President Obama Issues Chesapeake Bay Executive Order

May 2009 -- On May 12, President Obama signed an Executive Order that calls on the federal government to lead the effort to control pollution that flows to the Chesapeake Bay and protect wildlife habitats in the region.

The Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration Executive Order establishes a Federal Leadership Committee that will oversee the development and coordination of reporting, data management and other programs and activities by agencies involved with Bay restoration. The committee will be chaired by the EPA and include senior representatives from the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security, the Interior, Transportation and others.

The Executive Order requires that these agencies prepare and submit within 120 days draft reports that make recommendations to:

• Define the next generation of tools and actions to clean up the Bay and describe the changes to be made to regulations, programs and policies to implement these actions.
• Target resources to better protect the Bay and its rivers.
• Strengthen stormwater management practices for federal facilities and federal land within the Bay watershed and develop a best practices guide for reducing polluted runoff.
• Assess the impacts of climate change on the Bay and develop a strategy for adapting to these impacts.
• Expand public access to the Bay and its rivers on federal lands.
• Expand environmental research, monitoring and observation to strengthen scientific support for decision-making on Bay restoration issues.
• Develop focused and coordinated habitat and research activities.

Federal agencies will work extensively with the state governments of the seven Bay jurisdictions -- Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia -- in preparing their reports and strategies.

Beginning in 2010, the Federal Leadership Committee will publish an annual Chesapeake Bay Action Plan that describes how federal funding will be put toward Bay restoration in the upcoming year.

Get more details about the Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration Executive Order from the White House’s website.