Today marks the one-year anniversary of President Obama’s Executive Order on Chesapeake Bay Restoration and Protection, which commits federal agencies to a new leadership role in Bay restoration. This morning the Federal Leadership Committee, headed by EPA and comprised of many of the major federal agencies, released its final Strategy for Restoration and Protection of the Chesapeake Bay. While the final Strategy is not significantly different from the draft Strategy, it contains new detail about a watershed-wide nutrient trading program and the independent evaluator.
Since the Order was issued, the federal government has promised to take a strong leadership role in compelling state governments to fulfill a series of broken promises, demanding that states establish deadlines for concrete action that would trigger economic consequences if missed. Given stunning failures in 2000 and 2010 to meet pollution reduction goals, EPA’s commitment to become the enforcer and not just the collaborator with respect to restoration efforts is a welcome—although long overdue—change. However, translating this commitment into action will be a challenge for EPA, which must stand ready to both provide assistance and impose tough consequences.
The developments this week kick off a series of milestones that will play out over the coming months. In August, Bay states and the District of Columbia will submit their Phase I Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs), which will describe how states and the District will achieve their target pollution reductions between now and 2025. In December, EPA will finalize the Bay-wide TMDL, the largest TMDL to date. Meanwhile, in Congress, Senator Cardin is working on securing passage of the Chesapeake Clean Water and Ecosystem Restoration Act.
Collectively, these developments establish a system of accountability that has been missing from past restoration efforts. This accountability system is key: it means that grand but empty promises by states are no longer acceptable and that EPA and the FLC stand ready with both assistance and discipline for states that scoff at their responsibilities. Past Bay restoration efforts ended up being disappointments, leaving the Bay with staggering ecological devastation. We expect more under the leadership of EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, and we expect today’s final Strategy to deliver. To succeed, the Obama Administration will need to continue to exercise leadership on this issue and be willing to hold the states accountable.
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Yee Huang | May 12, 2010
Today marks the one-year anniversary of President Obama’s Executive Order on Chesapeake Bay Restoration and Protection, which commits federal agencies to a new leadership role in Bay restoration. This morning the Federal Leadership Committee, headed by EPA and comprised of many of the major federal agencies, released its final Strategy for Restoration and Protection of […]
Victor Flatt | May 12, 2010
While Kerry and Lieberman (and before two weeks ago, Graham) have tried to pitch the proposed new Senate climate and energy draft legislation as a “game-changer” the truth is that, aside from the stronger preemption language limiting the states, its effect is not terribly different from what has come before. Sure, there are sweeteners for the […]
Victor Flatt | May 12, 2010
The Kerry-Lieberman bill’s provisions on offsets are largely similar to those in the Waxman-Markey and Kerry-Boxer bill, but include a number of changes that make more specific policy choices in the use of offsets. First, the proposal enumerates a specific lengthy list of eligible offset categories (whereas Waxman-Markey didn’t list specific categories, instead giving instruction […]
Alexandra Klass | May 11, 2010
A federal task force of the EPA and a host of federal agencies are currently working on a proposal, due to President Obama by June, on carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) policy; they’re now holding a series of public meetings (for background on CCS generally, see the CPR Perspective I wrote examining some of the arguments […]
Holly Doremus | May 10, 2010
Cross-posted from Legal Planet. As oil drifts on and offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, forcing the closure of wildlife refuges and more fishing grounds, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has called a temporarily halt to new offshore drilling while his staff prepare a report on the disaster and even Republicans in Congress are calling for […]
Matthew Freeman | May 9, 2010
CPR Member Scholar Victor Flatt has an op-ed piece in this morning’s Houston Chronicle, in which he argues that the week of April 20 will likely be recalled as “one of the most pivotal and important weeks in the history of energy in this country,” citing the confluence of the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon […]
Rena Steinzor | May 7, 2010
Our loyal opposition at the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness has engaged in some very creative reading of legal opinions in order to breathe new life into a discredited anti-regulatory tool of the George W. Bush era: the Information Quality Act. This pesky little statute instructs the Office of Management and Budget to “provide policy and procedural […]
Yee Huang | May 7, 2010
Today the Center for Progressive Reform releases a briefing paper on Chesapeake Bay policy in anticipation of the one-year anniversary of President Obama’s Executive Order on Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration. The Choose Clean Water Coalition also today sent a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson stressing that EPA’s strategy for the Bay must have […]
Rena Steinzor | May 7, 2010
This post is written by CPR President Rena Steinzor and CPR Policy Analyst James Goodwin. President Obama appointed Lisa Jackson to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on December 15, 2008. Confirmed by the Senate on January 22, 2009, she is a Cabinet-rank member of the Administration and the first African American to serve as […]