The Environmental Protection Agency announced its “pollution diet” for the Chesapeake Bay, a plan to restore the Bay’s health for the next 15 years. The federal strategy sets limits for the amount of pollutants — such as nitrogen, phosphorous, and sediments — seeping into the Chesapeake Bay each year. Limiting those pollutants will allow the Bay to naturally heal over time, said EPA Regional Director Shawn Garvin.
“There’s a certain level of pollution that a water body can accept and deal with without impacting water quality,” Garvin said. “Once you exceed that you start to have problems.”
The initiative is the largest water pollution strategy in the nation, and could restore a watershed that provides $1 trillion of industry to the mid-Atlantic region, officials said.
But executing the plan won’t be cheap. While the financial benefits of restoring the Chesapeake Bay are clear, funding it over the next 15 years will require enormous cash infusions from state and federal taxpayers, officials said.
“Clean water is not a federal issue, a state issue, or a local issue. It’s a watershed issue,” said Garvin. “Resources will have to come from all those sources.”
The EPA has not had time to do a full cost analysis, he said, though he said the states’ plans are more cost-effective than methods the EPA could use to reduce pollution.
Officials in Maryland and the District said its plans may cost as much as $10 billion and $4 billion, respectively, through 2017. Virginia officials said its plan could cost $7 billion over the next 15 years. Maryland officials have plans to meet in 2011 to identify funding sources, and almost every state will request some amount of federal funding.
Plans submitted by Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia detail the efforts each jurisdiction will take to meet the goals of the EPA strategy.
Some notable local measures include restricting pollution at a wastewater treatment plant on the James River, pursuing state legislation to fund wastewater treatment plant upgrades in Maryland and Virginia, and implementing a storm water permit program in the District.
Overall, the diet calls for a 25 percent reduction in nitrogen, 24 percent reduction in phosphorous and 20 percent reduction in sediment pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.
The EPA has spent the last several months vetting plans from each jurisdiction to ensure that, when combined, the agency’s goals will be met.
The announcement comes days after the Chesapeake Bay Foundation graded the Bay’s health as a D-plus. The Bay is improving, said CBF President William Baker, but is still in critical condition.
“The hardest work is still to come,” Baker said. “The states and the District of Columbia must implement the plans through new laws, regulations, funding and enforcement, and the EPA must hold all jurisdictions accountable.”
The EPA wants 60 percent of the plans to be implemented by 2017, and all efforts to be implemented by 2025.
The agency will be monitoring each jurisdiction by establishing two-year milestones that will help keep the plans in motion. It announced backstop measures in New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia to compensate for areas the EPA believes will fall short of its goals.
