President Barack Obama last week signed an executive order creating a Federal Leadership Committee for the Chesapeake Bay to be chaired by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The executive order calls for EPA and six other federal agencies to coordinate and expand federal tools and resources to help speed cleanup of the nation’s largest estuary.
President Barack Obama last week signed an executive order creating a Federal Leadership Committee for the Chesapeake Bay to be chaired by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The executive order calls for EPA and six other federal agencies to coordinate and expand federal tools and resources to help speed cleanup of the nation’s largest estuary.
At a meeting of the Chesapeake Bay Program Executive Council at Mount Vernon, Va., EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson presented the executive order. EPA will manage new plans by a team of seven federal agencies to strengthen and bring accountability to efforts to protect and restore the bay.
!ADVERTISEMENT!
Jackson announced that EPA’s renewed commitment to bay restoration will include:
* a bay-wide set of strict pollution caps backed by state action plans and federal consequences to assure progress;
* sharp reductions in air pollutants that impact the bay;
* robust use of existing authorities;
* key funding support, and
* unrivaled scientific and technical assistance.
