{Photo illustration by Aubrey Fornwalt, b, and The Baltimore Sun}

Like waiting for the Orioles to have a winning season, waiting for real action to clean up the Chesapeake Bay has been an exercise in frustration for many observers.

But this year, the Obama administration is rolling out a new approach to cleaning up the bay, with more federal oversight of factors such as farm nutrients and runoff from development. Can this be any different from previous attempts?

“The key will be accountability,” said Nancy Stoner, co-chair of the National Resource Defense Council’s water program. “In order to have success, they have to address all of the sources to achieve restoration of the bay.”
Federal agencies such as the EPA and the Department of Agriculture have drafted reports on how to restore the bay, in response to an executive order asking for proposals. The public comment period starts Nov. 9, and the administration expects to have a plan in place by May 12.

That won’t be a moment too soon for many Marylanders who make their living off the bay.

“You’ve got a culture that for over a few hundred years has depended on the bay for a living,” Maryland Watermen’s Association President Larry Simms said. He lives in Rock Hall and spends time crabbing and running a fishing charter. “[The Chesapeake Bay] is good for tourism, it’s good for the economy and it supports the industry of watermen.”

It’s important to recreational users, too. Kevin Plitt, 19, is a sophomore at Towson University, yet he makes his way to the waters in Calvert County each week throughout the summer and part of the fall to fish. The Plitt family owns a house on the Patuxent River, one of the Chesapeake’s major tributaries. He sees the bay as a habitat for a vast variety of species.

“I never really know what I’ll catch. Some days the bluefish will be around. … Other days it will be rockfish,” he said. “You can see all kinds of different animals.”

At a town hall meeting in August in Annapolis, about 350 people showed up to express their concerns about the bay, especially development, to J. Charles “Chuck” Fox, a special bay adviser to the Environmental Protection Agency administrator.

Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia agreed to fix the bay more than 25 years ago, and they — together with the federal government — have spent billions of dollars to do so. In Maryland alone, various programs have sprung up, such as the 1984 Critical Area law to restrict waterfront development, the 1997 Smart Growth law and a 2004 “flush tax” on septic systems and sewer use. Many initiatives have been largely voluntary.

But the results are not encouraging. In 1986, the Bay earned a water-quality score of 55 out of 100; last year it had dropped to 40 out of 100, according to The Baltimore Sun.

The trend can be seen in the tributaries: Sediment flowing into the Patuxent grew from 14,000 pounds in 1985 to 40,000 pounds in 2006, The Sun reported; by 2006, nitrogen flowing into the Choptank River had more than doubled its 1985 total of 200,000 pounds.

Previous efforts have never held farmers or state governments to high accountability standards, said USDA Deputy Director David Sandretti. With this round of initiatives, he said, the agencies have looked at what’s most harmful to the bay and have taken a harder approach to high-impact areas. The proposals will grant the federal government more control for setting baywide regulations on everyone from farmers to developers to community residents.

EPA adviser Fox said in a recent telephone briefing that agency officials are mulling ideas for “consequences” should the cleanup effort continue to dawdle. Among them: EPA scrutinizing or even blocking permits for new or expanded releases of nutrient pollution into the bay or its tributaries, and possibly withholding federal funding.

That could slow economic or residential growth in some areas, if new businesses or sewage treatment plant expansions are held up. But Fox indicated the federal government also wants to extend a helping hand, not just a hammer. He said he would be seeking additional funding for farmers to help them keep manure and fertilizer from their fields and feedlots from fouling the bay’s waters. He also said state and local governments need financial help to fulfill their obligations to clean up the growing tide of polluted storm runoff.

Federal officials will probably run into some of the same issues that local and state officials have: opposition from farmers, homeowners and developers. Maryland Farm Bureau spokeswoman Valerie Connelly, for instance, is concerned about the proposals.

“Once we start mandating things from a federal policy, we set ourselves up for failure,” she said. “[Based on the reports] we need 100 percent of farmers to do 90 percent of every conservation effort that is out there. There’s not enough money.”

Regulations addressing runoff may mean considerable work in Maryland, which rated only a D-plus overall for its efforts to rein in polluted runoff, according to the Chesapeake Stormwater Network. But the feds seem undeterred.
“We need bold new leadership, collective accountability by all contributors to the bay’s problems and dramatic changes in policies using all the tools at hand if we are to fulfill President Obama’s goal for clean water throughout the region,” EPA administrator Lisa Jackson said in a news release.

To read the draft reports, go to:
executiveorder.chesapeakebay.net

By Daniel Gross, b intern, and The Baltimore Sun

Cardin unveils federal Chesapeake bill
Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.) announced Monday that he would introduce legislation to punish states that lag in cleaning up the Chesapeake. He said the bill, reauthorizing the decades-old Chesapeake Bay Program, codifies the Obama administration’s plans. It would establish a $1.5 billion grant program for stormwater control, and a 2025 deadline as well as two-year reporting requirements beginning in 2014 to make sure goals are met. If they aren’t, states could lose EPA funding for projects or have the EPA take over duties. It also would require the EPA to develop a cap-and-trade program on phosphorous and nitrogen pollution. The Washington Post and AP

What you can do

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation recommends these steps you can take to help save the bay.

Drive less.
Buy local foods.
Use natural alternatives to commercial cleaning products.
Conserve water.
Don’t pour toxins down storm drains.
Use native plants and reduce use of fertilizers and chemicals.
Plant a tree.

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