Annapolis, Md. - A big day for the health of the Chesapeake Bay. The Environmental Protection Agency will meet with representatives of the bay's watershed states, to consider extending deadlines for states to meet their long-term clean up goals.
In 2010, a plan for watershed states was created to clean the Chesapeake Bay by 2025. Tuesday's meeting will examine the merits of that plan and how to ensure state's are fulfilling their promises.
Executive Director of headquarters and Maryland Office for the Chesapeake Bay Commission, Ann Swanson says, "How do you stay the course? How do you achieve the clean water diet, that we have put ourselves on? And, how do you both expand the effort and also accelerate the effort?"
Along with governors and state representatives, the Chesapeake Bay Commission will also attend.
The CBC says it expects the 2025 deadline to be extended, but hopes within reason.
"Now the one thing is, this should not translate into decades more time. It should translate into years," says Swanson.
States surrounding the bay are being criticized for not meeting their cleanup goals. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan says Maryland is on track to meet it's commitments, but also says "Under the governor's environmental stewardship, Maryland is on track to meet its pollution-reduction commitments for the Bay. We're proud of that, but we're also very concerned that the EPA isn't doing enough to make sure other jurisdictions meet their clean water goals. We all have a generational responsibility to protect this national treasure."
Virginia's Governor, Glenn Youngkin, says the state is not on track, but is aggressively working to fix it. A spokeswoman adds, "Governor Youngkin's administration is committed to addressing Virginia's ongoing environmental, energy, and natural resources challenges, including taking necessary actions to protect the Chesapeake Bay. After taking office, it was clear that Virginia was not on track to meet our 2025 commitments, but the Administration also discovered there was not a realistic plan in place to achieve significant progress. The Governor is now moving aggressively to determine how to meet our obligations to the Bay so that Virginians can continue to enjoy this unique resource.”
Tuesday's meeting will be from 1 until 2 p.m. at the Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters, Washington D.C.
