(ANNAPOLIS, MD)—With final numbers now available, the Trump Administration is proposing drastic cuts to the Chesapeake Bay Program. Currently funded at $73 million, the budget proposes reducing funding to $7.3 million, a 90 percent cut. EPA's Chesapeake Bay Program coordinates science, research, and modeling to implement the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint, and provides grants to state and local governments and others to help reduce pollution. Following the budget details, Chesapeake Bay Foundation President William C. Baker issued this statement.
"This is a slap in the face to a national treasure finally beginning to recover from decades of pollution.
"If the President's budget were to be enacted it would devastate efforts to restore local rivers, streams, and the Chesapeake Bay.
"The Bay Program is the glue that holds the state/federal partnership together. And it's working. Over time, pollution is declining, the dead zone is getting smaller, and Bay grasses are increasing. But the Bay is far from saved.
"Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts have strong, bipartisan support. We will work with the region's members of Congress to ensure that funding is increased, not reduced."
