U.S. House Eliminates All Funding For Chesapeake Bay TMDL

Chesapeake Bay Foundation President William C. Baker issued the following statement about the U.S. House of Representative’s passage Friday night of a budget amendment eliminating all federal funding for EPA’s Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) cleanup effort. The amendment was offered by Virginia Congressman Bob Goodlatte.
“With this single budget amendment, the House has voted to undo 25 years’ worth of bi-partisan and broad-based efforts to save the Chesapeake Bay. EPA and the six watershed states have worked collaboratively to produce a set of pollution reduction plans that each state would implement as part of a federal/state partnership. This vote effectively removes the federal partner from the equation, placing the burden squarely on the shoulders of states, municipalities, and individuals. It is in direct contradiction to the best science in the world, which defines the Bay as a single system that must be managed as one.”