This Time We're Serious: USEPA Outlines Punitive Measures Related to Cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
This post was written by Chris Rissetto, Lou Naugle, Bob Helland, and David Wagner.
Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") outlined what it terms a "rigorous accountability framework" for addressing pollution levels in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Federal efforts to cleanup the Chesapeake Bay watershed have been ongoing for over 25 years and this is the first time that EPA has outlined a number of punitive measures intended to force compliance with pollution controls by the six Chesapeake Bay states – Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennyslvania, Virginia and West Virginia – and the District of Columbia.
The update by Reed Smith describes the regulatory regime in place to address the harmful levels of pollutants in the watershed and discusses the punitive measures along with the legal issues they raise. The update also discusses what measures are expected in 2010, especially as they relate to the Chesapeake Bay total maximum daily load (TMDL) for nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment.
