The Problem
The Chesapeake Bay is a national treasure of immense recreational, cultural, and historic value. It is an economic engine estimated to be worth more than $1 trillion. But the Bay and the rivers and streams that feed it are, for the most part, horribly polluted, functioning at only about one quarter of its potential, and officially listed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as "impaired." After years of broken promises and unfulfilled commitments, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get the Bay on a path to recovery.
The Solution
The Chesapeake Clean Water Act (CCWA) is a bi-partisan, historic step forward in protecting the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers and streams. This is the strongest legislation to protect a single body of water in the history of our country and gets us back on track to cleaning up the Bay by:
- Developing a comprehensive approach to reduce stormwater pollution in new construction over a certain size:
This will provide certainty for the business community and achieve real progress in addressing stormwater, the only source of pollution still growing.
- Helping state and local governments by approximately tripling EPA clean water funding going to the Bay watershed states over the next six years and tying a portion of that funding to performance:
Gives incentives for progress through increased federal funding. New funds, along with the credit trading provisions of the legislation, will reduce pollution, create jobs, and boost local economies.
- Holding government accountable:
Withholds funding to states that fail to develop and implement pollution-reduction plans sufficient to protect water quality.
- Reducing pollution loads from federal facilities:
Ensures the federal government’s actions match its words by requiring all federal facilities and buildings to reduce their pollution load sufficient to help protect the Bay.
- Banning phosphorus in detergents and other cleaners:
Prohibits the use of phosphorus in household and industrial detergents and cleaning agents, which are significant sources of phosphorus pollution.
The Bay and the rivers and streams that feed it can’t take additional delay, which is why the Chesapeake Bay Foundation is working tirelessly to strengthen and pass this legislation before the end of this Congress. With your help, we will fend off special-interest attempts to weaken or kill the bill, tell Congress that their constituents demand clean water, and advocate for successful passage of the Chesapeake Clean Water Act.