From Chesapeake Bay Foundation…

CBF Outlines Plan to Help Pennsylvania Meet Federal Bay Cleanup Standards

(Rock Springs, PA) - Matt Ehrhart, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Office of Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) today provided testimony before the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee Members during the annual Ag Progress Days event.

For his complete testimony, go here>>

Beware Legislation That Would Kill the Bay Cleanup Dressed Up As an “Improvement”

A cow wearing false eyelashes is still not a good dance partner.

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell recently endorsed a proposed bill called the Chesapeake Bay Reauthorization and “Improvement” Act.

For full article, go here>>

admin Chesapeake Bay Add new tag, agriculture, Chesapeake Bay, clean water, stormwater best management practices, stormwater legislation, stormwater runoff, stormwater standards, TMDL, water quality, watershed protection

PHILADELPHIA — The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency announced draft sediment limits as the next step in establishing the Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs) for the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL).  The TMDL is a rigorous pollution diet for meeting the water quality standards in the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries, and restoring local rivers and streams throughout the 64,000-square-mile watershed.

For more details from PA DEP, go here>>

admin Chesapeake Bay Chesapeake Bay, pollution diet, pollution reduction, sediment, TMDL, total daily maximum load, water quality, water quality standards, WIP

In recognition that urban stormwater discharges are a significant cause of water quality impairment in the mid-Atlantic region and the Chesapeake Bay Watershed–and one of the only sources of pollutants with increasing loads to the Bay and its tributaries–the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recently issued new guidance on improving the effectiveness of NPDES permits in an attempt “to consolidate and optimize all of the authorities and tools available to permitting authorities.”

The primary purpose of the Urban Stormwater Approach for the Mid-Atlantic region and the Chesapeake Bay Watershed is to clarify for NPDES Program Managers the expectations for the issuance of MS4 Permits that are clear, enforceable, and consistent with applicable regulations and will contribute to meeting the water quality objectives of the Clean Water Act (CWA), including relevant wasteload allocations.

This “Approach” offers guidance to States in order to support state actions to improve municipal stormwater permit programs, as noted in Executive Order 13508, Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay.

Download the guidance document here >>

admin Chesapeake Bay, NPDES / MS4 BMPs, Chesapeake Bay, clean water, Clean Water Act, CWA, erosion and sediment control, MS4, Nonpoint source pollution, NPDES, stormwater, stormwater legislation, TMDL, US EPA, wasteload allocations, water quality, watershed protection

(PHILADELPHIA - August 6, 2010)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced it has sent orders to four south central Pennsylvania municipalities requiring improvements to their respective Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) programs. Orders went to Silver Spring Township and Lower Allen Township in Cumberland County, and Wyomissing Borough and West Reading Borough in Berks County. EPA issued similar orders last April to 79 other municipalities in this south central part of the state, an area that drains to the Chesapeake Bay.

These orders are needed because improperly managed stormwater can wash harmful pollutants into local streams and rivers. EPA is committed to bringing these municipalities into compliance for the health of local waterways in Pennsylvania and the Chesapeake Bay.

–Shawn M. Garvin, Regional Administrator for EPA’s mid-Atlantic region

Complete details can be found here>>

admin Chesapeake Bay, NPDES / MS4 Chesapeake Bay, erosion and sediment control, MS4, Nonpoint source pollution, NPDES, stormwater legislation, stormwater runoff, US EPA

From the Daily Press: State officials say Chesapeake Bay Foundation analysis is not fair.

As the McDonnell administration criticizes the federal government’s effort to intensify Chesapeake Bay restoration, environmental advocates warn that Virginia is failing to reach early pollution reduction goals.  Virginia is lacking in creating forest and grass buffers, and in controlling fertilizer runoff from urban and suburban sources, such as golf courses and manicured lawns.

For entire article, go here>>

From Delmarva Now: Chesapeake Bay swimming holes outdo toilet bowls in bacteria count.

College Park, MD - Swimming in the rivers that feed the Chesapeake Bay after a hard rain could be as hazardous to your health as hopping into an unflushed toilet.  Water samples before and after significant rainfall at seven beaches and recreation spots along five rivers that feed the Chesapeake Bay.  The goal was to gauge the impact of storm water — one of the fastest-growing pollution sources in the Chesapeake Bay — on bacteria levels in the water.

To plunge in to the article, go here>>

From PA Environmental Digest: EPA Chesapeake Bay Program Funds 11 Restoration Projects, Only One In Pennsylvania.

Eleven innovative environmental projects throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed will reduce an estimated 1.5 million pounds of nitrogen, 51,000 pounds of phosphorus and 20,000 pounds of sediment from entering the Bay and its local waterways with $5.8 million in grants through the Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction Program. Only one of those projects, $400,000 for implementing six highly visible green infrastructure projects to reduce stormwater infiltration in the City of Lancaster, is in Pennsylvania.

For full article, go here>>

admin Chesapeake Bay Chesapeake Bay, erosion and sediment control, fertilizer, forest buffers, nutrient reduction, sediment reductions, stormwater, stormwater runoff, water quality, watershed protection