By Bella DeCrescenzo
As the Trump administration is repealing a years-old executive order to protect the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland officials are expressing indignation and worry about the future health of the ecosystem.
The Trump directive claims the original Obama-era executive order was unclear and imposed onerous financial burdens. Through a new executive order, Trump is dissolving the Federal Leadership Committee for the Chesapeake Bay, encouraging the use of “proven water management practices” and calling for the repeal of stormwater management fees.
“The Administration is ensuring taxpayer dollars are used efficiently by consolidating and cutting unnecessary administrative costs while improving the work toward Chesapeake Bay Restoration goals,” White House Spokeswoman Taylor Rogers wrote in a statement to Capital News Service.
But Maryland delegation members are condemning Trump’s executive order.
“This decision is shortsighted and harmful to our communities. Make no mistake: the Chesapeake Bay is a national treasure. And we will continue to fight for it,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement.
The previous executive order, signed by former President Barack Obama, called the Chesapeake Bay a “national treasure” that was polluted by runoff from surrounding city streets, development sites and sewage treatment plants.
The 2009 executive order established the Federal Leadership Committee for the Chesapeake Bay to oversee the development and implementation of federal agencies’ plans to restore and protect the bay.
In their statement, Maryland delegation members said the 2009 order provided “vital federal resources” to support bay improvement efforts.
The delegation said that removing federal support for Chesapeake Bay initiatives “risks undermining the future health of the bay along with the businesses and communities that depend on it.”
Leaders of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, a conservation organization dedicated to the Chesapeake Bay, said the new executive order seemingly only focuses on water quality, rather than the ecosystem and community as a whole.
“When you are only focusing on water quality, you’re not focusing on payments to farmers, oysters, crabs and all of the critical species that sit in the Chesapeake Bay,”
Hilary Harp Falk, the president and CEO of the CBF, said during a press call in September. “I think we’re really concerned about the investments, especially federal investment, that have been part of our long-term success.”
