DELMARVA – President Trump is repealing an executive order from 2009 dedicated to protecting and restoring the Chesapeake Bay.
Today, he published his own executive order stating EO 13508 was a broad mandate that did not provide “clarity on how to implement that order’s requirements.”
His office calls the federal requirements “vague and confusing,” and that these requirements have allowed state and local governments to enact stormwater management fees, or ‘rain taxes,’ that raise costs for American households.
The 2009 EO, issued by then-President Barack Obama, looked to restore Chesapeake Bay water quality, create agricultural practices to protect the Bay, reduce water pollution from federal lands and facilities, protect the Bay as the climate changes, expand public access to the Bay and conserve ecosystems, and more.
The Trump Administration acknowledges that federal, state, and local government programs have significantly improved the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay over the years, but they say “future actions and best practices are needed to continue promoting the economic health and well-being of the communities the Chesapeake Bay serves.”
Rep. Andy Harris, who represents Maryland’s Eastern Shore, said Thursday that he believes Maryland has already made significant efforts toward cleaning up the Bay and that other watershed states need to contribute as well.
“I think Maryland has done more than its fair share of cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay,” Harris said. “And we are depending on our northern neighbors to help us in that.”
However, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation says today’s executive order dismantles a key part of the framework that helped reduce pollution and restore the Bay.
“The Trump Administration has repeatedly and unsuccessfully tried to slash funding for Chesapeake Bay restoration. Now they are trying to destroy Bay restoration by executive order,” says Chesapeake Bay Foundation President and CEO Hilary Harp Falk. “For 17 years, the 2009 executive order has helped provide the federal leadership, coordination, science and accountability needed to restore the Chesapeake Bay.”
Harp Falk says replacing the original executive order undermines the federal government’s role in protecting the Bay while also eroding the ability of state and local governments to fix problems ranging from pollution to flooding.
During a news conference Thursday, Harp Falk said the Foundation is still determining exactly what the change could mean on the ground, but raised concerns about federal investments affecting agriculture and Bay species.
“When you’re 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,” Harp Falk said. “And so I think we are really concerned about the investments, especially federal investment that’s been part of our long-term success.”
President Trump’s Order directs various federal leaders, like the Secretary of Agriculture, to focus resources provided for the health of the Bay on “direct, on-the-ground projects” that would create the most-impactful water quality improvements.
