Choose Clean Water Coalition Statement on the Increase of Chesapeake Bay Program Funding to $85 Million

(ANNAPOLIS, MD)—Yesterday, Congress announced the funding of $85 million to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) for FY20. This is an increase over the $73 million allocated to CBP for the past five years. Now that there is agreement on the funding package, it must now pass the House and the Senate and be signed by the President by midnight Friday to avoid a government shutdown or require another short-term funding bill.

In response, Choose Clean Water Coalition Director Kristin Reilly issued the following statement:

"We applaud the increase in funding for the EPA's Chesapeake Bay Program. This is a great victory for clean water. Our members raised their voices for this increased investment and their legislators heard them loud and clear. Despite President Trump's proposed budget slashing the Bay Program's funding by 90 percent, strong bipartisan support secured a 16 percent increase. This funding is critical to support projects that are improving communities and protecting local waterways around the watershed.

"The health of the Bay and its rivers and streams is improving. Bay grasses are increasing, upstream water clarity is improving, and pollution is declining. This success is in no small part thanks to the Chesapeake Bay Program and its leadership facilitating the federal-state plan to clean up the Bay.

"But this progress is fragile. Look no further than the increased dead zone this year, which in Maryland's portion of the Bay was the third-largest observed since reporting began in 1985. Increasing support for the Bay Program will accelerate pollution reduction efforts, particularly in the face of new and increased challenges like climate change.

"As the 2025 deadline approaches to have all programs and practices in place to restore water quality, continued investment by the federal government in the Bay Program will pay huge dividends not only for the environmental benefits, but also to communities and local economies throughout the watershed."

The Choose Clean Water Coalition is an organization that harnesses the collective power of more than 240 local, state, regional and national groups to advocate for clean rivers and streams in all communities in the Chesapeake region.

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Media Contact:
Drew Robinson
443-927-8049
RobinsonAQ@nwf.org