Chesapeake Bay Commission Highlights Successes, Urges Public Pressure For More Action

The Chairman of the Chesapeake Bay Commission, Virginia Delegate John Cosgrove, highlighted recent Bay restoration successes during the annual Chesapeake Executive Council meeting held in Virginia this week.

 

Pennsylvania members of the Commission include Sen. Michael Brubaker (R-Lancaster), who serves as Vice-Chair of the Commission, Sen. Mike Waugh (R-York), Rep. Russell Fairchild (R-Mifflin) and Rep. Mike Sturla (D-Lancaster).

 

Together with other regional leaders in the watershed, Chairman Cosgrove focused on previous ecological improvements to illustrate a model for further achievement in a renewed push for restoring the Chesapeake Bay.

 

In articulating his “vision for success,” Chairman Cosgrove asked for unwavering support from the Bay’s citizenry while acknowledging the significant challenges still facing the Chesapeake Bay restoration effort.

 

“If we commit to working in stronger partnership within the region and accelerating our efforts, I believe that we can achieve our water quality goals. We know what to do. We even know where to do it. But we need unwavering public support in order to ensure that legislators like me, like my colleagues in the General Assemblies, and like the Governors and Mayor here today, can do our jobs and feel the support of their constituents.”

 

The success stories highlighted by Chairman Cosgrove included the Commission’s intensive work in securing additional conservation funding for the Chesapeake Bay region through the 2008 Farm Bill; the Bay restoration’s role in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, providing $870 million to Bay watershed states and the District of Columbia through the Federal Clean Water State Revolving Fund for water quality infrastructure; the growing momentum in Congress to fund upgrades at Blue Plains wastewater treatment plant, the largest wastewater treatment plant and largest single source of pollution in the entire Bay watershed; recent reports indicating increased acreage of underwater grasses throughout the Bay; and the surge in the blue crab population attributed to proper fisheries management and interstate coordination.

 

But to address many of the key measures still needed to restore and protect the Chesapeake Bay, Chairman Cosgrove stressed the important role of an engaged and supportive public.

 

“Meeting any new target date will require enormous amounts of both cooperation and dedication by the Bay partnership, but most importantly it will require extensive public support and commitment,” Chairman Cosgrove said. “As an elected official, I can honestly say that our most important partners, and the key to a restored Bay, are the 17 million individuals who live and work in the Chesapeake watershed.”

 

Additionally, Chairman Cosgrove reached out to his counterparts in the Executive branch of State government for a more coordinated effort in achieving Bay restoration goals at the local and state levels. He indicated the Commission was ready to implement the aggressive and ambitious two-year milestones developed by the State Executive Branch agencies by enacting legislation and leading new policy efforts.

 

“Now is not the time for political posturing between the different branches of Government within a particular state. The Bay’s future health is critically dependent on our cooperative and collaborative efforts today. That’s why the Commission invites the Governors to work hand-in-hand with their respective General Assemblies to achieve the ambitious goals and contingencies set out in these two-year milestones.”

 

The Chesapeake Bay Commission’s role as a Bay Program partner is to advance legislation at the state and Federal levels. Over the last 28 years, Chesapeake Bay Commission members have played an active role in nearly 80 pieces of state legislation in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia to further Bay restoration efforts.

 

These legislative accomplishments stand as testimony to the dedication of Commission members towards the protection of the Bay. The breadth of subject matter addressed by Commission-sponsored legislation includes, among others, reduction of nutrient and sediment pollution, protection of living resources, increasing and enhancing land stewardship, reduction of atmospheric deposition, advancing environmental education, and increasing public engagement.

 

In Pennsylvania, the cost of complying with the nutrient and sediment reduction requirements for Chesapeake Bay cleanup is over $2 billion-- $1.4 billion for wastewater treatment plants, according to a Legislative Budget and Finance Committee report and over $650 million for agriculture, according to the Department of Environmental Protection.

 

For more information, visit the Chesapeake Bay Commission website.