(ANNAPOLIS, MD)—Chesapeake Bay Foundation President William C. Baker issued this statement following the release of the Fiscal Year 2019 Trump Administration budget, which reduced funding for EPA's Chesapeake Bay Program by 90 percent. It also reduced the Great Lakes program by 90 percent and zeroed out other significant water quality programs around the country.
Since the first Bay Agreement in 1983, EPA has been the lead federal partner with the states in the work to reduce pollution to the Chesapeake Bay.
In the last eight years, the states and EPA accelerated their efforts to implement the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint and have all practices in place by 2025 to achieve science-based pollution reduction targets.
"This is yet another assault on clean water, from a President who campaigned saying he valued it. This Budget does not add up. This administration says they want to partner with states, but a 90 percent budget reduction says the opposite.
"The Chesapeake Bay Program is the glue that holds the state/federal partnership together. A cut of this magnitude would severely damage Bay restoration efforts, just at a time when we are seeing significant progress.
"Today, pollution is down. Jobs have been created, human health protected, and local economies improved. The dead zone is getting smaller; crabs, oysters, and underwater grasses are rebounding.
"But the Bay is far from saved. A budget cut of this magnitude would kill that progress.
"Bay restoration efforts have a long history of bi-partisan support. CBF will work with the region's Congressional delegation to push for full funding for the Bay Program."
