Posted under Chesapeake Bay
Some great news today for anyone who cares about the health of the Chesapeake Bay. From the Washington Post:
The Environmental Protection Agency will be legally bound to clean the soiled waters of the Chesapeake Bay after reaching an agreement Tuesday to enforce tough new standards for pollution reduction.
…Under the agreement, the EPA will mandate that states limit their nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment flow into the bay in compliance with an overall daily maximum being formulated by the federal agency.
The lawsuit, in which the [Chesapeake Bay Foundation] joined with watermen, fishermen and several public officials, was filed after state governments and the EPA admitted three years ago that they would fall far short of meeting bay cleanup goals set under the 2000 agreement
More details on the agreement from the Feds press release:
The new federal strategy for the Chesapeake region released today focuses on protecting and restoring the environment in communities throughout the 64,000-square-mile watershed and in its thousands of streams, creeks and rivers. The strategy includes using rigorous regulations to restore clean water, implementing new conservation practices on 4 million acres of farms, conserving 2 million acres of undeveloped land and rebuilding oysters in 20 tributaries of the bay.
To increase accountability, federal agencies will establish milestones every two years for actions to make progress toward measurable environmental goals. These will support and complement the states’ two-year milestones…
The strategy deepens the federal commitment to the Chesapeake region, with agencies dedicating unprecedented resources, targeting actions where they can have the most impact, ensuring that federal lands and facilities lead by example in environmental stewardship and taking a comprehensive, ecosystem-wide approach to restoration. Many of the federal actions will directly support restoration efforts of local governments, nonprofit groups and citizens and provide economic benefits across the Chesapeake region.
A federal, coordinated solution is necessary because the Chesapeake Bay watershed includes six states and the District of Columbia.
Still, much work needs to be done.
First, the federal government has made promises regarding the Bay previously and has failed to follow through. Second, the settlement agreement leaves it to the states to create plans to comply with new federal pollution levels. So it will take leadership at the state level to ensure that Maryland, and all the other states in the watershed, do their part.
You can read the entire strategy, released today, HERE.
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