Chesapeake Bay Cleanup Plan Outlined

On Wednesday, May 12, the Obama Administration unveiled a “Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed” that many observers believe will serve as a model for watershed cleanups throughout the nation, including California’s Bay Delta.

Highlights of the plan include Total Maximum Daily Load regulatory actions by the Environmental Protection Agency to mandate a 40% reduction of phosphates and nitrogen use, expanded regulation of urban and suburban stormwater and concentrated animal feeding operations, and increased enforcement activities and funding for state regulatory programs. Other participating federal agencies include the Department of Agriculture, Department of Interior, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

More information on the executive order can be found here.

The press release announcing the strategy can be found here.