EPA Plan: Critics Say Not Tough Enough
In a Washington Post article titled “Chesapeake Bay advocates call EPA cleanup plan too weak,” published December 31, 2009, author David A. Fahrenthold reports that a collection of scientists, environmentalists and ex-politicians have stepped forward to admonish the EPA that its plans to protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay in response to Executive Order 13508 aren’t nearly tough enough.
Fahrenthold writes that the 38-member group, brought together by a former Maryland state senator, said the EPA is not moving aggressively enough to curb pollution that drains off farmland or to protect the forests that serve as a natural water filter.
According to Fahrenthold, the group gathered at the Maryland State House and included several "waterkeepers" -- advocates for the Patuxent, Severn, Choptank and other bay tributaries -- and prominent scientists who study crabs, oysters and water pollution. Former U.S. representative Wayne T. Gilchrest (R-Md.) and former U.S. senator Joseph D. Tydings (D-Md.) also were there.
The EPA has said that it plans to punish states that lag behind their cleanup goals (sanctions could include some prohibitions on new subdivisions or sewage plants, more restrictions on farms and tighter controls over federal grants to states), but the group said that the federal government should do more than that, and is calling for Congress to pass legislation to expand that power to punish.
They said all but the smallest farms should face tight restrictions on the disposal of animal manure, which can wash into bay tributaries and feed the algae that cause dead zones. And they said the EPA should require forests to be protected -- or replanted -- on 85 percent of the shoreline of the Chesapeake and its tributaries.
Fahrenthold further writes that the group also called for Congress to pass legislation sponsored by Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.) and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) that would give the EPA more muscle to punish states (S. 1816, the Chesapeake Clean Water and Ecosystem Restoration Act). The bill has been opposed by agricultural groups and home development firms, which say it will impose crushing costs on their industries.
Next week, we'll take an in-depth look at S. 1816 (introduced October 20, 2009 and referred to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee) to get a sense of possible industry ramifications should this bill become law.
