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This just in from Chesapeake Bay Foundation's (CBF) President, Will Baker:
CBF and our partner co-plaintiffs* have reached an agreement with EPA that successfully ends our lawsuit.
You may remember that we filed suit against the Bush Administration’s EPA for failure to enforce the Clean Water Act.
Critics said we were out of our minds, that it was just a PR stunt. They spoke too quickly.
After months of intense negotiations, EPA has agreed to a legally binding settlement that requires mandatory, not voluntary, pollution reductions. It spells out EPA’s leadership responsibilities, requires specific pollution reductions with deadlines, and imposes consequences for failure. If the Agency fails to uphold the agreement, we will go back to court to enforce it.
One of the top environmental legal scholars in the country, Jon Cannon (UVA’s Director, Environmental and Land Use Law Program) said, “The settlement between EPA, CBF, and the co-plaintiffs raises the bar for governmental commitment to restore the Bay. The settlement helps ensure, on an ongoing basis, that EPA will play its essential role in setting targets for Bay restoration and holding the states accountable. This is an excellent outcome and marks a further strengthening of our collective resolve to reverse the Bay’s decline.”
We commend EPA’s Administrator Lisa Jackson and her team for their leadership. And we thank our seven co-plaintiffs for their determination.
Is the job done? No. Reducing pollution throughout a 64,000 square mile watershed is not accomplished with the stroke of a pen. But today, we celebrate. Tomorrow, we’ll roll up our sleeves and get back to work. We must pass the Chesapeake Clean Water Act this year, prevent the kind of disaster on the Gulf coast from ever happening here, and rebuild nature’s natural filters. And that’s just the beginning!
*Special thanks to our co-plaintiffs: Former Maryland Governor Harry Hughes, retired Maryland Senator Bernie Fowler, former Washington D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, former Virginia legislator and Natural Resources Secretary Tayloe Murphy, the Virginia State Waterman’s Association, the Maryland Watermen’s Association, and the Maryland Saltwater Sportsfisherman’s Association.
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Awesome
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Pacemaker wrote:
After months of intense negotiations, EPA has agreed to a legally binding settlement that requires mandatory, not voluntary, pollution reductions. It spells out EPA’s leadership responsibilities, requires specific pollution reductions with deadlines, and imposes consequences for failure. If the Agency fails to uphold the agreement, we will go back to court to enforce it.
Not to pooh on the parade, but the EPA is one of the biggest beaurocracies in the U.S. Gov't. It moves slower than the snails in Cedar Lake. In the end, it is the current Administrations (under Obama) PR move..........to show a "green" agenda to the public. I expect they will be back in court down the road.
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perhaps the path remains obstructed, with so many competing interests, all hoping to preserve a way of life.
jobs, property rights, business realities, all funneling down the watershed and out to sea
yet would any man stand up to say he opposes revitalizing the resource?
we think not
i am grateful to see the dialogue continue, due to the efforts of conscientious citizenry, i think again of my role
in this play.
my behaviour, barely consequential in itself, is nonetheless critical in either improving or exacerbating this state of affairs
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Jeffie- you are totally correct! If I pick up trash while out on the water, it makes barely a notice but if I can help others see to it to do the same, maybe a difference is made.
The above is simply a step, one of many. They clearly say that job is not done yet.
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