Upper Dublin Township’s quest for state funding for proposed water retention projects received a boost this week when the nonprofit Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC) endorsed its plans.

In a letter to Michael Krancer, secretary of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection, PEC Senior Vice President Patrick Starr lauded the retention plans, highlighting the projects’ range of benefits.

“Few local projects offer the precedent-setting combination of economic development, public safety, environmental benefit, local investment and multi-municipal benefits offered by the Upper Dublin Township application,” Starr wrote.

“[PEC] strongly supports the ... funding application for flood-retaining structures that Upper Dublin Township has submitted to the Commonwealth Financing Authority. We encourage the [PADEP] to support the project, as well.”

Upper Dublin has applied to the state’s H20 Flood Control Program, a fund controlled by the Commonwealth Financing Authority, for an amount of approximately $14 million.

Questions have surrounded the fund since the election of Gov. Tom Corbett, and it has yet to be seen whether or not the program’s budget will be altered.

The 40-year-old PEC is considered an authority on state environmental issues, and township officials hope that its endorsement will strengthen the application’s likelihood of being approved in uncertain times.

DEP secretary Krancer, who was appointed to his position by Corbett, is also a Montgomery County resident, and township officials say that Sen. Stewart Greenleaf (R-12) has already met with him to discuss the application.

To date, the township has given $1,208,136 to URS Corp. for designs for the project, which are necessary to apply for H20 grant money.

Township officials hope to gain more insight into the H20 fund when the Commonwealth Financing Authority next meets March 16.