The Chesapeake Bay is our state’s single most important natural resource.  It provides a foundation for the ecological and economic health of the entire mid-Atlantic region.  While we have made great strides in restoring the Bay, it’s clear that more must be done.

 Restoring the Bay is an ongoing process that takes a constant commitment from the state and federal governments.  I recently joined with Maryland’s First Congressional District U.S. Rep. Wayne Gilchrest in introducing The Chesapeake Bay Restoration Enhancement Act, HR 4126, which builds on the 2000 Chesapeake Bay Agreement.

The original Chesapeake Bay Agreement was signed in 1983 by Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Over the last two decades, we have joined with Delaware, West Virginia and New York in building a partnership to protect and restore the entire Bay watershed.

 The 2000 Chesapeake Bay Agreement focused particular attention on the rivers and tributaries that feed the Bay’s watershed.  It calls for reducing pollution in the Bay by 2010, with the goal of getting the Bay off the Environmental Protection Agency’s “dirty waters” list. 

 We still have a lot to do.  In the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s annual State of the Bay Report in 2004, it gave the health of the Bay a grade of D -- the same grade it got in 2003.  That is simply unacceptable.

 The bill that I have sponsored would:

· Create a new, annual tributary heath report card for the major rivers and tributaries that feed into the Chesapeake Bay;
· Require water quality standards and best management strategies for Bay tributaries that will be included in the Clean Water Act for point and non-point source pollution;
· Increase funding for local project grants; and,
· Require the federal government to identify all Chesapeake Bay spending to maximize project success. 

Efforts to protect and restore the Bay’s ecosystem face an array of challenges, particularly increased population growth and development in the Bay’s watershed.  If we are going to succeed in having the Bay removed from the EPA’s dirty water list, we must redouble our efforts to clean up the Bay’s many rivers and tributaries.  It’s a big commitment, but one that is well worth it and one that future generations will appreciate.

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