Spring 2024
Bay Programs Dodge Budget Cuts
Important programs that fund Bay restoration efforts were spared from cuts in the fiscal year 2024 budget deal Congress reached in March. The EPA Chesapeake Bay Program's budget for fiscal year 2024 is $92 million, the same as fiscal year 2023. The program coordinates the many federal, state, and local governments, nonprofit groups, and education institutions that comprise the partnership to save the Bay and its waterways.
The Chesapeake Watershed Investments for Landscape Defense (WILD) grant program also remains funded at last year's level, eight million dollars. Administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service, Chesapeake WILD grants support locally led initiatives to conserve habitat for native fish and wildlife such as blue crabs, freshwater mussels, and ruffed grouse. Army Corps of Engineers funding for large-scale oyster recovery efforts in Maryland and Virginia remains at $6.45 million.
And in a win for fisheries, the Department of Agriculture got one million dollars to control invasive blue catfish, voracious predators that threaten native species. To help bring more of these fish to market, the department got another $500,000 to increase inspections and three million dollars for grants to processing facilities.
Bipartisan Bills Would Renew Conservation Efforts
Bipartisan legislation introduced in Congress would extend three federal programs essential to restoring the Bay and its rivers and streams, conserving wildlife habitat, and boosting public access to this national treasure. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Tom Carper (D-DE) and Ranking Member Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) introduced the America's Conservation Enhancement (ACE) Reauthorization Act in February and considered the bill in committee in March.
The bill would extend programs in the original ACE Act of 2020, including EPA's Chesapeake Bay Program, the Fish and Wildlife Services Chesapeake WILD grant program, and the National Park Service's Chesapeake Gateways Program. Companion legislation was introduced in the House by Chesapeake Bay Task Force Co-Chairmen Representatives Rob Wittman (R-VA), Bobby Scott (D-VA), and John Sarbanes (D-MD).
New Soot Limits Will Benefit Bay Region
EPA released long-awaited stronger limits on air pollution from soot and other fine particles in February that will protect people's health and help reduce excess nitrogen pollution reaching the Bay and its tributaries. Out waters are vulnerable to dirty air coming from as far away as the Midwest and Canada. Too much nitrogen fuels the growth of oxygen-deprived dead zones that kill oysters, crabs, and other aquatic life vital to the region's economy.
The tighter standards will particularly help communities already overburdened by pollution from multiple sources, such as industrial facilities, power plants, gas pipelines, busy highways, and large poultry operations. Reducing soot pollution will also provide relief to children, older adults, and people suffering from lung or heart disease. CBF has been part of a coalition of environmental and public health groups pressing EPA for more protective soot controls since the agency decided in 2020 not to update standards set back in 2012.
—Keisha Sedlacek
Federal Director
Chesapeake Bay Foundation
