EPA Reaches Settlement in Chesapeake Bay Lawsuit

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Makuch, Joseph" <Joseph.Makuch@ars.usda.gov>
Date: May 12, 2010 4:52 PM
Subject: [ENVIRO-NEWS] EPA Reaches Settlement in Chesapeake Bay Lawsuit
To: <Enviro-News@nal.usda.gov>

From: U.S. EPA [mailto:usaepa@govdelivery.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 2010 12:15 PM
Subject: Water News Release (HQ): EPA Reaches Settlement in Chesapeake
Bay Lawsuit


CONTACT:
Dave Ryan (News Media Only)
Ryan.dave@epa.gov
202-564-7827
202-564-4355

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 11, 2010


EPA Reaches Settlement in Chesapeake Bay Lawsuit

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today
that it reached settlement with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, four
former Maryland, Virginia and Washington,D.C. elected officials, and
organizations representing watermen and sports fishermen in resolving a
lawsuit filed in January 2009 claiming that EPA had failed to take
adequate measures to protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay. The
lawsuit, Fowler v. EPA, is pending in federal district court for the
District of Columbia.

The settlement agreement, negotiated with groups and individuals with a
long history of advocating protection and restoration of the bay, tracks
much of the comprehensive suite of strong regulatory and other actions
that EPA has initiated or pledged to take under the Obama administration
to restore water quality in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.
These actions include establishing the stringent Chesapeake Bay total
maximum daily load (TMDL), putting in place an effective implementation
framework, expanding its review of Chesapeake Bay watershed permits, and
initiating rulemaking for new regulations for concentrated animal
feeding operations and urban and suburban stormwater. The agreement also
includes a commitment to establish a publicly accessible tracking and
accounting  system to monitor progress in reducing pollution through the
TMDL and two-year milestones.

"Because EPA and the co-plaintiffs share the same goals of clean water
in the Chesapeake Bay and the waterways flowing through communities in
the region, we felt that a settlement building on our common goals was
far more positive than defending a lawsuit filed in the Bush
administration " said EPA Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe. "Through
the executive order issued by President Obama, this administration is
committed to making real progress in restoring water quality, and our
strong actions and rigorous accountability system are evidence that EPA
is serious about reducing pollution."

By December 31, 2010, EPA will establish the Chesapeake Bay TMDL, a tool
of the federal Clean Water Act, that sets a strict "pollution diet" to
restore the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. The Chesapeake TMDL will
be the largest and most complex ever developed in the nation, involving
pollution sources throughout a 64,000-square-mile watershed that
includes six states and the District of Columbia. In 2009, EPA announced
that it expects the six watershed states and D.C. to provide detailed
strategies for reducing pollutant loads to meet water quality standards.
EPA also expects detailed schedules for implementing pollution controls
and achieving pollution reductions. Progress will be measured through
milestones every two years, and EPA may take action for inadequate plans
or failure to meet the milestones.

Tomorrow, EPA will be announcing the final federal strategy for the
Chesapeake Bay, implementing the president's executive order. Many of
the commitments in the settlement agreement will be reflected in the
strategy.

More information about the TMDL is available at:
http://www.epa.gov/chesapeakebaytmdl/

R155
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