Chesapeake Clean Water Act Sign-On Letter
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The Honorable Barbara Boxer
Committee on the Environment and Public Works
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable James Oberstar
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Chairwoman Boxer and Chairman Oberstar:
We the undersigned write to express our support for S. 1816/HR 3852, The Chesapeake Clean Water Act. This groundbreaking legislation will have a dramatic affect on reducing nutrient pollution and helping to restore water quality for the Chesapeake Bay and the thousands of miles of rivers and streams that crisscross its 64,000 square-mile watershed.
I ask that you work diligently to ensure the passage of this historic legislation.
As you likely know, for 25 years, the federal government, the Chesapeake Bay watershed states and the District of Columbia have worked in concert to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment pollution flowing to the Chesapeake Bay in hopes of restoring water quality and the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. With pollution causing everything from oxygen-starved dead zones to economic hardship in industries dependent upon clean water, it is clear that the current effort has fallen well short of the goal of a restored Chesapeake Bay by 2010. Accordingly, EPA will soon implement a court-ordered, watershed-wide "pollution budget," or Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment pollution. The watershed states will have to abide by this new TMDL to reduce nutrient pollution to the Bay and its rivers and streams.
The Chesapeake Clean Water Act works in conjunction with the TMDL process by codifying the TMDL and requiring states to meet the pollution targets while providing the funding and autonomy necessary for allowing state and local governments to best achieve those targets. The bill also includes:
• strict timelines for implementing practices to reduce polluted runoff,
• penalties if the implementation goals are not met,
• the authorization of $2.12 billion dollars to assist state and local governments, the agriculture community and others in reaching the targets, and
• establishing a water quality credit program to reduce costs.
Without this legislation, states will be required to reduce pollution but without added federal assistance or guidance.
The Chesapeake Clean Water Act will improve water quality throughout the watershed while providing necessary technical and financial assistance, and autonomy for state and local governments to decide how to best reduce pollution.
We urge you to support this important legislation.
Sincerely,