurance Board (QAB) has been created in Somerset County by the Somerset Conservation District to establish and administer the grant program. The QAB is responsible to encourage local cooperation with environmental quality goals, to provide adequate opportunity for public input, and to ensure participation amongst a wide spectrum of environmental expertise at all levels of government.
The four member QAB Board is comprised of:
- A non-voting chairman appointed by the Somerset Conservation District Board of Directors.
- Three voting members, each is appointed by one of the following entities.
- The Somerset Conservation District Board (local)
- The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (state)
- The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (federal)
As of 2019 Somerset County has completed 58 Dirt & Gravel Road projects, with 36 miles of funded sites and costing approximately $2,444,000 and 22 Low Volume Road projects, with 9 miles of funded sites costing approximately $1,011,000.