Virginia leaders, a conservation group file a bill, prepare a lawsuit to protect the Chesapeake Bay

As Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts hit the home stretch, two Virginia congressmen filed a bill Monday to boost restoration while a bay advocacy group announced it’s gearing up to sue the EPA to enforce it.

U.S. Reps. Robert “Bobby” Scott and Rob Wittman filed the bipartisan Chesapeake Bay Science, Education and Ecosystem Enforcement Act (SEEE) along with Rep. John Sarbanes of Maryland. The three co-chair the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Task Force.

The lawmakers said in a joint statement that, by reaching across the aisle and working with partners at all levels of government, “we can deliver critical resources that help reduce pollution, bolster restoration efforts, improve resiliency and protect wildlife habitats throughout the watershed.”

The bill would reauthorize and provide key resources to the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office to work with universities, nonprofits and others to monitor bay health; direct NOAA to help manage and protect habitats and living resources; and authorize a program to award education grants to help connect residents to the 64,000-square-mile watershed.

It includes a five-year reauthorization, beginning at $17 million annually in FY2021 and increasing to $22.6 million in FY2024.

The measure comes as the 15-year pollution diet adopted in 2010 by Virginia and other bay jurisdictions under EPA leadership enters its final years. By 2025, jurisdictions must have all necessary anti-pollution measures and practices in place for restoration.

Virginia and Maryland are among the three biggest polluters and largely on track to meet their reduction targets. But the third biggest polluter, Pennsylvania, has lagged for years in meeting its cleanup goals and has no plan or funding in place to meet the 2025 deadline.

EPA has statutory authority to enforce cleanup, but under the Trump administration now says the reduction targets are aspirational rather than enforceable. This stance prompted Maryland to announce two weeks ago that it plans to file suit against the EPA.

Now the Chesapeake Bay Foundation says it’s also looking to sue the EPA to force it to make Pennsylvania comply with its reduction targets. CBF’s vice president for litigation, Jon Mueller, said in a statement Monday that the group is consulting with a range of potential partners on legal strategies.

“With bay restoration and clean water for future generations at risk, we have no alternative due to EPA’s failure to act,” Mueller said. “We must hold EPA accountable now if we are going to save the bay.”

Kristin Reilly, director of the Choose Clean Water Coalition, which includes CBF, called EPA’s stance “just part of the larger trend from the current administration to roll back environmental regulations.”

Chesapeake Bay cleanup enjoys widespread bipartisan support in Congress, but has been a bone of contention with the White House. Donald Trump has argued that bay states alone should bear cleanup costs and has tried to slash federal funds for the Chesapeake Bay Program regional partnership that was formed to restore the polluted estuary.

In recent months, however, both the House and Senate approved budget measures that would increase federal funds for the program.

Tamara Dietrich, 757-247-7892, tdietrich@dailypress.com

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