Chesapeake Bay environment and water quality blog

2014-2015 Federal Water Quality Milestones

Posted on January 13, 2014 Updated on January 13, 2014

President Obama signed an executive order for the protection and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay in May 2009. This order brings together groups such as the EPA, USDA, NOAA and other agencies across the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Transportation, Homeland Security, and the Department of Interior. The Committee created by this Order publishes an annual action plan and progress report. The committee has also established goals for water quality to be reached by 2025, with two year milestone reports published in the interim. The 2014 action plan has yet to be released, but the water quality milestones report for 2014-2015 is now available. (Chesapeake Bay Executive Order). 

The report is an overview of steps to be made in the next two years broken down by section. The milestone sections include agriculture, atmosphere, stormwater, septic systems, toxins, trading and offsets programs (ie. nitrogen trading), regulatory enforcement, and the EPA’s financial support to the six states and D.C., in the watershed.

I am particularly interested in:

• the 2014 goal to establish State Implementation Plan revisions to reduce NOx emissions (atmosphere)
• the development of stormwater BMPs (stormwater)
• USDA studies on agricultural BMPs and estimates of nutrient/sediment reductions from conservation practices (agriculture)