Resolutions were recently introduced in the Senate and House designating the week of June 2 through June 8 as “Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week” in Pennsylvania
Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming), who serves as Chair of the Pennsylvania delegation to the interstate Chesapeake Bay Commission, sponsored Senate Resolution 121 passed by the Senate on May 7, and Rep. Keith Gillespie (R-York), who also serves as a representative of Pennsylvania on the Commission, sponsored House Resolution 281, which was adopted June 3.
“During Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week, we have the opportunity to celebrate and educate Pennsylvania’s success in reducing nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment pollution into the Chesapeake Bay,” Sen. Yaw said. “We can also promote opportunities where citizens can take action and help restore the Bay themselves. It’s also an opportunity to call attention to the challenges facing the Bay.”
Click Here for video remarks from Sen. Yaw on the Senate Floor.
The designation is meant to encourage all Pennsylvanians “to commemorate Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week with events, activities, and educational programs designed to raise awareness of the importance of the Chesapeake Bay to the Commonwealth, the region, and the United States.”
“Even though we're talking about the Bay, it's really about local water quality in the watershed,” said Marel King, Pennsylvania Director, Chesapeake Bay Commission. “The Susquehanna River provides 50 percent of the Bay's fresh water, so every positive action we take here in Pennsylvania has an even more direct benefit to local water quality.”
Legislators from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia worked collaboratively in seeking passage of resolutions designating the week-long recognition of the Chesapeake Bay.
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest and most productive estuary in the United States, spanning six states and the District of Columbia. It is fed by 50 major tributaries, including the Susquehanna River, which is the largest tributary into the bay. The Susquehanna River contributes about half of the Bay's fresh water.
Sen. Yaw was also the prime sponsor of legislation designating the Eastern Hellbender as Pennsylvania’s state amphibian and clean water ambassador signed into law in April. The designation was a project of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation PA Student Leadership Council.
For more information on the Commission, visit the Chesapeake Bay Commission website.
[Note: Public comments on Pennsylvania’s plan to meet 2025 pollution reduction goals to cleanup the Chesapeake Bay are due June 7. Click Here for more information.]
(Photo: Eastern Hellbender.)
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