United States Environmental Protection Agency Story Archives

EPA Announces $40 Million To Help Restore Chesapeake Bay

The money from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law also will be used to promote environmental justice and counter climate change. It is part of $238 million targeted for the Chesapeake Bay region over five years under the infrastructure law.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced $40 million on Monday to help restore the Chesapeake Bay.

The new funding will help support ready-to-go projects throughout the 64,000-square-mile bay watershed, EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe said in a statement.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Chesapeake Stewardship Fund will administer $25 million. The funding will be awarded competitively to communities, non-profit groups, conservation districts and others for projects and plans to protect and restore local streams and habitat in the watershed.

The other $15 million will be distributed to the six watershed states and the District of Columbia under the Most Effective Basins program. Pennsylvania will receive $5.6 million; Maryland, $3.2 million; Virginia, $3.1 million; New York, $1.3 million; Delaware, $750,000; West Virginia, $500,000; and the District of Columbia, $500,000. The funding will largely support farm-based actions to improve local rivers and streams in locations most beneficial to the downstream Chesapeake Bay.

U.S. Appeals Court Upholds EPA Plan to Clean up Chesapeake Bay

A U.S. appeals court has upheld a federal plan limiting pollution in the Chesapeake Bay despite objections from farmers who accuse the Environmental Protection Agency of abusing its power.

The ruling Monday upholds restrictions on farm and construction runoff and wastewater treatment and is a clear win for environmentalists.

Six states have agreed to the pollution limits: Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, along with Washington, D.C.,

The American Farm Bureau Federation and others fought the restrictions. They argued that the EPA was usurping state authority to regulate waterways.

The EPA says animal waste and fertilizer that moves from streams into the Chesapeake is the single largest source of bay pollution.

Third Circuit Judge Thomas Ambro says Chesapeake Bay pollution is a complex problem that affects more than 17 million people.

Feds Approve Cleanup Plan for Allegany Ballistics Laboratory

The cleanup of toxic waste at a military ballistics laboratory in Mineral County is expected to cost more than $10 million.

The Cumberland Times-News reports that federal authorities have approved the cleanup and maintenance of more than 13 acres at Allegany Ballistics Laboratory in Rocket Center.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says toxins in the soil at the facility’s Northern Riverside Waste Disposal Area include metals, explosives, dioxins and volatile organic compounds.

The lab tests munitions and portions of munitions. It previously was operated by the Navy, which now contracts the work to ABL.

A final record of decision prepared for the Mid-Atlantic Naval Facilities Engineering Command says future development of land outside an active burning area will be limited.