The Environmental Protection Agency today sent letters to Chesapeake Bay states and the District of Columbia outlining possible penalties it could impose on those governments for failing to meet upcoming bay clean-up goals.
"Many of these actions, if actually taken, could send the right signal to states that the EPA means business. But the proof will come only when the EPA actually practices what they're preaching in this letter," said Tommy Landers, Policy Advocate for Environment Maryland.
The EPA and states are together crafting a "Total Maximum Daily Load" for the entire Chesapeake Bay. The so-called TMDL is a pollution budget for the bay: the TMDL details pollution caps per region that, when achieved, should restore lasting health to the bay’s waters.
States must write Watershed Implementation Plans in order to achieve the TMDL reductions. The EPA says they can impose these "consequences" on states if they fail either to write sufficient plans or hit the pollution reduction goals in the plans.
"The EPA says they're confident states will achieve their goals, but I'm not. That's why these 'consequences' are paramount in this process—empty threats won’t do anything to help the bay," added Landers.
"I'm disappointed that the EPA has pulled back on restricting or prohibiting new or expanded discharges. In September the proposed that option, and it's a good one. But now they're only talking about 'net improvement offsets.' They say these actions may change over time, and for the sake of the bay, they should keep the strongest options on the table, including limiting or prohibiting new or expanded discharges," said Landers.
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