EPA Names Martha Shimkin New Director Of Chesapeake Bay Program

On December 15, the the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Martha Shimkin will lead the Chesapeake Bay Program Office in the Mid-Atlantic Region.

“I am pleased to announce Martha as the new director at this critical time for the Chesapeake Bay,” said Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz. “For more than 40 years now there has been a concerted effort to reduce the pollution entering the Bay watershed and Martha’s leadership will be crucial in carrying that effort forward. This is a critical juncture for the Chesapeake Bay, as we look to the efforts that EPA will take to help states meet their pollution reduction goals.”

“This is a vital mission for EPA and the Chesapeake Bay Partnership, and I am honored to lead the Chesapeake Bay Program Office as we continue to work towards the 2025 watershed goals and looking beyond to the future of the watershed and the people that depend on it,” said Shimkin. “Fortunately, I’m not hitting the ground running but rather continuing the sprint. I am fully dedicated to EPA and to this partnership  across 6 states and Washington, D.C. I am looking forward to our continued collaboration across this largest estuary in the United States and home to 19 million people.”

Shimkin has served as the Deputy Director of the Chesapeake Bay Program Office since May 2021. 

Upon arriving in the Annapolis office, she reorganized the operations and administration functions, hired key staff positions, and positioned the office for dynamic and successful implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. 

With her background of senior leadership positions in EPA’s Office of Water, regulatory experience in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, and steeped in administration and resources management from years in EPA’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Martha brings an abundance of knowledge and experience to the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership.

EPA’s Chesapeake Bay Program coordinates activities and implements strategies for meeting the restoration goals of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, which covers 64,000 square miles across New York, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. 

The program have been instrumental in encouraging new conservation opportunities, like the recent Hershey and Land O’Lakes partnership to improve conservation practices on dairy farms in the watershed.

Visit EPA’s Chesapeake Bay Program to learn more about this program.

Visit DEP’s Chesapeake Bay Watershed webpage to learn more about cleaning up rivers and streams in Pennsylvania's portion of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.  Click Here to sign up for regular updates on Pennsylvania’s progress.

How Clean Is Your Stream?

The draft 2024 report has an interactive report viewer that allows you to zoom in to your own address to see if the streams near you are impaired and why.

Click Here to check out your streams.  Click Here for a tutorial on using the viewer.

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[Posted: December 17, 2023]  PA Environment Digest