capt.george
12-28-2010, 06:16 AM
!Chesapeake bill dies on Capitol Hill
Act all but doomed in lame-duck session
By PAMELA WOOD, Staff Writer
Congressmen and Senators went home for the holidays without considering a bill aimed at boosting efforts to restore the health of the Chesapeake Bay.
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In the rush to deal with topics as varied as gays in the military and an arms-reduction treaty, members of Congress passed over the Chesapeake Clean Water Act, which was folded into a larger bill called the America's Great Outdoors Act.
Senate leaders could not get enough votes to prevent a filibuster on the America's Great Outdoors Act, effectively dooming it in the lame-duck session.
"I'm very disappointed. It was very important for the bay, it was very important for the states," said U.S. Sen. Benjamin Cardin, Md., who co-sponsored the bill with U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, of Baltimore, a fellow Democrat.
The Chesapeake Clean Water Act would have put into law many of the bay cleanup actions already under way by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It also would have launched a nutrient-trading program for farmers and poured more money into the cleanup effort.
The bill, however, divided environmentalists.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation was a major backer of the bill and lobbied for it.
While disappointed, bay foundation Vice President Roy Hoagland said he was pleased the bill got so much attention.
"To have moved this legislation from nowhere to the center of the political debate at a national level is just a huge accomplishment," he said.
The region's riverkeepers, however, felt the bill was weakened too much during the Senate committee process.
And the bill drew strong opposition from farming groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation. The farm bureau said the Chesapeake Clean Water Act would fundamentally change the way the existing Clean Water Act is enforced.
"We are all supportive of common-sense, cooperative approaches to solving water quality problems within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Unfortunately, this legislation falls far short of that approach," the farm bureau wrote in a letter to senators last week. The letter was signed by 47 farm industry groups.
Cardin said he thinks farmers misunderstand some of the provisions of the bill. He plans to work with farmers when he reintroduces the bill to the new Congress in January.
The bill may have a tougher road to approval the next time around, particularly in the House of Representatives, which is switching to Republican control.
Cardin said there likely will be philosophical differences about bills dealing with federal government oversight actions, such as the bay bill.
Cardin acknowledged the unusual situation of having his bill criticized by both farmers and environmentalists.
"We got hit from both sides. We must have hit the sweet spot," he joked.
Even with the bill's failure, the Chesapeake Bay cleanup effort is moving ahead.
Next week, the EPA will finalize a pollution diet that will limit how much nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment can flow into rivers, streams and the Chesapeake. The goal of the diet is to reduce pollution enough to eventually get the bay off the list of the nation's "impaired waters."
States that don't meet their new limits could face federal sanctions.
The pollution diet process is being conducted under the existing Clean Water Act, with some of the terms set by settlements of earlier clean water lawsuits.
Act all but doomed in lame-duck session
By PAMELA WOOD, Staff Writer
Congressmen and Senators went home for the holidays without considering a bill aimed at boosting efforts to restore the health of the Chesapeake Bay.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the rush to deal with topics as varied as gays in the military and an arms-reduction treaty, members of Congress passed over the Chesapeake Clean Water Act, which was folded into a larger bill called the America's Great Outdoors Act.
Senate leaders could not get enough votes to prevent a filibuster on the America's Great Outdoors Act, effectively dooming it in the lame-duck session.
"I'm very disappointed. It was very important for the bay, it was very important for the states," said U.S. Sen. Benjamin Cardin, Md., who co-sponsored the bill with U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, of Baltimore, a fellow Democrat.
The Chesapeake Clean Water Act would have put into law many of the bay cleanup actions already under way by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It also would have launched a nutrient-trading program for farmers and poured more money into the cleanup effort.
The bill, however, divided environmentalists.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation was a major backer of the bill and lobbied for it.
While disappointed, bay foundation Vice President Roy Hoagland said he was pleased the bill got so much attention.
"To have moved this legislation from nowhere to the center of the political debate at a national level is just a huge accomplishment," he said.
The region's riverkeepers, however, felt the bill was weakened too much during the Senate committee process.
And the bill drew strong opposition from farming groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation. The farm bureau said the Chesapeake Clean Water Act would fundamentally change the way the existing Clean Water Act is enforced.
"We are all supportive of common-sense, cooperative approaches to solving water quality problems within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Unfortunately, this legislation falls far short of that approach," the farm bureau wrote in a letter to senators last week. The letter was signed by 47 farm industry groups.
Cardin said he thinks farmers misunderstand some of the provisions of the bill. He plans to work with farmers when he reintroduces the bill to the new Congress in January.
The bill may have a tougher road to approval the next time around, particularly in the House of Representatives, which is switching to Republican control.
Cardin said there likely will be philosophical differences about bills dealing with federal government oversight actions, such as the bay bill.
Cardin acknowledged the unusual situation of having his bill criticized by both farmers and environmentalists.
"We got hit from both sides. We must have hit the sweet spot," he joked.
Even with the bill's failure, the Chesapeake Bay cleanup effort is moving ahead.
Next week, the EPA will finalize a pollution diet that will limit how much nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment can flow into rivers, streams and the Chesapeake. The goal of the diet is to reduce pollution enough to eventually get the bay off the list of the nation's "impaired waters."
States that don't meet their new limits could face federal sanctions.
The pollution diet process is being conducted under the existing Clean Water Act, with some of the terms set by settlements of earlier clean water lawsuits.