Mikulski release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
16-Oct-2009
CONTACT: Press Office
202-228-1122
Mikulski Announces More Than $15 Million for U.S. Army Corps Eastern Shore Projects, Bay Priorities in Appropriations Bill
WASINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced Senate passage of the 2010 Energy and Water Development Conference Report. The bill includes more than $15 million for Eastern Shore priorities. It now heads to the President to be signed into law.

“The Chesapeake Bay is part of who we are as Marylanders – it is part of our heritage and part of our culture – and it’s our greatest natural resource. This funding is a federal investment in the lives and livelihoods that depend on the Bay,” Senator Mikulski said. “I will continue to fight to keep the Bay and Eastern Shore communities priorities in the federal checkbook.”

The bill includes:

• $8 million for the continuation of the Poplar Island environmental restoration project, which involves taking clean dredged materials from the shipping lanes leading to the Port of Baltimore and using it to stabilize the shoreline, create habitat areas, and restore the wetlands of one of the Chesapeake Bay’s most valuable island ecosystems in Talbot County.

• $2.9 million for storm protection on Maryland’s Atlantic Coast to safeguard Ocean City and Worcester County from hurricanes, coastal flooding and erosion. This project protects the residents of the County as well as billions of dollars in public and private infrastructure and jobs.

• $2 million for the Chesapeake Bay Oyster Restoration program to continue efforts to increase the oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay by restoring oyster habitat, creating new reefs, and planting disease-free oysters on the reefs.

• $656,000 to dredge the Ocean City Harbor and Inlet in Worcester County. The Ocean City Harbor and Inlet serves several packing houses, offshore commercial fishing fleets, marinas and recreational vessels. It also is port for a U.S. Coast Guard station that dispatches search and rescues missions to the Atlantic.

• $1 million for dredging of Somerset County Channels to maintain the proper depth and width required in waterways to support the livelihood of the local watermen and the seafood industry.

• $800,000 for Assateague Island in Worcester County for restoration efforts that will protect the northern end of the island and its fragile habitat from erosion.

• $314,000 for the Mid-Chesapeake Bay Island Study, which is examining the potential beneficial use of placing clean dredged material from the Port of Baltimore’s shipping channels to restore the habitat and protect the shoreline of James and Barren Islands in Dorchester County.

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Press Release of Senator Cardin
CARDIN, O’MALLEY, CUMMINGS, VAN HOLLEN AND REGIONAL PARTNERS DETAIL NEW LEGISLATION TO RESTORE THE CHESAPEAKE WATERSHED

Amendment to the Clean Water Act bolsters clean-up efforts with $1.5 billion in new grant authority and strong enforcement

Contact: Sue Walitsky: 202-224-4524
Monday, October 19, 2009

Click here for associated multimedia.
Annapolis, MD – Standing steps from the shore of the Chesapeake Bay at Sandy Point State Park, U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), joined with Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, Congressman Elijah Cummings (MD-7), Congressman Chris Van Hollen (MD-8), and Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources L. Preston Bryant who represented Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine, Chair of the Bay Program’s Executive Council, to outline the details of federal legislation to greatly expand federal resources available for restoring the health of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Also participating in today’s announcement were National Wildlife Federation’s Tony Caligiuri, a co-chair of the 103-group strong Chesapeake Bay Watershed Coalition, and Luke Brubaker, owner of Brubaker Farms of Mt. Joy, PA.

The Chesapeake Clean Water and Ecosystem Act of 2009, which will be introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senator Cardin with original co-sponsor Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD), reauthorizes the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Chesapeake Bay Program and gives state and local governments of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed expanded authority, $1.5 billion in new grant authorization, and strong new enforcement tools, to help restore the Bay’s health. Congressman Cummings plans to introduce companion legislation in the House of Representatives later this week.

“Today we take a major step forward in writing the next chapter in the history of one of America’s most cherished and celebrated bodies of water – the Chesapeake Bay. In developing this important legislation, we listened carefully to our watershed partners, our watermen, our farmers, and others whose livelihood depends on a viable Chesapeake. The result is a robust plan that will put us on a realistic but aggressive path to restoring the Bay to a healthy state that can sustain native fish, wildlife, farmland, and our regional economy,” said Senator Cardin, chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Water and Wildlife Subcommittee.

“We must do all we can to protect our natural resources, particularly Maryland’s treasured Chesapeake Bay,” said Governor O’Malley. “Senator Cardin’s leadership on this issue is exemplary, and this bill will bring a new level of accountability and efficiency to our clean-up efforts in order to restore the Bay for future generations of Marylanders.”

“It is my pleasure to sponsor the bill complementing Senator Cardin’s in the House. The Chesapeake Bay is the dominant natural feature and natural resource in our area and every effort we can put forth, toward cleaning and restoring the waters of the Bay, is critical. The efforts in this bill to create an equitable reduction of pollution will help achieve that goal by our target date of 2025,” said Congressman Cummings. “I often say that our children are the living messages we send to a future we will never see. This cleanup effort will be our message to those children. We cared enough about their future to ensure a cleaner, more pristine environment in which they could live.”

“The Chesapeake Bay is the most studied body of water in the world. As a result, we know what the problem is, where it comes from, and what we need to do to correct it. Yet we continue to devise restoration plans and consistently fail to adhere to them. To really have a meaningful impact on the Bay we must have the resolve to take aggressive action. This legislation provides both the carrots and the sticks that will enable us to meet our goals, and I strongly endorse it and applaud my colleagues for their work,” said Congressman Chris Van Hollen.

“The Chesapeake Bay is a national treasure – and Maryland’s greatest natural resource. For 20 years, I’ve been fighting to restore the health of the Bay. This legislation will ensure accountability and efficiency as we speed Bay clean-up, and help bring us closer to all we’ve worked for – a brighter day for the Bay. I will always fight for the Bay and the lives and livelihoods that depend on it,” Senator Mikulski said.

“I’m proud of what the Chesapeake Bay Program partners have accomplished in the past year — including setting aggressive two-year milestones to accelerate our progress in improving the health of Bay waters and committing to completing our restoration efforts by no later than 2025,” said Governor Kaine. “I applaud Senator Cardin’s leadership on this legislation and his willingness to work so closely with the Commonwealth. This bill will take our collective Bay restoration effort to the next level by holding states accountable for progress — while providing new tools to accomplish our clean-up goals in the process.”

With generous federal assistance, states will have the ability to set and meet enforceable targets of success by 2025. The bill also establishes a flexible pollution trading program that is designed to lower compliance costs while also providing Bay watershed farmers with added financial incentives to implement conservation practices on their lands. In addition, the bill puts the force of law behind a recent Executive Order from President Obama that requires every federal department to work toward Bay restoration.

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in North America, with a length of 200 miles and 11,684 miles of tidal shoreline, more than the entire U.S. West Coast. About 100,000 streams and rivers thread through the Chesapeake’s 64,000-square-mile watershed, which is home to almost 17 million people across Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. The Chesapeake Bay supports more than 3,600 species of plants, fish and animals.

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Sarbanes release

SARBANES’ BILL TO INCREASE FUNDING FOR THE CHESAPEAKE BAY PASSES THE HOUSE – 9/30/2009

Washington, DC – Today, the Chesapeake Bay Science, Education and Ecosystem Enhancement Act of 2009, which reauthorizes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Chesapeake Bay Office, passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 338-78.

This bill will focus the relevant science, research and resource management capabilities of NOAA as they apply to the Chesapeake Bay. It strengthens and enhances NOAA’s commitment to further scientific data collection, develop fishery management practices and habitat restoration and supports environmental education programs.

“NOAA provides much of the scientific expertise that must underpin efforts to restore the Bay,” said Congressman John Sarbanes. ”Their continued participation in the cleanup effort will help ensure that families and generations to come are able to enjoy the Bay,”

The bill achieves four main objectives:

• Increases collaboration between the various programs and activities further NOAA’s coastal resource stewardship mission.

• Authorizes the Chesapeake Bay Interpretative Buoy system which is a system of buoys reports real-time weather and environmental information such as wind speed, temperature, and wave height. The buoys also provide information about John Smith’s adventures during his 1608 voyage.

• Strengthens the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) Program which is a competitively based program that supports existing environmental education programs, fosters the growth of new programs, and encourages the development of partnerships among environmental education programs throughout the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed. This program furthers NOAA’s commitment to educational programs.

• Assists watermen on the Chesapeake by expanding technical assistance that NOAA offers on helping the watermen develop aquaculture programs. The bill expands the expertise the NOAA offers beyond native oyster populations to include fish and shellfish aquaculture. It also promotes submerged aquatic vegetation propagation programs which act as natural filters for the Chesapeake Bay.

O’Malley press release:

Governor Martin O’Malley Calls Maryland Citizens to Action for the Bay
O’Malley discusses “Tipping Point” strategy with scientists on tour of Bush River

HARFORD COUNTY, MD (May 11, 2009) – On the eve of the 26th Chesapeake Executive Council Meeting, Governor Martin O’Malley and senior advisors toured the Bush River aboard the R.V. Rachel Carson to discuss two new strategies to accelerate Bay restoration in Maryland. Citing what scientists call a “tipping point” – a stage at which progress within a tributary can begin to promote self-healing – the Governor announced plans for a major new outreach effort to enlist local governments, businesses and citizens to take a more active role in restoring the health of Maryland’s waterways.

“For Marylanders, the Bay is not merely something we drive over on our way to the ocean,” said the Governor. “The Bay is alive in the creeks, streams and rivers that run through our neighborhoods and our open spaces. The Bay puts crabs and oysters on our tables and brings tourism dollars into our State’s economy. All Maryland families – even those who do not live within the watershed – benefit from what the Chesapeake brings to our great State.”

At tomorrow’s Executive Council meeting, Governor O’Malley will announce Maryland’s new 2-year milestones, short term goals developed over the past several months by the Governor and his BayStat team to better target, focus and accelerate efforts on the ground, and measure results.

“We have spent too much time focusing on missed long term goals, bad report cards, and lack of resources,” the Governor continued. “Now is the time to hold ourselves accountable for what we can each do, while on this planet, to make a difference.”

“The programming changes called for under these new milestones will not only create a new level of accountability and new sense of urgency, they will greatly accelerate our ability to achieve a new Bay-wide nutrient reduction implementation end date,” added DNR Secretary John Griffin.

The tipping point theory the group discussed today reinforces the need for targeting resources and efforts in individual tributaries or sub-watersheds, where they can have the greatest impact and jump start recovery in these smaller systems.

According to the 2008 Chesapeake Bay Habitat Health Report Card recently issued by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences (UMCES), in some cases tributaries adjacent to one another are demonstrating different, diverging trends.

“It seems that some river systems may have reached a tipping point, where self-reinforcing elements within the ecosystem are working to maintain either positive or negative trends,” explained Don Boesch, President of UMCES. “An increase in underwater bay grasses can promote the growth of more bay grasses, improving water clarity, increasing oxygen levels and providing better habitat for fish and crabs.”

For example, while the Bush River in the Upper Western Bay is seeing signs of improvement, the adjacent Upper Eastern Shore tributaries, such as the Sassafras, are continuing to degrade. Scientists are still developing more precise information on the actual nutrient loadings that constitute a tipping point for a specific river system, however, they believe it can propel large-scale changes.

Through BayStat, the O’Malley-Brown Administration has already made significant changes in how Maryland tracks, targets and funds Bay restoration programs – placing new emphasis on best management practices that are most cost effective, and geographically targeting programs to generate the greatest benefit.

To enlist every Maryland citizen in the charge to create a smarter, greener more sustainable future for the State and the Bay, Governor O’Malley has tasked his BayStat team with developing a grass roots action plan to include: expanded roles for Maryland’s Tributary Team and Soil Conservation Districts; heightened engagement by county and municipal leaders in implementing the State’s tributary strategies; and a citizens’ call to undertake specific actions that will contribute to local restoration.

“Just as the Bay’s problems are man-made, so too are their solutions,” said Governor O’Malley. “Working together as One Maryland, getting our hands dirty and our boots wet, we can realize a restored Chesapeake Bay that we will be proud to leave as a legacy to our children.”

Press Release of Senator Cardin

CARDIN SAYS AGGRESSIVE ACTION NEEDED TO RESTORE THE HEALTH OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY

Contact: Susan Sullam: 410-962-4436
Monday, April 20, 2009

Annapolis, MD – U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), Chairman of the Water and Wildlife Subcommittee of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW), led a hearing today in Annapolis to receive a status report on the health of the Chesapeake Bay and recommendations on the reauthorization of the Chesapeake Bay Program administered by the Environmental Protection Agency. Full statements and testimony will be available at http://epw.senate.gov.

“The Chesapeake Bay is in trouble. There are millions more of us, and the size of our impact on the Bay watershed has grown twice as fast as our population rate. As we move closer to submitting legislation to reauthorize the EPA’s Chesapeake Bay Program under the Clean Water Act, it is clear that significant action is needed to make significant improvements. Merely fine tuning the program will not be good enough to achieve the level of success required to control pollution, to restore water quality, and to see the living resources of the Bay return in abundance,” said Chairman Cardin.

“Time is not on our side. The longer we wait to take aggressive action to curb control pollution and restore water quality, the steeper the task ahead. A recent report from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science finds that the ecological health of the Chesapeake Bay remains poor. The Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries are unhealthy primarily because of pollution from excess nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment entering the water. The main sources of these pollutants are agriculture, urban and suburban runoff, wastewater from sewage treatment plants, and airborne contaminants. The Bay continues to have poor water quality, degraded habitats and low populations of many species of fish and shellfish.

“Despite the recent findings, without the Chesapeake Bay Program, the health of the Chesapeake would undoubtedly be worse than it is today. In fact, the Bay Program has played a critical role in stemming the tide of pollution. The Bay Program is a model for the National Estuaries Programs that are helping curb pollution from Casco Bay in Maine to San Francisco Estuary in California. Any success that these programs have had is because, like the Chesapeake Bay Program, they focus on the entire watershed, they involve all the key stakeholders, and they are based on sound science.

“The Chesapeake Bay is a national treasure and vital to the health of our region’s economy. Building on our success in the last Congress during which we secured the largest infusion of federal funds ever for pollution abatement in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, I look forward to working with the President Obama and the EPA as partners in crafting new solutions to the persistent problems we face.”

The Chesapeake Bay Program is a unique regional partnership that, since 1983, has coordinated the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. Partners include the states of Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia; the District of Columbia; the Chesapeake Bay Commission, a tri-state legislative body; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, representing the federal government; and participating advisory groups.

Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in North America, with a length of 200 miles and 11,684 miles of tidal shoreline, more than the entire U.S. West Coast. About 100,000 streams and rivers thread through the Chesapeake’s 64,000-square-mile watershed, which is home to almost 17 million people. The Chesapeake Bay supports more than 3,600 species of plants, fish and animals.