Executive Order 13508
Strategy for
Protecting and Restoring
the Chesapeake Bay
Watershed
May 12, 2010
Source: Adrian Jones/IAN Image Library
Developed by the Federal Leadership Committee for the Chesapeake Bay
^S^^s
r/jQLH
USDA
*~J
&L«BS^
7
v^sgB^v
P:"
-------
May 12, 2010
In a nation blessed with many spectacular natural wonders, the Chesapeake region is truly unique and special.
Residents of the watershed are familiar with its inspiring majesty and tremendous value and visitors enjoy
the remarkable diversity of the Chesapeake ecosystem. The lives and livelihoods of 17 million people are
intertwined with the beautiful landscapes and winding waterways, with the rural communities and urban
centers. At the heart of this region is the incomparable Chesapeake Bay, the country's largest estuary and one
of its most precious natural resources. The natural splendor also encompasses places many people call home,
from upstate New York to southern Virginia, from the panhandle of West Virginia to the Delmarva Peninsula.
In issuing his Executive Order on the Chesapeake Bay, President Obama recognized that the Bay
watershed is one of our nation's greatest treasures and must be protected and restored. He established
the Federal Leadership Committee, which includes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the
departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security, Interior and Transportation. As
committee members, it is our privilege to present the Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake
Bay Watershed.
This strategy begins a renewed and unparalleled effort by the federal government to restore clean water,
recover habitat, sustain fish and wildlife, conserve land, increase public access, expand citizen stewardship,
develop environmental markets, respond to climate change and strengthen scientific knowledge.
Under the strategy, federal agencies are launching major environmental initiatives to use rigorous
regulation to restore clean water, implement new conservation practices on four million acres of farms,
conserve two million acres of undeveloped land and restore oysters in 20 tributaries. To increase
accountability, federal agencies will establish milestones every two years for actions to make progress
toward measurable environmental goals.
The strategy focuses on improving the environment in communities throughout the entire watershed
and in its thousands of streams, creeks and rivers. Many federal actions will support restoration efforts
of local governments, watershed groups and citizens, as well as provide economic benefits across the
64,000-square-mile Chesapeake region. The strategy reflects a significant deepening of the federal
commitment to the Chesapeake, with agencies dedicating unprecedented resources and actions, targeting
the resources where they can have the most impact, ensuring federal lands and facilities lead by example in
environmental stewardship, and taking a comprehensive, ecosystem-wide approach to restoration.
Through the Executive Order strategy, we have a historic opportunity to make real progress. The federal
government is rising to the challenge. Together, in partnership with each of you, we will restore the
Chesapeake Bay watershed and protect its legacy for future generations.
Sincerely,
Lisa P. Jackson, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency;
Chairwoman, Federal Leadership Committee for the Chesapeake Bay
Ray LaHood, Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation
Gary Locke, Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce
Janet Napolitano, Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Ken Salazar, Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior
Tom Vilsack, Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture
RayMabus, Secretary, U.S. Navy
-------
able of Contents
^.u
tt«
\1 IIT
1
7 ''<
-------
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Introduction 1 2
Goal Areas
Restore Clean Water 20
Recover Habitat 48
Sustain Fish and Wildlife 60
Conserve Land and Increase Public Access 74
Supporting Strategies
Expand Citizen Stewardship 86
Develop Environmental Markets 92
Respond to Climate Change 96
Strengthen Science 108
Implementation and Accountability 118
Appendices
Appendix A - Executive Order 13508
Appendix B - Federal Leadership Committee/Senior Designee Membership
Appendix C - Outcome Measures Background
Appendix D - Critical Living Resources of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed by Region and Priority Habitat
Appendix E - E.O. 13508 Section 202 Reports and Section 502
Appendix F - Actions Index
-------
\
mmary
In the Executive Order,
President Obama declared
the Chesapeake Bay a
"national treasure" and
ushered in a new era of
federal leadership, action
and accountability.
-------
I
Chesapeake Bay watershed
is one of the most extraordinary
places in America. The nation's
largest estuary and its network of
streams, creeks and rivers hold
tremendous ecological, cultural, economic,
historic and recreational value for the region
and its citizens. But the Bay and its tributaries
remain in poor health, with polluted water,
low populations of fish and shellfish, degraded
habitats and landscapes lost to development.
May 12, 2009 was a historic day for the
Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. On that
date, President Obama issued Executive
Order 13508 on Chesapeake Bay Protection
and Restoration. In the Executive Order,
President Obama declared the Chesapeake Bay
a "national treasure" and ushered in a new era
of federal leadership, action and accountability.
The purpose of the Executive Order is "to
protect and restore the health, heritage, natural
resources, and social and economic value of the
nation's largest estuarine ecosystem and the
natural sustainability of its watershed."
To bring the full weight of the federal government
to address the Chesapeake's challenges, the
Executive Order established the Federal
Leadership Committee (FLC) for the Chesapeake
Bay, which is chaired by the Administrator of
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
and includes senior representatives from the
departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense,
Homeland Security, Interior and Transportation.
The Executive Order charged the FLC with
developing and implementing a new strategy for
protection and restoration of the Chesapeake
region.
The Executive Order acknowledges that
although the federal government should assume
a strong leadership role in the restoration of
the Bay, success depends on a collaborative
effort involving state and local governments,
businesses, non-governmental organizations and
the region's residents. To develop the strategy,
federal agencies consulted with the six Bay
watershed states, the District of Columbia and
the Chesapeake Bay Commission, engaged key
stakeholders and held public meetings.
As a guiding foundation for the strategy,
federal agencies drafted a vision statement
that describes the desired conditions of the
Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. Achieving
this vision is an important commitment to the
citizens of today and generations of tomorrow:
A Chesapeake watershed with
clean water that is swimmable and fishable in
streams, rivers and the Bay
sustainable, healthy populations of blue crabs,
oysters, fish and other wildlife
a broad network of land and water habitats
that support life and are resilient to the
impacts of development and climate change
abundant forests and thriving farms that
benefit both the economy and environment
extensive areas of conserved lands that
protect nature and the region's heritage
ample access to provide for public enjoyment
cities, towns and neighborhoods where
citizens are stewards of nature
Focus of the Strategy
The progress of the past several decades has
not been sufficient to fully restore and protect
the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Federal
agencies recognize the need to fundamentally
shift efforts, take bold action and increase
accountability. The strategy includes several
areas of focus that will lead to greater success.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed "|
-------
Executive Summary
Launching major initiatives
& accounting for progress:
Launching major environmental initiatives:
- Establish rigorous new regulation and
enforcement to implement all pollution
controls for clean water.
- Put new agricultural conservation practices
on 4 million acres of farms.
- Protect 2 million acres of land important to
environment, farms, forests and people.
- Restore oysters in 20 tributaries.
Short-term action: To accelerate the pace
of restoration and protection, many actions
occur in the next few years, and many of the
actions are "on-the-ground" and "in-the-
water" throughout the Chesapeake watershed.
Two-year milestones: To increase
accountability, federal agencies will establish
milestones every two years for actions to meet
environmental goals. These will support and
complement the states' two-year milestones
for water quality.
Measureable environmental goals: Actions
are designed to accomplish specific and
measureable improvements in water quality,
habitat recovery, fish and wildlife protection
and land conservation.
Partnering with communities:
For the entire region: The strategy is about
much more than the Chesapeake Bay. It is
about restoration and protection needed
in communities around the 64,000-square-
mile watershed, across the landscape and in
thousands of streams, creeks and rivers. The
natural resources of the Chesapeake region
are important to the lives and livelihood of 17
million people.
Supporting local efforts: Local communities
have the greatest interest in and ability
The progress of the past several decades has not been sufficient
to fully restore and protect the Chesapeake Bay watershed, Federal
agencies recognize the need to fundamentally shift the focus of efforts,
take bold action and increase accountability,
-------
to impact conservation of their local
environment. The strategy is designed to
directly support the restoration activities of
local governments, watershed groups, county
conservation districts, landowners and citizens.
Benefiting economies and jobs: Many
federal actions will provide economic benefits
for communities, citizens and the region,
including conservation of working farms
and forests, expanded oyster aquaculture,
support for conservation corps programs and
green jobs, and development of an innovative
environmental marketplace for selling, buying
and trading credits for pollution reductions.
Deepening the federal commitment:
Unprecedented level of activity: The
strategy reflects an unprecedented depth
and breadth of federal actions and resources
dedicated to the Chesapeake region. The
federal government will truly be deepening its
commitment.
Targeting of resources: Agencies will be
aggressively targeting resources where they
can have the most impact - areas with the
most pollution and potential for runoff, with
the highest potential for restoring fish and
wildlife, and with habitats and lands most in
need of protection.
Federal leadership by example: The federal
government is one of the largest landowners
in the region (owning 5.3 percent of land in
the watershed). The federal government will
lead by example by restoring water quality,
habitats, fish and wildlife, conserving lands,
and increasing public access on its properties.
A comprehensive approach: The
Chesapeake Bay watershed is an ecosystem
- a network that includes people, plants, fish
and wildlife and the places they live, each one
related to and connected to the other. The
strategy recognizes this interdependence,
and the actions included in the strategy are
designed to benefit the entire ecosystem.
Regional Strategy Reflects
National Initiatives
In developing the Chesapeake strategy, federal
agencies have incorporated cornerstone principles
from several major national initiatives that are
guiding overall environmental improvement in the
United States, including the Ocean Policy Task
Force, the America's Great Outdoors Initiative,
and the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation
Task Force. Reflecting national policy in a
regional strategy further illustrates that solutions
in the Chesapeake Bay watershed can serve as a
model for restoring ecosystems elsewhere in the
country. Federal agencies will be able to share the
lessons learned in the Chesapeake with partners
on other national initiatives.
Presidential actions that have also shaped this
strategy include the Executive Order on Federal
Leadership in Environmental, Energy and
Economic Performance; the memorandum on
Transparency and Open Government; and the
Executive Order on Environmental Justice, which
focuses federal attention on the environmental and
human health conditions in minority low-income,
and tribal communities with the goal of achieving
environmental justice.
Ecosystem-based management is also among the
most significant cross-cutting principles included
in this strategy. This approach recognizes the
interdependence of all aspects of an ecosystem,
including water, fish and wildlife, habitats and
land-use. Management actions are guided by
this scientific understanding and aim to protect,
maintain and restore overall environmental
functioning to achieve long-term sustainability
of ecosystems and the human communities that
depend on them.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Executive Summary
Structure of the Strategy
The Executive Order directed federal agencies to
"define environmental goals for the Chesapeake
Bay and describe milestones for making
progress toward attainment of these goals."
For the strategy, federal agencies have focused
on achieving the most essential priorities for a
healthy Chesapeake ecosystem:
Restore Clean Water
Recover Habitat
Sustain Fish and Wildlife
Conserve Land and Increase Public Access
Federal agencies also developed 12 key
environmental outcomes that will be achieved
through federal actions described in the
strategy and ongoing state activities, and will
reflect progress toward attainment of the
overall goals.
Restore Clean Water
Clean water is one of the most precious resources
to people and communities throughout the region
and is essential for healthy habitats, wildlife
and fish, from the most remote streams in the
watershed to the depths of the Chesapeake Bay.
It is vital to have water that is not polluted, has
enough oxygen to support fish, crabs and other
aquatic life, and is clear enough for sunlight to
reach underwater grasses. In 2009, however,
water quality in the Bay was extremely poor,
meeting only 24 percent of goals established by
the Chesapeake Bay Program. Stream quality
in the watershed was also degraded, with 52
percent of the streams having a rating of poor
or very poor (based on the index of biological
integrity). The strategy aims to reduce nitrogen,
phosphorus, sediment and other pollutants to
meet Bay water quality goals for dissolved oxygen,
clarity, chlorophyll-a and toxic contaminants.
The water quality chapter contains a
comprehensive range of actions to achieve
this goal, including EPA's establishment and,
in partnership with the Bay jurisdictions and
other federal agencies, implementation of the
Chesapeake Total Maximum Daily Load or
TMDL (a rigorous pollution diet for the Bay and
region's waterways), rulemaking for expanded
regulation of stormwater and concentrated
animal feeding operations, a stronger emphasis
on enforcement and compliance activities, and
increased grant funding for state regulatory
programs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) will aggressively target financial
resources and technical assistance to priority
watersheds, help states meet two-year milestones
for implementing agriculture conservation
practices, accelerate the development of new
conservation technologies, and develop a system
for improving the reporting of conservation
practices. EPA will coordinate the effort to
reduce stormwater pollution from federal
facilities and lands and to implement federal
land management practices that protect forests,
wetlands and waterways. EPA, DOI, and
NOAA will work with partners to expand the
understanding of the extent and seriousness of
the toxic contaminant problem in the Bay and its
watershed and to develop contaminant reduction
outcomes by 2013 and strategies by 2015.
Water Quality Outcome: Meet water
quality standards for dissolved oxygen, clarity/
underwater grasses and chlorophyll-a in the Bay
and tidal tributaries by implementing 100 percent
of pollution reduction actions for nitrogen,
phosphorus and sediment no later than 2025,
with 60 percent of segments attaining water
quality standards by 2025. (Current condition: 89
of the 92 segments of the Bay and its tidal waters are
impaired.)
-------
Stream Restoration Outcome: Improve the health
of streams so that 70 percent of sampled streams
throughout the Chesapeake watershed rate fair,
good or excellent, as measured by the Index of Biotic
Integrity, by 2025. (Current condition: 45 percent of
sampled streams are rated fair, good or excellent.)
Agriculture Conservation Outcome: Work with
producers to apply new conservation practices on
four million acres of agricultural working lands in
high priority watersheds by 2025 to improve water
quality in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.
(Current condition: Of the approximately eight million
acres of agricultural working lands in high-priority
watersheds, approximately four million acres are identified
as having soils with the highest potential for leaching and
runoff, which may affect water quality. The four-million-
acre target is to apply or expand conservation treatment on
virtually all of these most vulnerable agricultural lands.)
Recover Habitat
For thousands of years, the Chesapeake's forests,
marshes and waters have supported fish and wildlife,
a robust regional economy and a quality of life
treasured by residents. Healthy habitats are essential
to sustaining fish and wildlife species and to filtering
pollution before it reaches streams, rivers and
the Bay. But forests continue to be permanently
removed, wetlands continue to be damaged by
development, and fish are blocked by man-made
obstacles in streams. The strategy seeks to restore
a network of land and water habitats to support
priority species and to afford other public benefits,
including water quality, recreational uses and scenic
value across the watershed.
The habitat chapter includes a variety of actions
by federal agencies including the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (FWS), the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers (USAGE) and USDA
that will restore and protect habitats. For wetlands,
this includes actions to sustain the most important
Clean water is one of the most
precious resources to people and
communities throughout the region
and is essential for healthy habitats,
wildlife and fish, from the most remote
streams in the watershed to the depths
of the Chesapeake Bay.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Executive Summary
marshes, increase incentives for restoration
on private land, combat invasive species and
strengthen federal coordination on permits with
direct impacts on marshes. Efforts to restore vital
island habitats in the Bay will expand. Forest
buffers that benefit stream health will be expanded
through increased targeting of restoration and
accelerated application of the Conservation
Reserve Enhancement Program. Streams will be
prioritized and barriers removed to allow fish to
return to historical migration routes. The U.S.
Department of Transportation (DOT) will work
with partner agencies to encourage ecosystem-
level planning for mitigation of highway impacts
on habitat.
Wetland Outcome: Restore 30,000 acres
of tidal and non-tidal wetlands and enhance
the function of an additional 150,000 acres of
degraded wetlands by 2025. (Current condition: one
million acres of tidal and non-tidal wetlands estimated
to be available in the Chesapeake watershed for
restoration or enhancement. Between 1998 and 2008,
18,217 acres of wetlands were restored and 97,738
acres were enhanced.)
Forest Buffers Outcome: Restore riparian
forest buffers to 63 percent, or 181,440 miles, of
the total riparian miles (stream bank and shoreline
miles) in the Bay watershed by 2025. (Current
condition: 58 percent of the 288,000 total riparian
miles in the Bay watershed has forest buffers in place.)
Fish Passage Outcome: Restore historical fish
migratory routes by opening an additional 1,000
stream miles by 2025, with restoration success
indicated by the presence of River herring,
American shad and/or American eel. (Current
condition: Approximately 1,924 stream miles in the
Chesapeake Bay watershed have been opened and are
accessible for fish migration. Projects are currently
being ranked and prioritized through a collaborative
federal and state process designed to strategically target
priority projects.)
Sustain Fish and Wildlife
Wetlands, forests, fields, streams, underwater
grasses and mudflats in the Chesapeake watershed
provide several thousands of species of plants,
fish and wildlife with the places they need to find
food, shelter, reproduce, and rear their young.
Chesapeake habitats a Iso provide 'habitat highways'
for Atlantic Coast fish populations and birds
migrating along the Atlantic Flyway. These habitats
also play an important role in filtering nitrogen,
phosphorus and sediment pollution before it enters
local waterways and ultimately the Chesapeake
Bay. Wetlands in tidal and non-tidal areas serve
as holding tanks and water filters for coastal storm
surge and heavy rainfall and help prevent costly
flood damage. Forest buffers along streams and
shorelines provide shade to keep streams cool, food
for aquatic organisms and corridors for wildlife
movement. Streams are the 'arteries' that connect
the upper and lower parts of the watershed and
provide not only passage for fish but also a physical
connection from every local community to the
Bay. The goal is to sustain healthy populations of
fish and wildlife, which contribute to a resilient
ecosystem and vibrant economy.
For the purpose of tracking progress in the Bay
and headwaters, this strategy focuses on four
species (oysters, blue crab, brook trout and black
duck) because they reflect the overall health of
their habitat and hold great ecological, commercial
and recreational significance. The importance
of other species is clearly recognized, and a
prioritization framework is described (Appendix
C). For oysters, NOAA and U. S. Army Corps
of Engineers will launch a Bay-wide restoration
strategy in collaboration with Maryland, Virginia
and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission that
focuses on priority tributaries, supports expansion
of commercial aquaculture and bolsters research
on oyster stock, habitat and restoration progress.
For blue crabs, NOAA will enhance the science
used to support interjurisdictional management
-------
and restoration. Along with partners, NOAA will
revise the blue crab population target to support
interjurisdictional management and restoration.
For brook trout, FWS will restore key stream
habitats, establish a monitoring program in the
watershed and consider the impact of climate
change in selecting stream habitats for restoration.
Oysters Outcome: Restore native oyster habitat
and populations in 20 out of 35 to 40 candidate
tributaries by 2025. (Current condition: 0 tributaries
Residents of the Chesapeake Bay watershed treasure their landscapes
and waterviews, But many of these special places are threatened by
development and other man-made pressures,
with fully restored oyster populations; several tributaries
with successful living oyster reef habitat.)
Blue Crabs Outcome: Maintain sustainable
blue crab interim rebuilding target of 200
million adults (1+ years old) in 2011 and develop
a new population target for 2012 through 2025.
(Current condition: 2007-2008:131 million; 2008-
2009: 223 million; 2009-2010: 315 million.)
Brook Trout Outcome: Restore naturally
reproducing brook trout populations in headwater
streams by improving 58 sub-watersheds from
"reduced" classification (10-50 percent of habitat
loss) to "healthy" (less than 10 percent of habitat
loss) by 2025. (Current condition: 388 of 1,294 sub-
watersheds in the Chesapeake Bay currently classified
as "reduced" for brook trout.)
Black Duck Outcome: Restore a three-year
average wintering black duck population in the
Chesapeake Bay watershed of 100,000 birds by
2025. (Current condition: Recent mid-winter aerial
surveys estimate the 2007-2009 rolling three-year
average at 37,158 black ducks in the Chesapeake
Bay.)
Conserve Land and
Increase Public Access
At the heart of the Chesapeake region are the
landscapes alongside the Bay and its major
tributaries. These treasured landscapes are
the special places we revere as individuals,
as communities and as a people for their
ecological, cultural, historical, economic and
recreational values. Yet many of the Chesapeake's
treasured landscapes are threatened. Poorly
planned development increasingly pressures
both natural and cultural lands. Forests in
the region are converted to other land uses at
the rate of 100 acres each day. Cropland and
pasture land in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
have also been influenced by alternative land
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Executive Summary
The Chesapeake Bay Program provides a partnership in which
federal agencies, states, local governments and citizens work
together to identify and address the most critical challenges
facing Bay protection and restoration,
uses, with approximately 100 acres per day
lost to development between 1982 and 2003.
Public access to the Bay and its tributaries is
also limited. The strategy aims to conserve
landscapes to maintain water quality, habitat,
sustainable working forests, farms and maritime
communities; and cultural, community and
indigenous values. It will also expand public
access to the Bay and its tributaries through
existing and new federal, state and local parks,
refuges, reserves, trails and partner sites.
The land conservation chapter contains numerous
actions to achieve this goal, including DOI's plans
to launch a Chesapeake Treasured Landscape
Initiative, expand land conservation through
coordinating federal funding and community
assistance, and use strategic geographic
information systems in setting conservation
priorities. USDA will contribute in collaboration
with states and federal partners through a
watershed-wide strategy to reduce the loss of farms
and forests. NPS will develop a plan and prioritize
funding for expanding public access. NOAA will
support exploration of land-water conservation
priorities. All of these actions will involve a high
degree of collaboration, directly engaging state and
local government, communities, non-governmental
organizations and other federal agencies. DOT,
working through its Partnership for Sustainable
Communities with EPA and the Department of
Housing and Urban Development, will provide
technical assistance to communities that undertake
development of integrated transportation, housing
and water infrastructure plans.
Land Conservation Outcome: Protect an
additional two million acres of lands throughout
the watershed currently identified as high
conservation priorities at the federal, state or
local level by 2025, including 695,000 acres of
forest land of highest value for maintaining water
quality. (Current condition: 7.8 million acres protected
watershed-wide.)
-------
Public Access Outcome: Increase public access
to the Bay and its tributaries by adding 300 new
public access sites by 2025. (Current condition:
761 public access sites providing access to Bay and its
tributaries exist in DC, MD, PA and VA.; data on
existing access sites in NY, DE and WV to be collected
in the future.)
Supporting Strategies
The strategy also features four chapters on
supporting strategies that provide invaluable cross-
cutting support to achieving environmental goals or
are critical complementary efforts in the restoration
and protection of the Chesapeake Bay and
watershed. The supporting strategy chapters are:
Expand Citizen Stewardship
Develop Environmental Markets
Respond to Climate Change
Strengthen Science
Expand Citizen Stewardship
People tend to protect the places they understand
and care about. Regional residents increasingly seek
opportunities to reconnect with the outdoors. For
citizens of the watershed, the places where people
experience the Chesapeake - parks, waterways,
refuges, nature centers, museums, etc. - and the
places where people spend most of their time - their
homes, schools and neighborhoods - provide venues
for further engagement and action. The actions in
the strategy will foster a dramatic increase in the
number of citizen stewards of every age who support
and carry out local conservation and restoration.
The citizen stewardship chapter presents a multi-
pronged approach that begins with engaging adults
through an expansion of Chesapeake conservation
corps workforces and the master watershed
stewards program, as well as prioritization of
citizen stewardship programs in awarding of grants.
DOT will also build stewardship by enhancing
visitor experiences and messaging at Chesapeake
sites and trails and by building partnerships with
communities and citizens. NOAA will develop
stewards of the next generation by expanding
hands-on experiences and creating a more robust
and comprehensive elementary and secondary
school environmental literacy initiative.
Develop Environmental Markets
Environmental markets are an innovative
approach to natural resource management that
can accomplish environmental protection goals,
encourage new technologies, improve efficiencies,
reduce costs and help manage growth. The basic
premise of environmental markets is that an entity
that needs to reduce impacts to the environment
buys credits representing an equivalent or greater
amount of environmental improvement from a
provider of that improvement. Private landowners
will be a major provider of these credits because of
their vast land holdings and their ability to install
cost effective conservation practices that result in
needed environmental improvement. These credits
can be verified through standardized scientific
metrics to represent a certain level of measurable
environmental improvement and may be registered
and traded much like any other commodity.
Resulting environmental markets have the
potential to increase the efficiency, reduce the cost
and increase the quality of environmental solutions.
The strategy will expand the current suite of
environmental market potential to increase the
pace and scope of conservation by coordinating,
and conforming where appropriate, federal and
state regulatory requirements to develop a robust
market in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
In partnership with Bay states, EPA will issue
guidance concerning credits for nutrient and
sediment reduction to accompany the Chesapeake
Bay TMDL, which is expected to be final in
December of 2010. EPA will work with the newly
formed Environmental Market Team to assure
that tools and protocols developed by the team
are reflected in this and subsequent guidance to
the greatest extent possible. On a parallel track,
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Executive Summary
USDA will lead, in coordination with EPA and
other federal agencies (including DOC, DOT,
DOT, DOD, USAGE, CEQ, and OMB), an
interdepartmental Environmental Market Team
to establish the broader infrastructure for an
effective environmental market in the Chesapeake
Bay watershed. This team will address a wide
range of issues including defining environmental
performance of conservation practices; evaluating
tools for measuring conservation practice
performance; establishing protocols for setting
baselines, developing registries and designing
certification processes; creating opportunities for
stacking and bundling ecosystem services; and
exploring options for insurance mechanisms.
Respond to Climate Change
Climate change is one of the most significant
challenges to successful restoration and protection
of the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. Although
there is still some uncertainty surrounding specific
climate change projections and impacts at the
scale of the Chesapeake Bay, projected impacts
to the Bay and watershed include sea-level rise;
increases in water temperature, acidity and salinity;
changing rainfall patterns and increases in rainfall
intensity; and changes to freshwater flows with
corresponding significant impacts to water quality
and habitats. Many of the region's major cities and
significant ecosystems are in low-lying areas that are
particularly vulnerable to sea-level rise and storm
surge. The strategy seeks to improve information
on the communities, habitats and resources at risk
from the impacts of climate change and to develop
products to increase knowledge and capacity to plan
for and implement adaptation projects.
The climate change chapter contains a host of
actions to adapt to the rising challenge of the 21st
century. Led by NOAA and the U.S. Geological
Survey (USGS), these actions include conducting
comprehensive research to identify vulnerable
communities and habitats throughout the watershed
and assessing the risks posed by the impacts of
climate change. This work also involves prediction
of changes in pollution loads and monitoring actual
climate impacts in the watershed. These agencies
will develop tools and training to provide states,
local communities and resource managers with
effective climate adaptation resources. Agencies will
develop adaptation strategies to manage vulnerable
habitats and public infrastructure on federal lands to
increase resiliency to climate change impacts.
Strengthen Science
Restoration and protection of the Chesapeake
Bay watershed requires strengthening science and
implementing ecosystem-based management.
This will require improved monitoring, computer
models and research to enhance decision-making
for all the goals in the strategy. The strategy
outlines actions to strengthen science to promote
ecosystem-based adaptive management - which
will more effectively prioritize, implement,
monitor and evaluate the actions and policies
needed - and provide early warning about new
threats to the health of the Chesapeake Bay and its
watershed.
The science chapter and text throughout the
strategy chapters outline actions to increase science
support for the Chesapeake Bay restoration effort.
USGS and NOAA are working with federal, state
and academic partners to expand their scientific
capabilities in concert with the Chesapeake
Bay Program. New decision-support tools and
an expanded set of models will allow for better
prioritization and adjustment of management
activities. USGS and NOAA will lead the
establishment of a Chesapeake Monitoring Alliance
and Data Enterprise to improve documentation
of changes in ecosystem conditions and progress
toward environmental goals.
-------
Implementation and Accountability
The final chapter of the strategy focuses on
implementation and accountability. This chapter
outlines the role and responsibilities of the Federal
Leadership Committee in implementing the strategy,
as well as the federal government's commitment to
increase accountability by establishing milestones
every two years for taking action. The final chapter
also outlines a series of accountability tools and
processes to promote transparency in the planning,
tracking, reporting, evaluating and adapting of
restoration activities. These tools include:
Federal Two-Year Milestones: Federal
agencies will join the states in establishing
two-year milestones with many federal efforts
designed to support the states and District in
meeting their current and future water quality
milestones. But federal agencies will also
develop appropriate two-year milestones for
the other outcomes outlined in this strategy,
beyond those for water quality.
Annual Action Plan: The action plan will
identify the protection and restoration
activities that FLC agencies will undertake in
the following year to carry out the actions and
move toward the goals outlined in this strategy.
Annual Progress Report: The annual
progress report will assess the success of the
federal agencies' efforts in implementing
the actions identified in the preceding year's
action plan.
Independent Evaluation: The FLC
will arrange for thorough and ongoing
independent evaluation of the implementation
of the strategy's protection and restoration
actions, including progress toward
environmental goals.
Adaptive Management: The FLC will adopt
an adaptive management process built on the
cycle of: set goals, plan actions, implement,
monitor, evaluate and adjust.
Greater transparency and integration of federal, state
and local actions will be greatly enhanced through
ChesapeakeStat, a web-based tool designed to provide
performance data and information in a format that
allows a range of audiences to understand the work
being done in the Chesapeake watershed. Over time,
this tool will increase accountability by providing
greater access to data. When combined with
science-based analysis explaining the effectiveness
of management actions, it will inform decisions and
facilitate adaptive management of efforts. Visitors
to the ChesapeakeStat website will have the ability to
view information about specific restoration activities,
spending and progress toward goals and milestones.
In Conclusion
Restoring and protecting the Chesapeake Bay and
its watershed is a significant challenge, as the last
several decades have shown. The wide spectrum of
serious environmental problems, combined with
the sheer size of the Bay and its 64,000-square-mile
watershed, magnify the challenge. Success will
depend on an unprecedented level of engagement
and collaboration among all levels of government,
the private sector, nonprofit organizations and the
17 million residents of the watershed.
But the increased investment of resources in
the Chesapeake Bay and regional landscape
- including the thousands of streams, creeks
and rivers - will yield a priceless return for the
environment, for local and regional economies,
for the cultural and historic heritage, and, most
importantly, for communities in cities, suburbs
and rural areas.
The Executive Order emphasizes the urgency and
need for renewed commitment to restoration.
The pieces for success are in place around the
watershed in the form of leadership, science
and public interest. Restoring clean water and
protecting nature throughout the region is a
duty to the people who call this place home.
The generations that come after us will point to
this time as a defining moment for reviving the
integrity and splendor of the Chesapeake Bay and
its watershed.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed "| "|
-------
7
Millions of people enjoy the
waterways and landscapes for
fishing, hunting, boating, hiking,
picnicking, bird-watching,
and relaxation. This close
connection between people
and nature reinforces the need
for protection and restoration
of the Chesapeake watershed.
-------
A National Treasure
I
he effort to restore the
Chesapeake Bay and its
watershed has garnered
widespread public interest
and captured national
attention for several decades. It was one
of the first attempts in the United States to
restore a large body of water and led to similar
efforts in other coastal areas. It is the unique
nature of the Chesapeake region and its special
importance to millions of people, however, that
have made the cleanup so critical.
The Chesapeake Bay is the nation's largest
estuary - a place where freshwater and saltwater
mix - and the third largest in the world. The
vast watershed and its network of streams,
creeks and rivers covers 64,000 square miles of
the East Coast, stretching from upstate New
York to southern Virginia, from the West
Virginia panhandle to the Delmarva Peninsula.
In the heart of the Chesapeake region are
America's first permanent European settlement
at Jamestown, Virginia, and the nation's capital
city of Washington, D.C.
The Chesapeake watershed is a world-class
ecological treasure that is home to several
thousand species of plants and animals, such as
the blue crab and the bald eagle. The region is
steeped in history that is treasured by residents,
including the legacy of American Indians,
the arrival of Europeans in the New World,
the inspiration of the American Revolution,
and the tragedy of the Civil War. Across the
watershed are spectacular landscapes, such as
the Shenandoah Mountains, the Susquehanna
River Valley and Smith Island. The Bay's waters
represent a rich cultural heritage that includes
world-renowned waterfowl hunting, trophy
sport fishing, and the tradition of watermen who
harvest fish, crabs and oysters. Seafood, tourism
and marine transportation also help to make the
Chesapeake Bay a multi-billion dollar economic
driver for the mid-Atlantic.
The Bay and its watershed provide extensive
recreational resources. Millions of people enjoy
the waterways and landscapes for fishing, hunting,
boating, water sports, hiking, picnicking, bird-
watching, and relaxation. This close connection
between people and nature reinforces the need
for protection and restoration of the Chesapeake
watershed. About 17 million people live in the
region, and tens of thousands of streams, creeks
and rivers flow past their homes and through
their neighborhoods. These local waterways and
landscapes are priceless resources for countless
communities throughout six states and the
District of Columbia. The lives and livelihoods of
many citizens are intertwined with the water and
the land.
An Ecosystem in Ttouble
Unfortunately, the Chesapeake Bay and many
of its tributaries remain in poor health. The
water continues to be polluted, populations of
key species such as oysters are extremely low,
and habitats such as underwater grass beds and
wetlands are degraded. The problems facing the
Chesapeake region stem from human activity that
has transformed the natural landscape, the impacts
of which have accelerated due to rapid growth
and development during the last few decades.
The population in the watershed has doubled
since 1950, and the resulting development has
destroyed forests and wetlands that previously
filtered pollution and provided wildlife habitat.
Farms have been converted to subdivisions and
suburban sprawl has led to a proliferation of roads,
parking lots and rooftops, as well as increased
numbers of vehicles on the roads - all sending
polluted runoff into streams, creeks, rivers and the
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed "| 3
-------
Introduction
Bay. Historic overharvesting of fish and shellfish
has contributed to the decline of key species.
The region's waterways are polluted primarily
by nitrogen, phosphorus, sediment and toxic
contaminants from agricultural land, cities and
towns, wastewater plants, and airborne emissions
and vehicle exhaust. The impact of these forces is
magnified because the Bay is shallow and has the
largest land-to-water ratio of any coastal body of
water in the world.
Now restoration and protection activities must
anticipate and account for climate change, which
is projected to raise sea levels, warm the water and
air, and affect the intensity of storms. Although the
Chesapeake restoration effort already benefits from
some of the world's best science, there is a need to
continuously improve research and monitoring,
foster the development of innovative technologies,
and ensure that information is accessible to
managers and policy-makers whose decisions
ultimately shape the fate of the Bay watershed. A
vital need also exists for expanded public education
and citizen stewardship, so the 17 million residents
of the watershed fully understand their impact
on the environment and are engaged in making a
positive difference.
A Pivotal Moment
Protecting the environment is one of society's
defining challenges of the 21 st century, and
cleaning up the Bay and its rivers is this region's
responsibility - an obligation to the residents
of today and generations of tomorrow. This
strategy's solutions to create cleaner water,
thriving farms, protected habitats, abundant fish
and wildlife, and conserved landscapes in the
Chesapeake watershed can serve as a national
model.
The Executive Order acknowledges that although the federal
government should assume a strong leadership role in the restoration
of the Bay, Success depends on a collaborative effort involving state
and local governments, businesses, non-governmental organizations
and the region's residents,
-------
May 12, 2009 was a historic day for the
Chesapeake watershed. On that date, President
Obama issued Executive Order 13508 on
Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration.
It is the first-ever presidential directive on the
Chesapeake Bay and was the first Executive
Order of the Obama administration related to the
environment. In the Executive Order, President
Obama declared the Chesapeake Bay a "national
treasure" and ushered in a new era of federal
leadership, action and accountability.
The purpose of the Executive Order is "to protect
and restore the health, heritage, natural resources,
and social and economic value of the nation's
largest estuarine ecosystem and the natural
sustainability of its watershed." The Executive
Order recognized that the efforts of the past
2 5 years were not making sufficient progress in
restoring the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed,
and that success will require responsible
government agencies to make dramatic policy
changes and initiate bold new actions.
To bring the full weight of the federal
government to address the Chesapeake's
challenges, the Executive Order established
the Federal Leadership Committee for the
Chesapeake Bay (FLC), which is chaired by
the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency and includes senior
representatives from the departments of
Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Homeland
Security, Interior and Transportation.
The federal agencies were charged with
developing recommendations to address seven
key challenges: water quality, targeting of
resources, stormwater management on federal
land, climate change, land conservation and
public access, scientific tools and monitoring,
and protection of habitat, fish and wildlife. Draft
reports containing the initial recommendations
were completed in September 2009 and refined
in updates published in November 2009. (See
Appendix E.)
The initiatives in the seven reports were
blended into a draft strategy that was released in
November 2009 and now form the core of this
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake
Bay Watershed. The strategy also identifies
goals for environmental improvement, outlines
federal coordination with state activities, creates
a process for reporting on progress and explains
how efforts will be adapted based on science and
resources.
A Collective Effort
The Executive Order acknowledges that
although the federal government should assume
a strong leadership role in the restoration of
the Bay, success depends on a collaborative
effort involving state and local governments,
businesses, non-governmental organizations
and the region's residents. Pursuant to the
Executive Order, representatives of the
FLC agencies have consulted with the six
Bay watershed states (Delaware, Maryland,
New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and
West Virginia), the District of Columbia,
and the Chesapeake Bay Commission. The
federal government has also reached out
to key stakeholders in the private sector,
held public meetings and created a web
site to promote government transparency
and public engagement. Citizens provided
comments on the draft strategy and on
proposed environmental measures and goals.
A summary of public comments is available
at http://executiveorder.chesapeakebay.net. The
final strategy for Chesapeake Bay restoration
and protection was forged through this
collaborative process and published by May
12, 2010 as required by the Executive Order.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Introduction
Vision for the Chesapeake
In developing the strategy, federal agencies
drafted a vision statement that describes the
desired conditions of the Chesapeake Bay and
its watershed. The vision also strongly reflects
the hopes voiced by a multitude of residents in
the past and present. The goals and actions in
the strategy are directly designed to work toward
achieving this vision:
A Chesapeake watershed with
clean water that is swimmable and fishable in
streams, rivers and the Bay
sustainable, healthy populations of blue crabs,
oysters, fish and other wildlife
a broad network of land and water habitats
that support life and are resilient to the
impacts of development and climate change
abundant forests and thriving farms that
benefit both the economy and environment
extensive areas of conserved lands that protect
nature and the region's heritage
ample access to provide for public enjoyment
cities, towns and neighborhoods where
citizens are stewards of nature.
The strategy aims to achieve this vision through
a dual emphasis on restoration and protection
efforts. It is necessary to restore poor water
quality, improve degraded habitats such as
wetlands and forests, and bring back populations
offish and wildlife. But it is equally important
to protect waterways that are clean, habitats that
are pristine, animals that are thriving and land
that is undeveloped.
Structure of the Strategy
The Executive Order directed federal agencies to
"define environmental goals for the Chesapeake
Bay and describe milestones for making progress
toward attainment of these goals." For the
strategy, federal agencies identified the four
most essential goals for a healthy ecosystem and
developed 12 key environmental outcomes that
reflect progress toward these goals.
Goal: Restore Clean Water
Outcomes: restoration of Bay water quality,
stream restoration, agriculture conservation
Goal: Recover Habitat
Outcomes: wetlands restoration, expanded
forest buffers, improved fish passage
Goal: Sustain Fish and Wildlife
Outcomes: sustainable populations of oysters,
blue crab, brook trout, black ducks
Goal: Conserve Land and
Increase Public Access
Outcomes: expanded land conservation and
public access to the Bay and its tributaries
These four goals and associated actions are
presented in the next four chapters of the strategy.
Each of the chapters describes the overall goal,
such as restoring water quality, and explains why
it is vital to the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The
specific measures of progress supporting the goal
are also presented, including numerical targets for
future progress compared to current conditions.
The heart of the strategy is a description of the
actions that will be taken to accomplish the goals.
A series of additional components are also
featured in each chapter:
Around the Watershed - These maps
show examples of federal actions that will be
happening on-the-ground and in-the-water
around the watershed.
Partnering with Communities - An icon
of shaking hands appears next to actions that
support local governments, communities,
watershed groups and citizens.
State Activities - These sidebars highlight
examples of ongoing state activities that will
assist in the meeting of overall goals and
environmental outcomes.
-------
Through processes outlined in this Strategy, the federal
government commits to meeting milestones every two years in
order to protect the Bay watershed's special places,
Science Support - A section in each chapter
presents supporting actions that scientific
agencies (such as USGS, NOAA and FWS)
will conduct.
The strategy also includes four chapters on
supporting strategies, which contain actions
that provide invaluable cross-cutting support
to achieving overall goals or are critical
complementary efforts in the restoration and
protection of the Chesapeake Bay and watershed.
The supporting strategy chapters are:
" Expand Citizen Stewardship
* Develop Environmental Markets
Respond to Climate Change
Strengthen Science
The final chapter of the strategy focuses on
implementation and accountability. This chapter
outlines the role and responsibilities of the
FLC in implementing the strategy, as well as
the federal government's commitment to meet
milestones every two years. Also outlined are a
series of accountability tools and processes to
promote transparency in the planning, tracking,
reporting, evaluating and adapting of restoration
activities. These tools include:
* Federal Two-Year Milestones
Annual Action Plan
Annual Progress Report
Independent Evaluation
s Adaptive Management.
Regional Strategy Reflecting
National Priorities
In developing the strategy, federal agencies have
incorporated cornerstone principles from several
major national initiatives that are guiding overall
environmental improvement in the United States.
Reflecting national policy in a regional strategy
further illustrates that solutions in the Chesapeake
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Introduction
Bay watershed can serve as a model for restoring
aquatic ecosystems elsewhere in the country.
Federal agencies will be able to share the lessons
learned in the Chesapeake with partners on the
national initiatives. Details on some of the national
initiatives listed below are available at http://immv.
whitehffuse.gov/administration/eop/ceq/initiatives.
Ocean Policy Task Force - charged with
developing a recommendation for improved
stewardship of oceans, coasts and the Great
Lakes. It will also recommend a framework
for improved stewardship and effective coastal
and marine spatial planning.
America's Great Outdoors - a multi-agency
effort to collect the best ideas on locally
supported land conservation and develop an
action plan for how the federal government
can help and reconnect Americans to our
rivers and waterways, landscapes of national
significance, ranches, farms and forests, great
parks, and coasts and beaches.
Interagency Climate Change Adaptation
Task Force - charged with recommending
key components to include in a national
strategy on climate change adaptation.
Federal Leadership in Environmental,
Energy and Economic Performance
(Executive Order 13514) - set sustainability
goals for federal agencies and focuses on
making improvements in their environmental,
energy and economic performance, including
implementation of the stormwater provisions
of the Energy Independence and Security Act
of 2007.
Environmental Justice Executive Order
(Executive Order 12898) - to ensure
that no group of people, including racial,
ethnic, or socioeconomic group should bear
a disproportionate share of the negative
environmental consequences resulting
from industrial, municipal, and commercial
operations or the execution of federal, state,
local, and tribal programs and policies.
Transparency and Open Government
Memorandum - ordered unprecedented
openness in government through an emphasis
on transparency, public participation and
collaboration. This promotes accountability,
provides information, enhances government
effectiveness and fosters innovation.
Ecosystem-based management is also among the
most significant overarching principles included
in this strategy. An ecosystem-based management
approach recognizes the interdependence of
all aspects of an ecosystem, including water,
fish and wildlife, habitats, and land-use.
Management actions are guided by this scientific
understanding. Restoring water quality is not an
exclusive action or need, but is interdependent
with the condition of habitats, health of fish and
wildlife, and activities on land. The purpose
of ecosystem-based management is to protect,
maintain and restore overall environmental
functioning to achieve long-term sustainability
of ecosystems and the human communities that
depend on them.
-------
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
esiore uiean waier
Goal: Reduce nutrients,
sediment and other pollutants
to meet Bay water quality
goals for dissolved oxygen,
clarity and chlorophyll-a and
toxic contaminants.
-------
Clean water is one of the
most precious resources to
communities and people
throughout the region and is
essential for healthy habitats,
wildlife and fish, from the most remote
streams in the watershed to the depths of the
Chesapeake Bay. It is vital to have water that is
not polluted, has enough oxygen to support fish,
crabs and other aquatic life, and is clear enough
for sunlight to reach underwater grasses.
In 2009, however, water quality in the Bay was
extremely poor, meeting only 24 percent of the
water quality goals established by the Chesapeake
Bay Program. Stream quality in the watershed
was also degraded with 52 percent of the streams
having a rating of poor or very poor (based on
the index of biological integrity). Significant
reductions in nitrogen, phosphorous, sediment
and chemical contaminants are needed to achieve
water quality goals throughout the Bay and its
watershed.
Achieving these pollution reductions will require
significant reductions from the major sources
of pollution to the Bay, including discharges
and runoff from urban and suburban lands,
farms, municipal wastewater and stormwater
systems, industrial wastewater facilities, and
leaching to surface waters from septic systems.
Atmospheric deposition of nitrogen to the Bay
and its watershed from industrial, commercial and
mobile sources including automobile emissions
also needs to be reduced.
Reducing these pollutants will require improved
pollution control technologies and expanded use
of established pollution reduction practices. EPA
intends to work with federal partners, the six
watershed states, the District of Columbia, local
governments and other parties to put in place
a comprehensive, transparent and accountable
set of commitments and actions that together
ensure that pollution controls needed to restore
Bay water quality are implemented by no later
than 2025. Strategies to achieve water quality
standards must also account for any increased
loadings from projected population growth and
economic development. Today, 89 of the 92 tidal
segments of the Bay are impaired. EPA expects
that at least 60 percent of these 89 segments will
be restored by 2025 as a result of this effort.
Additionally, farming and forestry have a
tremendous impact on water quality and have
been vital components of the Bay watershed,
providing a reliable source of food, feed, fiber
and rural landscapes. These lands account for 75
percent of the 44 million acres that make up the
watershed. Forests occupy the majority of that
area, while about one-third of that amount is
used for agriculture. Farm and forest lands also
anchor rural communities and provide precious
open space, wildlife habitat and other amenities
important to the cultural and environmental fabric
of the region. In addition, urban and community
forestry becomes a more important force in the
21 st century for local governments to realize
the ecosystem services, as well as the social and
commercial benefits, associated with tree cover.
The stewardship of farm and forest lands has a
tremendous influence on the quality of natural
resources in the watershed. Agriculture, while
an important component of the landscape and
economy, is also a major source of nitrogen,
phosphorus and sediment that adversely affect
the quality of the Bay and its tributary waters.
Forests are among the most beneficial land uses,
and even though the majority of forests receive
little or no management they are critical to
reducing non-point source pollution. Improved
management of farms and forests will lead to
improved water quality.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Restore Clean Water
Today, farm and forest lands are under
increasing pressure from development - since
1982, conversion of farm and forest acres to
development has averaged 200 acres per day.
Among the long-term consequences of losing
these agricultural and forested areas are declines
in access to local, fresh foods, reduction in the
capture of carbon in soils and plants, reduction
in water recharge, and increased stormwater
discharges from roads, roofs and parking lots.
Consider that a one-acre parking lot produces
about 16 times the volume of runoff that
comes from a one-acre meadow. Once these
impervious surfaces cover more than 10 percent
of a watershed, the streams and rivers become
seriously degraded.
Well-managed forest and farm lands provide
an important foundation for water quality.
While the focus of this strategy is on water
quality, the approach must include dimensions
of increasing economic viability of rural areas,
strengthening and building markets for local
foods and ecosystem services, and protecting the
natural heritage that makes the Chesapeake Bay
watershed a national treasure. USDA is leading
the federal effort to increase implementation of
high-impact conservation practices in priority
watersheds to better protect the Bay and its
tributary waters.
WATER QUALITY OUTCOME:
Meet water quality standards for dissolved
oxygen, clarity/underwater grasses and
chlorophyll-a in the Bay and tidal tributaries
by implementing 100 percent of pollution
reduction actions for nitrogen, phosphorus
and sediment no later than 2025, with 60
percent of segments attaining standards by
2025. (Current condition: 89 of the 92 segments
of the Bay and its tidal waters are impaired.)
STREAM RESTORATION OUTCOME:
Improve the health of streams so that 70
percent of sampled streams throughout
the Chesapeake watershed rate fair, good
or excellent, as measured by the Index of
Biotic Integrity, by 2025. (Current condition:
45 percent of sampled streams are rated fair, good
or excellent.)
Action Overview:
Establish and, in partnership with the Bay
states, the District of Columbia and other
federal agencies, implement the Chesapeake
Bay TMDL, a rigorous accountability
framework for reducing pollution to ensure
that all practices needed to reduce pollution
to meet Bay water quality standards are in
place by 2 02 5.
Take regulatory and other actions to support
state and District plans to implement the
TMDL.
Reduce pollution through increased
enforcement and compliance for
environmental laws.
Coordinate with the Clean Water State
Revolving Fund managers to build
partnerships in using financial resources to
better protect the Chesapeake watershed.
Provide states with additional grants for
regulatory and accountability programs.
Reduce point and nonpoint source
stormwater discharges from federal facilities
and lands to contribute to pollution load
reduction goals for each state and the District
under the Chesapeake Bay TMDL.
Implement federal land management practices
and programs that protect forested areas and
wetlands, reduce pollutant loads to nearby
receiving water bodies, and incorporate
sustainable practices.
-------
Recent progress toward collaborative restoration approaches
in Maryland and Virginia emphasizing comprehensive
tributary approaches to ecological restoration and long-term
r are promis
Take actions to reduce toxic contaminants
impacting the health of fish, wildlife, and
people.
Implement the Chesapeake Bay TMDL,
a rigorous accountability framework
for reducing pollution to ensure that all
practices needed to reduce pollution to
meet Bay water quality standards are in
place by 2025.
EPA is establishing a strict "pollution diet" to
restore the Chesapeake Bay and the region's
streams, creeks and rivers. EPA is working
with state partners to set limits on nitrogen,
phosphorus and sediment pollution through
a Total Maximum Daily Load, or TMDL, a
tool of the federal Clean Water Act. The Bay
TMDL will be the largest and most complex
ever developed in the nation, involving pollution
sources throughout a 64,000-square-mile
watershed that includes six states and the District
of Columbia.
The Bay TMDL - actually a combination of
many smaller TMDLs for individual Chesapeake
Bay tidal segments - will include pollution limits
that are sufficient to achieve state and District
water quality standards for dissolved oxygen,
water clarity and chlorophyll-a, an indicator of
algae levels. The pollution diet will be divided
among all jurisdictions in the watershed and the
states and the District will further divide the
pollution loading reductions among local sources
and sectors in the watersheds of each of the 89
impaired tidal segments.
The states and the District will prepare
Watershed Implementation Plans detailing
how they will accomplish their portions of the
pollution diet. The plans will identify pollution
reduction targets by watershed area and source
sector and will include a description and schedule
of actions to be taken to achieve the reductions.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 23
-------
Restore Clean Water
States and the District will specify reductions
they intend to get from "point sources" like
sewage treatment plants, urban stormwater
systems and large animal feeding operations that
are regulated under the federal Clean Water
Act and other sources such as discharges and
polluted runoff from agricultural lands, towns
and septic systems. EPA expects that, in certain
jurisdictions, control actions for all major sources
of nutrients and sediments, including nonpoint
sources, will be based on regulations, permits or
otherwise enforceable agreements. In the plans,
EPA also expects that all jurisdictions commit to
tracking and verifying that pollution reduction
practices are properly installed and maintained.
The TMDL will also provide that new or
increased pollutant discharges expected by 2025
be projected and managed, either by reserving an
allocation for new/expanded discharge or through
a program that reliably and verifiably offsets these
new or expanded discharges. More information
on Watershed Implementation Plans is provided
in a guidance memorandum letter from the
Regional Administrator to the Chesapeake Bay
Program Principals' Staff Committee. (See http://
www.epa.gov/reg3wapd/pdf/pdf_chesbay/tmdl_
implementation _htter_l 10409.pdf.)
Milestones for this action include:
Final Phase 1 Watershed Implementation
Plans submitted: November 2010
Bay TMDL published: December 2010
Final Phase 2 Watershed Implementation
Plans submitted: November 2011
Establishment of 2012-2013 two-year
milestones: January 2012
Complete assessment of progress made to
implement the May 2009-December 2011
two-year milestones: May 2012
The Watershed Implementation Plans will be
supported by a series of two-year milestones for
achieving specific near-term pollution reduction
actions needed to keep on schedule to meet long-
term restoration commitments. EPA and the
states will track the implementation of pollution
reduction actions to assess progress toward the
goal of having all practices needed to restore
impaired tidal segments in place by 2025. EPA
expects that at least 60 percent of the 89 tidal
segments will be restored by 2025 as a result of
this work.
EPA, USGS, states and the District will monitor
and model the effect of the pollution reduction
actions by measuring nitrogen, phosphorus,
sediment in free-flowing and tidal streams and
the Bay. EPA will adopt additional federal
actions if there are insufficient commitments in
a jurisdiction's Watershed Implementation Plan
or a failure to meet the established two-year
milestones. More information about potential
federal actions is provided in a memorandum
letter from the Regional Administrator to the
Chesapeake Bay Program Principals' Staff
Committee, to states and the District available
at http://www.epa.gov/region03/chesapeake/bay _
letter_1209.pdf.
Federal agencies will contribute to
Watershed Implementation Plans. Federal
agencies with property in the watershed will
provide leadership and will work with the
Bay jurisdictions in the development of their
Watershed Implementation Plans to:
Estimate nutrient and sediment loads
delivered from federal lands to the Bay
by providing information on property
boundaries, land cover, land-use, and
implementation of management practices.
Identify pollution reductions from point and
non-point sources associated with federal
lands that will help restore water quality.
Commit to actions, programs, policies and
resources necessary to reduce nitrogen,
phosphorus and sediment by specific dates.
-------
Waste load and load allocations and reduction
plans for individual federal facilities and
installations will be set following one of two
general approaches: a) states would establish
explicit load reduction expectations for individual
federal facilities as part of the WIP process; or b)
based on broad load reduction goals established by
the state, individual federal facilities/installations
would develop Federal Facility Implementation
Plans that would demonstrate to the state how the
facility proposes to achieve needed load reductions.
In either case, the states and the District would
ultimately decide what loading reductions to
propose for federal facilities in its WIP.
Federal facilities/installations that decide to
develop Federal Facility Implementation Plans
to demonstrate how they will achieve the needed
load reductions will use their determined nutrient
and sediment loads and consider, at a minimum,
the following in targeting and achieving their
ultimate load reductions:
Assess properties to determine the feasibility
of installing urban retrofit practices and
implementing non-structural control
measures that reduce volume and improve
quality of stormwater runoff.
Align cost-effective urban stormwater
retrofits and erosion repairs with TMDL
goals and states' two-year milestones.
Assess and implement appropriate non-
structural practices to control stormwater
runoff from developed areas and to reduce,
prevent or control erosion from unpaved
roads, trails and ditches.
Consider the full spectrum of nutrient and
sediment sources at a particular facility or
installation to assess the ideal approach to
achieve the needed nutrient and sediment
reduction.
EPA and USGS will build the capacity for tracking and reporting
changes in land-use and land cover at local scales (counties and small
watersheds) by July 2012,
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 25
-------
Restore Clean Water
To support these decisions, each federal agency
will provide spatial properly boundary data for
their respective facilities and lands to EPA to
assist in determining a baseline pollutant load
estimate from their facilities by October 2010.
Federal agencies are providing initial land-use
coverages in spring 2010 to support states and
the District in the development of Watershed
Implementation Plans.
Federal agencies will complete these actions
on a schedule to support states and the
District as they develop draft and final Phase I
Watershed Implementation Plans prior to EPA's
establishment of the TMDL, draft and final
Phase II Plans and commitments as part of the
two-year milestone process described below.
Actions to support this accountability
framework include:
Create a system for tracking and
reporting for TMDL pollution reduction
commitments and two-year milestone
commitments. EPA will work with other
federal agencies, states, the District and
local government partners to develop a draft
design of a tracking and accountability system
for pollution reduction actions, including
the underlying information technology
infrastructure. As the system evolves over
time, it will track permit requirements;
permitted dischargers; offsets for new or
increased discharges; voluntary practices
that meet EPA standards for installation,
maintenance and verification; load reductions
necessary to meet the Bay TMDL allocations
at the local level; and related two-year
milestones. EPA will complete the final Bay
TMDL by December 31, 2010 and begin to
use the system by January 31, 2011.
Improve mechanisms for tracking and
forecasting land-use and land cover
changes associated with water quality
degradation. EPA and USGS will build the
capacity for tracking and reporting changes
in land-use and land cover at local scales
(counties and small watersheds) by July 2012.
Components will be continuously added to
the Chesapeake Bay Land Change Model to
enhance its ability to characterize changes
in land-use and land cover and support
the development of future scenarios in the
Chesapeake Bay Phase 5.3 watershed model.
The results will be accessible as part of the
information used in the CBP watershed
model and USGS land-cover database, which
will be used by the states and federal agencies
to adjust Watershed Implementation Plans.
Take regulatory and other actions to
support state and District plans to
implement the TMDL. EPA will initiate a
series of pollution control actions to support
and complement the programs described in
Watershed Implementation Plans.
Implement current regulations for
concentrated animal feeding operations
(CAFOs) and propose new regulations
to more effectively achieve pollutant
reductions necessary to meet the
Chesapeake Bay TMDL. EPA will conduct
a review of each state's CAFO program by
December 30, 2010 and work with the states
to ensure that they meet the programmatic
requirements of the 2008 CAFO rule.
EPA will conduct a review of Chesapeake
Bay states' technical standards for nutrient
management by December 15, 2012 to ensure
that they meet the requirements of the CAFO
regulations.
-------
Stormwater runoff affects places around the watershed,
Improvements to the current stormwater program will have
positive effects around the Bay,
EPA will also develop new CAFO
regulations to more effectively address
pollutant reductions necessary for the Bay
TMDL. The rulemaking will consider
expanding the universe of CAFOs by means
which might include (but are not limited
to) making it easier to designate an AFO
as a CAFO or increasing the number of
animal operations that would qualify as
CAFOs. EPA will propose more stringent
permitting requirements for land application
of manure, litter and process wastewater,
such as requiring next-generation nutrient
management plans and off-site manure
management. EPA plans to propose the
CAFO rule by June 30, 2012 and to take final
action on the proposal by June 30, 2014.
Implement improvements to the current
stormwater program and initiate new
national stormwater rulemaking with
Chesapeake Bay watershed provisions.
EPA will initiate national rulemaking to
control pollutant discharges from new
development and redevelopment sites. EPA is
considering other changes to strengthen the
stormwater program, including expanding
the area subject to municipal separate storm
sewer system (MS4) regulations and setting
new requirements for retrofitting existing
discharges. EPA will propose additional
provisions that would help to protect and
restore the Bay. EPA plans to propose the
stormwater rule by September 2011 and to
take final action by November 2012.
In the interim, EPA will encourage state
NPDES programs to incorporate more
objective and enforceable permit provisions
in stormwater permits prior to promulgation
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Restore Clean Water
of a revised regulation. In April 2010, EPA
issued for public comment the District of
Columbia MS4 permit. The provisions of this
draft permit may serve as a model for MS4
permit for throughout the Bay watershed
jurisdictions.
In addition, by July 31, 2010, EPA will
publish an "MS4 Storm Water Permitting
Approach for the Chesapeake Bay
Watershed" which will identify the key
regulatory and water quality performance
expectations for the next generation of
Phase IMS4 stormwater permits. This new
approach will be enforced through EPA's
oversight review of draft permits.
EPA will also work with states as they develop
and review by January 1, 2015, all proposed
Phase IMS4 permits, Phase IIMS4 general
permits, construction general permits and
their supporting regulations to ensure that
the permits meet regulatory requirements,
are enforceable and will meet water quality
requirements.
As a result of these actions, all stormwater
permits will be strengthened and will have
appropriate conditions to better protect the
Chesapeake Bay.
Engage in early dialogue with Bay states
and the District regarding how EPA
will determine if state programs achieve
TMDL pollution reduction goals and
meet minimum federal program elements
for stormwater and Concentrated Animal
Feeding Operations. EPA will meet with
the states and District following EPA's
establishment of the Chesapeake Bay TMDL
and at key decision points during rulemaking
to discuss EPA's position on key issues
such as how frequently EPA would review
state programs, how the rules would apply
in states that have approved Watershed
Implementation Plans and meet their two-
year milestones, and any minimum program
elements for transparency and accountability.
Reduce pollution from wastewater
dischargers. By January 1, 2015, EPA will
review all new or reissued NPDES permits for
significant municipal and industrial wastewater
dischargers submitted by Bay jurisdictions to
ensure that the permits are consistent with
the applicable Bay water quality standards and
-------
the Bay TMDL wasteload allocations. EPA
could impose more stringent requirements on
wastewater dischargers if: 1) a jurisdiction's
initial Watershed Implementation Plan does
not adequately demonstrate that pollution
controls and loading reduction practices from
all source categories, including nonpoint
sources, would be implemented on a schedule
to have all controls needed to meet clean water
goals in place by 2025; or 2) if a jurisdiction
does not fully implement its two-year
milestones.
EPA will issue an NPDES permit for the
Washington, D.C.-area Blue Plains treatment
plant (the largest publicly owned treatment
plant in the Bay watershed) that incorporates
stringent new limits by June 2010, or as soon
thereafter as EPA concludes consultation
under the Endangered Species Act with the
National Marine Fisheries Service.
Reduce pollution from septic systems.
By June 30, 2013, EPA will develop a model
program with general recommendations for
activities to reduce pollution from septic
systems in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
As part of the model program, EPA will also
encourage states and local governments to
develop and implement regulations and policies
that reduce impacts from septic systems.
EPA will track state progress in adopting the
model program or similarly effective programs
through a report card-approach identifying
the numbers of septic systems upgraded
or replaced and progress toward reducing
nitrogen loads from septic systems.
Reduce pollution from atmospheric
deposition. EPA will significantly reduce
nitrogen deposition to the Bay and watershed
by 2020 by implementing programs to
remedy air pollution under the Clean Air
Act that will reduce nitrogen emissions
from electric utilities, other industrial point
sources, and on- and off-road vehicles,
including ships.
EPA will account for air deposition of
nitrogen in the load allocations in the
TMDL. By including air deposition in the
TMDL load allocations, states will benefit
from federally mandated emission reductions
achieved by Bay states as well as those
achieved by other states within the airshed.
Furthermore, states may be adopting their
own regulations to reduce nitrogen emissions
to meet the national ambient air quality
standards as part of the state implementation
planning (SIP) process. States any will also
be able to take credit that go for nitrogen
emission reductions that go beyond federal
emission control measures.
In addition to these regulatory efforts, EPA
will continue to pursue enforcement actions,
where appropriate, to reduce nitrogen
loading to the Bay. These actions may target
significant sources of NOx emissions within
the Chesapeake Bay airshed. In addition EPA
may investigate ammonia emissions from
agricultural sources within the Chesapeake
Bay watershed.
Reduce costs and provide flexibility
through trading and development of
protocols and programs for offsetting
new and expanded discharges of nutrients
and sediment. EPA will work with states,
USDA and other federal agencies to explore
opportunities to further support the use of
trading among pollution sources to achieve
water quality goals cost effectively, including
opportunities for inter-state trading. In
addition, Watershed Implementation Plans
may address projected new or increased
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 29
-------
Restore Clean Water
pollution loads by requiring that they be
offset by reductions from other sources. See
additional discussion in the Environmental
Markets chapter.
Reduce pollution through enforcement
and compliance efforts. EPA will
implement a Chesapeake Bay Compliance
and Enforcement Strategy that is a multi-
year, multi-state, multi-source strategy that
addresses violations of federal environmental
laws resulting in nitrogen, phosphorus,
sediment and other pollution. Key elements
of the strategy include:
Identifying industrial, municipal and
agricultural sources releasing significant
amounts of pollutants, particularly nitrogen,
phosphorus and sediment, in excess of the
amounts allowed by the Clean Water Act,
the Clean Air Act and other applicable
environmental laws.
Identifying nutrient and sediment impaired
watersheds, as well as significant regulated
sources discharging these and other
pollutants in violation of their requirements
under federal environmental laws.
Targeting key regulated business sectors that,
when in non-compliance with applicable
environmental regulations, contribute
significant amounts of nutrients, sediment
and other pollutants into the Bay including:
- Concentrated animal feeding operations
(CAFO);
- Municipal and industrial wastewater
facilities;
- Storm Water National Pollution
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
point sources including Municipal
Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4s) and
stormwater discharges from construction
sites and other regulated industrial
facilities; and
- Air deposition sources of nitrogen
regulated under the Clean Air Act,
including power plants.
Identifying appropriate opportunities for
compliance and enforcement activities
related to the Clean Water Act Section 404
program that regulates discharges of dredge
and fill to waters of the U.S.
Identifying compliance and enforcement
opportunities related to federal facilities,
and Superfund sites, including remedial
action and removal sites, and Resource
Conservation Recovery Act corrective
action facilities.
Exploring opportunities to use imminent
and substantial endangerment authorities
(including CWA section 504, SDWA
section 1431, RCRA section 7003,
CERCLA section 106, and Clean Air Act
section 303) to address significant pollution
problems affecting the Bay.
Investigations and inspections will be targeted as
follows:
The Delmarva peninsula, south-central
Pennsylvania and the Shenandoah Valley for
CAFOs
Significant wastewater treatment plants as
designated by the Bay states based on design
flow or nitrogen and phosphorus loading,
which are in noncompliance with nutrient-
related requirements
Geographic areas with high nitrogen and
phosphorus loadings and counties with
high rates of growth and development for
stormwater NPDES point sources
The Elizabeth, Anacostia and Patapsco
(Baltimore Harbor) rivers for toxic
contaminants.
-------
Each federal agency will adopt an agency-specific policy that
defines administrative and management controls needed to
ensure implementation of the stormwater requirements for new
development and redevelopment in Section 438 of the Energy
Independence and Security Act,
While EPA plays an important enforcement role
in the Bay states, the states themselves are critical,
conducting a large percentage of the compliance
monitoring (e.g., compliance inspections,
compliance assistance) and enforcement. EPA
will closely plan and coordinate compliance
and enforcement efforts with its state partners
to ensure robust watershed-wide compliance
and enforcement programs that establish clear
expectations for the public and the regulated
community regarding compliance.
EPA will coordinate with the Clean
Water State Revolving Fund managers
to build cooperation and partnership
in using resources to better protect
the Chesapeake Bay. Under the Clean
Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF)
appropriation and American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act, the Bay states and District
received $1.475 billion in 2009 and 2010
which they can use to fund projects that
help local governments reduce nitrogen,
phosphorus and sediment pollution affecting
the Bay. Under the President's 2011 Budget,
the Bay states and District would receive an
additional $431 million in Clean Water SRF
funding.
EPA is coordinating with the Bay state
CWSRF programs and convened a meeting
in April 2010 with state program managers
to discuss activities each CWSRF may
take to support implementation, including
potential new initiatives and innovations. This
collaboration will continue and help state
CWSRF programs market their programs to
prospective recipients in the Bay watershed.
EPA will work with Maryland Department of
the Environment (MDE) on a pilot project
to identify possible revisions to Clean Water
State Revolving Fund documents. Work will
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 31
-------
Restore Clean Water
begin in 2010 to provide MDE with
technical assistance for proposed changes that
will encourage use of CWSRF to fund projects
that promote sustainable communities.
Provide states and the District with
additional grants for regulatory and
accountability programs. In 2010, EPA
received an increase of $11.2 million to
initiate new Chesapeake Bay Regulatory and
Accountability Program grants. These new
funds are in addition to the $8.9 million that
EPA provides annually to the states in the
Chesapeake Bay Implementation Grants
program. EPA expects to maintain this funding
level in 2011. These new funds are intended to
support state work to develop and implement
additional regulatory and accountability
programs to control urban, suburban and
agricultural runoff in the watershed. These
new grants will also help states to develop
new regulations, design TMDL Watershed
Implementation Plans, reissue and enforce
permits, and provide technical and compliance
assistance to local governments and regulated
entities. Consistent with Section 202 (c) of
the Executive Order, in 2011 these grant
funds are being "targeted...to better protect
the Chesapeake Bay and it tributary waters,
including resources under the Clean Water
EPA's Chesapeake Bay compliance
and enforcement strategy addresses
violations of federal environmental
laws resulting in nutrient, sediment
and other pollution in the Bay
watershed and airshed, An online map
provides information on enforcement
actions and cases since 2009,
This snapshot of the map reflects
enforcement actions from January
2009 through April 2010, Access
the map at http://www.epa.gov/
compliance/civil/initiatives/progress-
chesapeakebay.html
Act." In addition, beginning in 2011, EPA will
be targeting its other Clean Water Act funds
(e.g., Chesapeake Bay Implementation Grants)
in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to better
protect the Bay and its tributaries.
Pursue funding of stream restoration
grants. EPA will, by December 2010,
complete an assessment of options to direct
existing funds from other program areas
to support increased funding for stream
restoration grants. If these funds become
available, they would be targeted and directed
for use at a local government, local watershed
and community-based level.
Launch the Chesapeake Bay/Anacostia
Green Streets-Green Jobs Initiative. In
October 2010, EPA, through collaboration
with public and private partners, will initiate
a pilot grassroots effort, targeting towns and
communities in urbanized watersheds to help
retrofit and create "green streets" that enable
sustainable watershed protection, accelerated
implementation of green infrastructure
stormwater management through low-impact
development practices, renewable energy use,
green jobs creation and greater connectedness
and access to restoration opportunities.
Specific actions include:
-------
Pilot the Green Street-Green Jobs Academy
to bring a town's "Green Vision" together
with tools to accelerate local greening efforts.
The Academy is intended to build a better
pipeline for federal and state support to
grassroots greening efforts, as exemplified by
the Edmonston, MD "Green Street" project.
Starting in the Anacostia River watershed,
EPA will work with the District, Maryland,
the Chesapeake Bay Trust, the Region 3
Green Highways Partnership, and other
key public and private partners to leverage
resources that create green jobs and help
participating towns integrate green street
and green community plans into their local
plans. For example, EPA will hold the first
regional Green Streets-Green Jobs training
forum in Anacostia in fall 2010 and hold
three additional training forums throughout
the watershed in 2011-2103.
EPA will work with up to 10 demonstration
communities per year for the next three to
five years to create Green Streets-Green Jobs
plans and designs that support local and Bay
water quality and watershed protection plans.
EPA will use pilot results to expand work
to additional small to mid-sized urbanizing
towns in the Chesapeake, based upon local
stakeholder interest and available capacity.
Ensure the federal government leads by
example in reducing pollution from federal
lands and facilities. In addition to supporting
development of state Watershed Implementation
Plans, federal lands and facilities managers will
take the following actions:
Each federal agency will adopt an agency-
specific policy that defines administrative
and management controls needed to
ensure implementation of the stormwater
requirements for new development and
redevelopment in Section 438 of the
Energy Independence and Security Act,
Riparian buffers established in the Shenandoah Valley through the Conservation Reserve Enhanvement Program provide both water quality and
wildlife habitat benefits,
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 33
-------
Restore Clean Water
consistent with guidance developed by EPA
in coordination with other federal agencies.
This policy should include mechanisms for
producing an annual internal agency action
plan and progress report and be in place
by December 2010, with implementation
beginning in 2011. The results of each federal
agency's actions to comply with Section
438 of EISA will be published as part of the
Annual Progress report issued under the
direction of the Executive Order.
Implement sustainable land
management practices and programs
into all federal capital improvements,
public works management and energy
management projects.
As directed by Section 502 of the
Chesapeake Bay Executive Order, EPA
will publish guidance for federal land
management activities in the Bay watershed
by May 2010. This guidance addresses
agriculture, urban/suburban development,
septic systems, forestry, buffers and
hydromodification. As directed by Section
501 of the Executive Order, each federal
agency with land, facilities or installation
management responsibilities affecting
10 or more acres in the Chesapeake Bay
watershed will implement the Section 502
guidance as expeditiously as practicable and
to the extent permitted by law.
Federal agencies will incorporate Section
502 guidance considerations as part of their
overall strategy to meet load reductions
assigned to them by states and the district
under Chesapeake Bay TMDL WIP Phase II
plans.
Ensure that stormwater impacts are
minimized as part of environmental
review of federal-aid highway
projects and other federally-assisted
transportation projects. In 2010, DOT
will issue a letter encouraging state and
District DOTs to implement projects to
address stormwater issues relating to existing
federal-aid roadways, including using
federal transportation funds eligible under
environmental restoration for projects to
address stormwater management problems.
AGRICULTURAL CONSERVATION
OUTCOME:
Work with producers to apply new
conservation practices on four million
acres of agricultural working lands in high-
priority watersheds by 2025 to improve
water quality in the Chesapeake Bay and
its tributaries. (Current condition: Of the
approximately eight million acres of agricultural
working lands in high-priority watersheds,
approximately four million acres are identified
as having soils with the highest potential for
leaching and runoff, which may affect water
quality. The four million-acre target is to apply or
expand conservation treatment on virtually all of
these most vulnerable agricultural lands.)
Action Overview:
Focus resources on priority watersheds and
agricultural conservation practices to assist
states in implementing their Watershed
Implementation Plans.
Accelerate agricultural conservation adoption
by working with partners to leverage funding
and simplify program participation.
Accelerate development of new agricultural
conservation technologies.
Develop a system of accountability for
tracking and reporting conservation practices.
Focus resources on priority watersheds
and practices for agriculture to assist
states in implementing their Watershed
-------
Implementation Plans (WIPs). USDAwill
target funding to key watersheds to assist states in
meeting two-year milestones as identified in their
WIPs. Focusing on the most economically and
environmentally effective conservation practices
can improve program efficiency in reducing
nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment delivery to
the Chesapeake Bay and tributary waters.
Target efforts at watersheds that
contribute the most nitrogen, phosphorus
and sediment. Continuing its 2009 effort,
USDA will collaborate with EPA, USGS,
FWS, state governments and conservation
districts to identify watersheds with the
highest nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment
delivery to the Bay and its tributary waters.
USDA will work with these partners to apply
best available science, through a process of
adaptive management, to identify and treat
lands within high-priority watersheds that are
most vulnerable to leaching and runoff.
USGS will provide updated information in
2011 on areas of high sediment loads reaching
the Bay to support prioritizing conservation
actions. USDA, in partnership with the
states, will complete an evaluation of priority
watersheds and identify any revisions to the
priority list by October 2012, and every two
years thereafter through 2025.
Identify the most effective conservation
practices. USDA will align program delivery
to emphasize the priority practices used by
the states to reach their two-year milestones.
Throughout the WIP development process,
USDA will work with the states to identify
the suite of conservation practices with
greatest potential to reduce nitrogen,
phosphorus and sediment losses. As states
revise their two-year milestone commitments,
USDA will help inform priority practice
selection through scientific studies such as the
Conservation Effects Assessment Project.
Accelerate conservation adoption by
working with partners to leverage
conservation funding and simplify
program participation. While agriculture
has substantially reduced runoff of nitrogen,
phosphorus and sediment, there is more to be
accomplished. Increasing technical and financial
assistance through collaboration with states and
conservation partners can help accelerate practice
implementation.
Leverage funding for conservation in the
Chesapeake Bay watershed. In 2010, USDA
will use its authorities under the Cooperative
Conservation Partnership Initiative to focus
resources on the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
This program provides a unique opportunity
to leverage partner resources and increase
outreach to accelerate conservation progress.
Up to $5 million will be made available for
partnership agreements in the Chesapeake
Bay watershed in fiscal year 2010.
Utilize EPA funding for agriculture
challenges. EPA will coordinate funding
opportunities with USDA to accelerate
nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment
reductions in priority watersheds and tackle
key agriculture challenges. Examples of
funding opportunities include the EPA
319 Program, State Revolving Fund,
CWA section 117 and STAR grants. The
coordination of these federal resources will
help states and the agriculture community to
address the many environmental challenges
within the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Coordination of funding has increased in
2010 and will continue through 2025.
Establish showcase projects in small
watersheds. Beginning in 2010, USDAwill
establish showcase projects in small watersheds
to test and monitor the benefits of a focused,
highly partnered, voluntary approach to
conservation. USDA will use Chesapeake Bay
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 35
-------
Restore Clean Water
Watershed Initiative funding and leverage
funds from states and other conservation
partners to implement conservation projects in
several small watersheds. The watersheds are
small enough (about 30,000 to 40,000 acres) so
that an increased outreach effort can reach 100
percent of the agricultural producers in each
watershed.
Monitor the results of showcase projects.
Beginning in 2010, USDA will work with
USGS and other partners to develop a
strategy for evaluating increased conservation
efforts in showcase projects. USGS will work
with partners to implement water-quality
monitoring in 2011, which is expected to be
needed for 10 years (see supporting science
for more information). This information
will be used to adapt and expand projects
to test new situations and transfer successes
throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Simplify conservation planning for
producers. By 2012, USDA will implement
improved conservation planning technologies
developed through the Conservation Delivery
Streamlining Initiative. The improved
tools will simplify resource assessment and
conservation planning, which will make
it easier for producers to participate in
conservation. In addition, this initiative will
reduce the administrative workload on field
staff, allowing for increased time available to
directly assist agricultural producers.
Accelerate development of new conservation
technologies. Current conservation technologies
and tools, such as conservation tillage and
comprehensive nutrient management, have
demonstrated successes in reducing nitrogen,
phosphorus and sediment losses from agricultural
operations. Progress toward improving the
condition of the Chesapeake Bay watershed will
be accelerated by expanding and improving the
conservation toolbox.
Fund research and development of
conservation technology. USDA will align
grant funding with key resource challenges
to foster increased public-private research
partnerships and encourage development of
new technologies that provide environmental
benefits as well as increased revenue
opportunities. In 2010, USDA will make
up to $5 million available in Conservation
Innovation Grants to foster technology
innovation and development to address
the most pressing issues facing agriculture
and conservation in the Bay watershed. In
addition, beginning in 2011, USDA will
work with other granting partners to avoid
duplication of granting efforts and maximize
the efficiency of program resources.
Evaluate effectiveness of next generation
conservation tools. USDA and EPA
will work with states and agricultural and
environmental research partners to evaluate
the next generation of conservation tools and
technologies. Beginning in 2010, a strategy will
be developed for assessing new technologies
and management practices and their nitrogen,
phosphorus and sediment reduction benefits
in order to accelerate their use throughout
the watershed. As new conservation tools
and technologies become available, states can
incorporate their implementation into their
two-year milestone goals.
Develop a system of accountability for
tracking and reporting conservation
practices. Full accounting of conservation
practices applied to the land is a necessary data
input for improving the quality of information
and ensuring that the practices are properly
credited in the Bay model. In development
of this system, USDA will uphold all privacy
requirements as called for in Section 1619 of the
2008 Farm Bill.
-------
By December 2011, USDA and EPA will
work with state and local partners to expand
existing tracking and reporting systems for
conservation practices, best management
practices and treatment technologies to
ensure reporting and tracking at local scales
of implementation - counties, conservation
districts and/or small watersheds.
By July 2012, mechanisms for tracking and
reporting of voluntary conservation practices
and other best management practices installed
on agricultural lands will be developed and
implemented.
TOXIC CONTAMINANTS:
Addressing the significant problem of toxic
pollutant contamination in the Bay and its
watershed is a key element of this strategy.
At this time, federal agencies have substantially
less information on which to base specific goals
and strategies for toxics reduction than for
nutrients and sediments. As described below,
federal agencies are committed to working with
state and local governments and stakeholders
to significantly expand understanding of this
problem and to develop contaminant reduction
outcomes by 2013 and strategies by 2015.
Toxic contaminants in the Bay and its watershed
come from several sources. Some of these
toxic contaminants are a "legacy" from past
pollutant discharges. Some toxic contamination
comes from stormwater that carries metals
and combustion byproducts (e.g., PAHs) and
previously-contaminated soils into the waterways.
In the case of mercury, air emissions from the Bay
states contribute about one-third of the loadings
- more than half is from global sources outside
the United States. During the past decade, a
number of "emerging" contaminants have been
identified that are associated with a variety of
possible sources, including pharmaceuticals and
personal-care products.
The environmental and human health risks
of these contaminants are significant. Toxic
contaminants pose health risks to people
including potentially higher incidence of cancer
by consuming fish. Some toxic contaminants
in the Bay watershed have already been shown
to impact the reproduction systems of fish and
wildlife. Emerging contaminants may further
impact the health of fish and wildlife and
potentially pose new risks to people in the Bay
watershed. Possible impacts on fish and wildlife
include greater susceptibility to disease and
infections, compromised reproductive systems
(such as "intersex" in some fish in the Potomac
river), lesions and death.
EPA, DOI and NOAA will work with state
and local governments and stakeholders
to expand understanding of the extent and
seriousness of the toxic contaminant problem
in the Bay and its watershed and to develop
contaminant reduction goals by 2013.
During 2011 and 2012, the USGS, FWS,
NOAA and EPA will examine existing
monitoring information from regional and
national programs and compare existing
toxicity benchmarks to the monitoring results.
In November 2012, after coordinating with
the Chesapeake Executive Council and federal
partners, EPA will issue a report summarizing
this information. The report will also include
an assessment of the progress of management
actions taken to date pursuant to the
Chesapeake Bay Basinwide Toxins Reduction
and Prevention Strategy.
DOI will coordinate with EPA on sampling
chemicals in the Bay watershed. The focus
will include sampling of selected fish species
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Restore Clean Water
that have already shown impacts from
toxic contaminants, other key indicator
species (such as brook trout), and water and
sediment samples. Results from an ongoing
assessment of emerging contaminants in
the Potomac River will be available in 2013.
Assessments for the two other largest river
basins in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
(Susquehanna and James Rivers) will be
conducted by 2017 to provide additional
information on any emerging contaminants
that may pose risks to tidal segments and
their respective biotic communities.
EPA will work with DOT, the Bay states, the
District and stakeholders to develop toxic
contaminant reduction goals by 2013.
EPA will work with DOI, states and
stakeholders to develop strategies for
reducing toxic contaminants by 2015. USGS
will supply information from the contaminant
assessments to assist FWS and EPA in prioritizing
the types and locations of control measures. The
strategies may be refined in 2017 as additional
information on emerging contaminants in the Bay
watershed becomes available. The strategies will
address environmental justice issues of concern in
the Bay watershed. Agencies will also act now to
reduce toxic contamination.
As described previously, EPA will develop
new regulations for stormwater pollution and,
in the interim, work to strengthen stormwater
permits. These actions have the potential
to reduce loadings of metals, combustion
byproducts (e.g., PAHs) and PCBs that reach
the Bay and local waterways.
EPA is now implementing a multi-regional
initiative to reduce impacts from mountaintop
mining, acid mine drainage, Marcellus shale-
gas extraction and flue gas desulfurization at
coal-fired power plants. USGS and FWS will
work with EPA to assess the potential impacts
of Marcellus Shale-gas extraction on streams
and habitats. Some of these actions have
already reduced discharges to the Bay and its
tributary waters. This work will be integrated
with the control strategies to be developed by
2015.
EPA is actively engaging in compliance and
enforcement activities related to the Clean
Water Act programs regulating dredge
and fill operations and federal facilities,
and taking action to reduce the release of
toxic contaminants from Superfund sites
and facilities regulated under the Resources
Conservation and Recovery Act. This
includes a continued emphasis on reducing
contaminants in the Elizabeth River,
Anacostia River and Patapsco River. NOAA is
providing scientific support to maximize the
effectiveness of these cleanups and restoring
injuries to natural resources. This work will
be included within the control strategies to
be developed by 2015 and will be expanded as
appropriate.
FWS will promote take-back programs
for selected pharmaceuticals and other
compounds of concern.
-------
EXAMPLES
Results from an ongoing assessment of toxic
contaminants in the Potomac will be available in 2013
and used to help develop a numeric outcome for
contaminants.
In 2011, USGS will develop a groundwater model
of the Delmarva Peninsula to predict "lag time" of
nitrogen pollution based on the amount of time it
takes nitrogen to move through groundwater and into
streams, creeks and rivers.
Investigations and inspections will be targeted in areas
contributing pollutants to the watershed, including:
The Delmarva peninsula, south-central Pennsylvania
and the Shenandoah Valley for CAFOs
Significant wastewater treatment plants, which
have been designated by the Bay states based on
design flow or nutrient loading, throughout the Bay
watershed
Geographic areas with high nitrogen and phosphorus
loadings and counties with high rates of growth and
development for stormwater NPDES point sources
The Elizabeth, Anacostia and Patapsco (Baltimore
Harbor) rivers for toxic contaminants
EPA issued the District of Columbia municipal
separate storm sewer (MS4) permit to serve as a
model MS4 permit for Bay watershed jurisdictions.
EPA will issue an NPDES permit for the Blue Plains
treatment plant (the largest publicly owned treatment
plant in the Bay watershed)
USGS and EPA will work with states to explain
changes in water quality and the effects of
management actions in the major drainage areas
(Susquehanna, Potomac, James, and Delmarva) in the
Bay watershed.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 39
-------
Restore Clean Water
o
0.
0.
(0
111
u
u
(0
u
Federal agencies will provide enhanced research,
monitoring and models to support prioritizing,
monitoring and evaluating the effect of
management actions to improve water-quality
conditions.
Prioritize the types and locations of
management actions
Improve computer models used to guide
restoration activities. Federal agencies will
improve models and efforts to priorize actions
including:
Use results from watershed models to
prioritize locations of actions. In 2011,
USGS and EPA will provide results from
the newly updated watershed models to help
USDA, FWS and the states focus water-
quality actions in the areas of highest nutrient
and sediment loads to the Bay.
Develop groundwater models. USGS will
develop groundwater models of key areas to
predict "lag time" of nitrogen pollution (and
pollution reductions) based on the amount
of time it takes nitrogen to move through
groundwater and into streams, creeks and
rivers. In 2011, USGS will provide a model of
the Delmarva Peninsula.
Ensure availability of Bay forecasts
and modeling results. NOAA is actively
developing and running several models of
Chesapeake Bay processes and will make
results, forecasts and products available
to Chesapeake Bay partners and decision-
makers. USGS will provide river flow and
nitrogen and phosphorus load information to
NOAA so they can improve several models
and forecasts including:
Harmful Algae Bloom forecasts;
Hypoxia forecasts;
Circulation and coastal water level via the
operational Chesapeake Bay Observational
Forecast System model;
Operational and scenario modeling of
coastal and overland inundation through the
Chesapeake Inundation Prediction system
and the proposed Chesapeake Bay Coastal
Estuary River Information System; and
High-resolution operational meteorological
analyses and forecasts.
Monitor
Federal agencies will work with state partners
to improve monitoring of pollution loads and/
or levels in the Bay watershed, reporting of
management practices and attainment of water-
quality standards in the Bay. This will occur as
part of the Chesapeake Monitoring Alliance.
Specific actions include:
Improve water-quality monitoring in the
watershed. EPA and USGS have worked
with states to identify urban, suburban and
agricultural areas where sites are needed to
improve watershed monitoring for nitrogen,
phosphorus and sediment. In 2011, EPA
and USGS will work with partners to
evaluate existing programs and identify new
opportunities to add sites in 2012 and 2013.
Improve tracking of management actions
and land-use activities. EPA and USGS
will work with the states to improve tracking
and verification of the implementation of
conservation practices and land activities on
agricultural, suburban and urban lands. The
information will be used to assess the effect
of water-quality actions on reducing nutrients
and sediment.
Monitor and assess restoration activities in
small urban and agricultural watersheds.
USDA, USGS and EPA, working with state
and local partners, will plan and initiate
monitoring of water quality conditions
in agricultural and urban watersheds to
help document the effectiveness and cost-
effectiveness of restoration actions. In 2011,
-------
agencies will begin baseline monitoring
in three USDA showcase watersheds and
two urban watersheds. Monitoring will be
needed for at least 10 years and additional
assessment activities, including preparation of
water-quality models, will be needed to assess
effectiveness of restoration activities.
Improve monitoring and assessment
of stream conditions. EPA, USGS and
FWS will work with the states to improve
monitoring of stream conditions in the
watershed. In 2010 and 2011, monitoring to
support the current stream health indicator
will be examined to better address changes
over time. Additionally, other information
on the physical condition of streams, such
as bank stability and floodplain connectivity,
will be considered to help improve the stream
health indicator.
Improve monitoring of tidal waters. A tidal
monitoring component of the Chesapeake
Monitoring Alliance will expand tidal
monitoring for water-quality information
needed to better manage fish and wildlife.
In 2010 and 2011, NOAA and EPA will
work with Maryland, Virginia and academic
partners to identify and implement the best
opportunities to improve Bay monitoring.
NOAA will collect and distribute satellite
ocean remote sensing data covering the Bay in
2010 and beyond.
Expand NOAA buoy system to improve
water quality monitoring and assess
new sensors for monitoring emerging
contaminants. As a contribution to the
Monitoring Alliance, NOAA will improve
and expand the Chesapeake Bay Interpretive
Buoy System (CBIBS). In 2011, NOAA
will continue to monitor changes in water
quality and explore new sensors and observing
techniques to support monitoring, assessment,
modeling and decision tools, focusing on the
tidal mainstem of the Bay. By 2012, NOAA
will introduce and test a new smaller CBIBS
buoy for use in tributaries. Monitoring
buoys in tidal tributaries, including shallow
water sites can provide instantaneous data on
dissolved oxygen, turbidity, pH, chlorophyll-a
that are useful for regulatory review. Changes
in the quality of shallow water areas are
the best indicators of local water quality
degradation, including effects from septic
seepage, dredging storm water discharge and
shoreline construction impacts.
Evaluate water-quality changes and
progress to adjust management actions.
EPA, USGS, NOAA and the Bay jurisdictions
will work with state and academic partners to
explain water-quality changes and progress
toward water quality standards and the Bay
TMDL. USGS and EPA will work with states
to explain changes in water quality and the
effects of management actions in the major
drainage areas (Susquehanna, Potomac,
James, and Delmarva) in the Bay watershed.
Partners will explain water quality changes
and progress toward standards in the Bay.
Work will begin in 2012 and be completed
prior to the 2017 "mid-point" assessment of
the Bay TMDL.
Ensure TMDL allocations account for
climate change impacts. EPA and USGS
will work in conjunction with the states to
conduct an analysis by 2017 to consider
accounting for uncertainties of climate change
in TMDL allocations. USGS has begun
initial assessment of changes in pollution
loads in the watershed under different climate
and land-use scenarios. Initial results will be
available in 2012 and be used to further plan
assessments for TMDL allocations. Enhanced
assessment will begin in 2016.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Restore Clean Water
EXAMPLES OF
Pennsylvania WIP Development
Pennsylvania's Chesapeake Watershed
Implementation Plan will build upon three core
elements that have already shown success. The
first is milestone implementation and tracking.
Pennsylvania will accelerate existing programs
including erosion and sedimentation regulations
for animal heavy use areas and mandatory 150-
foot riparian forest buffers for impaired exceptional
value and high quality streams. Pilot projects are
underway to collect data on best management
practices in place that were not supported by public
funding. New technology and nutrient trading is the
second core element. Enhanced regional methane
digesters are being promoted to digest manure,
produce electricity and substantially reduce nitrogen
and phosphorus pollution. To facilitate the nutrient
trading market, efforts are underway to create a
Bank and Exchange in PennVEST that would buy
and sell nutrient credits. Eight non-point source to
point source trades have been completed. The third
element focuses on compliance. Pennsylvania's
Chesapeake Bay Agricultural Water Quality Initiative
will use a targeted watershed approach to achieve
agricultural compliance. Pennsylvania's Point Source
Compliance Plan will continue to be implemented.
Permits for the 63 Phase I wastewater treatment
plants (85 percent of the load) have been issued.
NPDES Permit for the District's Municipal
Separate Storm Sewer System
The District has been working very closely with EPA
Region 3 to develop an MS4 permit and Stormwater
Management Program that has many positive
attributes that will help improve local watersheds and
the Chesapeake Bay. The permit requires the District
to implement specific measures such as installation
of a certain number of trees and green roofs,
enhancing street sweeping in the city, and requiring
broad application of low-impact development
(LID) practices. The District is implementing these
initiatives in the hope that they will contribute in a
measurable way to the Chesapeake Bay TMDL. EPA
Region 3 has recently labeled the District's MS4
permit as a model for the Chesapeake watershed.
Enforcing the Federal Energy Independence
& Security Act of 2008 in the District
The District is currently working with federal
agencies in the city to implement stormwater
management requirements established by Section
438 of the federal Energy Independence and
Security Act of 2008 (EISA). Currently, all new
federal development and redevelopment projects
over 5,000-square-feet within city limits are subject
to the District's stormwater management regulations.
This process requires proposed development to
have a stormwater management plan to reduce
runoff and the pollutants carried into District
waterways. Under EISA, federal agency facilities are
required to retain stormwater runoff equivalent to the
95th percentile rain event, which in the District is 1.7
inches. The District Department of the Environment
(DDOE) is working with federal agencies, including
EPA, to implement and enforce the requirements
of EISA in any new stormwater management plans
developed for federal properties located within city
limits. The District hopes that this initiative will greatly
enhance water quality in local waterways, as well as
the Chesapeake Bay.
RiverSmart Homes
To address stormwater runoff in residential areas,
the DDOE initiated the RiverSmart Homes program
to provide incentives for homeowners to install best
management practices on their properties. The
District currently offers up to $1,200 per homeowner
to install one, or several, of the following landscape
enhancements to help reduce stormwater runoff:
shade trees, rain barrels, pervious pavers, rain
gardens and bayscaping.
-------
Green Roof Incentive Program
Since the early 2000's, the District has been
working to install green roofs on new and existing
buildings throughout the city. Green Roofs sequester
stormwater and pollutants, such as nitrogen and
phosphorus, before they enter local waterways.
In cooperation with DC Greenworks, DDOE has
implemented a subsidy program providing $5 per
square foot for installation of green roofs up to 4,000
square feet in size on new and existing properties.
In cooperation with the Anacostia Watershed
Society, DDOE has implemented a subsidy program
providing $7 per square foot for new buildings with
green roofs over 4,000 square feet. The District
currently has the second highest number of green
roofs in the nation, behind only Chicago.
Maryland's Enhanced Nutrient Removal
Maryland's Enhanced Nutrient Removal (ENR)
strategy focuses on a consistent application of
best available technology at all major wastewater
treatment plants, with a stringent level of nitrogen
to be achieved in the effluent of 4 mg/l. This
strategy has the added value of consistent and
mandatory reporting and, if necessary, enforcement.
The Bay Restoration Fund that pays for the ENR
upgrade is also an example of an approach to raise
the resources, funding in this case, that will be
necessary to achieve the restoration goals.
Potomac Headwaters Water Quality Report
The West Virginia Department of Agriculture
.._!___.lil__[|_i . _ I I _ _ .1. i V A / _ l .. f~\ l!i_ .
ItiltictStiU Lilt! nULUIIIcUJ ntictUWcUtilS VVcUtil VJUctllLy
Report which summarizes 10 years of monitoring
date collected from 11 4 sites in 1 0 watersheds.
This comprehensive report presents the findings of
the program for parameters such as temperature,
dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity, total phosphc
ammonia-nitrogen, nitrate-nitrogen and fecal
coliform.
West Virginia Two-Year Milestones
West Virginia is working on developing a trading
program and identifying funding options for upgrades
to wastewater treatment plants. The funding sources
in West Virginia's two-year milestones are in place
for implementation of the planned practices. The
development of the nutrient trading program slated
to be in place by 2011 will increase opportunities for
nitrogen and phosphorus reductions.
Pennsylvania's Growing Greener Program
Pennsylvania's Growing Greener grant program
supports nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment
reduction activities with emphasis on targeted
watersheds, including those in the Chesapeake
Bay watershed. Growing Greener is focused on
restoring streams that are biologically impaired.
Water quality improvements are tracked and
documented. Growing Greener is the largest
single investment of state funds in Pennsylvania's
history to address critical environmental concerns.
Pennsylvania's total funding commitment to the
Growing Greener Program is $1.3 billion through
201 2. A permanent dedicated fee of $4 per ton on
municipal waste disposal will insure funding into the
foreseeable future.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 43
-------
Restore Clean Water
EXAMPLES OF
CO NT
District Regulatory Initiatives on Toxics
and Trash
The District has implemented two pieces of
legislation that will help to improve conditions
in local watersheds. With the passage of the
city's Comprehensive Stormwater Management
Enhancement Amendment Act of 2008, the District
banned the use of coal tar pavement products
on public and private property. Coal tar contains
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which
are highly toxic chemicals that have been found to
have harmful impacts on humans and animals, and
are suspected to cause cancer. By banning use of
coal tar, the District has ensured reduction of the
introduction of PAHs through stormwater runoff into
the District's waterways and Chesapeake Bay.
In 2009, the city ratified the Anacostia River Cleanup
and Protection Act, also known as the "Bag Bill."
This legislation placed a five cent fee on all plastic
and paper bags used in local District businesses
(e.g., grocery stores, pharmacies) in the hopes that
there would be a reduction in the number of bags
introduced as litter to District waterways. The District
hopes this will help the city, and its regional partners,
in meeting the goals outlined in the Trash Free
Potomac by 2013 strategy.
Agricultural Conservation in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania continues to implement the existing
water quality requirements for animal manure
storage, erosion and sedimentation control, and
manure management. Pennsylvania has initiated
revisions to regulatory and administrative tools,
including ongoing revisions of regulations to address
animal heavy use areas and near-stream activities,
and the Manure Management Manual to address
workable manure plan format, phosphorus, buffers,
Animal Concentration Areas, incorporation and
winter spreading of manure consistent with the
approach taken in nutrient management program.
Pennsylvania continues to work with county
to provide funds for 50 conservation district staff
positions and 60 to 70 agriculture conservation
projects annually. Pennsylvania also adopted a
targeted watershed approach to assess and address
agricultural issues, particularly in the Conowingo and
Watson run watersheds.
Agricultural Conservation in Delaware
Delaware's Nutrient Management Law mandates that
all farmers, golf courses and other nutrient handlers
develop and implement phosphorus-limited nutrient
management plans, maintain nutrient handling
records, maintain nutrient certification, and submit
an annual report. Since 2007, all farms requiring a
nutrient management plan have developed one and
implementation levels will be maintained into the future.
Delaware's Relocation Program moves poultry litter/
manure from farms with insufficient land or high soil
phosphorus levels to farms with nutrient needs or to
alternative use facilities. This program has resulted in
relocating almost all of the excess litter in Delaware,
most of which comes from Chesapeake Bay
watersheds. Over 50 percent of the excess litter was
sent to alternative use projects such as the Perdue
AgriRecycle fertilizer plant, which processed a total
of 39,508 tons of Delaware's litter in 2009.
-------
Delaware's Nutrient Management Commission
continues to implement agreements with Delaware
poultry companies (Allen's, Mountaire and Perdue).
These agreements have resulted in the incorporation
of the phytase enzyme in all feed, which helps poultry
digest phosphorus and reduces the amount in litter.
Phystase and other litter/manure amendments and
handling practices have reduced the phosphorus
content in litter by 30 to 40 percent. Agreements
with poultry companies have also resulted in
increased nutrient management education,
certification and stewardship.
For the first time ever, Delaware was able to submit
more detailed information regarding cover crop
implementation. The watershed model recently
incorporated best management practice effectiveness
estimates for various cover crops, which vary
depending on the date the crop is planted. In the
past, Delaware just submitted total acres planted, but
this year was able to differentiate between early and
standard plantings and the crop species planted
in most regions. This improved data tracking
and reporting will help track progress toward
Delaware's milestones goals.
Delaware's Nutrient Management Commission has
approved a pilot program in the Choptank River
and Gravely Branch watersheds in an attempt to
fill data gaps on BMP implementation. Most of tl
agricultural BMPs that Delaware currently reports
are part of cost-share programs, thus BMPs that
are implemented voluntarily are not often credited
in the Bay Program models. This pilot project will
request additional information from roughly 100
farmers in the two watersheds about their nutrient
applications and use of BMPs. This will establish
better accountability for agriculture, paperwork
relief and measurable nutrient and sediment
load reductions. By law, all individual reports are
protected from public view and data will only be
disseminated in an aggregated watershed report.
Each participating farmer will receive a minimum
of one nutrient management continuing education
credit for completing the report.
Eastern Panhandle Conservation District's
Agriculture Enhancement Program
The Eastern Panhandle Conservation District and
West Virginia Conservation Agency launched
the state's first agriculture financial and technical
assistance program. This program, designed to
enhance agriculture production while protecting
water quality, features cost share on several practices
that protect water quality including cover crops,
stream fencing, water systems, stream crossings and
riparian buffers. To date, 84 farmers have enrolled
in the program in Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan
counties. It is important to also note that according
to the Chesapeake Bay model, these counties have
some of the highest rates for nitrogen delivery from
West Virginia.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 45
-------
Restore Clean Water
EXAMPLES OF
CO NT
New York's Agricultural
Environmental Management
New York's Agricultural Environmental Management
(AEM) program has aided farmers in protecting
water quality. The program is a proven example
of how government can help farmers be better
stewards of our natural resources. The driving
principles of AEM's success are:
A farm specific focus. Each farm represents a
different environmental system with soil types,
crop rotations and management capabilities
that are specific only to the individual farm.
These unique farm characteristics require a
customized plan to address water quality issues.
The AEM program achieves this goal by using
a farm specific environmental evaluation and
nutrient planning process to develop an overall
implementation plan.
An educational component. Only by inspiring
constant environmental awareness on a daily
basis can long-term water quality be improved.
To develop this recognition it is critical to achieve
farmer buy-in of new management practices.
This can only occur if programs have a strong
educational focus. Under the AEM program,
farmers' environmental knowledge is increased
through a tiered planning approach that includes
an ongoing evaluation component, ensuring
continual improvement.
Locally coordinated. Addressing water quality
in an agricultural setting requires knowledge
of specific environmental issues within each
local watershed. Having local soil & water
conservation districts lead efforts, such as they
do in the AEM program, means limited resources
are targeted to areas that will make the most
impact in water quality improvement.
Participant confidence. Regardless of the
amount of cost share available for best
management practice implementation, there
will always be a contribution by the farmer,
whether in financial resources or even just
focusing management time on the project. As
business owners, farmers must have confidence
in the technical assistance being provided or
they will not view recommended water quality
improvements as a wise and worthwhile
investment. In New York's AEM program,
technical assistance is provided by local soil
& water conservation districts that have a long
history and significant trust with farmers.
Farmers want to protect the environment and
they are very proud of their responsibility as the
caretakers of lands and waters. This is clearly
demonstrated by farm participation in programs such
as AEM which is currently working with over 1 2,000
of New York's approximately 35,000 farms.
Virginia's Continued Progress with
New Nutrient Removal Facilities
Twelve new WQIF grant agreements signed in
2010 to bring total number of projects up to 53,
committing a total of almost $627 million in state
cost-share. Three plants brought their nutrient
reduction systems on-line this year, bringing the total
number of Bay dischargers operating with nutrient
removal to 29. Based on the annual compliance plan
(Feb. 2010) for dischargers covered by the Virginia
Chesapeake Bay Watershed Nutrient Discharge
General Permit, projections show the total delivered
nutrient loads will meet, or even be lower than, the
WLAs in all basins for calendar year 2011.
Erosion and Sediment Control Local
Program Reviews in Virginia
Virginia has completed a five-year statewide review
of all locally-administered erosion and sediment
control programs. Where local programs were
found inconsistent with state law, corrective action
agreements were completed and shortcomings
-------
corrected. As of March 2010, 155 or 94.5 percent
of the programs have been found consistent with
state law. Well-run locally administered programs
reduce the loss of sediments and other pollutants
from active construction sites.
Advances in Addressing NFS from
agricultural sources in Virginia
Use of targeted incentive funds through Virginia
Agricultural Ag BMP Cost-Share Program (VACS)
continues to result in roughly 85 percent of available
funds being used for implementation of the suite
of five "priority practices" across the state. While
VACS funding for the coming year (begins July 1,
2010) will not be at levels appropriated for the two
prior years, for the first time ever (thanks to an action
taken by the 2010 Virginia General Assembly) there
is now a revenue source dedicated to VACS funding.
The funding source originates from an increase in
the fee for recording land transactions at the local
level. Further enhancements in the collection of data
for agricultural conservation include the ongoing
improvements in a web-based BMP tracking program.
Virginia's New Turf and Landscape Category
of Nutrient Management Certification
Virginia has initiated a new category of Nutrient
Management Planner Certification to better meet
the needs of professionals developing nutrient
management plans for urban/suburban developed
lands, such as golf courses, office parks, public
lands that receive nutrients, and areas treated by
lawn service companies. The agriculture certification
category has been offered since 1996 and has 329
certified planners. So far, 65 persons have become
certified in the new Turf and Landscape category.
Individuals must meet educational and experience
requirements and pass a two-part examination to
become certified.
Poultry Litter End User Regulation
in Virginia
New requirements on Virginia end users of poultry
litter became effective on January 1, 201 0. The
new regulations require enhanced tracking and
accounting of poultry litter that is transferred from
the farm where the litter is generated. End users
are required to store and land apply poultry litter in
accordance with the requirements outlined in the
amended regulation which address the proper rate
and timing of applications as well as setbacks to
environmentally sensitive features for land application
and storage of poultry litter.
Maryland's Cover Crop Program
Provides incentives to farmers to plant cover crops in
the fall to absorb nitrogen which may remain in the soil
from the previous crop. Cover crops are one of the
most effective best management practices available
to reduce nitrogen loading to the Bay, but are not
cost effective to the farmer without an incentive to
offset costs of implementation. Additional incentives
are provided for management proven to improve
effectiveness, such as early planting. Maryland has
requested the CBP to examine model efficiencies for
cover crops. Maryland is making available $15 million
for farmers to plant cover crops in the fall of 2010.
Maryland's Manure Transport Program
Instituted as a pilot program in 1998 to address
surplus poultry litter, the program provides incentives
to relocate excess animal manure to farms that can
safely use the manure as part of their crop nutrient
program. The region's poultry companies match State
funds, dollar for dollar, to support the relocation of
poultry litter. The program also supports relocation
of other animal manure types in an effort to balance
crop needs with nutrient sources. In FY 09, 11 9,892
tons of animal manures were relocated through this
program, including 62,506 tons of poultry litter.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Goal: Restore a network of
land and water habitats to
support priority species and
to afford other public benefits,
including water quality,
recreational uses and scenic
value across the watershed.
^v/J
Source: NOAA
-------
Wetlands, forests, fields,
streams, underwater
grasses and mudflats
in the Chesapeake
watershed provide
thousands of species of plants, fish and
wildlife with the places they need to find
food, shelter, reproduce and rear their
young. Chesapeake habitats also provide "habitat
highways" for Atlantic Coast fish populations
and birds migrating along the Atlantic Flyway.
These habitats play an important role in filtering
nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment pollution
before it enters local waterways and, ultimately,
the Chesapeake Bay. Wetlands in tidal and non-
tidal areas serve as holding tanks and water filters
for coastal storm surge and heavy rainfall and
help prevent costly flood damage. Forest buffers
along streams and shorelines provide shade to
keep streams cool, food for aquatic organisms and
corridors for wildlife movement. Streams are the
arteries that connect the upper and lower parts
of the watershed and provide not only passage
for fish but also a physical connection from
every local community to the Bay. The water,
submerged aquatic vegetation, intertidal mudflats
and benthic habitat of the Bay provide areas for
numerous Bay species to shelter, spawn and feed.
WETLANDS OUTCOME:
Restore 30,000 acres of tidal and non-tidal
wetlands and enhance the function of
an additional 150,000 acres of degraded
wetlands by 2025. (Current condition: 1 million
acres of tidal and non-tidal wetland estimated
to be available in the Chesapeake watershed for
restoration or enhancement. Between 1998 and
2008, 18,217 acres of wetlands were restored and
97,738 acres were enhanced.)
Action Overview:
« Restore and protect priority Chesapeake
marshes.
Increase incentives for wetland restoration
and enhancement on private land.
m Strengthen federal coordination on permits
that impact wetlands.
Restore and protect priority Chesapeake
marshes. FWS and NOAA will work with state
and local partners to protect and restore marshes
that have been degraded or are under pressure
from shoreline development and sea-level rise.
The highest priority marshes and shorelines
will be selected based on the existing level of
degradation, existing and future threat from
sea level rise and erosion, and the feasibility of
restoration and/or protection. Conserving parcels
landward of priority marshes will allow marshes
to migrate and will be a focus of the protection
efforts. These restoration and protection activities
will be strategically targeted in priority tributaries
throughout the Bay.
Understanding impacts of sea-level rise on
coastal ecosystems and communities is critical for
effective adaptation and mitigation strategies in
the Chesapeake Bay. FWS and NOAA will use
existing information and conduct new assessments
to quantify the vulnerability of different coastal
areas throughout the Bay and help prioritize
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 49
-------
Recover Habitat
FWS will increase on-the-ground assistance for restoration
and enhancement of non-tidal wetlands and associated upland
buffers on private lands,
management strategies. Using the existing
USAGE Erosion Vulnerability Assessment and
FWS Submerged Lands Affecting Marshes
Model, partners will prioritize marshes that are
both susceptible to erosion and offer high habitat
value to tidal wetland-dependent species such
as black ducks. Beginning in 2011, USGS will
conduct enhanced vulnerability assessments using
new information on sea-level rise projections and
land-cover change that will improve prioritization
of tidal wetland restoration. (See Climate
Change chapter) Partners will leverage funding
to implement projects in 2012 in places like the
Choptank and Blackwater Rivers, with a milestone
of 10,000 acres of combined tidal and non-tidal
wetland restored in priority areas by 2015.
Increase incentives for wetland restoration
and enhancement on private land. FWS will
increase on-the-ground assistance for restoration
and enhancement of wetlands and associated
upland buffers on private lands (with a focus on
connecting geographical gaps in habitat between
USDA priority watersheds). Beginning in 2010,
FWS field biologists will work in close partnership
with NRCS, private landowners, the Federal
Highway Administration, state departments
of transportation and non-governmental
organizations such as Ducks Unlimited and the
Chesapeake Bay Trust to help landowners restore
10,000 acres and enhance an additional 25,000
acres of combined tidal and non-tidal wetland.
Through 2015, efforts will focus on habitat
corridors identified by the states as having high
value for terrestrial and aquatic species such as
bog turtles and wood ducks, including forested
wetlands in the Nanticoke, Pocomoke and
Patuxent sub-watersheds.
Strengthen federal coordination on permits
that impact wetlands. Resource agencies
(FWS, NOAA, NPS) will increase participation
in 2012 to engage fully in pre-application
-------
conferences on permits with regulatory agencies
(EPA, USAGE, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission) under existing authorities and
subject to appropriations. Agencies will explore
increased coordination on other licenses and
permits (e.g., those related to hydropower,
wind power, water infrastructure, natural
gas extraction and highway projects). This
approach will promote timely and collaborative
decision-making on project permits, reduce
costly permitting delays and strengthen permit
conditions to minimize impacts to fish and
wildlife habitat. It could also create incentives for
mitigation in the form of wetland restoration and
enhancement in priority watersheds.
FOREST BUFFER OUTCOME:
Restore riparian forest buffers to 63
percent, or 181,440 miles, of the total
riparian miles (stream bank and shoreline
miles) in the Bay watershed by 2025.
(Current condition: 58 percent of the 288,000
total riparian miles in the Bay watershed has
forest buffers in place.)
Action Overview:
Accelerate application of Conservation
Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) to
achieve state goals.
Restore forest buffers in priority watersheds.
Explore funding incentives for installation of
targeted riparian forest buffers.
Enhance technical capacity for riparian buffer
restoration.
Accelerate application of CREP to help
achieve state goals for riparian forest buffer
adoption. By 2012, USDA will collaborate with
state governments to increase CREP applications
by increasing riparian forest buffer outreach
and delivery. USDA's CREP is a voluntary land
retirement program that provides additional
incentives to help agricultural producers protect
environmentally sensitive land. There are a
number of programs that private landowners can
use to help restore riparian forest buffers, but
most are restored using CREP.
Restore forest buffers in priority
watersheds. By 2012, USDA will concentrate
land retirement practices, especially CREP
riparian forest buffers, in priority watersheds to
most effectively connect habitats and reduce non-
point source pollution. Forest buffers are often an
agricultural conservation practice and contribute
toward improving water quality.
Explore funding incentives for installation
of targeted riparian forest buffers. The
environmental benefits provided by a forest
buffer vary according to landscape features. By
2012, USDA and partners will explore innovative
mechanisms to pay for riparian forest buffer
restoration in proportion to environmental
benefits/outcomes (e.g., pounds of pollution
reduction). The potential exists to expand
benefits of buffers at lower costs to taxpayers.
Enhance technical capacity for riparian
buffer restoration. USES will, to the extent
possible, fund additional restoration biologists/
outreach coordinators for riparian forest
buffers in Chesapeake Bay watershed states to
increase outreach to landowners and improve
on-the-ground assistance for installation and
maintenance of riparian forest buffers. Beginning
in 2011, FWS will increase capacity through
its Partners for Fish and Wildlife program to
provide landowner assistance for riparian forest
buffer restoration through site assessment and
project design and delivery on private lands in the
Chesapeake watershed.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Recover Habitat
FISH PASSAGE OUTCOME:
Restore historical fish migratory routes by
opening 1,000 additional stream miles by
2025, with restoration success indicated
by the presence of River herring, American
shad and/or American eel. (Current
condition: Approximately 1,924 stream miles in
the Chesapeake Bay watershed have been opened
and are accessible for fish migration. Projects are
currently being ranked and prioritized through a
collaborative federal and state process designed to
strategically target priority projects.)
Action Overview:
" Remove stream barriers and provide fish
passage.
Document return offish to opened stream
reaches.
Remove stream barriers and provide fish
passage. The damming and diversion of
free-flowing rivers and streams result in habitat
fragmentation and fewer routes for aquatic
species migration. Fish passage projects include
removing derelict dams, culverts and other river
barriers. Projects enhance public safety and
provide ecological, social and economic benefits
while improving habitat for populations of fish
such as striped bass, American eel, American
shad and herring.
FWS and NOAA will work with state and local
partners to prioritize stream barriers that inhibit
fish passage and implement priority projects
by leveraging funds to remove barriers, retrofit
culverts, install passage structures and monitor
for presence of indicator species. Beginning
in 2011, projects will be prioritized through a
collaborative federal and state process based on
criteria designed to strategically target priority
projects. These criteria are likely to favor
projects that are the most downstream blockage
in a river, open the largest stretches of highest
quality habitats, are dam removals as opposed
to structural fishways, and enhance passage of
migratory fish and brook trout over other fish
and/or target areas where shad and herring
stocking programs occur.
-------
EXAMPLES
USAGE will identify river flow needed to
sustain the ecology in the Middle Potomac and
Susquehanna rivers.
NOAA, in partnership with Maryland and
American Rivers, is removing the Union and
Simkins dams on the Patapsco River near Ellicott
City, Maryland.
USAGE will design island habitats at
mid-Bay islands.
FWS will combat invasive species that threaten
wetlands, such as nutria at Blackwater National
Wildlife Refuge.
NOAA is restoring living shorelines at Piscataway
Park along the Potomac River in Accokeek,
Maryland.
USAGE will work with partners to evaluate
sediment build-up behind dams in the
Lower Susquehanna River.
USGS will conduct enhanced habitat
vulnerability assessments beginning in 201 2 in
places such as the Choptank and Blackwater
sub-watersheds.
FWS will restore forested wetlands in
places such as the Nanticoke, Pocomoke i,
Patuxent sub-watersheds.
USAGE is developing watershed plans foi
key Chesapeake Bay tributaries including
the Anacostia, Susquehanna and
Lynnhaven Rivers.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 53
-------
Recover Habitat
Document return of fish. Beginning in 2012,
FWS and NOAA will partner with states to
document the presence of indicator species such
as the American eel, river herring and American
shad at fish passage projects after construction
is complete. Where possible, these projects will
be integrated into locally supported watershed
management plans.
ADDITIONAL HABITAT ACTIONS
Following are five priority habitat recovery
actions that address more than one habitat
type and therefore will support achievement
of more than one of the habitat measures.
Action Overview:
Combat invasive species.
Restore forest habitat.
Restore living shorelines.
Restore island habitats.
Mitigate impacts of highway projects
on habitat.
Combat invasive species that threaten
habitat. FWS and NOAA will combat invasive
species, the second biggest threat to habitat in the
Chesapeake watershed after habitat loss from land-
use change and development, by developing a rapid
response team in each state by the end of 2012 to
detect and control invasive species and by seeking
full implementation of the Nutria Management
Plan by October 2015, with monitoring continued
until 2020. With support from the Mid-Atlantic
Panel under the national Aquatic Nuisance
Species Taskforce, and in partnership with federal
agencies, private landowners, states, universities,
the Nutria Partnership, and non-governmental
organizations, these lead agencies will work to
prevent infestations of terrestrial and aquatic
invasive species before they become established
and more costly to control.
Restore forests in priority areas. By 2012,
USDA will work with DOI and other federal
entities to develop a Chesapeake Bay watershed
strategy to maximize forest restoration in priority
areas, including: residential land currently
managed as lawn; areas covered by community
tree canopy expansion and green infrastructure
programs; gaps in core wildlife habitat; deficient
lands such as abandoned mine lands, brownfields
areas and lands with vulnerable soils; and agro-
forestry areas. Specifically, beginning in 2012,
USDA will provide grants to Bay counties with
a high percentage of turf to develop programs
that target landowners with large lawns and offer
to reforest portions of it, similar to Baltimore
County's Rural Residential Stewardship program.
Restore living shorelines. In 2011, NOAA,
USAGE and FWS will work with Maryland and
Virginia to prioritize critical segments for living
shoreline restoration and identify opportunities to
promote implementation of living shorelines over
hardened shorelines. Maryland and Virginia have
created detailed inventories of existing shoreline
conditions (eroding, hardened, natural, accreting)
and likely causes of these conditions (wind,
waves, tides, boat wakes), and have recommended
actions to improve conditions. In partnership
with the Chesapeake Bay Trust, federal partners
will leverage funding and provide engineering
and design assistance for living shoreline projects
to local governments and private homeowners.
USAGE is preparing several shoreline
management documents and guides as part of
the Maryland Shoreline Management Study to
help implement Maryland's Living Shoreline
Protection Act. In Accokeek, Maryland, NOAA is
working to restore living shorelines at Piscataway
Park along the Potomac River, providing
fish habitat and erosion protection, as well as
protection for 30 acres of freshwater wetland and
a threatened Native American archeological site.
-------
Restore island habitats in the Bay. USAGE
will in 2011 design island habitats at mid-Bay
islands (James and Barren Islands) to be created
through beneficial use of dredged material
(based on assumed funding and local sponsor
coordination). USAGE will continue to restore
upland and wetland habitats at Poplar Island that
provide essential habitat for a host of wildlife,
including birds migrating along the Atlantic
Flyway. See the climate chapter for additional
detail on the Poplar Island restoration and federal
partnership. By 2012, federal, state and local
partners will work together to identify five to six
small islands that are important for waterbird
nesting populations and evaluate climate-
informed options to restore these islands by 2020.
Resource and habitat trade-offs that may include
loss of other important habitats will be fully
considered as part of the evaluation.
Mitigate impacts of highway projects on
habitat. Beginning in 2010, the U.S. Department
of Transportation (DOT) will work with partner
agencies (FHC, EPA, NOAA, DOI, USAGE) to
encourage use of the Eco-Logical approach as
an innovative tool to promote effective planning
to mitigate highway impacts on habitat and
implementation across agency boundaries. The
Eco-Logical approach addresses ecosystem-level
mitigation planning to provide for design of
infrastructure that is more sensitive to terrestrial
and aquatic habitats and is more effective in
assuring mitigation and compensation of impacts
that cannot be avoided.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 55
-------
Recover Habitat
o
D.
D.
Federal agencies will provide enhanced research,
monitoring and models to support prioritizing,
monitoring and evaluating the effects of
management actions to restore habitats.
Prioritize
Improve forest buffer and wetland habitat
mapping. In 2012, Forest Service researchers
will work with partners to use new technologies
such as LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging)
and SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) to improve
habitat mapping and monitoring - including
identification of unmapped streams, wetlands
and isolated forests - to identify new habitat and
to prioritize restoration of low-lying habitats
that are also critical to water quality. To create
incentives for wider buffers capable of supporting
forest-dwelling birds and other forest-dependent
species, such data could be evaluated for potential
nutrient reduction credit in the next calibration of
the Chesapeake Bay watershed model for buffers
wider than 300 feet and for riparian/wetland
complexes.
Provide forest mapping tool to watershed
groups and local governments. In 2010, USFS
and USGS will make available a new user-friendly,
online mapping tool (RB Mapper) for citizen
groups to be able to monitor trends in riparian
forest buffers, impervious surfaces, tree cover and
wetland cover. This tool also can help prioritize
areas for restoration on a scale appropriate to
local government decision-making and identify
opportunities for wider buffers capable of
supporting forest-dependent species and for
restoring riparian/wetland complexes.
Improve tools to identify and prioritize
stream corridors and passage of fish to
streams for restoration projects. FWS and
NOAA will determine by 2011 how many miles
of stream need to be opened to restore access
to the highest quality habitat for migratory fish
and brook trout. This will be accomplished
using new and existing GIS tools, computer
models and information collected during the
prioritization exercise. Example data layers to be
developed include migratory fish and brook trout
habitat and potential habitat (using historical
data, current monitoring and expert knowledge),
natural falls or natural fish barriers, and a data set
of all known fish barriers.
Integrate watershed planning for key
tributaries. USAGE, in collaboration with other
federal agencies, states, local governments and
regional partnerships, has undertaken watershed
planning for key Chesapeake Bay tributaries
including the Anacostia, Susquehanna and
Lynnhaven rivers. These plans will aid in the
prioritization and integration of comprehensive
restoration actions in these systems. The
Anacostia Restoration Plan, developed by USAGE
and the Metropolitan Washington Council of
Governments (MWCOG) and recently adopted
by the Anacostia River Partnership, identifies
more than 3,000 projects for implementation
by many stakeholders. As the lead for 16 federal
agencies participating in the Susquehanna River
Basin Commission, USAGE is developing a
strategy for implementing integrated water
resources management projects. This strategy will
balance restoration, soil and water conservation
practices, and nonstructural measures to reduce
flood damage, improve water quality, and create
wildlife habitat in the Juniata River, Upper
Susquehanna River and the Chemung River
watersheds. The Lynnhaven River ecosystem
restoration project being undertaken by the City
of Virginia Beach and USAGE will identify and
prioritize opportunities for wetland creation or
restoration, underwater grass restoration and
fisheries and shellfisheries habitat restoration.
Monitor
Improve monitoring of habitats. As part of the
Chesapeake Monitoring Alliance, FWS, USGS,
NOAA and EPA will work with academic partners
and the states to improve monitoring of selected
habitats in the Bay and its watershed, including
underwater grasses, wetlands, forests and streams.
-------
Work will begin in 2010 and continue in 2011
to assess programs with the best opportunities
to improve monitoring for habitats listed in
the Executive Order (wetlands, forests and fish
passage). Monitoring will be enhanced in 2012
based on new partnerships with existing programs.
Additional monitoring will be proposed for 2012
and beyond to address highest priority gaps.
Improve tracking of wetland restoration.
Chesapeake Bay Program partners will collaborate
to improve the tracking of wetland restoration
by establishing common wetland definitions and
reducing the reporting burden on partnering
agencies, states and organizations. FWS and EPA
will expand data collection and computer modeling
to include wetland buffers and enhanced acres of
wetlands, both of which are critical components of
wetland function as habitat and for water quality.
Evaluate
Improve baseline data for wetlands. Federal
agencies will determine how many acres of
wetlands in the Chesapeake Bay watershed need
to be re-established, rehabilitated and enhanced
to achieve water quality goals and habitat
goals for fish and wildlife. This will require
determining how many restored acres of wetlands
are needed to see gains in functions over a finite
time period, compared to how many acres have
the potential for re-establishment, rehabilitation
and enhancement in the face of predicted land-
use changes and climate change. This work will
be accomplished by 2013 using new and existing
tools, models and information.
Predict impacts of stressors at the land-
water interface. NOAA will work with the
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
to study the causes and consequences of habitat
degradation in the mid-Atlantic region. The
effort began in late 2009, and the overall goal is
by 2015 to improve the capability of predicting
the combined effects of shoreline hardening,
watershed land use, water clarity, hypoxia,
and Phragmites invasion of tidal wetlands on
habitat quality for underwater grasses, fish and
invertebrates. The project will compare multiple
sub-estuaries, different shoreline types (e.g.,
riprap, bulkhead, shallow beach), and include
before and after comparisons of shoreline change
(e.g, natural to hardened shoreline). The project
is being conducted through a strong partnership
among management agencies to ensure the
outputs (enhanced suitability models for blue
crabs, white perch and other species) provide a
basis for environmental management decisions.
Evaluate use of coastal and marine spatial
planning in the Bay. NOAA will investigate
opportunities for undertaking a comprehensive,
adaptive, integrated, ecosystem-based and
transparent coastal and marine spatial planning
(CMSP) process in the Bay. CMSP is a public
process of analyzing and allocating the spatial and
temporal distribution of human activities in coastal
and marine areas to identify areas most suitable for
various types of activities to reduce conflicts among
uses, reduce environmental impacts, facilitate
compatible uses, and preserve critical ecosystem
services to meet economic, environmental, security
and social objectives. Efforts will begin with
improving our understanding of human uses in
the Bay and using these data to improve decision-
making for habitat protection and restoration and
fishery management.
Evaluate impacts of river flow and
sediment build-up on habitat. The USAGE
Middle Potomac and Susquehanna Rivers Low
Flow Management studies will identify river
flow needed to sustain the ecology in these
rivers. Sediment management projects can be
implemented using the Chesapeake Bay Shoreline
Management Plan developed by USAGE and
Maryland, which identifies priority locations for
restoration and/or shoreline stabilization, thereby
reducing sediment input to the Bay. USAGE
and Maryland are also undertaking an effort to
evaluate methods of managing sediments behind
dams on the Lower Susquehanna River, primarily
behind Conowingo Dam, complementing studies
underway by the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission in the relicensing of that facility.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Recover Habitat
EXAMPLES OF
Fish Passage in Maryland
The goal of the Maryland Fish Passage Program is
to reopen the highest-quality habitat to migratory
fish (shad, herring, eels) and resident fish (especially
trout). The program developed criteria to prioritize fish
blockages in Maryland based on ecological value.
Parameters used to determine value include fishery
resource assessment, stream order, Index of Stream
Health, opportunity for American eel passage, upstream
percent of impervious surface, first blockage on the river
and number of miles of habitat reopened. Removal of
the Union and Simkins Dams, located on the Patapsco
River in Maryland, is part of a suite of removals aimed
at restoring more than 25 miles of mainstem habitat
and 375 miles of tributary access for migratory species
such as American eel. Removal of these blockages will
occur in fall 2010 and is expected to restore previously
buried fish habitat, improve water quality and remove a
potential safety hazard. These removals will be funded
through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.
Adapting to Sea Level Rise for
Maryland's Marshes
As sea levels rise, habitats in Maryland's coastal
zone, such as marshes and coastal forests, will be
challenged to keep pace. Maryland is undertaking a
project to determine where the most effective coastal
habitat migration areas are located and where the
state might need to take management action. As sea
levels rise, tidal marshes, beaches and dune habitats
have the potential to migrate landward (if there are
no barriers to migration, such as roads and buildings
and if marshes have adequate sediment supplies) or
be eliminated (if the opportunity to migrate landward
is blocked or the rate of migration is exceeded by the
rate of sea-level rise). Maryland is developing a GIS
model and project scorecard to identify areas and
land characteristics, including the current Blue and
Green Infrastructure high priority areas that would
provide marsh migration opportunities. The Maryland
Department of Natural Resources will include the
results of the model and scorecard values in land
conservation targeting by adding it as a component
to the current Green Infrastructure (GreenPrint)
approach.
Restoring Wetlands in Virginia
Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
staff meet regularly with interested landowners to
identify potential wetland restoration sites and provide
landowners with project design, permitting and
construction assistance. Funding comes through a
variety of methods including the Virginia Migratory
Waterfowl Stamp. Virginia, in conjunction with
partners and the Atlantic Coast Joint Venture, has
developed focus areas to target projects and funds to
the most critical habitat areas. Typical projects result
in restoring hydrology, wetland vegetation, and wildlife
habitat to former agricultural fields.
Mitigating for Habitat Functions in
Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection wetlands program is developing a
comprehensive in-lieu-fee program that will track
and compensate for regulatory impacts by restoring,
creating, or enhancing wetland functions (hydrologic,
biogeochemical and habitat); stream functions (habitat,
water quality, riparian vegetation, flood capacity and
public recreation); and lake and reservoir functions
(habitat and public recreation). Compensation would
primarily occur through funding or contracting with
existing programs and private efforts.
Riparian Forest Buffers in
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania surpassed its goal to restore 3,300
miles of forest buffers by the year 2010. The state
has planted a total of 3,901 miles of forest buffers
along waterways since 2002 through its Stream
ReLeaf program. Pennsylvania is home to the largest
Conservation Resource Enhancement Program
(CREP) in the nation. CREP delivers more than
$50 million in state and federal assistance for best
management practices nationally and, unlike other
federal Farm Bill programs, targets key edge-of-stream
practices to protect water quality.
-------
Riparian Habitat Restoration
in Virginia
Virginia has implemented a multi-year program
designed to restore natural stream channels and
riparian buffers in watersheds that are home to many
of the state's rare and at-risk aquatic wildlife. Private
lands are targeted primarily through the Landowner
Incentive Program at the Department of Game and
Inland Fisheries. Using local landowner connections
and state-of-the-art GIS technologies, stream
restoration biologists target restoration opportunities
in those regions that support species of greatest
conservation need as identified in Virginia's Wildlife
Action Plan.
Fish Passage in Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC)
and partners have completed more than 75 fishway
and dam removal projects in the Susquehanna and
Potomac watersheds, reopening hundreds of stream
miles to the migratory movements of migratory and
resident fish. This includes acquisition of millions of
dollars to support passage restoration efforts. PFBC
is participating in collaborative efforts to rank and
prioritize additional projects with federal, state and
other partners. Dozens of high quality projects in the
Susquehanna Basin will be advanced in the future.
Wetland Restoration in New York
The Upper Susquehanna Coalition (USC) Wetland
Program includes restoration, construction, conservation,
protection and research with its scientific partners. USC
is a network of Soil and Water Conservation Districts.
Wetland projects are successfully implemented by
specialized USC staff and program partners in an
integrated system. This system combines wetland site
identification, evaluation, delineation, survey, design
and monitoring with construction and heavy equipment
expertise, and allows the coalition wetland program
to complete any wetland project. Since 2003, USC
has restored over 500 acres of wetlands. In 2009,
USC received a $736,000 "Green Innovation Grant."
This three-year contract partners USC with foresters
of the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation to restore 200 acres of wetlands.
Maryland's Natural Filters Program
Maryland has adopted two-year milestone goals
of restoring the state's natural filters by enhancing
wetlands and riparian buffers and retiring highly erodible
lands. Private lands are being targeted through CREP
as well as Maryland Forest Service's Special Rivers
Project, which promotes riparian buffer restoration
on private lands. Natural filters on public land will be
implemented via state and local government entities.
The Department of Natural Resources manages over
500,000 acres of land and maintains a GIS-based
targeting scheme for identification of restoration
opportunities on state and local lands.
Fish Passage in the District
The District is working to reopen closed fish passage
and spawning routes by removing in-stream barriers
and installing manmade fish passage assistance
apparatuses (i.e., fish ladders). Sections of Rock Creek
up to Pierce Mill and beyond that have been re-opened
are currently being used by shad, river herring and
American eel. Additional tributaries on the Anacostia
and Potomac Rivers are under investigation for similar
operations.
Delaware's Private Lands
Assistance Program
The goal of the Delaware Division of Fish and
Wildlife's Private Lands Assistance Program is
to provide technical and financial assistance to
landowners on habitat management and restoration
practices to benefit species of greatest conservation
need outlined in the State Wildlife Action Plan.
The Program also helps landowners manage game
species on their properties to continue to provide
hunting and fishing opportunities. The Program is
working on wetland restoration projects using ditch
plugs, water control structures, or high water flows
to restore the hydrology and improve water quality
species within the Nanticoke Watershed. Restoring
the natural hydrology will in some cases hydrate the
area longer, providing more habitats for amphibians
and reptiles.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Sustain Fish
and Wildlife
Goal: Sustain healthy
populations of fish and
wildlife which contribute
to a resilient ecosystem
and vibrant economy.
-------
Success in protecting and restoring
the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem
will ultimately be measured by the
vitality and richness of its fish and
wildlife and the health and well-
being of the people who rely upon them.
The Chesapeake Bay is one of the premier fish
production areas for the East Coast. More than
250 fish species, both resident and migratory,
use the Bay and tributaries for some portion of
their life cycles. American and hickory shad,
river herring, striped bass, eel, weakfish, bluefish,
flounder, oysters, and blue crabs hold tremendous
ecological, commercial and cultural value. More
than 300 migratory bird species can be found in
the watershed. At least 132 migratory songbird
species feed and nest in the forests, wetlands and
meadows of the watershed. During the fall, the
skies come alive as one million ducks, geese and
swans return to overwinter on the Chesapeake.
Managing Bay fisheries and wildlife is critical
to restoring and protecting the population of
these species and their important place in the
ecosystem.
As described in the prior chapter, protection and
restoration of habitat is essential to sustaining the
iconic species (e.g., blue crabs, oysters, striped
bass, and waterfowl) of the Bay. Habitat loss
as a result of poor water quality, land use and
urbanization, climate change, and other human
activities is threatening the sustainability offish
and wildlife species. Oyster populations are less
than one percent of historic levels. Over 5,000
miles offish spawning habitat on Bay tributaries
remain blocked by man-made obstructions.
Key fish and shellfish species have declined
dramatically in abundance or productivity.
NOAA and FWS are leading the federal
effort to strengthen programs to restore and
protect critical fish and wildlife in the Bay
and its watershed, and will continue to work
extensively with the states. To achieve long-term
resiliency and sustainability of the Chesapeake
ecosystem, federal partners must lead the
way in implementing an ecosystem-based
management (EBM) approach that considers the
interdependence of all aspects of the ecosystem,
allows for public engagement and is adaptive.
In contrast to individual species or single-issue
management, EBM considers a wider range of
relevant ecological, environmental and human
factors bearing on societal choices regarding
resource use. Science will support prioritizing,
monitoring and evaluating the effect of actions
to improve fish and wildlife outcomes and
move toward a comprehensive ecosystem-based
management approach.
For the purpose of tracking progress in the Bay
and headwaters, this strategy focuses on four
species - oysters, blue crab, brook trout and
black ducks - because they reflect the habitat
health and hold great ecological, commercial and
recreational significance. Appendix D identifies
additional priority species based on current
scientific assessments of species' ecological,
commercial and recreational significance. The
appendix also provides a framework to further
prioritize restoration efforts for fish and wildlife
of the Chesapeake Bay watershed based on
habitat type and corresponding stressors.
IJ -Si"
I ' -"/ v:
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Sustain Fish and Wildlife
OYSTER OUTCOME:
Restore native oyster habitat and
populations in 20 tributaries out of 35 to
40 candidate tributaries by 2025. (Current
condition: 0 tributaries with fully restored oyster
populations; several tributaries with successful
living oyster reef habitat.)
Action Overview:
Launch a Bay-wide oyster strategy using
scientific support for decision making.
« Restore priority tributaries and support
enforcement.
Expand commercial aquaculture.
Launch a Bay-wide oyster strategy using
scientific support for decision-making.
Oysters are a keystone species and were once the
dominant hard-bottom habitat in the Chesapeake
Bay. They grow naturally in reefs that create
and provide habitat not just for themselves and
additional generations of oysters, but for many
species of commercially and recreationally
important fmfish, shellfish and migratory
waterfowl. Restoring water quality, habitat and
fisheries in the Bay is closely linked to our ability
to restore oyster populations.
NOAA and USAGE will coordinate with
Maryland, Virginia and the Potomac River
Fisheries Commission (PRFC) to develop and
implement a collaborative, Bay-wide, native
oyster protection and restoration strategy to
protect existing healthy native oyster populations,
restore oyster reefs and expand native oyster
aquaculture between 2011 and 2025. This
strategy will build on the Draft Maryland Oyster
Restoration and Aquaculture Development Plan,
the multi-agency Programmatic Environmental
Impact Statement and Record of Decision on
Native Oyster Restoration, and the work of
Collaborative oyster restoration in Maryland and Virginia
emphasizing comprehensive tributary approaches to ecological
restoration is showing early signs of success,
-------
the Virginia Blue Ribbon Oyster Panel. Using
spatially explicit habitat information, the partners
will identify priority areas to establish sanctuaries
and will use the best new and existing restoration
techniques to launch oyster reef restoration
projects. Development of the strategy will
begin in 2011 and be completed by 2012. The
first subset of tributaries to be restored will be
identified and implementation of restoration
activities initiated by 2012.
Restore priority tributaries and support
enforcement. Recent progress toward
collaborative ecological restoration approaches
in Maryland and Virginia emphasizing
comprehensive tributary approaches and long-
term sustainability are promising. For example,
large scale efforts in the Great Wicomico River
in Virginia show signs of success in restoring
living oyster reefs. The actions below advance
these large-scale efforts to make substantial
change in the level and extent of oyster
restoration, leading to significant gains in oysters
in the Bay.
Beginning in 2010, NOAA and USAGE will
work with the states to continue focused
restoration activities in tributaries that have
previously been identified (with consideration
of spatial planning) as priority areas (i.e.,
by Maryland's Oyster Restoration Plan and
Virginia's Blue Ribbon Oyster Panel) and that
can support the desired ecological endpoints.
Initial planning documents indicate that
sufficient water quality is needed at planned
restoration sites to support spat survival.
Following an initial assessment of priority
tributaries to be completed in 2012, oyster
restoration partners will begin restoring these
tributaries at a rate of roughly two tributaries per
year (one in each state). Restoration approaches
will be site specific, and typically will include
large-scale bottom reconditioning through
substrate placement and planting of hatchery-
reared spat on shell (planting will be required in
successive years to create multiple-year classes
on the reefs). The use of alternative substrate
will be applied as appropriate. NOAA will also
work with the states to protect restoration
investments by supporting enforcement of
regulations to protect oyster sanctuaries.
Expand commercial aquaculture. To provide
economic alternatives for watermen, reduce
fishing pressure on oysters and complement
ecological oyster restoration efforts, NOAA
will support state efforts to expand commercial
shellfish aquaculture in the Bay. Oyster
aquaculture improves water clarity, removes
nitrogen and phosphorus pollution, keeps
working waterfronts economically viable and
reduces development pressure, creates jobs, and
provides a locally grown, safe and sustainable
food product. Oyster aquaculture also leverages
private resources toward increasing the native
oyster population.
A targeted effort to accelerate aquaculture
development will support education, training and
technical assistance for interested entrepreneurs
who want to begin aquaculture businesses. A
new loan program in Maryland is being initiated
in 2010 with plans to begin providing loans
in 2011 to enable watermen and others to
acquire aquaculture infrastructure and engage
in shellfish production. Entrepreneurs will be
given the opportunity to learn through hands-
on classroom and field settings about profitable
shellfish farming, best management practices and
current aquaculture laws and regulations.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 53
-------
Sustain Fish and Wildlife
BLUE CRAB OUTCOME:
Maintain sustainable blue crab interim
rebuilding target of 200 million adults
(1 + years old) in 2011 and develop a new
population target for 2012 through 2025.
(Current condition: 2007-2008: 131 million;
2008-2009: 223 million; 2009-2010: 315 million.)
Action Overview:
Support continued interjurisdictional blue
crab management.
Revise blue crab population rebuilding target.
Support continued interjusrisdictional
blue crab management. Blue crabs not
only comprise the most valuable fishery in the
Chesapeake Bay, but are major predators of
benthic communities and are prey for many
other fish species. The blue crab population is
vulnerable to increased harvest pressure, as well
as the effects of habitat loss due to poor water
quality. Proper management of the crab harvest,
as well as water quality improvements and habitat
restoration will help restore the Bay's blue crab
population and maintain this valuable resource
into the future. The latest 2009-2010 winter
dredge survey estimates the total population
(note, the total representing juvenile and adult
male and female crabs) has risen to 658 million
crabs, a 60 percent increase from 2008-2009 and
the highest since 1997.
The winter blue crab dredge survey designed
through a partnership of NOAA, states and
academia provides yearly information on the
population and spawning stock status of blue
crabs in the bay and is summarized in an annual
Blue Crab Advisory Report. Coupled with the
2005 benchmark blue crab stock assessment
and analysis by the Chesapeake Bay Stock
Assessment Committee, a rigorous scientific
process was undertaken in 2008 leading to the
development of management reference points.
As a result, in 2008, Maryland, Virginia and
PRFC implemented collaborative management
actions to reduce harvest pressure on female
crabs by 34 percent. These actions have resulted
in adult (1+ years) blue crab populations that
exceed the interim target of 200 million adult
crabs. Exceeding the interim target in two
consecutive years does not necessarily mean
the population is stable enough to ensure the
long-term sustainability and resilience of the
Chesapeake Bay stock. The results underscore the
importance of science in supporting management
decisions, demonstrate success of the state/PRFC
revised management measures and highlight
the importance of the role of the private sector
(watermen) and the public in protecting and
restoring vital Bay resources.
Revise blue crab population rebuilding
target. NOAA will work with the states and
PRFC to reevaluate the interim abundance target
using the latest science by coordinating an effort
through the Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment
Committee to evaluate the stock assessment and
revise the interim target for blue crab abundance
by 2012. NOAA will work with the states to
incorporate the new target into interstate
agreements to ensure sustainable blue crab
populations. NOAA, working with Maryland Sea
Grant, will also develop a Blue Crab Health Index
based on ecosystem-based management principles
that estimates the health of blue crabs based on a
variety of factors, including climate, habitat and
interactions with other species.
-------
EXAMPLES
The Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture is
conducting a study that ranks the existing
brook trout populations in Virginia, Maryland
and West Virginia for resiliency to climate
change.
Between 2010 and 2013, the USGS and
FWS will continue efforts to assess the
impact of pathogens, parasites and toxic
contaminants on fish kills and intersex
conditions in the Potomac watershed.
These studies will be expanded to the
Susquehanna and James River basins
between 201 2 and 2016.
Federal partners will coordinate with
organizations such as the Susquehanna
River Basin Commission to integrate
and implement high priority fish habitat
restoration projects with similar efforts in
the watershed.
National Wildlife Refuges are working to
increase available food resources that
support wintering black ducks on refuge
lands including Chesapeake Marshlands,
Eastern Virginia Rivers, the Eastern Shore
of Virginia, and the Potomac and Patuxent
Rivers.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 55
-------
Sustain Fish and Wildlife
BROOK TROUT OUTCOME:
Restore naturally reproducing brook
trout populations in headwater streams
by improving 58 sub-watersheds from
"reduced" classification (10-50 percent
of habitat lost) to "healthy" (less than 10
percent of habitat lost) by 2025. (Current
condition: 388 of 1,294 sub-watersheds in the
Chesapeake Bay currently classified as "reduced"
for brook trout.)
Action Overview:
" Restore stream habitat through partnerships.
« Consider climate change in prioritizing sub-
watersheds for restoration.
Restore stream habitat through
partnerships. FWS will work with the Eastern
Brook Trout Joint Venture, local landowners
and federal, state and non-governmental partners
to identify priority sub-watersheds for habitat
improvement for native Eastern brook trout.
Funding will be leveraged through the National
Fish Habitat Action Plan to implement riparian
forest buffer restoration, livestock exclusion and
natural stream channel design to reclassify 20
"reduced" sub-watersheds as "healthy" by 2015.
Consider climate change in prioritizing
sub-watersheds for restoration. The Eastern
Brook Trout Joint Venture is conducting a study
that ranks the existing brook trout populations
in Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia for
resiliency to climate change. Results are expected
by October 1,2010 and will be used by the
the managers to prioritize where restoration
investments should take place. The focus is to
identify and prioritize subwatersheds that are least
likely to change with climate and that contain
suitable habitat for increased occupancy by wild
brook trout. This study is being led by USFS and
joined by Virginia Tech and Maryland, Virginia
and West Virginia.
BLACK DUCK OUTCOME:
Restore a three-year average wintering
black duck population in the Chesapeake
Bay watershed of 100,000 birds by 2025.
(Current condition: Recent mid-winter aerial
surveys estimate the 2007-2009 rolling three-year
average at 37,158 black ducks in the Chesapeake
Bay.)
Action Overview:
« Restore black duck habitat.
Increase nutrient sources on refuge lands.
Restore black duck habitat. Atlantic Coast
Joint Venture partners will by 2012 target wetland
and adjacent upland habitat protection, restoration
and enhancement in waterfowl focus areas and
other areas in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
to increase energetic capacity (food availability
-------
including aquatic vegetation, roots, tubers and
occasionally mollusks) for wintering black ducks
and work with partners to leverage funds to
implement these targeted actions beginning
in 2013. Partners will develop an adaptive
management framework to guide habitat decisions
related to restoration and enhancement at the local
(i.e., National Wildlife Refuge) scale by 2013.
Increase nutrient sources on refuge lands.
By 2017, National Wildlife Refuges will increase
by 10 percent the availability of food resources to
support energetic carrying capacity for wintering
black ducks on refuge lands located within the
Chesapeake watershed, which include Chesapeake
Marshlands, Eastern Virginia Rivers, the Eastern
Shore of Virginia, and the Potomac and Patuxent
rivers. The 10-percent increase is an interim
step that can be taken on federally managed
refuge lands. Simultaneously, the Atlantic Coast
Joint Venture and Black Duck Joint Venture
are examining the total acreage of forage habitat
needed to support a wintering population
of 100,000 black ducks in the Chesapeake
watershed, with results expected in 2011. The
increase of food resources on refuges will be
accomplished through active wetland restoration
and management, habitat protection, invasive
species control and potential expansion of
refuges. In addition, to reduce the need for excess
winter forage, refuges will implement disturbance
reduction during wintering periods.
ADDITIONAL CHESAPEAKE
WATERSHED SPECIES
The outcomes and actions for the four species
above do not address all fish and wildlife
management requirements in the Chesapeake Bay
watershed. In addition, actions to restore habitat
and maintain healthy fish and wildlife populations
will provide benefits beyond the watershed.
Highlighted in this section are some additional
actions that federal, state and interstate resource
management agencies will take to achieve
measurable outcomes for additional species.
Facilitate interjurisdictional, ecosystem
based fisheries management. In order to
restore the Bay fisheries, partners need to develop
management approaches and plans that incorporate
the structure and function of the Chesapeake
Bay ecosystem, including species interactions,
habitat use and suitability, climate, water quality,
land-use, and other factors. NOAA will work
with FWS, other federal agencies, the states, the
District of Columbia, PRFC and the Atlantic
States Marine Fisheries Commission to strengthen
interjurisdictional fishery management strategies
by energizing discussion and coordination within
the current management structure, including the
Chesapeake Bay Program's Sustainable Fisheries
Goal Implementation Team. Target species include
but are not limited to menhaden, American shad,
American eel and striped bass.
NOAA and Maryland Sea Grant, in coordination
with state and federal agency partners and
research institutions, are facilitating the
development of a new format for ecosystem-
based fishery management in the Chesapeake
Bay. This project will lead to the adoption of
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Sustain Fish and Wildlife
ecosystem-based fishery management plans for
five key fish species (striped bass, blue crab,
oysters, menhaden and alosids, which include
American shad, hickory shad, blueback herring
and alewife). These plans will expand traditional,
single-species management plans to consider the
interconnections between species, their habitats
and human influences.
Consider alternative fisheries management
approaches. NOAA will work with the states
and PRFC to evaluate the management tools in
place now and recommend, as appropriate, any
additional tools/measures to improve management
across the Bay. Fisheries management approaches
in the Bay vary by species and by jurisdiction, but
are primarily based on traditional single-species
approaches. Evaluation will include alternative
management approaches such as the use of "catch
shares," gear-restrictions and sanctuaries. Catch
shares are fishery-management programs that
allocate a specific percentage of the total allowable
fishery catch (e.g., quota-based systems) or a
specific fishing area (e.g., limited-access programs)
to individuals, cooperatives, communities or other
entities.
Support the Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat
Partnership (ACFHP). Under the National Fish
Habitat Action Plan, ACFHP brings together
fishery and non-fishery associated organizations
(federal, state and local governments) academic,
non-profit and professional organizations to
collaboratively benefit coastal habitats along the
Atlantic seaboard. NOAA and FWS will work
to support the partnership and promote the
sustainability of Atlantic coast diadromous fish
(fish that migrate between freshwater and salt
water), other estuarine-dependent fish (fish that
rely on estuarine habitats for at least part of their
life cycle) and their essential habitats through
habitat protection and restoration projects. In
addition, federal partners will coordinate with
organizations such as the Susquehanna River
Basin Commission to integrate and implement
high priority fish habitat restoration projects with
similar efforts in the watershed.
-------
o
D.
a.
tO
Federal agencies will provide enhanced research,
monitoring and models to support prioritizing,
monitoring and evaluating the effect of
management actions to protect and restore fish
and wildlife populations.
Prioritize
Collect and organize information to help
identify and prioritize areas to restore
oyster habitat and populations. NOAA and
the USAGE will coordinate with Maryland,
Virginia and PRFC to establish baseline oyster
stock and habitat assessments to establish the
most current condition of the stock and suitable
habitat in tributaries targeted for restoration.
Data will come from existing studies and new
monitoring or research efforts as needed (e.g.,
high-resolution acoustic habitat mapping and
assessments, environmental observations,
GIS analysis, hydrodynamic, spatial and larval
transport models). The results will identify, locate
and prioritize sites for protection and large-
scale restoration. The resulting assessments will
also be used to tailor system-specific restoration
strategies and actions in a given tributary.
Improve scientific information on selected
freshwater species. FWS and USGS will
enhance information for providing an adaptive-
management approach to restoring priority
species in the watershed. The approach includes
determining the primary causes of poor fish
health and fish kills in the Bay watershed,
working with states to consider strategies to
improve fish health, establishing monitoring and
indicator species to assess progress and evaluating
the effectiveness of management actions. Between
2010 and 2013, USGS and FWS will work with
Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania
and local partners to continue efforts to assess
the impact of pathogens, parasites and toxic
contaminants on fish kills and intersex conditions
in the Potomac watershed. These studies will
be expanded to the Susquehanna and James
River basins from 2012 to 2016. As part of these
assessments, FWS and USGS will identify the
major sources of different environmental stresses
on fish and wildlife so state and federal agencies
can consider appropriate control strategies. In
2010 and 2011, FWS will work with USGS and
the states to select species as indicators for stream
corridor health and successful fish passage.
Improve scientific information to support
Bay-wide restoration efforts. NOAA,
FWS, USAGE and USGS will coordinate with
Maryland, Virginia, PRFC, ASMFC and academic
partners to improve the scientific information
needed to manage and restore living resources
(including key species such as oysters, blue crab,
striped bass, menhaden and alosids like shad
and herring). Federal investment will be directed
toward better understanding the status and trends
of fish and shellfish abundance and distribution
through more accurate, timely and comprehensive
stock assessments and to accelerate ongoing
ecosystem-based fishery management efforts and
support interjurisdictional fisheries management.
Federal capabilities to provide this information
include the ability to:
perform comprehensive habitat
characterization, monitoring and assessment
of sub-watershed(s) or tributaries
assess fish stock and protected-resource status
examine the health of species
monitor living resources (throughout the
food web) at appropriate levels of species
resolution
assess the differences in the status of living
resources in space and time (e.g., abundance,
distribution, health) influenced by both
natural and harvest activities
quantify the impacts of habitat loss on species
productivity
provide long-term monitoring and mapping
offish and wildlife.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed QQ
-------
Sustain Fish and Wildlife
Monitor
Establish watershed program for brook
trout monitoring. FWS will work with states
and federal partners to establish a watershed
program for brook trout monitoring. The
Joint Venture will assess existing programs to
^J improve monitoring of brook trout as part of
I/I the Chesapeake Monitoring Alliance. Based
on the most promising partnerships, FWS will
lead coordination of habitat assessments, stream
\J surveys and long-term monitoring to help
determine the success of individual restoration
efforts and update brook trout population status in
the watershed.
^/ Improve monitoring of black duck food
I/} sources. Black ducks and other migratory
waterfowl require sufficient food to make their
\y long migrations. The Chesapeake Bay watershed
provides important food, including vegetation
(wetland and underwater grasses) and clams for
waterfowl. FWS and partners will develop and
implement monitoring to estimate availability of
food sources for black duck throughout the Bay
^C watershed. Research projects to validate methods
^" and estimates for the vegetation portion of the
i* black duck diet will be complete by 2011, with the
^m methods and estimates for other portions of their
diet complete by 2013. Long-term monitoring
of vegetation will be implemented by 2015, with
invertebrates to follow in 2018. Further research
^" will be conducted to determine the effects of
(/) sea-level rise on the availability and abundance of
black duck food sources in the Chesapeake Bay
watershed by 2018.
Evaluate
Use science to evaluate oyster restoration
progress. To ensure restoration efforts are
succeeding, NOAA and USAGE will work with
the states to develop a coordinated monitoring,
assessment and research program to evaluate
performance of native oyster protection and
restoration efforts. These efforts will also
include developing common data acquisition,
monitoring and assessment protocols, and
advancing technologies to promote reef habitat
restoration. The foundation of this approach will
be a comprehensive baseline characterization of
systems set aside for protection and restoration,
followed by continued monitoring to evaluate
effectiveness and guide adaptive management.
Follow-up monitoring will be designed to
evaluate oyster population dynamics and oyster
reef habitat structure and function from an
ecological perspective, as well as the impact of
the restored oyster reef complex on the tributary
system. Work will begin in 2011 and continue
through 2025. NOAA and USAGE will lead
development of a set of common monitoring
protocols and procedures and identify additional
research priorities by 2012.
In addition, federal and state partners will employ
adaptive management to revaluate the oyster
outcome beginning in 2015. This will evaluate
science-based targets for ecological restoration,
and an assessment of technical, resource and
material capacity to reach the stated outcome.
Results of this analysis may require a revision of
the outcome and management actions.
Develop ecosystem models to support
decision-making. NOAA will provide model
results to describe relationships between habitat
restoration and sustainable fisheries populations
based on selected management scenarios. NOAA
will provide initial results from the Chesapeake
Atlantis Model in 2011, with enhanced model
scenarios available in 2012. Model outputs
allow exploration of the ecosystem effects of
environmental changes, policy options and
management strategies, and can help identify and
prioritize research needs. For instance, what will
the ecosystem effects be if:
there is a loss/gain of marsh habitat in a
specific region; nutrient input is halved or
doubled?
there is an increase/decrease in the population
size of adult striped bass (and/or) blue crab
(and/or) oyster (and/or) menhaden (and/or)
shad and herring?
-------
there is an increase/decrease of rainfall for the
Chesapeake Bay watershed overall, or for just
one region?
a protected area is established or a new fishery
is opened or an existing fishery closed?
Evaluate native bivalve restoration for
water quality improvement. Native bivalves of
the Bay, such as oysters are intense filter feeders.
Enhancing populations of mussels and other
bivalves may be particularly effective if centered
in Bay tidal tributaries experiencing heavy
pollution loads that are fueling algae growth.
Beginning in 2011, NOAA will coordinate with
Bay states to evaluate the feasibility of enhancing
native bivalve populations to improve water
quality in targeted tributaries. Potential human
health concerns and other possible unintended
impacts will be considered.
Assess quality of black duck habitat. By
2020, FWS and partners will assess the effects of
human disturbance, food resources and wetland
structure on black duck daily movements and
residency on wetlands. FWS will also characterize
the relationship between black duck winter
condition and seasonal survival of wintering black
ducks and subsequent breeding success in the
Chesapeake Bay watershed by 2020.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Sustain Fish and Wildlife
EXAMPLES OF
Maryland's Oyster Restoration and
Aquaculture Development Plan
In December 2009, Maryland launched the
Oyster Restoration and Aquaculture Development
Plan which is designed to develop an abundant,
self-sustaining native oyster population in the
Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. The plan
will support a healthy and competitive oyster
industry by maintaining a significant public fishery
while simultaneously building investment and
opportunity in aquaculture. The plan will create
opportunity for growing private investment by
opening 600,000 new acres to aquaculture.
The plan will set aside an additional 1 6 percent
of existing quality habitat for oyster sanctuary
areas (increase from 9 percent to 25 percent),
maintaining 75 percent of quality habitat for the
public fishery. Protecting at least 25 percent
of quality oyster habitat is essential to both the
future health and prosperity of the Bay's oyster
population and to sustainable harvest. The
sanctuary network will:
Protect some of the Bay's most productive
oyster grounds, allowing them to increase in
size and quality over time.
Facilitate development of natural disease
resistance.
Span a broad geographic distribution across
all salinity zones.
Increase the ability to protect these important
areas from poaching.
Serve as a reservoir of reproductive capacity,
generating larvae to populate other areas.
Blue Crab Management
in Maryland and Virginia
A blue crab management control rule was
adopted by the Bi-State Blue Crab Advisory
Committee (2001) and incorporated into the
2003 Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Amendment.
The control rule is based on the relationship
between adult crab abundance, exploitation and
management reference points. In response to the
results of the 2007 stock status, the states took
action to constrain the 2008 fishery to a target
of 46 percent exploitation, designed to reduce
harvest and allow the stock to rebuild. An interim
abundance target of
200 million adult (age one year or older) crabs
was developed. As a result of management
measures adopted in 2008 and 2009, the crab
population has increased. The jurisdictions will
continue to maintain conservation strategies that
protect the blue crab population while allowing
exploitation. Management measures include:
Limiting the harvest of female blue crabs by
commercial and recreational fisheries.
Removing derelict crab pots and preventing
unintended mortality. To date, the program
has eliminated approximately 8,000 crab
pots in Maryland waters and 1 8,000 pots in
Virginia waters.
Continuing to reduce effort in the blue crab
commercial fishery through the license
Buy-Back Program. To date, more than 600
Limited Crab Catcher licenses in Maryland
and 359 commercial blue crab pot licenses
in Virginia have been bought back by state
management agencies to reduce potential
fishing effort.
Conducting a new stock assessment that
analyzes additional sex-specific data and
evaluates the current biological reference
points for managing the stock.
-------
Brook Trout Habitat Restoration in the
Upper Potomac River and New York
Brook trout habitat restoration is a high-priority
project in the National Fish Habitat Action
Plan of the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture.
Ongoing projects at Big Run and Whitethorn
Creek are aimed at restoring and protecting
degraded sections of essential brook trout
habitat on tributaries to the South Branch of the
Potomac River in West Virginia. Coldwater trout
streams on private land in the upper Potomac
watershed are often impaired due to nitrogen,
phosphorus and sediment pollution from non-
point sources, livestock grazing and destruction
of streamside vegetation. Restoring forest buffers,
keeping livestock out of streams and allowing for
natural stream channel restoration will decrease
temperatures and provide cover and holding
habitat in the wild brook trout systems located
in the headwaters of the South Branch of the
Potomac River. With significant involvement from
local landowners, these projects will restore and
protect habitat for native Eastern brook trout.
In cooperation with the Eastern Brook Trout
Joint Venture, the New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation has initiated fisheries
surveys on brook trout distribution, population
status and threats to those populations. Threats
include improperly sized or installed culverts,
bank erosion and lack of suitable streamside
vegetation. It is hoped that this assessment will
identify needed restoration projects for the future.
Maryland Brook Trout Management Plan
Maryland adopted a Brook Trout Management
Plan in 2006. The goal of the plan is to "restore
and maintain healthy brook trout populations
in Maryland's freshwater streams and provide
long-term social and economic benefits from
a recreational fishery." The plan was one of
Maryland's brook trout conservation strategies
developed in conjunction with the Eastern
Brook Trout Joint Venture. The plan provides a
framework for assessing brook trout populations,
determining habitat priorities and developing
actions to protect, enhance and restore brook
trout populations. Priority actions from the plan
for 2010 are:
Implement a joint research project between
Maryland Department of Natural Resources
- Fisheries Service and the University of
Maryland Center for Environmental Science -
Appalachian Lab to investigate the life history
characteristics (i.e., mortality, longevity,
fecundity and growth rate) of brook trout
populations in Maryland and develop a
complete life history management strategy for
the Savage River with statewide application.
Develop a geographic information system
(GIS) map to identify "at risk" brook
trout populations, create a priority list of
populations/sites and direct conservation
activities to protect and improve those
populations and/or sites.
Develop statewide guidelines for restoring
extirpated brook trout populations.
Shad in the Potomac and
Anacostia Rivers
To restore American shad populations in uppers
tidal areas of the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers,
the District will continue to stock more than
one million American shad annually.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Goal: Conserve landscapes
treasured by citizens to maintain
water quality and habitat; sustain
working forests, farms and maritime
communities; and conserve lands of
cultural, indigenous and community
value. Expand public access to
the Bay and its tributaries through
existing and new local, state and
federal parks, refuges, reserves,
trails and partner sites.
-------
At the heart of the Chesapeake
region lie the landscapes
along the Bay and its major
tributaries. These treasured
landscapes are the special places
we revere as individuals, as communities and as
a people for their ecological, cultural, historical
and recreational values, and for their role in
maintaining and renewing our identity and spirit.
Many of these landscapes are large; they are
the settings or surroundings in which life in
the Chesapeake region plays out. Some are
protected or formally recognized as parks, wildlife
refuges, historic sites or heritage areas. But
most are not; they are sweeping segments of the
countryside - forests, farming communities and
natural areas often linked to the water - that we
recognize as creating the sense of place that is
the Chesapeake region. These treasured places
have names such as Jamestown, Gettysburg,
Shenandoah Valley, Blackwater, Pennsylvania
Amish Country, Tidewater Virginia, the Eastern
Shore, the Susquehanna Water Gaps, and Smith
and Tangier Islands. These are but a few of
the treasures of the Chesapeake, a region that
has served as the setting for some of the most
important events in the formation of our nation.
Yet, many of the Chesapeake's treasured
landscapes are threatened. Rapid and poorly
planned development increasingly pressures both
natural and cultural lands, tearing at the fabric
that defines the region and supports a way of
life. Forests are lost at the rate of 100 acres each
day. Chesapeake watershed farmland suffers a
similar threat: every day between 1982 and 2003,
approximately 100 acres of farmland were lost to
development. Converting forests and open spaces
to development simply exacerbates pollution
problems now harming the Bay and its rivers. On
average, an acre of forest delivers just 3.3 pounds
of polluting nitrogen to streams annually while an
acre of developed land delivers 32.9 pounds. The
same forests, farmlands and wetlands upon which
we rely also provide habitat for the iconic wildlife
species of the region.
Bay states have identified more than 2.5 million
unprotected acres as important to conserve
including 695,000 acres of forest land of highest
value to maintaining water quality. But this
represents only part of the picture. It does not
include key conservation objectives such as
protecting farmlands and many other culturally
important landscapes in several states; nor does
it include all local conservation priorities. Thus
the total acreage of valuable unprotected lands
is likely even higher. Conserving these valuable
lands is critical to maintaining the Chesapeake's
heritage and identity, ensuring the quality of our
waters and supporting the fish and wildlife for
which this region has long been renowned.
Conserving important places relies on public
support. Providing opportunities for the public to
visit and use these places is often a crucial factor
in building that support. Yet physical access to
nature and the Bay and its rivers is limited. If a
core Chesapeake restoration goal is to make the
Bay and its tributaries "fishable and swimmable"
then increasing public access to the water is not
only an end goal, but also a necessary step to get
there. Access to water allows people to enjoy
fishing, hunting, swimming, kayaking, hiking and
picnicking, which create opportunities for public
education, personal connections with nature,
citizen stewardship and land conservation.
The Chesapeake's treasured landscapes merit
high national attention. The goal, outcomes and
actions are intended to help stimulate a renewed
and expanded commitment to conserving these
important lands and ensuring residents can enjoy
them.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Conserve Land and Increase Public Access
LAND CONSERVATION OUTCOME:
Protect an additional two million acres of
lands throughout the watershed currently
identified as high conservation priorities
at the federal, state or local level by 2025,
including 695,000 acres of forest land of
highest value for maintaining water quality.
(Current condition: 7.8 million acres currently
protected watershed-wide)
Action Overview:
Launch Chesapeake Treasured Landscape
Initiative.
» Coordinate and target federal land
conservation funding.
Conserve landscapes through National Park
Service partnership areas.
Achieve mutual conservation goals through
National Wildlife Refuge partnerships.
Develop a Bay-wide strategy to reduce the
loss of farms and forests.
* Support creation and expansion of protected
coastal and marine areas.
Provide community assistance for landscape
conservation.
B Identify culturally significant landscapes.
Establish watershed-wide GIS-based land
conservation targeting system.
* Develop integrated transportation, land use,
housing and water infrastructure plans.
Launch a Chesapeake Treasured Landscape
Initiative. DOI will launch an initiative to
expand land conservation and public access in
priority Chesapeake landscapes. This builds on
and furthers the goals of the national America's
Great Outdoors Initiative within the Chesapeake
region. Beginning in 2010, DOI will initiate a
The working farms, forests and natural areas around the tidal
region of the Bay are central to creating the Chesapeake's sense
of place, These landscapes connect us to deep traditions and
-------
series of actions to expand funding, better
coordinate and target conservation efforts across
federal agencies and initiate new strategies
for conserving landscapes. Along with DOT,
other federal agencies will play important roles
in carrying out these actions. However, the
role of state, local and private partners in land
conservation is equally, if not more, significant.
The federal government will pursue all of the
actions below through collaboration with these
partners.
Increase Land & Water Conservation
Fund allocations. DOT will lead an
interagency effort to provide proportional
increases in Land & Water Conservation
Fund allocations for Chesapeake watershed
landscapes based on increases in the national
program identified in the President's
Budget beginning in 2011 and fulfilling the
President's goal of full funding ($900 million)
ofLWCFby2014.
Create a public-private conservation
funding partnership. NPS will
convene federal and state agencies and
nongovernmental organizations to create
a public-private partnership to coordinate
and leverage federal and possibly state
conservation funding. Beginning in 2010,
federal partners will develop a formal
agreement with a non-governmental
organization on the relationship and scope of
activities and conduct a pilot funding project.
Coordinate and target federal land
conservation funding. DOT will coordinate
efforts at targeting federal funding to expand
strategic land protection in the Chesapeake
Bay watershed. Partners include federal and
state program managers for the Land & Water
Conservation Fund, Forest Legacy, Coastal
and Estuarine Land Conservation Program,
Wetlands Reserve Program, Farm and
"Americans are blessed with a
vast and varied natural heritage.
From mountains to deserts and
from sea to shining sea, America's
great outdoors have shaped the
rugged independence and sense of
community that define the American
spirit. Our working landscapes,
cultural sites, parks, coasts, wild
lands, rivers, and streams are gifts
that we have inherited from previous
generations. They are the places that
offer us refuge from daily demands,
renew our spirits, and enhance our
fondest memories, whether they
are fishing with a grandchild in a
favorite spot, hiking a trail with a
friend, or enjoying a family picnic
in a neighborhood park. They also
are our farms, ranches, and forests
the working lands that have fed
and sustained us for generations.
Americans take pride in these
places, and share a responsibility to
preserve them for our children and
grandchildren."
- President Barack Obama, April 16, 2010.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Conserve Land and Increase Public Access
Ranchlands Protection Program, Transportation
Enhancements, and the Readiness and
Environmental Protection Initiative. DOT will
convene program managers in 2010 to ensure
conservation planning approaches and priorities
are shared and coordinated across jurisdictions
and programs in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Increase collaboration in the Coastal and
Estuarine Land Conservation Program.
NOAA will lead a collaborative effort
among states to identify priority conservation
areas that will benefit the Chesapeake Bay
through state Coastal and Estuarine Land
Conservation Program (CELCP) plans. In
2010, NOAA will convene a meeting with
coastal state partners to finalize CELCP
plans within the Chesapeake region and
ensure that priority acquisitions at National
Estuarine Research Reserve System sites are
fully incorporated into statewide CELCP
planning.
Encourage consideration of
Transportation Enhancements, Scenic
Byways and Recreational Trails programs
to support land conservation. DOT
will continue to work with state agencies
administering Transportation Enhancements,
Recreational Trails and Scenic Byways
programs to enhance understanding of
program provisions and procedures and
eligibility requirements. These programs may
offer funding opportunities to support land
conservation and public access development
in priority landscapes.
Conserve priority landscapes around
defense installations. By 2011, DOD and
DOT will identify locations where land
conservation priorities of military bases,
National Wildlife Refuges, National Parks
and National Trails overlap and develop
coordinated land conservation strategies.
The DOD Readiness and Environmental
Protection Initiative program provides extra
credit for proposed projects that result in a
title fee or easement purchase of significant
landscape and areas of ecological and/or
cultural value. DOD will revise the guidance
in 2011 to ensure Chesapeake Bay projects
receive this credit.
Conserve landscapes through National
Park Service partnership areas. NPS will
coordinate broad, collaborative conservation
efforts in priority landscapes. Working with
FWS and other federal, state, local and non-
governmental partners, NPS will use existing
national trail designations and explore a new
designation to bring national recognition to
these landscapes and support interpretation
and education, community assistance and
land conservation. These efforts will support
conservation of sustainable working forests,
farms and maritime communities, natural areas
and habitats, and cultural, historic, community,
indigenous and recreation values. Specifically,
NPS will undertake the following actions:
Consider a new unit of the National Park
System for Chesapeake Bay & Rivers. In
2010, the NPS will convene representatives
of the states' governors to explore the
potential for a new unit of the National
Park System focused on the Chesapeake and
its rivers. While the possible types of NPS
unit designations vary widely, approaches
appropriate for this region would focus on
non-traditional models. They would involve
collaborative partnerships and retain existing
patterns of land ownership and land-use,
with federal lands as a small fraction of the
conserved area. Further exploration of a
"partnership park" based in part on the 2004
-------
Chesapeake Bay Special Resource Study
would include working landscapes, public
access, public interpretation and recreation
components. Further analysis would be
required to determine the feasibility of a new
unit. A new unit of the National Park System
would require congressional legislation.
Identify high priority landscapes along
National Trails. NPS will work with federal,
state and non-governmental organizations
to identify high priority landscapes along the
routes of the Captain John Smith Chesapeake
National Historic Trail, Star-Spangled
Banner National Historic Trail and Potomac
Heritage National Scenic Trail. This will
focus land conservation efforts along these
trails. For national historic trails, NPS
will publish landscape and site criteria and
priority locations in the trail comprehensive
management plans in 2010 and 2 011.
Coordinate NPS conservation actions with
FWS refuge partnerships. On an ongoing
basis, NPS will work with FWS and state,
local and nongovernmental organization
partners to coordinate National Wildlife
Refuge conservation partnerships and
planning and investments for the Captain
John Smith Chesapeake National Historic
Trail, Star-Spangled Banner Historic Trail
and the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and
Watertrails Network.
Achieve mutual conservation goals through
National Wildlife Refuge partnerships.
FWS will work with communities and partners
in the Bay watershed to identify those natural
and cultural resources that embody the vision
of treasured landscapes. For those areas where
there is mutual agreement to protect, restore
or enhance these resources, FWS will assist
communities and partners in achieving their
stewardship objectives. FWS will focus on the
major rivers of the Bay, especially where there
is already a presence by the National Wildlife
Refuge System, such as on the Rappahannock
and James rivers. In 2010, FWS will dedicate
additional resources to its Partners for Fish and
Wildlife and Coastal Programs to work with
landowners who wish to receive cost-sharing
and technical assistance to voluntarily restore
or improve fish and wildlife habitats on their
properties. Also in 2010, FWS will bring in
new planning expertise to begin the process of
engaging with existing and potential partners and
communities to identify important areas and help
develop land conservation strategies.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Conserve Land and Increase Public Access
Develop a Bay-wide strategy to reduce the
loss of farms and forests. Well-managed
agricultural and forest lands support a healthy
Chesapeake Bay watershed, but these lands are
under increasing pressures, leading to conversion
to other uses. USDA will lead the following
actions to help sustain agricultural presence on
the landscape:
In 2010, USDA will expand outreach on
the "Know Your Farmer, Know Your
Food" initiative in communities across the
Chesapeake Bay watershed. This initiative
promotes local and regional food systems
by stimulating community economic
development and ensuring equitable access to
affordable fresh and local food.
By 2012, the Administration, in collaboration
with Bay Watershed States, will develop
a strategy that considers incentives for
agricultural land, forestland and open space
conservation. Included in this strategy will
be an analysis that identifies opportunities
to strategically focus the use of conservation
easements where they will provide the
greatest environmental benefits for the
Chesapeake Bay and the roughly 17 million
people who reside in the watershed. In
addition, the Administration will explore
how an extension of federal tax benefits for
qualified conservation contributions can
play a role in the overall strategy to achieve
conservation and stewardship of private lands
in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. In the
past, tax benefits for qualified conservation
contributions appear to have stimulated
conservation activity nationwide. Extension of
the tax benefits would require an action
by Congress.
Support creation and expansion of
protected coastal and marine areas.
Marine protected areas (MPAs) are increasingly
recognized as an important and promising
management tool to support conservation of
our natural and cultural marine heritage and
sustainable production of marine resources. The
National System of MPAs provides coordination
and tools for collaborative development and
effective use of MPAs, helping to restore and
maintain healthy environments and contribute to
the overall protection and of important habitats
and resources. NOAA will apply the technical
expertise of the National Marine Protected
Area Center, the National Marine Sanctuaries
Program and the National Estuarine Research
Reserve System (NERRS) and NOAA regional
offices to support states in evaluating the
establishment of science-based protected areas
to conserve and sustain natural and culturally
significant coastal and marine resources. NOAA,
working in collaboration with state and federal
partners and other stakeholders, will consider
improved integration and potential expansion
of Chesapeake Bay protected areas by providing
technical tools and opportunities for capacity
building through training and grants. By 2011,
NOAA will support expansion of existing NERRS
protected areas, in coordination with the states,
by pursuing priority acquisitions that address
climate change impacts on coastal ecosystems.
NOAA will explore, through the Office of
National Marine Sanctuaries, the potential
for future culturally-focused Chesapeake Bay
sanctuaries in collaboration with state and federal
partners, and other stakeholders. NOAA will
also invite Chesapeake Bay Marine Protected
Areas (MPAs) to nominate sites to the national
system of MPAs and provide competitive funding
opportunities for Chesapeake Bay sites in the
national system of MPAs.
Provide community assistance for landscape
conservation. NPS will deliver coordinated
community assistance for priority landscape
identification, assessment and conservation.
Beginning in 2011, NPS will convene federal and
-------
Landscapes along the Chesapeake's great rivers, including the
Susquehanna (top) and the Shenandoah (bottom), are scenic
treasures with deep historic value, They are vital ecological
corridors as well, sustaining wildlife and clean water,
state partners to assess current technical assistance
capabilities and gaps, and ways to improve local
government and land trust access to assistance
providers and capacity building support.
Identify culturally significant and
ecologically important landscapes. NPS will
coordinate work to conduct landscape surveys
to identify landscapes of cultural significance
to different communities and the region. The
surveys will ensure specific coverage where the
existing analysis is weak, including landscapes
with significance to American Indians, African
Americans and Hispanic Americans, as well as
working landscapes with significance to family
farmers and watermen, among others. Important
ecological corridors and resources will also be
identified. The resulting surveys will inform land
conservation priorities and be incorporated in
the land conservation database and prioritization
system (see following action). Work will begin in
2011 and continue through 2015.
Establish watershed-wide GIS-based land
conservation targeting system. USGS, NPS
and FWS will adapt or develop a watershed-wide
strategic, publicly accessible land conservation
geographic information and targeting system
to support sound conservation planning and
decision-making. This will build on and expand
systems used at the state level (such as Maryland's
Greenprint) to ensure full coverage of federal,
state and local land conservation priorities
(including new information from the landscape
surveys described above) and foster strategic
coordination across the watershed for multiple
land conservation values. The system will also
incorporate information on anticipated land
change to ensure land conservation priorities
are informed by vulnerability to development
pressure and climate change. In 2010, USGS and
NPS will convene federal agency partners, states
and non-governmental organizations to develop
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Conserve Land and Increase Public Access
a scope for the system and the mechanisms to put
the system into place beginning in 2011. USGS
will establish a decision-support specialist for land
conservation to manage the system and data and
develop products to help users understand the
implications of different conservation options.
Improve monitoring of land-use changes.
USGS and NOAA will improve monitoring
of land-use changes to help assess progress of
land conservation efforts. USGS and EPA will
improve spatial resolution and consistency of
land-cover and impervious surface monitoring
for the watershed. USGS recently produced
land-cover change analysis for 1984-2006 for
the entire watershed and will work with NOAA
to update land-use conditions for 2010-2011.
Land-cover updates will continue through
2025 (at five-year intervals).
Describe land-cover change to evaluate
progress toward land conservation. USGS
will describe changes in different types of
land cover and implications for conserving
lands. The first assessment will be done based
on the 2010-2011 land cover update. The
information will be used to help partners
adapt land conservation approaches.
Develop integrated transportation, land
use, housing and water infrastructure
plans setting forth smart growth and
environmental stewardship visions.
Coordination of planning for transportation,
housing, land-use and water infrastructure
can lead to more livable communities. The
Partnership for Sustainable Communities among
DOT, EPA and the Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD) is working to build
more sustainable communities by providing more
transportation choices including bicycling and
walking, more equitable and affordable housing,
and increased economic competitiveness. The
partnership will seek opportunities to support
existing communities, leverage federal investment
and value communities and neighborhoods. DOT
will work with partners to encourage initiation
of integrated plans in one or more communities
in the watershed. Beginning in 2011, pending
availability of funds, DOT and partner agencies
will provide communities that undertake
integrated planning with technical assistance
and enhanced capacity for modeling and data
collection. DOT, EPA and HUD will work with
local planning authorities, state resource agencies,
metropolitan planning organizations and state
DOTs beginning in 2011 to further promote
environmentally sustainable transportation
and development as part of integrated regional
planning.
PUBLIC ACCESS OUTCOME:
Increase public access to the Bay and
its tributaries by adding 300 new public
access Sites by 2025. (Current condition: 761
public access sites providing access to Bay and
its tributaries exist in DC, MD, PA, VA; data on
existing access sites in NY, DE and WV to be
collected in the future).
Action Overview:
Develop a plan to expand public access.
Prioritize funding for public access
development.
Develop a plan to expand public access.
The NPS, in conjunction with the states, FWS
and other federal agencies, will develop a public
access plan to inform and guide expansion of
Chesapeake watershed public access. The access
plan will assess current and projected public
demand, describe existing access facilities and
threats facing them, determine gaps in public
access (for example, gaps according to geography,
types of access, handicapped accessibility,
underserved communities) and barriers to access
-------
such as railroads, and identify opportunities for
expanding existing access areas and creating new
access areas. Along with Statewide Comprehensive
Outdoor Recreation Plans, the access plan will
be used to focus federal, state and local funding
for public access expansion. NPS will convene
partners to begin development of the access plan
in 2 011 and complete the plan by 2 012.
Identify public access needs and
opportunities along National Trails.
NPS will identify public access needs and
opportunities along the Captain John Smith
Chesapeake National Historic Trail, Star-
Spangled Banner National Historic Trail
and Potomac Heritage National Scenic
Trail. This information will contribute to the
public access plan above. For national historic
trails, public access needs and opportunities
will be identified in the trail comprehensive
management plans to be completed in 2010
and 2011.
Prioritize funding for public access
development. NPS will set public access site
development as a priority funding emphasis
in Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails
Network grants for 2010 and 2011. Partners at
more than 165 designated gateways and water
trails are eligible to apply for these network
matching grants.
Access to the water connects Americans with the outdoors,
If a core Chesapeake restoration goal is to make the Bay
and its tributaries "fishable and swimmable," then increasing
public access to the water is not only an end goal, but also
a necessary step to get there,
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 33
-------
Conserve Land and Increase Public Access
EXAMPLES OF
Listed below are just a few examples of important
state programs anticipated as collaborative partners
in advancing land conservation and public access.
Pennsylvania Conservation Landscape
Initiative (CLI)
Led by Pennsylvania's conservation and natural
resources agency, related state agencies, local
governments, nonprofits and other groups are
collaborating to drive strategic investment and
actions around sustainability, conservation,
community revitalization and recreation projects in
targeted landscapes. CLI works with communities
to support land conservation, locally driven
planning and community revitalization efforts tied
to natural and cultural resources. Landscape areas
are selected because of extensive public land
holdings and a strong programmatic presence
by the Department of Conservation and Natural
Resources. Five CLI areas are within the Bay
watershed.
GreenPrint Maryland
GreenPrint Maryland uses color-coded maps,
natural resource assessment data and aerial
photography to show the relative ecological
importance of every parcel of land in the state and
to identify ecological conservation tracts. This web-
enabled tool applies the best environmental science
and geographic information systems to the work of
preserving and protecting environmentally critical
lands. GreenPrint also tracks the achievements of
the state's land conservation programs. This is a
model for strategic land conservation planning.
Virginia Governor's Land Conservation
Goal: Virginia met its self-imposed statewide
land conservation goal of 400,000 acres over
the past four years, preserving 424,1 03 acres
as of winter 201 0. Specific land conservation
accomplishments include the creation of two
new state parks, six new state forests and 13
natural area preserves. Moreover parts of 13
Civil War battlefields were protected. Governor
McDonnell has established a new goal to
preserve an additional 400,000 acres by the end
of his administration. In just four years and in just
one state, this ambitious effort could achieve 20
percent of this strategy's 15-year, two-million-
acre land protection goal.
New York & Pennsylvania Public Fishing
Access Programs
Both New York and Pennsylvania maintain
creative programs for expanding access to
rivers and streams for fishing. Since 1935, the
New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation has worked with private landowners
to ensure access to prime fishing waters. Nearly
1,200 miles of public fishing rights easements
have been purchased on over 350 streams
across the state. Similarly, Pennsylvania's Fish
and Boat Commission is purchasing low-cost
fishing easements in the Juniata watershed, a
tributary of the Susquehanna. In both states, the
permanent easements allow the public to wade
and walk on a strip of land along the streambed
and banks for the purpose of fishing. The
landowner continues to own the land affected
by the limited fishing rights easement. The
easements also allow the states to help perform
streambank improvement work such as planting
trees or shrubs.
Delaware's Nanticoke River Water Trail
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources
& Environmental Control and its local and private
partners will launch the Nanticoke River Water
Trail in summer 201 0. The 26-mile trail will be
accessed from at least six public access sites.
A map and guide will be available providing
-------
paddlers with information to safely plan their
water-based recreational experiences and
interpretation highlighting the area's rich history
and noteworthy natural and cultural heritage.
New York State Open Space
Conservation Plan
New York State's 2009 Open Space
Conservation Plan presents an important
blueprint for advancing the state's land
conservation efforts with guidance for open
space planning and protection at the state,
regional and community levels. The plan lists
priority projects identified by citizen-based
regional advisory committees and comprehensive
policy and program recommendations, including
recommendations to advance stream, riparian
area, wetland and forest protection programs.
Based on grassroots involvement, the plan
includes priority conservation areas along
the Susquehanna River valley corridor in the
Chesapeake Bay watershed of New York State.
Maryland Program Open Space
Maryland's Program Open Space acquires
land for natural resource protection, recreation
and public use, and also provides grants to
local governments for land acquisition and park
facilities development. Since 1969, Program
Open Space has symbolized Maryland's long-
term commitment to conserving natural resources
while providing exceptional outdoor recreation
opportunities for our citizens. More than 303,000
acres have been acquired to date. Over 5,500
local grant projects to counties and municipalities
have either acquired land or built facilities for
Maryland's conservation and recreation needs.
Maryland's Rural Legacy Program
Maryland's Rural Legacy Program enhances
natural resource, agricultural, forestry and
environmental protection while maintaining
the viability of resource-based land uses such
as farm production and timber harvest. The
program provides funds to local governments
and land trusts to conserve land in designated
Rural Legacy Areas through the purchase of
conservation easements. The program is focused
on a grass-roots approach to land conservation,
stressing partnerships among local, state and
federal governments and non-profit land trusts.
Counties are encouraged to support additional
land protection methods to build upon Rural
Legacy accomplishments.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 35
-------
I
Stewardship
v f r / ' 1^
in
T
Objective: Foster a dramatic
increase in the number of
citizen stewards of every age
who support and carryout
local conservation
and restoration.
-------
People tend to protect the places
they understand and care about.
Freeman Tilden, a pioneer in
enhancing visitor experiences in
our national parks, recognized that
people whose lives are enriched by personal
connections to the landscape become its most
strident defenders. Tilden described a process
through which experience brings understanding,
understanding brings appreciation, and "through
appreciation, protection." Providing outdoor
opportunities and education that nurture this
continuum are critical to personal well-being,
community character and stewardship of the
environment.
The Chesapeake region is rapidly urbanizing.
More than eight million people including
significant diverse communities and new
immigrants, live in urban core areas. Fewer
people interact on a regular basis with the forests,
open lands and waters of the Bay region. Despite
this trend - or perhaps because of it - regional
residents increasingly seek opportunities to
reconnect with the outdoors.
Federal, state and local governments are
guardians of these opportunities, providing sites
and resources allowing everyone to enjoy the
natural and cultural bounty of the Bay region
by relaxing, learning and reflecting in direct
interaction with the Bay's treasured landscapes.
Moreover, government and legions of non-
governmental organizations provide opportunities
for direct engagement in citizen stewardship.
Opportunities for stewardship can and should
be made available to citizens of different ages,
at several points and through multiple systems.
Caring for the Chesapeake requires long-term
engagement.
For children - the stewards of tomorrow, but with
the ability to make real contributions today - this
begins with formative experiences in elementary,
middle and high school, providing opportunities
to experience the natural environment in the
watershed coupled with curricula to ground the
experience. Recognizing this, the Chesapeake Bay
Program is working to provide every student with
"meaningful watershed educational experience" in
elementary, middle and high school.
For adults of many ages, engagement can focus
on direct stewardship actions. For citizens of the
watershed, the places where people experience
the Chesapeake - parks, refuges, maritime
museums, etc. - and the places where people
spend most of their time - their homes, schools
and neighborhoods - provide venues for further
engagement and action.
Ultimately, meeting the water quality, habitat
restoration and land conservation goals described
in this strategy depends on engaged citizens who
both support stewardship in the larger community
and take personal action to carry it out.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Expand Citizen Stewardship
OBJECTIVE:
Providing opportunities for young people to work outdoors
builds stewards for the future, Maryland's Civic Justice Corps
(top photo) is a unique summer program for students to help
conserve and restore state parks,
Foster a dramatic increase in the number of
citizen stewards of every age who support
and carryout local conservation and
restoration.
Action Overview:
" Expand Chesapeake conservation corps
workforces.
Expand master watershed stewards program.
Prioritize citizen stewardship in Small
Watershed Grants Program.
Expand outreach to private forest landowners.
Enhance visitor experiences and stewardship
messaging at designated Chesapeake sites and
trails.
Build long-term local partnerships for
engaging communities and citizens along
national trails.
Initiate robust elementary and secondary
environmental literacy initiative.
Expand Chesapeake conservation corps
workforces. NPS will convene federal, state and
non-governmental partners to expand existing
conservation corps workforces that create jobs and
carry out conservation and restoration projects
in priority watersheds - create a broadened
Chesapeake Conservation Corps. NPS will
coordinate efforts to examine existing models and
programs, especially those focusing on underserved
communities, assess issues and needs, and identify
mechanisms for measuring progress. Among these
are dependable multi-year funding, enhanced
capacity of existing programs (particularly in terms
of administrative and logistical support), ongoing
training of leaders and participants, and support
for ongoing maintenance projects. NPS will
coordinate development of a proposed strategy for
expanding corps programs by 2011.
-------
Expand master watershed stewards
program. NPS will work with federal, state
and local partners to determine how best to
expand the existing model master watershed
stewards program for training citizens to organize
and conduct restoration in a series of priority
landscapes and watersheds, NPS will coordinate
efforts of the partners to develop an expansion
plan and methods for measuring progress by 2011.
Prioritize citizen stewardship in Small
Watershed Grants Program. The Chesapeake
Bay Small Watershed Grants Program promotes
community-based efforts to develop
conservation strategies to protect and restore
the diverse natural resources of the Chesapeake
Bay and its watershed. EPA will make citizen
stewardship-based projects a priority funding
category in the Small Watershed Grants
Program in 2011 to encourage projects that help
residents develop a better understanding of their
personal connection to the Bay and a strong
knowledge of what steps they can take to be
stewards of their watershed.
Expand outreach to private forest
landowners. About 900,000 private forest
landowners own approximately 80 percent of
forested lands in the Chesapeake watershed.
Forestry for the Bay, a program supported by
the U.S. Forest Service, provides education and
outreach to landowners to promote sustainable
forest management. By 2015, the Forest Service
will dramatically increase outreach and resources
to reach an additional 3,000 forest landowners
(representing approximately 50,000 acres of
forest) through Forestry for the Bay by expanding
the program's web site capabilities and using
existing and developing landowner information
networks that target highly vulnerable regions
of Pennsylvania. Current Forestry for the Bay
participation is 300 landowners.
Enhance visitor experiences and
stewardship messaging at designated
Chesapeake sites and trails. The NPS and
FWS will develop and lead an expanded strategy
for enhancing visitor experiences and stewardship
messaging at designated sites and trails
(Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails, units
of the National Park System, National Wildlife
Refuges, National Historic Trails and National
Scenic Trails). In 2011, NPS will coordinate
a collaborative effort to define "meaningful
Chesapeake visitor experiences" and how to
measure progress.
Build long-term local partnerships for
engaging communities and citizens along
national trails. The NPS will convene local
government and non-governmental partners to
plan for long-term stewardship, sustainable tourism
and landscape conservation along major tributaries
with national historic and national scenic trails.
Beginning in 2011, NPS will work with partners
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 39
-------
Expand Citizen Stewardship
to engage communities in development and
implementation of area plans for the Captain John
Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail and
the Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail.
These plans will build long-term relationships for
community and citizen involvement in trail and
watershed stewardship.
Initiate robust elementary and secondary
environmental literacy initiative. By
December 2011, NOAA will pursue engagement
of additional federal and state partners - including
the U.S. Department of Education, Department
of Interior, Department of Energy and EPA -
to develop a Chesapeake Bay Elementary and
Secondary Environmental Literacy Strategy
that expands upon the meaningful watershed
educational experience objective.
Support and enhance outdoor student
environmental education programs.
NOAA, EPA and NPS will ensure that
national programs that encourage increased
environmental stewardship and career choices
related to green jobs - including Hands on
the Land and programs focused on science,
technology, engineering and math (STEM) -
are fully represented in the Chesapeake Bay
region by December 2012. In addition, NPS
will work with the Alice Ferguson Foundation
to expand the Bridging the Watershed
program, which provides educational
experiences connecting students to their place
in the natural and cultural world.
Provide high-quality professional
development, tools and resources for
educators. In 2010, NOAA will open a new
Environmental Science Training Center to
provide continuing education on emerging
science and related content to the informal
environmental education professionals
who are providing teacher professional
development throughout the region.
Encourage the creation and maintenance
of green schools, including schoolyard
habitat and green facilities programs. By
December 2011, FWS and NOAA will work
with other federal agencies and the states to
ensure that the Environmental and Secondary
Environmental Literacy Strategy includes
a clear set of priorities related to creating
and maintaining schoolyard habitat and
green facilities and grounds. This strategy
will incorporate existing federal and state
programs, such as the EPA Clean School
Bus USA program, the U.S. Department of
Energy's EnergySmart Schools, and Farm to
School programs.
A master watershed steward installs a rain barrel at a residential
property to slow the flow of stormwater runoff,
-------
EXAMPLES OF
Listed below are just a few examples of state and
regional programs anticipated as collaborative
partners in expanding citizen stewardship.
Maryland Partnership for Children in
Nature: Recognizing the urgency in ensuring that
Maryland's young people have the opportunity to
connect with nature and grow to become informed
and responsible stewards of our environment,
Governor Martin O'Malley established the Maryland
Partnership for Children in Nature by Executive
Order in April 2008. Co-managed by the Maryland
Departments of Natural Resources and Education,
the partnership developed a comprehensive
environmental literacy plan as well as a plan to
provide youth with structured and unstructured
opportunities for play, outdoor recreation, learning
and scientific study.
Virginia's Chesapeake Bay Gateways Youth
Corps: The Virginia Department of Conservation
and Recreation established a Chesapeake Bay
Gateways Youth Corps to foster citizen stewardship
of the Chesapeake and improve public access
along the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National
Historic Trail. The program engages volunteer
youth teams and supervisors in work projects
and environmental education at 1 0 Virginia State
Parks designated as Chesapeake Gateways. The
Youth Corps work projects improve sites that help
visitors access, enjoy, understand and appreciate
the natural, cultural, historic and recreational
resources of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
The program allows youth, supervisors and park
visitors to develop a stewardship ethic through an
understanding of resource management.
Watershed Stewards Academy of Anne
Arundel County, Maryland: The Watershed
Stewards Academy (WSA) is an initiative of
the Anne Arundel County Department of Public
Works, the Arlington Echo Outdoor Education
Center to train community leaders, Maryland and
NOAA, called "Master Watershed Stewards,"
to reduce the negative impacts of stormwater
runoff in Anne Arundel County. This initiative
educates, engages and builds the capacity of local
government, business and citizen communities to
make a significant reduction in pollution sources
entering local waterways. WSA recognizes that
although the government has the responsibility to
provide leadership, enforcement and resources
toward ensuring clean water, without the collective
contributions of all watershed residents, no real
progress may be made toward this goal.
Virginia Clean Marinas: The Virginia Clean
Marinas program is run by Virginia Sea Grant
in partnership with the Virginia Departments of
Environmental Quality and of Conservation and
Recreation. The program promotes voluntary
adoption of measures to prevent or reduce pollution
from traditional and non-traditional marinas,
boatyards and recreational boats. Marina operators
adopting such measures are designated as "Virginia
Clean Marinas." Individual boaters can also pledge
to carry out a series of steps to help keep rivers,
streams and the Bay clean, including recycling,
practicing proper fueling, keeping Virginia waters
free of trash, and using pump-out facilities.
Virginia Sea Grant: Virginia Sea Grant provides
workshops combining scientific updates with teaching
resources throughout the year. Recent topics include
sea turtles, oyster reefs, blue crabs, sharks, benthic
communities and biological invaders. A recurring
focus is on oyster gardening. Virginia Sea Grant
teamed with teachers, the Oyster Reef Keepers
of Virginia and members of the Tidewater Oyster
Gardeners Association (TOGA) for workshops on the
subject, including oyster biology, oyster reef ecology
and oyster restoration. With help from the TOGA
members, teachers have built oyster floats where they
raised seed oysters with their students. Since 2000, a
Master Oyster Gardener Refresher Course has been
held every other year for past graduates.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Markets
Objective: Working
collaboratively, USDA,
EPA, Bay states and other
federal partners will develop
environmental markets for the
Chesapeake Bay, including
the management infrastructure
for measuring, reporting
and verifying environmental
performance for a suite of
ecosystem services.
-------
nvironmental markets are an
innovative approach to natural
resource management that
E!
:
can accomplish environmental
protection goals, encourage
new technologies, improve efficiencies,
reduce costs and help manage growth. The
basic premise of environmental markets is
that an entity that needs to reduce impacts to
the environment buys credits representing an
equivalent or greater amount of environmental
improvement from a provider of that
improvement. These credits must be verified to
ensure measurable environmental improvement
and may be registered and traded much like any
other commodity. Environmental markets have
the potential to create more resilient ecosystems
that better respond to key stressors, including
climate change, population growth, and land-
use change while providing incentives to keep
well managed land in forest and agricultural
production.
The 2008 Farm Bill directs USDA to facilitate
the participation of farmers, ranchers and forest
landowners in emerging environmental markets.
In addition, the Farm Bill directs USDA to
establish technical guidelines for measuring
environmental benefits, a protocol for reporting
environmental benefits and a registry to collect,
record and maintain the benefits measured.
The Farm Bill also directs USDA to establish
guidelines for a process to verify that a farmer,
rancher, or forest landowner who reports an
environmental benefit has implemented the
reported conservation or land management
activity.
In establishing these verification guidelines,
the Farm Bill directs USDA to consider
the role of third-parties in conducting
independent verification of benefits produced
for environmental markets. America's
farmers, ranchers and foresters are poised to
generate environmental credits that can help
regulated entities across the nation meet their
environmental obligations.
USDA is actively working to meet the 2008
Farm Bill directives and seeks to ensure that
market processes and management infrastructure
operate as seamlessly as possible. Farmers,
ranchers and forest landowners need to be able
to create credits of all types (e.g., nutrients,
sediment, habitat, carbon and wetlands) and the
management infrastructure is needed to define
the demand for credits and assure that credits
are reliable and are in addition to practices that
need to be employed to meet programmatic or
regulatory baseline expectations. One key to
the success of environmental market strategies
is the ability of federal and state governments
to demonstrate that environmental benefits
can be achieved in ways that bolster landowner
livelihoods. USDA is leading an effort in
assessing opportunities for "stacking" multiple
types of credits so that private landowners can
maximize the economic benefits they derive
from participation in environmental markets.
USDA will also examine the relationship
between existing conservation program rules and
environmental markets to test compatibility and
effectiveness.
In the Chesapeake Bay watershed, there is an
immediate opportunity to build upon current
state trading programs and EPA guidance to
expand the market for nutrient and sediment
trading. By December 2010, EPA will establish
a TMDL for the Chesapeake Bay. The new
TMDL will set pollution limits for nitrogen,
phosphorus and sediment in the Chesapeake Bay
and its tributaries and require that states account
for anticipated new or increased pollution
loads over time. These new or increased loads
can be accounted for by several mechanisms
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 93
-------
Environmental Markets
including: 1) more stringent pollution controls
on existing sources in order to create a reserve to
accommodate new or expanded pollution loads,
or 2) a process in which dischargers of new or
increased loads are required to "offset" their loads
by acquiring pollution reductions from other
sources.
The new limits on nutrients and sediment to
be established in the TMDL will help establish
demand for projects that reduce these pollutants
and make a market for these reductions viable. At
the same time, environmental markets provide
an important new mechanism to complement the
water pollution control programs described in the
water quality portion of this strategy.
The Federal Leadership Committee sees
environmental markets as an important new tool
for meeting the diverse environmental goals
for the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed that
are described in this strategy. Several initial
projects have provided proof-of-concept but the
infrastructure to enable environmental markets to
function effectively in the Chesapeake Bay region
currently does not exist. Successful environmental
markets in the Bay watershed might be used as a
template for environmental markets nationwide.
EPA's work on trading and offset mechanisms
under the TMDL and USDA's work on a system
of environmental market options will proceed on
parallel but complementary tracks. USDA and
EPA will work together to develop the technical
tools, documentation and tracking methods
and other mechanisms that will help ensure the
integrity and compatibility of water quality and
environmental market programs in the Bay.
Actions
The first priority will be to establish a
market for trading pollutant reduction
credits for nutrients and sediments in
support of the water quality goals in the
TMDL. Building on expectations provided
to the states and District of Columbia in
2009, EPA will issue guidelines concerning
credits for nutrient and sediment reduction
to accompany the draft TMDL (October
2010) and final TMDL (December 2010).
These guidelines will, for example, outline
EPA's expectations for how states may
operate programs to ensure that credits
that support NPDES permits and TMDL
loading caps are reliable and verifiable. EPA
will work with the Environmental Market
Team (see below) to assure that tools
and protocols developed by the team are
reflected in this and subsequent guidance
to the greatest extent possible. EPA will
work closely with the states and District of
Columbia to capitalize on their investments
in trading programs.
USDA will lead, in coordination with EPA
and other federal agencies (including DOC,
DOT, DOT, DOD, USAGE, CEQ, and
OMB), an interdepartmental Environmental
Market Team to coordinate efforts in
establishing the environmental market
infrastructure in the Chesapeake Bay. This
team will move expeditiously to:
Develop and evaluate scientific tools to
measure the environmental performance
of conservation practices and projects that
can be used in environmental markets.
Develop protocols that define and measure
relevant baselines for supplying credits.
Define and measure the environmental
improvement (performance) of practices
and projects used in environmental
markets.
Develop protocols to certify and
verify that measurable environmental
improvements occur.
-------
Establish a platform for registering,
reporting and tracking measurable
environmental benefits over time to
facilitate commerce between buyers and
sellers of credits and provide market
transparency.
Establish a credible and robust
management infrastructure that
lends control, oversight, visibility and
transparency to the markets.
In addition, the Environmental Market Team
will evaluate options for reducing market risk and
assess the value of stacking and bundling more
than one ecosystem service in a market structure.
The team will also work closely with states and
interested stakeholders and will seek public
review and comment on draft protocols.
Recognizing the unique authorities and
regulatory responsibilities of each agency, the
team will also cooperatively explore options
for new crediting and market opportunities in
habitat, wetlands and conservation banking.
To facilitate the potential for landowners to
sell credits in multiple environmental markets,
agencies with regulatory authorities will consult
with the Environmental Market Team as they
develop protocols and guidelines for the use of
offset credits in their regulatory programs.
The Environmental Market Team will also
work to ensure that environmental justice issues
of concern are adequately considered in the
development of environmental markets for the
Chesapeake Bay region.
FWS anticipates working with the
Environmental Market Team in 2011 to
develop habitat-based credits that reflects
the value of ecosystem services. This is in
addition to the work FWS is already doing
to develop species-based credits for brook
trout and the Delmarva fox squirrel.
NOAA will provide expertise in the
development of the Chesapeake Bay
environmental market infrastructure by:
Strengthening scientific integrity by
participating in the rules development of
emerging markets;
Examine how to broaden the focus,
where appropriate, beyond water quality
and agriculture to coastal and estuarine
management tools. This could result in
new categories of activities; and
Exploring how to develop and deploy
tools that may assist with spatial planning
and analysis of multiple credit potential
of the Chesapeake Bay as an ecosystem.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 95
-------
ate Change
Objective: Minimize the
vulnerability of the Chesapeake
Bay watershed, including its
habitats, public infrastructure
and human communities, to
adverse impacts from
climate change.
-------
Climate change is a significant
challenge to successful
restoration and protection of
the Chesapeake Bay and its
watershed. Scientists project that
climate change will have a variety of impacts
on this region, including rising sea levels,
warmer water and air temperatures, changing
precipitation patterns and increases in rainfall
intensity, and changes to freshwater flows with
corresponding significant impacts to water
quality and habitats. Although there is still
some uncertainty surrounding specific climate
change projections and impacts at the scale of the
Chesapeake Bay, available information is more
than sufficient to begin exploring adaptation
and mitigation practices that minimize impacts
of climate change and the most likely future
scenarios, as well as to raise awareness among
policy makers and the public.
Many of the region's urban centers and
significant ecosystems are in low-lying areas
that are particularly vulnerable to sea-level
rise and storm surge. The impacts of climate
change extend to infrastructure, habitat, fish and
wildlife populations, stream flow, water quality,
and valued Bay landscapes and waters. Climate
change threatens past restoration gains and the
effectiveness of future actions.
Adapting to the impacts of climate change
involves maintaining or enhancing the resiliency
and reducing the vulnerability of the Chesapeake
Bay and its watershed. The design and
implementation of adaptation strategies includes
careful analysis of existing decision-making
processes. It is necessary to understand:
rates at which conditions are changing and are
projected to change in the future;
how various factors, such as land-use changes,
interact with climate change impacts;
likely consequences for water quality,
habitats, fish and wildlife and communities
The keys to a successful adaptive management
approach are to provide the public and
decision-makers with the most current scientific
information while advancing understanding
through research, monitoring and modeling.
The best available science on climatic changes
should be factored into restoration and
protection of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
The Bay states and the District of Columbia
are in varying stages of completing climate
action plans, with several plans completed
and others underway. Although states have
identified or begun to identify their needs and
recommended actions, the lack of more localized
assessments of climate change projections and
impacts challenge the states' ability to effectively
implement all of the needed adaptation and
mitigation actions. Because much of the region's
infrastructure is tightly interwoven, regional
climate adaptation planning to protect, upgrade
and adapt the region's infrastructure is essential.
Maintaining ecosystem health is also essential
to the function and vitality of the region's
landscape through measures such as improved
shoreline management to provide wetland
migration capacity.
In addition to the cross-cutting objectives and
actions described below, actions that consider
the impacts of a changing climate are included in
the habitat, fish and wildlife, and other chapters
of this strategy. Efforts to understand potential
impacts and identify actions to respond to impacts
will be expanded and continue to be integrated
into management and planning activities.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 97
-------
Respond to Climate Change
OBJECTIVE:
Minimize the vulnerability of the
Chesapeake Bay watershed, including its
habitats, public infrastructure and human
communities, to adverse impacts from
climate change.
The supporting objectives described in this
chapter are:
Improve information on the communities,
habitats and resources at risk from the impacts
of climate change in the Chesapeake region
by conducting vulnerability assessments and
supporting research priorities.
Develop communication and decision-
support products to increase knowledge
and capacity to plan for and implement
projects that build community and ecosystem
resilience.
Conduct monitoring activities to deliver
routine and sustained climate information
products and services.
Integrate climate change information
into Chesapeake Bay Program decision-
making and planning and into federal
land management and planning in the Bay
watershed.
Adopt practices that mitigate greenhouse gas
emissions.
Supporting Objective:
Improve information on the communities,
habitats and resources at risk from
the impacts of climate change in the
Chesapeake region by conducting
vulnerability assessments and supporting
research priorities.
Action Overview:
Identify communities that are vulnerable to
the impacts of climate change.
Identify and assess risk to key Bay and coastal
habitats from potential impacts of sea-level
rise climate and land-use change.
Demonstrate and implement effective
restoration planning in the face of land
elevation change and sea-level rise.
Identify and assess risk to key watershed
habitats from potential impacts of climate and
land change.
Enhance federally supported research
to improve and streamline vulnerability
assessments.
Identify communities that are vulnerable
to the impacts of climate change. NOAA
and USGS, in collaboration with other federal
partners and states, will identify Chesapeake
region communities and public infrastructure
most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
The states have completed substantive efforts in
planning for climate change, and federal agencies
will coordinate with state and local plans to
ensure federal efforts are addressing the most
critical gaps on projected impacts to Chesapeake
communities and their resources. NOAA support
for local community adaptation planning will be
initiated with small financial awards to Maryland
and Virginia in 2010 and 2011 to support
projects as prioritized by the states. Assessments
of vulnerable communities and infrastructure will
continue based on identification of interested
communities.
In addition, NOAA will by 2012 seek to expand
the availability of Chesapeake Inundation
Prediction System (CIPS) modeling to additional
communities at high risk for inundation. USGS
will support this effort through forecasting
future urban development in and around coastal
communities to support local adaptation of land-
use policies to climate change.
-------
Source: Jane Hawkey/IAN Imagi I«,.,;,
Agencies will identify potential impacts of climate change to
habitats and conserved lands in the Chesapeake watershed,
Demonstrate and implement effective
restoration planning in the face of land
elevation change and sea-level rise.
NOAA, USGS and FWS will demonstrate
the infrastructure, computer models and tools
necessary to support the incorporation of
local sea-level rise data and projections into
coastal restoration projects. The agencies will
implement climate change considerations into
their restoration projects. The Recover Habitat
chapter includes a detailed discussion of the
actions to protect and restore priority Chesapeake
marshes and shorelines under pressure from
sea-level rise and development. To demonstrate
applications of these efforts, federal and state
partners are collecting sea-level rise and land
elevation data and using this information to
demonstrate adaptation approaches at Poplar
Island and the Blackwater National Wildlife
Refuge. NOAA and USGS will summarize the
information in 2011 to demonstrate the type of
observations needed to assess relative sea-level
rise in other areas of the Bay.
Identify and assess risks to key tidal and
coastal habitats from potential impacts
of changing climatic conditions and rising
sea-level. NOAA and USGS will lead the
identification and assessment of risks to critical
Bay habitats and coastal areas that are vulnerable
to the impacts of climate change. An assessment
of tidal wetlands most vulnerable to sea-level rise
and climate change will be initiated in 2011 and
completed by 2016. The vulnerability assessment
will discuss implications for important NPS and
FWS lands and critical areas being protected
in collaboration with states under NOAA
programs (e.g., the National Estuarine Research
Reserves). NOAA, USGS and EPA will work
together in 2011 to improve the methodology
for vulnerability assessments of other critical Bay
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed QQ
-------
Respond to Climate Change
habitats such as underwater grasses. Based on the
outcome of the effort, additional assessments of
key estuary habitats will be proposed in 2012.
Identify and assess risk to key watershed
habitats from potential impacts of climate
change and land change. USGS will work
with federal partners to identify potential impacts
of climate change to habitats and conserved lands
in the Chesapeake watershed. USGS will improve
its Land-Change model and seek opportunities
to couple it with water quality and habitat models
to forecast potential changes to lands, forests and
stream habitats. USGS will work with the USFS
to assess implications to forests, with the NPS
and FWS to assess implications for conserving
lands, and with FWS to assess implications for
habitats for key fish and wildlife (such as brook
trout) in the watershed. USGS is conducting an
initial assessment of climate and land-use changes
on stream flow and pollution loads in the Bay
watershed with initial results available in 2011.
USGS will work with EPA to determine if a more
complete analysis of water quality and streamflow
changes is needed.
Enhance federally-supported research
to improve and streamline vulnerability
assessments. Federal agencies will improve
the federal research necessary for vulnerability
assessments and the understanding of how
climate change is projected to impact the Bay and
watershed.
NOAA and USGS will prioritize climate
change research and monitoring needs
specific to the Bay watershed. The agencies
will interact with the DOT North Atlantic
and Appalachian Mountain Landscape
Conservation Cooperatives and with the
NOAA northeast regional partners to identify
common priorities. In 2011, this priority list
will be used to develop requests for proposals
and programs that direct federal funding to
these priority science research needs.
Federal agencies working to adapt national
climate models for larger-scale regions will
coordinate with emerging regional climate
centers to provide data for the Bay watershed.
This will include working closely with the DOT
Climate Science Center and National Wildlife
Center Hub being proposed for the northeast
area of the nation, as well as with the emerging
NOAA Climate Service regional services
enterprise for the eastern United States.
1 Specific outputs of prioritized research in the
near-term include:
Provide land-use change data. The
NOAA Coastal Change Analysis Program
and USGS Land Remote Sensing Program
will develop and distribute (via publicly
available web sites) digital land cover data
sets every five years for the Chesapeake Bay
watershed. NOAA will focus its mapping in
areas near the Bay, while USGS will focus
its mapping efforts on rest of the watershed.
These data sets can be used to assess
land-use changes. NOAA and USGS will
conduct the assessments beginning in 2011
and make the data available in 2012.
Provide projections of land-use changes.
EPA will refine nationwide county-level
population projections consistent with
global climate change emission scenarios
and create a subset of projections for the
Chesapeake Bay watershed. This work will
occur in 2010 and will inform USGS efforts
to model land-use and land cover change
throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Assist states and local communities with
topographic data. USGS will help states
acquire high-resolution topographic data.
-------
Work will begin in 2010 and lead to digital
data for state and local communities to use
for planning purposes in 2012.
Supporting Objective:
Develop communication and decision-
support products to increase knowledge
and capacity to plan for and implement
projects that build community and
ecosystem resilience.
Action Overview:
Develop tools and training to provide
effective climate adaptation planning and
implementation resources.
Develop tools and training to provide
states, local communities and resource
managers with effective climate adaptation
planning and implementation resources.
The impacts of climate change in the Bay
and watershed differ between communities
and resources based on their location in the
watershed, extent of existing development and
current zoning and development plans, as well
as other factors. NOAA, USGS, FWS, EPA and
academic partners will coordinate with states
and other partners to develop and distribute
tools to guide management responses to climate
impacts. For example, NOAA will use its new
NOAA Climate Portal to distribute climate data,
products and information services (including
decision-support tools and research results)
related to changing climate conditions such as
long-range temperature, precipitation records,
status of sea-level rise and coastal inundation.
In addition, NOAA has planned a number of
adaptation workshops and developed specific
guidance/criteria for 2010 to 2011 to initiate
this focused effort. This will include workshops
on regional coastal habitat conservation
and inundation mapping training in 2010,
development of an "Assessment of Climate-
Sensitive Decisions: Chesapeake Bay Program
Pilot Study" by fall 2010, and provision of
guidance by early 2011 on coastal habitat
restoration as an adaptive response in light of
rising sea levels. NOAA and USGS will work
with federal partners to develop an outreach plan
by 2012 to better communicate the impacts of
climate change and need for climate response in
the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Two examples of
the types of efforts agencies will undertake are:
Strategic land-use decision support. EPA
will work with local governments, such as
Frederick County, Maryland, to conduct
a pilot evaluation of wetlands, forests and
streams to identify protection and restoration
opportunities. Work will begin in 2010 to
create an assessment (including a vulnerability
assessment) that will help guide Frederick
County with strategic land-use decisions and
address Chesapeake Bay goals and climate
change initiatives.
Adapting wetland restoration techniques.
Poplar Island is a national showcase for
using wetland restoration techniques to
adapt islands to sea-level rise. More than
730 acres of wetlands are being built,
and further expansions to the island are
planned. Restoration and planning are fully
considering projected impacts of rising sea
levels. Resiliency of the wetland restoration
requires accurate water levels at the land/Bay
interface. A modeling study was conducted to
quantify water level variability and evaluate
changes around the island as restoration
efforts are being conducted. Quality data are
fundamental to the modeling needs of this
wetland restoration/climate adaptation project,
and NOAA's new Chesapeake Bay Operational
Forecast System is being used as the
computation tool for this effort. The island's
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 101
-------
Respond to Climate Change
popularity and its proximity to Washington,
D.C. make Poplar Island an effective location
to highlight collaborative restoration and
technological and scientific advances to
implement climate change adaptation.
Supporting Objective:
Conduct monitoring activities to deliver
routine and sustained climate information
products and services.
Action Overview:
Improve monitoring of climate change
impacts in the Bay and watershed.
Ensure monitoring results are integrated and
available to assess effectiveness and adjust
management actions as necessary.
Improve monitoring of climate change
impacts in the Bay and watershed. USGS
and NOAA will establish climate monitoring
as part of the Chesapeake Monitoring Alliance
for the Bay and its watershed. Monitoring will
focus on weather variability and extreme events,
and changes in sea-level, temperature and
precipitation; and the effects on critical resources
and environmental processes. DOI and NOAA
will align with national efforts to improve climate
monitoring. NOAA and USGS will assess existing
programs and design a climate change component
of the Chesapeake Monitoring Alliance in 2011
and work with partners to identify opportunities
to implement improved monitoring in 2012 to
2025.
J Implement the Climate Effects Network.
Beginning in 2011, USGS will work with
FWS and partners to develop a plan for a
climate change monitoring network as part
of the DOI Climate Effects Network. Based
on the plan, DOI will identify opportunities
to improve monitoring and research activities
-------
in 2012. USGS is collecting and analyzing
satellite imagery and weather data for
Shenandoah National Park to understand
potential impacts of climate change on eastern
forest vegetation, hydrology and habitats.
Developing monitoring framework for
streams. EPA will work with Maryland to
produce a monitoring framework by the end
of 2011 to detect climate change responses in
stream biota.
Develop a complementary estuarine
monitoring network. NOAA will work
with USGS and other partners to improve
monitoring for effects of sea-level rise on
Chesapeake coastal ecosystems. NOAA will
initiate this action by implementing Climate
Change Sentinel Sites at Chesapeake Bay
National Estuarine Research Reserves
(NERRS). The NERRS effort will
potentially include the installation of a
long-term tidal monitoring station at Jug
Bay, Maryland and a short-term station
at the Virginia NERRS. NOAA will work
with the Maryland and Virginia NERRS
to look at habitat integrity and ensure that
local data and monitoring are linked to
national networks and observations and made
available via the new NOAA Climate Portal
described earlier in this chapter.
Ensure monitoring results are integrated
and available to assess effectiveness
and adjust management actions as
necessary. NOAA, USGS, FWS and EPA will
use monitoring information to further assess
implications from the vulnerability assessments
conducted on the impacts of climate change on
communities and habitats. The monitoring data
will also be used to improve the vulnerability
assessments and help managers make
adjustments in restoration and conservation
strategies.
Supporting Objective:
Integrate climate change information
into Chesapeake Bay Program decision-
making and planning and into federal
land management and planning in the Bay
watershed.
Action Overview:
Integrate climate change information and
adaptation into the Chesapeake Bay Program.
Conduct technical performance review of
agencies' climate response effectiveness.
Predict potential changes in pollution loads
due to climate change.
Develop adaptation strategies to manage
vulnerable habitats and public infrastructure
on federal lands to increase resiliency to
climate change impacts.
Integrate climate change information
and adaptation into the Chesapeake Bay
Program. The Chesapeake Bay Program
provides a partnership in which federal agencies,
states, local governments and citizens work
together to identify and address the most critical
challenges facing watershed protection and
restoration. As partners in this program, NOAA,
USGS, FWS, EPA and other federal agencies
will work with the advisory committees for
science, local government and citizens to build
an integrated team focused on climate change
coordination and information sharing. The team
will provide information to factor into decision
processes and adaptive management planning for
protection and restoration activities.
In 2010, NOAA, EPA and USGS will explore
creation of a new climate change coordinator
position(s) for the Chesapeake Bay with
the objective of having a coordinator(s) in
place by early 2011. In addition, NOAA will
explore securing climate change information
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed "| Q3
-------
Respond to Climate Change
and services support from the NOAA
National Climate Service keystone partners
in the region, such as the Northeast Regional
Climate Center.
To integrate federal climate efforts in the
Bay watershed with other emerging regional
centers (e.g., in DOT and NOAA), the
federal agencies will form a federal climate
coordination team in 2010 and continue
that coordinated federal effort until a fully
integrated federal/state/partner team is fully
operational.
Conduct technical performance review of
agencies' climate response effectiveness.
The Scientific and Technical Advisory
Committee (STAC) of the Chesapeake Bay
Program will lead an annual performance review
of effectiveness of monitoring, restoration,
conservation and research activities for adapting
to and mitigating climate change effects. The
performance review will also identify important
next steps for integration of climate change into
the setting of environmental goals and milestones.
Predict potential changes in pollution loads
due to climate change. EPA and USGS will
develop scenarios of future water quality under
changing climate and land-use conditions. For
20 U.S. watersheds (including the Susquehanna
River Basin), EPA will develop scenarios that
reflect broad regional patterns of changes
in stream runoff and loadings of nitrogen,
phosphorus and sediment. USGS has begun
an initial assessment of changes in pollution
loads in the watershed under different climate
and land-use scenarios and will coordinate
with EPA as initial results become available in
2011. USGS will work with EPA to determine
if a more complete analysis of water quality
and streamflow changes is needed after these
assessments are completed.
Develop adaptation strategies to
manage vulnerable habitats and public
infrastructure on federal lands to increase
resiliency to climate change impacts. The
federal interagency climate team will coordinate
the major federal landholding and granting
agencies to establish a strategy to conduct
assessments that identify potentially vulnerable
habitats and infrastructure on federal lands,
federally managed lands and lands receiving
federal funding in the Bay watershed. Federal
agencies can use this strategy as a tool for
informing management decisions in regard to the
potential impacts of climate change on unique
resources. USGS and FWS will provide outreach
support for this effort beginning in 2011.
Supporting Objective:
Adopt practices that mitigate greenhouse
gas emissions. Agencies are largely undertaking
climate mitigation at the national level, and
this section identifies only a select number of
activities that relate to those national efforts, as
well as identifying opportunities to consider the
mitigation benefits of actions undertaken for
climate adaptation planning.
Action Overview:
Integrate climate response into federal growth
and development programs and strategies.
Coordinate with other national initiatives to
enhance federal greenhouse gas mitigation
efforts in the Bay watershed.
Integrate climate response into federal growth
and development programs and strategies.
EPA will work in conjunction with organizations
such as the National Center for Smart Growth
and Maryland Department of Planning to support
activities to integrate climate change adaptation and
greenhouse gas mitigation into Smart Growth and
Sustainable Community strategies.
GEl
-------
EXAMPLES
For 20 U.S. watersheds (including the
Susquehanna River Basin), EPA will develop
scenarios that reflect broad regional patterns
of changes in stream runoff and loadings of
nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment.
Work will begin in 2010 to create an assessmi
that will help guide Frederick County, Maryland
with strategic land-use decisions and address
Chesapeake Bay goals and climate change
initiatives.
Poplar Island is a national showcase for the
incorporation of sea-level rise into wetland
restoration, as undertaken by USAGE with
scientific support by NOAA and FWS.
Blackwater National Refuge, being overseen by
USFWS and supported by USGS, NOAA and
the USAGE, is a similar national showcase for
wetland restoration in the face of sea-level risr
USGS is collecting and analyzing satellite
imagery and weather data for Shenandoah
National Park to understand potential impacts
of climate change on eastern forest vegetation,
hydrology and habitats.
NOAA will implement Climate Change Sentine
Sites at Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine
Research Reserves in Maryland and Virginia.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed "| Q5
-------
Respond to Climate Change
Coordinate with other national initiatives to
enhance federal greenhouse gas mitigation
efforts in the Bay watershed. Beginning in
2010, federal agencies will enhance mitigation
opportunities in the Bay watershed through
Executive Order 13514 on Federal Leadership
in Environmental, Energy, and Economic
Performance. Compliance with this separate
Executive Order demonstrates federal leadership
in reducing greenhouse gases. As part of this
effort, EPA will work to create a Bay-watershed
subset of the emissions data being collected
by large emitters of greenhouse gases under
a new reporting system starting in 2011. In
addition, agencies will rely on national program
efforts to enhance research on the role of land
management, conservation and restoration
actions in biological carbon sequestration and
apply the results to the Chesapeake Bay and
its watershed.
-------
EXAMPLES OF
Maryland and Virginia Coastal Zone
Programs
To ensure coastal communities are protected from
coastal hazards and the impacts of climate change,
the Maryland and Virginia Coastal Zone Management
Programs, including the Coastal Training Programs
of the National Estuarine Research Reserves, have
begun to invest in an array of projects that address
vulnerability of the developed and natural environment,
adaptation planning options, and green infrastructure
planning to mitigate potential climate change effects.
Reducing Maryland's Vulnerability
to Climate Change
In August 2008, Maryland released a Comprehensive
Strategy for Reducing Maryland's Vulnerability to
Climate Change, a key component of Maryland's
Climate Action Plan. The strategy identified a number
of policy, regulatory and programmatic measures
to assist with climate change and sea-level rise
adaptation. As a result, two key pieces of adaptation
policy were adopted in 2008:
The Living Shorelines Protection Act of 2008
requires the use of nonstructural, "living
shoreline" stabilization measures that preserve
the natural environment, except in areas
mapped by the state as being appropriate for
structural stabilization measures. As sea level
rises, the need for shore protection along the
coast will increase. The benefit behind "living
shorelines" is that while they control erosion
they also allow for preservation of the natural
shoreline, maintain coastal processes and
provide aquatic habitat.
Strengthened provisions of the Chesapeake
and Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area
Protection Program Act now require an
update of the jurisdictional boundaries of the
program to reflect changes in tidal wetlands
caused by sea-level rise, an increase in the
vegetated buffer from 1 00 to 200 feet for
new development and the inclusion of coastal
flood hazards as a factor to consider during
"growth allocation" decisions.
Maryland Coast-Smart Communities
Initiative
In partnership with NOAA, the Maryland Department
of Natural Resources launched the Coast-Smart
Communities Initiative in 2009. The Coast-Smart
Initiative provides both financial and technical
assistance to Maryland's local communities to
identify and implement strategies to protect life and
property vulnerable to coastal hazards and climate
change.
Addressing Climate Change in Virginia
In December 2008, Virginia released the Final Report
of the Governor's Commission on Climate Change:
A Climate Change Action Plan. The 45-member
commission representing a wide diversity of sectors
met throughout 2008 to discuss the impacts of
climate change on Virginia and develop a range
of recommendations to address those impacts.
The commission developed more than two dozen
specific recommendations to address adaptation that
included expanding existing capacity within Virginia
to ensure implementation of the Climate Change
Action Plan; developing public education programs
to increase climate change awareness; incorporating
climate change concerns into consideration when
planning for infrastructure, transportation and
emergency preparedness; and developing shoreline
management policies that increase coastal resiliency.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed "| Q7
-------
Kill
1MI l H
.
Objective: Strengthen science
to support ecosystem-based
adaptive management, to more
effectively prioritize, implement,
monitor and evaluate the
actions and policies needed,
and to identify new threats to
the health of the Chesapeake
Bay and its watershed.
-------
I
he Strategy for Protecting
and Restoring the Chesapeake
Bay Watershed requires
strengthening science
and implementing
ecosystem-based management, improving
accountability and addressing new
challenges including climate change. For
the Bay and its watershed, this will require
improved monitoring, computer models and
research.
Federal agencies, lead by USGS and NOAA,
will interact with state and academic partners to
promote ecosystem-based, adaptive management,
which will enable agencies to better prioritize
and implement restoration activities, monitor
and evaluate ecosystem change, and adjust
management actions and polices accordingly. (See
figure 1.) The federal government will support
partners' decision-making needs by expanding
tools and models to prioritize and target actions,
making available the most effective engineering
designs and conservation practices, and improving
the ability to forecast probable outcomes and
assess trade-offs of different management options.
Monitoring will be improved to document
ecosystem change and track implementation of
management actions. Research will be focused
to evaluate ecosystem change and the effects of
management actions. Decision-support activities
will be expanded to help federal agencies, states,
local governments, watershed groups and elected
officials make adjustments to improve actions and
policies.
Strengthen science to support
ecosystem-based adaptive management,
to more effectively prioritize, implement,
monitor and evaluate the actions and
policies needed, and to identify new
threats to the health of the Chesapeake
Bay and its watershed.
The supporting objectives described in
this chapter are:
Promote ecosystem-based, adaptive
management through enhanced coordination
of science and decision-support activities.
Better prioritize and adjust management
actions by developing decision-support tools
and an expanded set of models.
Establish a Chesapeake Monitoring Alliance
and Data Enterprise to improve monitoring
to document changes in ecosystem conditions
and progress toward goals.
Better explain ecosystem change, assess
restoration progress and effects of
management actions, and identify new threats
to the ecosystem.
Adaptive Management for
Ecosystem Decision Making
[(Modified from Williams and others (2007)
and Levin and others (2009)]
Goals
Adjust
Plan and
Prioritize
Evaluate
Implement
Monitor
Figure 1.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 109
-------
Strengthen Science
Supporting Objective:
Promote ecosystem-based, adaptive
management through enhanced
coordination of science and decision-
support activities.
Action Overview:
" Expand scientific coordination and
capabilities of the Chesapeake Bay Program.
Establish decision-support specialists.
« Improve communication products.
Review and improve Chesapeake Bay
Program science approaches.
Expand scientific coordination and
capabilities of the Chesapeake Bay
Program. EPA, USGS and NOAA will lead
the transformation of the Chesapeake Bay
Program's Scientific, Technical Assessment
and Reporting (STAR) team to be the primary
coordinating entity for ongoing science
activities in the Chesapeake Bay Program.
(See figure 2.) STAR will be reorganized by
2011 to promote ecosystem-based, adaptive
management. Specifically, a draft reorganization
plan will be developed by December 2010 to
share with agency partners and support STAR
reorganization in 2011. Additional federal
agencies will become partners in technical
workgroups (including modeling, monitoring
and assessment, and information management)
to improve Chesapeake Bay Program scientific
capabilities.
Establish decision-support specialists.
USGS, NOAA and other federal agencies will
identify decision-support specialists to enhance
technical support for restoration goals. The
decision-support specialists will have a technical
understanding of the information available to
prioritize, evaluate and adjust management
A spectrum of
agencies is
data from experts at a number of
to support decision-making around the
-------
actions for different GBP goals and interact
with partners to improve implementation of
management actions and policies. In 2011, USGS
will establish decision-support specialists for
water quality and land conservation. USGS and
other federal agencies will establish additional
specialists in 2012 and 2013.
Improve communication products. USGS,
NOAA and EPA will work in conjunction with
UMCES and other regional institutions and the
GBP STAR team to improve communications
products that translate scientific findings and
illustrate the impacts of management decisions.
Improved communication strategies and products
will help simplify and link ecosystem management
actions with the sustainable benefits they
provide in the watershed. Initial products will be
produced between 2011 and 2013.
Review and improve CBP science
approaches. The CBP Scientific and Technical
Advisory Committee (STAC) will review key
science approaches and information and provide
recommendations to improve science activities
ongoing between 2010 and 2025. STAC will
work with academic partners and through STAR
to suggest improvements.
CBP Topics and
Science Support
Habitat
FWS
NOAA
USDA
States
Healthy Watersheds/
Conserving Lands
A/PS
USDA
DOD
States
Fostering
Stewardship
A/PS
NOAA
USDA
States
Fish and
Wildlife
NOAA
FWS
States
V
Water Quality
EPA
USDA
States
Science Support
(CBP Scientific, Technical
Assessment, Reporting)
Decision Tools and Models to Prioritize
Monitor Change and Track Progress
' Explain Change and Effect of Action
' Accountability (ChesapeakeStat)
Information Management
Synthesis and Technical Assistance
- Decision-support specialists
- Integrated projects
' Increased Federal Support
- USGS, NOAA, EPA, COE,
USDA, NFS, FWS
Climate Change
NOAA
DO/
USDA
States
\
Leadership and
Partnering
EPA and All FEDS
States
Science and Technical
Advisory Committee
(STAC)
Academic Institutions
Figure 2. Enhanced science support for the
CBP partners.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Strengthen Science
Supporting Objective:
Better prioritize and adjust management
actions by developing decision-support
tools and an expanded set of models.
Decision-support tools will be developed to
provide results from models, monitoring and
research to better evaluate progress toward goals
and improve management decisions. An expanded
set of integrated models, validated by monitoring
and observations, will be established to more
accurately understand the Chesapeake ecosystem,
improve the ability to test different management
actions and forecast potential future conditions
due to population growth and climate change.
Action Overview:
Ensure scientific tools, data and computer
model results are available.
Establish ChempeakeStat.
« Improve modeling used for restoration
activities and assessing impacts of climate
change.
USGS and NOAA will ensure scientific
tools, data and computer model results
are available. In 2011, USGS and NOAA,
working with partners, will provide selected
tools, data and model results through the USGS
Chesapeake Online Adaptive Support Toolkit
(COAST) and NOAA's Digital Coast to better
apply an ecosystem-based, adaptive management
framework. USGS will focus on providing results
from water quality and land-change models
into COAST. These decision tools will also be
linked to ChempeakeStat to provide users with an
expanded set of tools to improve decision making.
EPA, working with Chesapeake Bay
Program partners, will establish
ChesapeakeStat. This web-based tool will
improve coordination of the restoration effort
and expand public accountability by providing
CBBSAfSAKE MAX
WATKRSHFJ) BOl \t> \ K)
EXPLANATION
URBAN GROWTH
POTENTIAL
H.GH
MODERATE
2000 LAND COVER
FOREST
AGHICUtTUHE
USGS and NOAA will work with partners to improve modeling used
for restoration activities and assessing effects of climate change,
The USGS Chesapeake Land Model will be improved to better
forecast the impact of land use and climate change on water
quality, habitats, and land conservation,
-------
information on progress of partner activities
and use of funds. A significant element of
ChesapeakeStat is that Bay Program managers,
federal agencies, states, local governments, non-
governmental organizations and the public will be
using the same tool to track efforts to restore and
protect the Bay. EPA will launch ChesapeakeStat
Version 1.0 in June 2010. Version 1.0 will
demonstrate the decision-support capabilities
and include features designed to inform and
engage the public. EPA will work with partners to
develop additional content for future versions of
ChesapeakeStat, including linking with other tools
such as Scenario builder and COAST.
Improve modeling used for restoration
activities and assessing impacts of climate
change. USGS and NOAA will evaluate selected
computer models to assess if they provide
information necessary to address the impacts of
climate change both in the Bay and watershed.
The models include, but are not limited to, the
GBP watershed and Bay water quality models,
USGS land change model, and the NOAA
Habitat Priority Planner and Community
Vulnerability Assessment Tool. Federal agencies
will enhance the capabilities of selected models
for water quality, habitat, fish and wildlife, and
land conservation. (More detailed information is
available in the science section of each chapter of
this strategy.)
Supporting Objective:
Establish a Chesapeake Monitoring Alliance
and Data Enterprise to improve monitoring to
document changes in ecosystem conditions
and progress toward goals.
Action Overview:
Establish a Chesapeake Monitoring Alliance.
Coordinate regional water monitoring with
national networks.
Increase monitoring by state, local and non-
governmental partners.
Improve monitoring of climate change
impacts.
Improve reporting of restoration actions and
land-use activities.
Improve management of environmental
information through a Data Enterprise.
Establish a Chesapeake Monitoring
Alliance. USGS, NOAA and EPA will work
with federal, state and academic partners to
improve monitoring by establishing a Chesapeake
Monitoring Alliance. The alliance will improve
coordination of existing monitoring and improve
monitoring for all of the major restoration goals
(water quality, habitat, fish and wildlife, and land
conservation). The alliance will also attempt to
address the STAC recommendation to improve
monitoring and address the impacts of climate
change. In 2011 and 2012, the most promising
state, regional and national programs will be
identified for inclusion in the alliance. Significant
monitoring gaps will also be identified. From 2012
to 2016, new partnerships will be established with
existing monitoring programs, and opportunities
to address remaining gaps will be pursued.
The Chesapeake Monitoring Alliance is closely
linked with the Data Enterprise described
later in this chapter. A principal objective of an
integrated monitoring alliance and information
infrastructure is to provide a comprehensive
framework for the design and implementation
of basin-wide, coordinated monitoring networks
for collecting data and generating information
directly supporting Chesapeake Bay restoration
and protection management actions.
Coordinate regional water monitoring
with national networks. USGS, NOAA and
EPA will pursue opportunities to coordinate
Chesapeake tidal and non-tidal networks with
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 113
-------
Strengthen Science
national observation systems including the
Integrated Ocean Observing System (interagency,
led by NOAA) and the National Water-
Quality Monitoring Network (led by USGS
and EPA). Other relevant national programs
with monitoring programs include the National
Fish Habitat Action Plan (FWS), the National
Water-Quality Assessment program (USGS), the
Conservation Effects Assessment project (USDA),
the NPS Vital Signs Program, and the proposed
Climate Effects Network (DOT). From 2010 to
2011, agencies will have discussions with federal
national programs to identify possibilities. From
2012 to 2016, agencies will implement the most
promising partnerships.
Increase monitoring by state, local and
non-governmental partners. In 2010 and
2011, EPA, USGS and NOAA will identify the
most promising existing monitoring programs
that can be part of the Monitoring Alliance. EPA
will develop partnership guidance documents
that define quality assurance requirements for
a monitoring program to become a partner in
the Monitoring Alliance and work to implement
new partnerships in 2012. Guidance for data
management, data standards, data submission
and metadata currently exists, but will need
modification for working with small data providers.
Improve monitoring of climate change
impacts. NOAA and USGS will improve
observing systems and monitoring of climate
change, variability and extreme weather events
to better assess changes in ecosystem conditions
and long-term effects of climate change. NOAA
and USGS will assess potential partnerships with
existing programs, such as the DOI Climate
Effects Network, and design a climate change
component of the Chesapeake Monitoring
Alliance in 2011. Based on opportunities to work
with national programs, climate monitoring will
be implemented between 2012 and 2025. More
information is in the Respond to Climate Change
chapter.
Improve reporting of restoration actions
and land use activities. EPA, in cooperation
with USDA, USGS and state partners, will
improve reporting of water quality management
actions and land use activities in 2011 and plan
for improved approaches to report management
actions for habitat and land conservation actions.
Beginning in 2011, USGS and USDA will also
improve sharing of data for conservation actions
and land use practices in the showcase watersheds.
USDA, EPA and the states will improve reporting
of conservation practices and land use activities
that will be used to improve the Bay watershed
model and better explain water quality conditions.
Improve management of environmental
information through a Data Enterprise. EPA,
working closely with partners, will construct
a Chesapeake Bay Data Enterprise as the next
evolution of the Chesapeake Information
Management System (CIMS). CIMS was
established in 1995 to store critical environmental
information (mostly water quality data) to assess
progress toward environmental goals and support
computer models. The new Chesapeake Bay
Data Enterprise will be used to share scientific
data between partners to support the expanded
computer models and assessment of progress
toward goals. EPA will work with partners to
design the Data Enterprise in 2011 and 2012 and
begin to implement it in 2013. The blueprint
and interfaces for this system will be shared with
other large aquatic ecosystems (e.g., Puget Sound,
Great Lakes, and Gulf of Mexico) with the aim of
quickly migrating effective use of technology for
performance-based management.
-------
Supporting Objective:
Better explain ecosystem change, assess
restoration progress and effects of
management actions, and identify new
threats to the ecosystem. Additional high-
level actions are found in each section of the
following goal chapters: water quality, habitat,
fish and wildlife, and land conservation.
Action Overview:
Improve indicators of environmental
conditions.
Create case studies of targeted restoration
activities.
Explain the factors affecting progress
toward restoration goals and the effects of
management actions.
IB Assess new threats to the Bay and watershed.
Improve indicators of environmental
conditions. EPA, working with federal and state
partners, will improve environmental indicators
used to assess progress toward ecosystem and
restoration goals. Work in 2010 and 2011 will
focus on having indicators to better reflect the
outcomes in the Executive Order. Selected
indicators will be presented in the annual release
of the Bay Barometer. Additional indicators will
be developed in 2012 and later as monitoring
improves.
Create case studies of targeted restoration
activities. NOAA and USGS will create a
portfolio of case studies of small watersheds
where targeted restoration activities have
been implemented by federal, state and local
partners. USGS will summarize water quality
information in 2011 and 2012. In 2012, NOAA
will summarize information on pre-restoration
condition of the selected tributaries and their
Federal agencies will improve the assessment of the health of fish
and effect of management actions in the Bay and its watershed,
habitat and living resource populations. NOAA
and USGS will also provide the results and
implications of post-restoration monitoring and
assessment after completion, and periodically
during the adaptive restoration management
process. Additional summaries of habitat, land
conservation and fish and wildlife case studies
will be considered for the 2017 evaluation of
outcomes. This will enable federal, state, local
and academic partners to better understand
the effectiveness of management actions and
prioritize future activities.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 115
-------
Strengthen Science
EXAMPLES OF
Explain the factors affecting progress
toward restoration goals and the effects
of management actions. USGS, NOAA and
EPA will work with partners to conduct selected
assessments of the factors affecting progress
toward goals for restoring water quality, habitat,
fish and wildlife, and conserving lands, including
the effects of management activities. The
assessments will begin in 2012 and be completed
by 2017. Planned assessments include:
USGS and EPA will explain the nitrogen,
phosphorus and sediment conditions and
effect of management actions in the largest
drainage areas of the watershed and work
with USDA and EPA to assess the effects of
management actions in small watersheds. (See
water quality chapter.)
NOAA will improve understanding of
ecosystem condition in the tidal Bay.
Beginning in 2011, NOAA will perform
habitat assessments in Bay tributaries
identified as candidates for protection and/or
restoration, using acoustic seafloor mapping
technologies such as multibeam and side
scan sonar to determine the type, quality and
distribution of benthic (bottom) habitats;
and biological assessments, including the
identification of living resources distribution
and preferred habitats. These assessments
will specifically help to determine priority
tributaries for protection and restoration and
to provide information critical for evaluating
the success of management actions taken in
these systems. NOAA, in full partnership with
states, will identify four candidate tributaries
in 2011. In addition, NOAA will monitor
oyster restoration in the Great Wicomico
River (Virginia) in 2010 and 2011.
USGS and NPS will describe land-use
change and impact on conservation. (See land
conservation chapter.)
States collaborate to monitor water
quality in the watershed.
In 2004, all six states in the Bay watershed,
in collaboration with USGS and EPA, worked
together to establish the Chesapeake Nontidal
Water Quality Monitoring network. The purpose
of the network is to measure the amount
of nutrients and sediment in the watershed
and use the results to help assess progress
toward reducing these pollutants to improve
conditions in the Bay. The states worked
together, with EPA and USGS, to establish
85 sites throughout the watershed and are
working to expand the network to meet the new
requirements of the Bay TMDL.
State monitoring data used to develop a
stream health indicator.
The six states in the watershed all have
programs to monitor and assess the health
of streams in their respective jurisdictions.
Beginning in 2008, the states worked with the
CBP monitoring team to integrate information
to assess the overall health of streams in the
Bay watershed. The stream health indicator now
appears in the Bay Barometer and is being used
to track progress to improve stream health (as
discussed in the water quality section of the
strategy).
Maryland and Virginia monitor the
amount of crabs in the Bay.
Agencies from Maryland and Virginia, working
with the University of Maryland Chesapeake
Biological Lab (CBL) and Virginia Institute of
Marine Science (VIMS), conduct the winter
dredge survey to estimate the number of blue
crabs living in the Chesapeake Bay. The winter
dredge survey produces information that is
essential for the management of the species,
such as an estimate of the number of crabs
overwintering in the Bay and the number of
young crabs entering the population each year.
-------
NOAA will assess conditions affecting
navigation and maritime trade. NOAA's
newest research vessel, Bay Hydro II, and the
NOAA ship Thomas Jefferson will acquire
hydrographic survey data in the Lower Bay
in 2011 to update NOAA nautical charts
and other navigation products. Coastal
managers, engineers, biologists, planners
and policymakers use the hydrographic data
collected to understand the formation and
habitats of the Chesapeake and to improve
navigation safety and efficiency of maritime
trade.
NOAA, USGS and FWS will evaluate the
vulnerability methods for fish, wildlife and
their habitats, including vulnerability to sea-
level rise and storm surges (see climate change
chapter). NOAA will also work with USGS
and other agencies to evaluate potential for an
integrated regional earth system model of the
Bay's watershed, including the incorporation
of social sciences considerations, to better
predict and plan for ecological changes and
societal response associated with climate
change and variability.
Additional assessment may be required. For
example, USAGE is planning to use integrated
water resource principles to improve
environmental restoration activities in the Bay
watershed. USAGE will organize a workgroup
to develop next steps in 2011.
Assess new threats to the Bay and
watershed. NOAA, USGS and FWS, working
with federal and academic partners, will assess
new threats to the Bay and its watershed to help
adjust management actions and policies. Efforts to
address new threats in 2011 and 2012 include:
Systematic watershed monitoring and
assessment to determine extent and sources
of emerging contaminants and disease on the
health offish and wildlife health and potential
impacts of new threats from natural gas
development (focused on the Marcellus Shale
formation). (USGS and FWS: See Restore
Clean Water chapter.)
Improve ecological forecasting of harmful
algal blooms in the Bay. (NOAA: See Restore
Clean Water chapter.)
Address the impacts of climate change on the
Bay and its watershed. (NOAA and USGS:
See Respond to Climate Change chapter.)
USGS and NOAA will conduct science to address new threats to the
Chesapeake Bay, including the impacts of climate change,
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 117
-------
mplementation an
Accountability
The Executive Order recognizes
the federal government alone
cannot achieve the goals and
outcomes needed to restore
and protect the Chesapeake
Bay and its watershed without
significant collaboration with
state and local government,
non-governmental organizations
and citizens.
-------
I
his chapter describes the role and
responsibilities of the Federal
Leadership Committee for the
Chesapeake Bay (FLC) in guiding
and overseeing implementation
of this strategy. The following pages outline how
the FLC will carry out these tasks, including
steps to align its responsibilities with those of the
Chesapeake Executive Council, establishing two-
year milestones for tracking progress of federal
actions and a series of accountability tools to
promote transparency in the planning, tracking,
reporting, evaluating and adapting of restoration
and protection activities.
Overview of Federal Leadership
Committee for the Chesapeake Bay
The Executive Order established the
FLC, chaired by the Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency and including
senior representatives of the departments of
Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Homeland
Security, Interior, and Transportation. In
addition, section 201 of the Executive Order
states that other federal agencies may be included
in the FLC "as determined by the Committee." A
list of FLC members can be found in appendix B.
The Executive Order directs the FLC to carry
out a series of responsibilities. In addition to
producing this strategy, ongoing implementation
responsibilities include:
Oversee development, coordination and
implementation of new federal programs and
activities for Chesapeake Bay restoration.
Collaborate with state partners to ensure
that federal actions are closely coordinated
with actions by state and local agencies and
resources are used efficiently.
Consult with stakeholder groups and the
general public.
Define milestones for meeting goals.
Track and report restoration activities and
spending.
Publish an annual Action Plan describing
how federal funding will be used.
Publish an annual Progress Report on
environmental health and restoration efforts.
Utilize independent evaluation to strengthen
accountability.
Make all reports available to the public by
posting on a web site.
Describe and carry out a process for adaptive
management.
Aligning FLC and CBP Functions
The Executive Order recognizes that the
federal government cannot achieve the goals
and outcomes needed to restore and protect
the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed without
significant collaboration with state and local
government, non-governmental organizations
and citizens. The FLC also recognizes the long-
standing roles and functions of the Chesapeake
Bay Program (CBP), which includes the states
in the watershed, the District of Columbia,
the Chesapeake Bay Commission and EPA
(representing the federal government). The CBP
partnership is led by the Chesapeake Executive
Council (EC), which includes the Governors
of Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia; the
Mayor of the District of Columbia; the Chair of
the Chesapeake Bay Commission and the EPA
Administrator. The Governors of Delaware, New
York and West Virginia are invited to participate
in the Executive Council for issues related to water
quality. A number of GBP's roles and functions
dovetail or overlap with those of the FLC. Given
this, and the long-standing participation of federal
agencies in the partnership, the FLC plans to
take steps toward increased collaboration with
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 119
-------
Implementation and Accountability
Chesapeake Bay Program partners to further align
the responsibilities of both parties and implement
this strategy.
The process for aligning federal, state and local
actions has begun through the consultation called
for in the Executive Order. In the preceding
chapters, this strategy highlights a partial list of
examples of state programs that play key roles in
achieving the strategy's goals.
The FLC and the EC acknowledge the need to
more clearly define the role of the Chesapeake
Bay Program in implementation of this strategy.
The FLC and EC have convened a group to
recommend steps for coordinating and, where
appropriate, integrating the goals, outcomes and
actions of the Chesapeake Bay Program with the
goals, outcomes and actions described in this
strategy.
The group's recommendations will aim to produce
the most efficient coordination mechanisms
feasible that encompass the following principles:
Mechanisms for reporting information on
actions should not require multiple entries of
the same data in different systems.
There should be a coordinated, consistent
mechanism for reporting progress to the
public.
There should be a consistent, coordinated
adaptive management process for making
changes to goals or outcomes that includes
all partners.
The systems should be mutually beneficial to
partner agencies.
This group will take the following steps:
1. Review vision, goals and outcomes
identified in this strategy with the goals
and commitments of the Chesapeake Bay
Program.
-------
Identify issues and make specific
recommendations for aligning
Executive Order goals and outcomes
with existing GBP commitments.
Review indicators of health, restoration
and protection currently used in the Bay
Barometer and recommend appropriate
changes for purposes of tracking
progress and assessing success. Review
existing monitoring information and
other data sources currently utilized in
the GBP and assess their alignment with
the goals and objectives resulting from
the above.
2. Review the means to coordinate and
integrate federal, state and local actions.
Include examples of state programs in
this strategy for each major goal area.
Evaluate the use of the annual federal
action plan called for in Section 205
to incorporate state and local annual
actions.
Determine whether the Chesapeake
Registry (see description under "Annual
Action Plan" below) or modified
Chesapeake Registry could be used to
organize information on actions for the
annual action plan.
3. Recommend options to clarify the
operational relationship between the FLC
and the EC.
Identify issues with and propose
solutions to the current CBP structure
related to implementing, monitoring,
and supporting the integrated approach
identified above; identify potential
changes to the current CBP governance
document.
4. The Chesapeake Bay Executive Council
and Federal Leadership Committee
will make a joint decision on the above
recommendations no later than May 12,
2011.
Federal Milestones to Track Progress
Toward Goals
In May 2009, the states and the District of
Columbia agreed to establish milestones every
two years to show progress toward the goal of
having all measures needed to restore water
quality in place by 2025.
Federal agencies will join the states in
establishing two-year milestones with many
federal efforts designed to support the states and
District in meeting their current and future water
quality milestones. For actions associated with
the water quality milestones, federal agencies
will track their actions through the transparent
accountability and tracking system described
in the Restore Water Quality chapter of this
strategy. EPA will coordinate the effort for
developing water quality milestones.
Federal agencies will also consult and collaborate
with the states and District to develop appropriate
two-year milestones for the outcomes outlined
in this strategy beyond those for water quality.
In doing so, the FLC recognizes there will be
inherent differences between the regulation-
driven water quality milestones and those for
other outcomes.
The FLC will establish a first set of two-year
milestones covering calendar years 2012 and
2013. This timing will put the federal agencies
on the same schedule the states use for their
water quality milestones; the states will set their
second set of two-year milestones covering
calendar years 2012 and 2013. For the interim
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 121
-------
Implementation and Accountability
period (May 2010 to December 2011), the
federal agencies will establish their first round of
actions and commitments in the annual action
plan required under section 205 of the Executive
Order. Federal agencies will consult with the
Bay jurisdictions in developing the new federal
milestones. Once developed, the annual action
plan and annual progress reports will incorporate
the two-year milestones.
Annual Action Plan
Section 205 of the Executive Order states that
the FLC "shall publish an annual Chesapeake
Bay Action Plan describing how federal funding
proposed in the President's Budget will be used
to protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay during
the upcoming fiscal year."
The FLC plans to release the first annual action
plan by September 30, 2010. Timing for the
development and release of subsequent annual
action plans will be determined based on the
most effective alignment with key information
such as the release of the President's Budget. The
FLC will provide opportunities for the states,
the District of Columbia, the Chesapeake Bay
Commission, key stakeholders and the public to
review and comment on drafts of the action plan.
The action plan will identify activities FLC
agencies will undertake in the following year
to carry out the actions and achieve the goals
outlined in the strategy. Establishing this plan
and setting expectations for what agencies will
achieve in the short term will allow agencies to
make changes to the implementation of those
actions if they do not meet necessary progress
toward measurable outcomes included in this
strategy. This supports the adaptive management
system to be developed by the FLC. In addition,
the FLC plans to provide a full accounting and
explanation of the funding in the President's
Budget dedicated to protection and restoration of
the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed.
As described in the section above ("Aligning
FLC and CBP Functions"), the FLC is working
with the states to consider whether, and if so
how, to incorporate their Bay-related funding
into the action plan to provide a comprehensive
explanation of the resources being dedicated to
Chesapeake watershed protection and restoration.
Chesapeake Registry
The Chesapeake Registry is planned as an
essential tool in assembling and analyzing
information for the annual action plan in a
coordinated and timely manner. The registry
will collect detailed information on partner
activities and funding organized around the
goals, outcomes and actions in this strategy.
The information will be used in developing the
annual action plan. The FLC expects that all
federal agencies responsible for actions under the
Executive Order will enter data in the registry. In
addition, many non-federal partners have entered
data in the registry in the past; contingent upon
recommendations and decisions among the FLC
and EC as described in the section above, state
and other partners may enter data in the registry
in the future as well. The Chesapeake Registry
will be accessible by all interested parties through
a web site.
Progress in implementing actions is also planned
for incorporation into ChesapeakeStat (described
in more detail under "Adaptive Management"
below).
Annual Progress Report
Section 205 of the Executive Order states
the FLC will publish "an Annual Progress
-------
Report reviewing indicators of environmental
conditions in the Chesapeake Bay, assessing
implementation of the Action Plan during the
preceding fiscal year, and recommending steps to
improve progress in restoring and protecting the
Chesapeake Bay."
Federal Fiscal Year 2011 is the first full
implementation year for this strategy. Fiscal Year
2011 ends on September 30, 2011. The FLC
plans to release the first annual progress report
early in 2012. In accordance with the Executive
Order, the FLC will provide opportunities for
the states, the District, the Chesapeake Bay
Commission, key stakeholders and the public
to review and comment on drafts of the Annual
Progress Report.
As described in the section above ("Aligning FLC
and CBP Functions"), the FLC is working with
the states to consider how to best align the FLC's
annual progress report with the GBP's current
Bay Barometer for subsequent progress reports.
The FLC expects that each annual progress
report will assess the success of the FLC agencies'
efforts in implementing the actions identified
in the preceding action plan. This should allow
stakeholders to better understand the results of
the FLC's work and will provide the agencies
with a regular opportunity to adjust their
implementation efforts to maximize success.
Independent Evaluation
Section 206 of the Executive Order states
that the Federal Leadership Committee "in
collaboration with state agencies, shall ensure that
an independent evaluator periodically reports to
the committee on progress toward meeting the
goals of this order. The committee shall ensure
that all program evaluation reports, including
data on practice or system implementation and
maintenance funded through agency programs, as
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed "| 23
-------
Implementation and Accountability
appropriate, are made available to the public by
posting on a web site maintained by the chair of
the committee."
The FLC plans to initiate independent evaluation
mechanisms as part of its adaptive management
cycle and annual progress report. As the strategy
is initiated and measured through adaptive
management reviews and development of the
annual progress report, the FLC will request that
independent evaluators examine progress toward
environmental goals. This should allow the FLC
to better understand the effectiveness of specific
actions and how they might be improved. FLC
members will use findings of the independent
evaluations to inform modifications to strategies
and actions in tandem with an adaptive
management process (described below). The
FLC will coordinate its independent evaluation
with the Chesapeake Bay Program's ongoing
independent evaluation process to the greatest
extent practicable.
Adaptive Management
Section 202 of the Executive Order states that
the FLC strategy for the Chesapeake Bay must
"describe a process for the implementation of
adaptive management principles, including a
periodic evaluation of protection and restoration
activities."
The FLC is continuing to develop an effective
adaptive management process, based on the
specific actions and elements described in prior
chapters of this strategy. Overall, the FLC will
employ the following major steps for an adaptive
management process: set goals, plan actions,
implement, monitor, evaluate and adjust. Each of
the goal chapters includes actions which support
adaptive management, and the science chapter
includes additional detail on ecosystem-based
adaptive management that will supplement the
Cutting-edge technology, like NOAA's Chesapeake Bay Interpretive
Buoy System, tracks data scientists use to monitor Bay water quality,
-------
FLC adaptive management process. The FLC
intends to propose a regular cycle for reviewing
its activities in the first annual action plan. A
core component of these reviews will be to
compare progress in implementing actions to
the goals and timelines outlined in this strategy.
Such comparisons will drive short-term and
long-term adaptive changes to the FLC strategy
and actions. The FLC also will establish an
approach for reviewing and re-evaluating its
overall goals for the Bay. The FLC will conduct
this review in consultation with stakeholders,
particularly the states.
The annual action plan and progress reports will
be important components of the FLC's adaptive
management system, as they will connect the
FLC's plans and results for each year. The
independent evaluation process discussed earlier
also will be an important part of the adaptive
management process. Taken together, these
new components of the Chesapeake Bay effort
will provide a wealth of tools to drive the FLC's
approach to adaptive management.
ChesapeakeStat
Additionally, ChesapeakeStat, when more
fully implemented, should provide data to
show progress toward outcomes and serve as
a useful adaptive management process and
tool. ChesapeakeStat will improve coordination
of the restoration effort and expand public
accountability by providing information on
progress of partner activities and use of funds.
A significant element of ChesapeakeStat is that
Chesapeake Bay Program managers, federal
agencies, states, local governments, non-
governmental organizations and the public will be
using the same tool to track efforts to restore and
protect the Bay. EPA will launch ChesapeakeStat
Version 1.0 in June 2010. Version 1.0 will
demonstrate the decision-support capabilities
and include features designed to inform and
engage the public. As described in the Strengthen
Science chapter of this strategy, EPA will work
with partners to develop additional content for
future versions of ChesapeakeStat.
ChesapeakeStat supports the public's expectations
and the President's directive regarding improved
transparency and openness in government.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed "| 25
-------
-------
Friday,
May 15, 2009
Part IV
The President
Executive Order 13508Chesapeake Bay
Protection and Restoration
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Appendix A - Executive Order 13508
Federal Register
Vol. 74, No. 93
Friday, May 15, 2009
23099
Presidential Documents
Title 3
The President
Executive Order 13508 of May 12, 2009
Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the
laws of the United States of America and in furtherance of the purposes
of the Clean Water Act of 1972, as amended (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.),
and other laws, and to protect and restore the health, heritage, natural
resources, and social and economic value of the Nation's largest estuarine
ecosystem and the natural sustainability of its watershed, it is hereby ordered
as follows:
PART 1PREAMBLE
The Chesapeake Bay is a national treasure constituting the largest estuary
in the United States and one of the largest and most biologically productive
estuaries in the world. The Federal Government has nationally significant
assets in the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed in the form of public
lands, facilities, military installations, parks, forests, wildlife refuges, monu-
ments, and museums.
Despite significant efforts by Federal, State, and local governments and
other interested parties, water pollution in the Chesapeake Bay prevents
the attainment of existing State water quality standards and the "fishable
and swimmable" goals of the Clean Water Act. At the current level and
scope of pollution control within the Chesapeake Bay's watershed, restoration
of the Chesapeake Bay is not expected for many years. The pollutants
that are largely responsible for pollution of the Chesapeake Bay are nutrients,
in the form of nitrogen and phosphorus, and sediment. These pollutants
come from many sources, including sewage treatment plants, city streets,
development sites, agricultural operations, and deposition from the air onto
the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and the lands of the watershed.
Restoration of the health of the Chesapeake Bay will require a renewed
commitment to controlling pollution from all sources as well as protecting
and restoring habitat and living resources, conserving lands, and improving
management of natural resources, all of which contribute to improved water
quality and ecosystem health. The Federal Government should lead this
effort. Executive departments and agencies (agencies), working in collabora-
tion, can use their expertise and resources to contribute significantly to
improving the health of the Chesapeake Bay. Progress in restoring the Chesa-
peake Bay also will depend on the support of State and local governments,
the enterprise of the private sector, and the stewardship provided to the
Chesapeake Bay by all the people who make this region their home.
PART 2SHARED FEDERAL LEADERSHIP, PLANNING, AND ACCOUNT-
ABILITY
Sec. 201. Federal Leadership Committee. In order to begin a new era of
shared Federal leadership with respect to the protection and restoration
of the Chesapeake Bay, a Federal Leadership Committee (Committee) for
the Chesapeake Bay is established to oversee the development and coordina-
tion of programs and activities, including data management and reporting,
of agencies participating in protection and restoration of the Chesapeake
Bay. The Committee shall manage the development of strategies and program
plans for the watershed and ecosystem of the Chesapeake Bay and oversee
their implementation. The Committee shall be chaired by the Administrator
of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), or the Administrator's des-
ignee, and include senior representatives of the Departments of Agriculture
-------
23100
Federal Register/Vol. 74, No. 93/Friday, May 15, 2009/Presidential Documents
(USDA), Commerce (DOC), Defense (DOD), Homeland Security (DHS), the
Interior (DOI), Transportation (DOT), and such other agencies as determined
by the Committee. Representatives serving on the Committee shall be officers
of the United States.
Sec. 202. Reports on Key Challenges to Protecting and Restoring the Chesa-
peake Bay. Within 120 days from the date of this order, the agencies identified
in this section as the lead agencies shall prepare and submit draft reports
to the Committee making recommendations for accomplishing the following
steps to protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay:
(a) define the next generation of tools and actions to restore water quality
in the Chesapeake Bay and describe the changes to be made to regulations,
programs, and policies to implement these actions;
(b) target resources to better protect the Chesapeake Bay and its tributary
waters, including resources under the Food Security Act of 1985 as amended,
the Clean Water Act, and other laws;
(c) strengthen storm water management practices at Federal facilities and
on Federal lands within the Chesapeake Bay watershed and develop storm
water best practices guidance;
(d) assess the impacts of a changing climate on the Chesapeake Bay
and develop a strategy for adapting natural resource programs and public
infrastructure to the impacts of a changing climate on water quality and
living resources of the Chesapeake Bay watershed;
(e) expand public access to waters and open spaces of the Chesapeake
Bay and its tributaries from Federal lands and conserve landscapes and
ecosystems of the Chesapeake Bay watershed;
(f) strengthen scientific support for decisionmaking to restore the Chesa-
peake Bay and its watershed, including expanded environmental research
and monitoring and observing systems; and
(g) develop focused and coordinated habitat and research activities that
protect and restore living resources and water quality of the Chesapeake
Bay and its watershed.
The EPA shall be the lead agency for subsection (a) of this section and
the development of the storm water best practices guide under subsection
(c). The USDA shall be the lead agency for subsection (b). The DOD shall
lead on storm water management practices at Federal facilities and on Federal
lands under subsection (c). The DOI and the DOC shall share the lead
on subsections (d), (f), and (g), and the DOI shall be lead on subsection
(e). The lead agencies shall provide final reports to the Committee within
180 days of the date of this order.
Sec. 203. Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay. The
Committee shall prepare and publish a strategy for coordinated implementa-
tion of existing programs and projects to guide efforts to protect and restore
the Chesapeake Bay. The strategy shall, to the extent permitted by law:
(a) define environmental goals for the Chesapeake Bay and describe mile-
stones for making progress toward attainment of these goals;
(b) identify key measureable indicators of environmental condition and
changes that are critical to effective Federal leadership;
(c) describe the specific programs and strategies to be implemented, includ-
ing the programs and strategies described in draft reports developed under
section 202 of this order;
(d) identify the mechanisms that will assure that governmental and other
activities, including data collection and distribution, are coordinated and
effective, relying on existing mechanisms where appropriate; and
(e) describe a process for the implementation of adaptive management
principles, including a periodic evaluation of protection and restoration
activities.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed A-3
-------
Appendix A - Executive Order 13508
Federal Register/Vol. 74, No. 93/Friday, May 15, 2009/Presidential Documents
23101
The Committee shall review the draft reports submitted by lead agencies
under section 202 of this order and, in consultation with relevant State
agencies, suggest appropriate revisions to the agency that provided the draft
report. It shall then integrate these reports into a coordinated strategy for
restoration and protection of the Chesapeake Bay consistent with the require-
ments of this order. Together with the final reports prepared by the lead
agencies, the draft strategy shall be published for public review and comment
within 180 days of the date of this order and a final strategy shall be
published within 1 year. To the extent practicable and authorized under
their existing authorities, agencies may begin implementing core elements
of restoration and protection programs and strategies, in consultation with
the Committee, as soon as possible and prior to release of a final strategy.
Sec. 204. Collaboration with State Partners. In preparing the reports under
section 202 and the strategy under section 203, the lead agencies and the
Committee shall consult extensively with the States of Virginia, Maryland,
Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, and Delaware and the District of
Columbia. The goal of this consultation is to ensure that Federal actions
to protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay are closely coordinated with
actions by State and local agencies in the watershed and that the resources,
authorities, and expertise of Federal, State, and local agencies are used
as efficiently as possible for the benefit of the Chesapeake Bay's water
quality and ecosystem and habitat health and viability.
Sec. 205. Annual Action Plan and Progress Report. Beginning in 2010,
the Committee shall publish an annual Chesapeake Bay Action Plan (Action
Plan) describing how Federal funding proposed in the President's Budget
will be used to protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay during the upcoming
fiscal year. This plan will be accompanied by an Annual Progress Report
reviewing indicators of environmental conditions in the Chesapeake Bay,
assessing implementation of the Action Plan during the preceding fiscal
year, and recommending steps to improve progress in restoring and protecting
the Chesapeake Bay. The Committee shall consult with stakeholders (includ-
ing relevant State agencies) and members of the public in developing the
Action Plan and Annual Progress Report.
Sec. 206. Strengthen Accountability. The Committee, in collaboration with
State agencies, shall ensure that an independent evaluator periodically reports
to the Committee on progress toward meeting the goals of this order. The
Committee shall ensure that all program evaluation reports, including data
on practice or system implementation and maintenance funded through
agency programs, as appropriate, are made available to the public by posting
on a website maintained by the Chair of the Committee.
PART 3RESTORE CHESAPEAKE BAY WATER QUALITY
Sec. 301. Water Pollution Control Strategies. In preparing the report required
by subsection 202(a) of this order, the Administrator of the EPA (Adminis-
trator) shall, after consulting with appropriate State agencies, examine how
to make full use of its authorities under the Clean Water Act to protect
and restore the Chesapeake Bay and its tributary waters and, as appropriate,
shall consider revising any guidance and regulations. The Administrator
shall identify pollution control strategies and actions authorized by the
EPA's existing authorities to restore the Chesapeake Bay that:
(a) establish a clear path to meeting, as expeditiously as practicable, water
quality and environmental restoration goals for the Chesapeake Bay;
(b) are based on sound science and reflect adaptive management principles;
(c) are performance oriented and publicly accountable;
(d) apply innovative and cost-effective pollution control measures;
(e) can be replicated in efforts to protect other bodies of water, where
appropriate; and
(f) build on the strengths and expertise of Federal, State, and local govern-
ments, the private sector, and citizen organizations.
-------
23102
Federal Register/Vol. 74, No. 93/Friday, May 15, 2009/Presidential Documents
Sec. 302. Elements of EPA Reports. The strategies and actions identified
by the Administrator of the EPA in preparing the report under subsection
202(a) shall include, to the extent permitted by law:
(a) using Clean Water Act tools, including strengthening existing permit
programs and extending coverage where appropriate;
(b) establishing new, minimum standards of performance where appro-
priate, including:
(i) establishing a schedule for the implementation of key actions in
cooperation with States, local governments, and others;
(ii) constructing watershed-based frameworks that assign pollution reduc-
tion responsibilities to pollution sources and maximize the reliability and
cost-effectiveness of pollution reduction programs; and
(iii) implementing a compliance and enforcement strategy.
PART 4AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES TO PROTECT THE CHESAPEAKE
BAY
Sec. 401. In developing recommendations for focusing resources to protect
the Chesapeake Bay in the report required by subsection 202(b) of this
order, the Secretary of Agriculture shall, as appropriate, concentrate the
USDA's working lands and land retirement programs within priority water-
sheds in counties in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. These programs should
apply priority conservation practices that most efficiently reduce nutrient
and sediment loads to the Chesapeake Bay, as identified by USDA and
EPA data and scientific analysis. The Secretary of Agriculture shall work
with State agriculture and conservation agencies in developing the report.
PART 5REDUCE WATER POLLUTION FROM FEDERAL LANDS AND
FACILITIES
Sec. 501. Agencies with land, facilities, or installation management respon-
sibilities affecting ten or more acres within the watershed of the Chesapeake
Bay shall, as expeditiously as practicable and to the extent permitted by
law, implement land management practices to protect the Chesapeake Bay
and its tributary waters consistent with the report required by section 202
of this order and as described in guidance published by the EPA under
section 502.
Sec. 502. The Administrator of the EPA shall, within 1 year of the date
of this order and after consulting with the Committee and providing for
public review and comment, publish guidance for Federal land management
in the Chesapeake Bay watershed describing proven, cost-effective tools
and practices that reduce water pollution, including practices that are avail-
able for use by Federal agencies.
PART 6PROTECT CHESAPEAKE BAY AS THE CLIMATE CHANGES
Sec. 601. The Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior shall, to the extent
permitted by law, organize and conduct research and scientific assessments
to support development of the strategy to adapt to climate change impacts
on the Chesapeake Bay watershed as required in section 202 of this order
and to evaluate the impacts of climate change on the Chesapeake Bay in
future years. Such research should include assessment of:
(a) the impact of sea level rise on the aquatic ecosystem of the Chesapeake
Bay, including nutrient and sediment load contributions from stream banks
and shorelines;
(b) the impacts of increasing temperature, acidity, and salinity levels of
waters in the Chesapeake Bay;
(c) the impacts of changing rainfall levels and changes in rainfall intensity
on water quality and aquatic life;
(d) potential impacts of climate change on fish, wildlife, and their habitats
in the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed; and
(e) potential impacts of more severe storms on Chesapeake Bay resources.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed A~5
-------
Appendix A - Executive Order 13508
Federal Register/Vol. 74, No. 93/Friday, May 15, 2009/Presidential Documents
23103
PART 7EXPAND PUBLIC ACCESS TO THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AND
CONSERVE LANDSCAPES AND ECOSYSTEMS
Sec. 701. (a) Agencies participating in the Committee shall assist the Secretary
of the Interior in development of the report addressing expanded public
access to the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and conservation of landscapes
and ecosystems required in subsection 202(e) of this order by providing
to the Secretary:
(i) a list and description of existing sites on agency lands and facilities
where public access to the Chesapeake Bay or its tributary waters is
offered;
(ii) a description of options for expanding public access at these agency
sites;
(iii) a description of agency sites where new opportunities for public
access might be provided;
(iv) a description of safety and national security issues related to ex-
panded public access to Department of Defense installations;
(v) a description of landscapes and ecosystems in the Chesapeake Bay
watershed that merit recognition for their historical, cultural, ecological,
or scientific values; and
(vi) options for conserving these landscapes and ecosystems.
(b) In developing the report addressing expanded public access on agency
lands to the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and options for conserving land-
scapes and ecosystems in the Chesapeake Bay, as required in subsection
202(e) of this order, the Secretary of the Interior shall coordinate any rec-
ommendations with State and local agencies in the watershed and programs
such as the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail, the
Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network, and the Star-Spangled
Banner National Historic Trail.
PART 8MONITORING AND DECISION SUPPORT FOR ECOSYSTEM
MANAGEMENT
Sec. 801. The Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior shall, to the extent
permitted by law, organize and conduct their monitoring, research, and
scientific assessments to support decisionmaking for the Chesapeake Bay
ecosystem and to develop the report addressing strengthening environmental
monitoring of the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed required in section
202 of this order. This report will assess existing monitoring programs
and gaps in data collection, and shall also include the following topics:
(a) the health of fish and wildlife in the Chesapeake Bay watershed;
(b) factors affecting changes in water quality and habitat conditions; and
(c) using adaptive management to plan, monitor, evaluate, and adjust
environmental management actions.
PART 9LIVING RESOURCES PROTECTION AND RESTORATION
Sec. 901. The Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior shall, to the extent
permitted by law, identify and prioritize critical living resources of the
Chesapeake Bay and its watershed, conduct collaborative research and habitat
protection activities that address expected outcomes for these species, and
develop a report addressing these topics as required in section 202 of this
order. The Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior shall coordinate agency
activities related to living resources in estuarine waters to ensure maximum
benefit to the Chesapeake Bay resources.
PART 10EXCEPTIONS
Sec. 1001. The heads of agencies may authorize exceptions to this order,
in the following circumstances:
(a) during time of war or national emergency;
(b) when necessary for reasons of national security;
-------
23104
Federal Register/Vol. 74, No. 93/Friday, May 15, 2009/Presidential Documents
[FR Doc. E9-11547
Filed 5-14-09; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-W9-P
(c) during emergencies posing an unacceptable threat to human health
or safety or to the marine environment and admitting of no other feasible
solution; or
(d) in any case that constitutes a danger to human life or a real threat
to vessels, aircraft, platforms, or other man-made structures at sea, such
as cases of force majeure caused by stress of weather or other act of God.
PART 11GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 1101. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise
affect:
(i) authority granted by law to a department, agency, or the head thereof;
or
(ii) functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and
subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit,
substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, by any party
against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers,
employees, or agents, or any other person.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
May 12, 2009.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed A-7
-------
Appendix B
Federal Leadership Committee
Senior Designee Membership
-------
Appendix B
Federal Leadership Committee
Chair
Name
Lisa P. Jackson
Title
Administrator
Agency
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Members
Name
Tom Vilsack
Dr. Jane Lubchenco
Ray Mabus
Janet Napolitano
Ken Salazar
Ray LaHood
Title
Secretary
Under Secretary for Oceans
and Atmosphere and NOAA
Administrator
Secretary of the Navy
Secretary
Secretary
Secretary
Agency
U.S. Department of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Commerce
U.S. Department of Defense
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
U.S. Department of the Interior
U.S. Department of Transportation
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
Appendix B: Federal Leadership Committee Senior Designee Membership
Senior Designee
Agency Name
DHS
DOC
DOD
Mr. Donald Bathurst
Title
Chief Administrative
Officer
Ms. Sally Yozell Director of Policy
Mr. Donald Schregardus Deputy Assistant
Secretary of the Navy
Environment
DOI
The Honorable
Jo-Ellen Darcy
Tom Strickland
Will Shafroth
DOT
EPA
US DA
Deanna Archuleta
Kathryn B. Thomson
Peter Silva
Robert Bonnie
Assistant Secretary to
the Army (Civil Works)
Assistant Secretary for
Fish and Wildlife and
Parks
Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Fish and
Wildlife and Parks
Deputy Assistant
Secretary
Water and Science
Counselor to the
Secretary
Assistant Administrator
for Water
Senior Advisor to
the Secretary for
Environment and Climate
Contact Info
Mail Stop #0075
Department of Homeland Security
245 Murray Lane, SW
Washington, DC 20528
1401 Constitution Avenue, NW
Room 5128
Washington, DC 20230
Office of the Deputy Assistant
Secretary of the Navy, Environment
1000 Navy Pentagon
Room 4A674
Washington, DC 20350-1000
Office of the Assistant Secretary
of the Army (Civil Works)
108 Army Pentagon
Room 3E446
Washington, DC 20310-0108
Office of the Secretary
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, NW
MS3156MIB
Washington, DC 20240
Office of the Secretary
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, NW
MS3156MIB
Washington, DC 20240
U.S. Department of Interior
1849 C Street, NW
Room 6649, MS 6640 MIB
Washington, DC 20240
U.S. Department of Transportation
W90-342
1 200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
U.S. EPA
1 200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Room 200A
Washington, DC 20250
-------
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed B~3
-------
Appendix C
Outcome Measures Background
-------
Bay Water Quality Outcome
Outcome:
Meet water quality standards for dissolved
oxygen, clarity/underwater Bay grasses and
chlorophyll-a in the Bay and tidal tributaries by
implementing 100 percent of pollution reduction
actions for nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment
no later than 2025, with 60 percent of segments
attaining standards by 2025.
Current Condition:
89 of the 92 segments of the Bay and its tidal
waters are impaired.
Background:
Why is it important? Restoration of tidal water
quality is central to bringing back a healthy
Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.
What is the measure? This outcome directly
measures the three most important water quality
parametersdissolved oxygen, clarity/underwater
Bay grasses and chlorophyll-a. All three
parameters are routinely sampled at the over 150
stations that comprise the Chesapeake Bay Water
Quality Monitoring Network.
What is the current condition? Currently, 89 of
the 92 tidal segments across the Chesapeake Bay
and its tidal tributaries and embayments are listed
by MD, VA, DE and DC as impaired for nutrients
and/or sediments on their 2008 303(d) lists.
What is the basis for the target? Based on
model simulations, EPA estimates the nitrogen
loads delivered to the Bay tidal waters at about
277 million pounds per year. EPA has established
a draft goal of reducing the annual load to
200 million pounds of total nitrogen. Under
EPA's written expectations for the jurisdictions'
watershed implementation plans, the jurisdictions
need to have the practices and technology
implemented on the ground necessary to achieve
60 percent of the total nutrient and sediment
reductions required to achieve their Bay TMDL
allocations by 2017 or about 231 million pounds
for nitrogen.
Based on Phase 5.2 watershed model results input
into the prior version of the Bay water quality
and sediment transport model, when nitrogen
loadings reach in the range of 236 million pounds,
EPA predicts that the majority of the Bay's tidal
segments come into attainment of their dissolved
oxygen water quality standards. The exceptions are
the large areas of the middle mainstem Chesapeake
Bay and a small number of smaller segments. Based
on the latest findings from the USGS pointing
to groundwater lag times of up to 10 years (on
average) and higher, the Bay's tidal waters will not
see the full effect of all the practices and pollution
reduction technologies in place in 2017 until
after 202 5. An estimate of 60 percent was made
for the number of segments that will meet water
quality standards for dissolved oxygen, clarity/
underwater Bay grasses (SAV) and chlorophyll-a
in the Bay and tidal tributaries by 2025. By May
2011, EPA will have access to additional model
runs and information that will increase confidence
in the above percentage or a refined percentage.
Following an adaptive management process under
the Bay TMDL, there will be further information
with the adoption of the jurisdictions' Phase 1 and
Phase 2 watershed implementation plans as well
as with the jurisdictions' development of their
2012-2013 two-year milestones. The current goal
of 60 percent of segments achieving water quality
standards for nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment
by 2025 may need to be revised based on that
information, as well as on the final TMDL and
continued modeling.
More Information:
http://executiveorder.chesapeakebay.net/file.axd?file=2
009%2fl 1 %2f202a+Water+Quality+Report.pdf
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed C~1
-------
Appendix C: Outcome Measures Background
Stream Restoration Outcome
Outcome:
Improve the health of streams so that 70 percent
of sampled streams throughout the Chesapeake
watershed rate three, four or five (corresponding
to fair, good, or excellent) as measured by the
Index of Biotic Integrity, by 2025.
Current Condition:
45 percent of sampled streams are rated fair,
good, or excellent.
Background:
Why is it important? Restoring water quality
in streams is a necessary step in meeting water
quality standards in the Bay. Similarly, actions to
reduce nutrients, sediment and other pollutants
flowing into streams to achieve Bay standards also
improves the quality of local streams. Restoring
streams also benefits the fish, wildlife and people
using them. This outcome also helps address
comments from the public and states stressing a
need to improve local streams as a way of better
engaging watershed organizations and involving
the 17 million watershed residents in the
restoration effort.
What is the measure? This measure of stream
quality is an existing GBP indicator, based on
an index of biotic integrity which scores benthic
macroinvertebrate communities on a scale of poor
to excellent. The GBP has worked with the states
to gather information from 10,452 sites across
the watershed where samples have been collected
during 2000-2008 and scored the average of
this data based on ecoregion thresholds. For
this measure, an acceptable benthic community
is defined as having a score of fair, good or
excellent. In the future, the GBP will take a subset
of these sites to look at change in stream quality
over time. The subset of sites will be designed to
adequately represent the distribution of stream
conditions throughout the watershed.
What is the current condition? In the most
recent assessment, conditions at 4,656 sampling
sites are rated fair, good or excellent (45 percent),
5,459 sites are rated very poor or poor (52
percent) and 3 3 7 (3 percent) are not rated at this
time.
What is the basis for the target? The basis for
the target is that as practices are implemented
in the watershed to reduce nutrients, sediment
and other pollutants, we will see improvements
in the quality of streams. The current target (a
benthic index of biotic integrity rating of fair,
good or excellent) is closely tied to the Bay
estuary target of meeting water-quality standards
for oxygen, clarity and chlorophyll-a in 60
percent of the Bay segments by 2025. We should
have a greater percentage of improvements in
streams in the watershed by 2025 since they will
respond to management actions prior to seeing
improvements in the estuary. Therefore a target
of 70 percent was chosen.
More Information:
http://'WW'W.chesapeakebay.net/status_rivatershedhealth.
aspx?menuitem=26051
-------
Agricultural Conservation Outcome
Outcome:
Work with producers to apply new conservation
practices on 4 million acres of agricultural
working lands in high-priority watersheds by
2025 to improve water quality in the Chesapeake
Bay and its tributaries.
Current Condition:
Of the approximately 8 million acres of
agricultural working lands in high-priority
watersheds, approximately 4 million acres
are identified as having soils with the highest
potential for leaching and runoff, which may
affect water quality. The 4 million acre target is
to apply or expand conservation treatment on
virtually all of these most vulnerable agricultural
lands.
Background:
Why is it important? This outcome reflects
the application of high priority conservation
practices that are most closely aligned with
reducing potential nutrient and sediment losses
from farming activities. Our Conservation
Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) results are
quantifying the biophysical effects of conservation
practices and suites of practices. Preliminary data
from the Upper Mississippi River Basin suggests
that treatment of the most vulnerable acres with
high impact conservation practices can reduce
substantially the nutrient (N&P) and sediment
losses from farming activities.
What is the measure? The measure will track
the application of selected conservation practices
in identified priority watersheds. The selected
practices will reflect those most closely aligned
with reducing potential nutrient and sediment
losses from farming activities. The source will be
USDA program data from NRCS and FSA.
What is the current condition? In FY2009,
conservation practices were applied on about
530,000 acres in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
This includes all practices on all lands in the
entire Bay watershed, rather than the subset of
priority watersheds. Based on the proportion of
the priority watersheds to the Basin at large, we
estimate about 50 percent of the acres applied
(260,000 acres) would fall within the 2010 priority
watershed boundaries.
What is the basis for the target? Of the 7.3
million acres of agricultural working lands
in high priority watersheds, 3.6 million acres
are identified as having soils with the highest
potential for leaching and runoff. The 4 million
acres goal would apply or expand conservation
treatment on virtually all of the 3.6 million
acres. The high priority watersheds are based
on Sparrow data vetted through State Technical
Committees and soils with the highest potential
for leaching and runoff are based off of SSURGO
data. We have used this process to approximate
the potential size of the area to focus conservation
resources; the 4 million acres goal does not imply
that these acres are not currently under effective
conservation management. This goal further
reflects the "targeting" of resources described
in the 202b report and 203 strategy, whereby
we identify and treat the most strategic acres to
improve water quality.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed C~3
-------
Appendix C: Outcome Measures Background
Wetlands Outcome
Outcome:
Restore 30,000 acres of tidal and non-tidal
wetlands and enhance the function of an
additional 150,000 acres of degraded wetlands by
2025.
Current Condition:
1 million acres of tidal and non-tidal wetlands
estimated to be available in the Chesapeake
watershed for restoration or enhancement.
Between 1998 and 2008, 18,217 acres of wetlands
were restored and 97,738 acres were enhanced.
Background:
Why is it important? Wetlands act as natural
filters by absorbing nutrients and sediment from
overland flow before it enters the Bay. Wetlands
are a credited BMP in the GBP Watershed model
(7-25 percent for nitrogen and 12-50 percent for
phosphorus). Wetlands provide critical stopover
habitat for birds using the Atlantic Flyway,
spawning habitat for the Bay's commercially
important fish species and rearing habitat for
juvenile crabs. Chesapeake marshlands provide
world-class hunting, kayaking and bird watching
opportunities and as such are important to the
regional economy. Wetlands stabilize shorelines,
control erosion, and buffer inland and coastal
properties from the costly damage associated with
floods and storm surge.
What is the measure? Acres of tidal and non-
tidal wetlands reestablished, established and
enhanced in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed from
2011-2025 as reported by the state partners using
standard federal wetland tracking definitions
adopted by Bay Program partners in 2005. CBP
guidance issued in 2005 directed partners to
target wetland restoration and enhancement
to areas with hydric soils, high nutrient and
sediment loadings and high wildlife habitat
values.
What is the current condition? The National
Wetlands Inventory estimates that 1 million acres
of tidal and non-tidal wetlands are available in
the Chesapeake Bay watershed for restoration
or enhancement. The Chesapeake experienced 5
percent (20,556 acres) of the net wetland loss in
the conterminous United States (409,500 acres)
from 1982-1989. (Sources: Dahl and Johnson
1991; Tiner et al., 1994). Partners have agreed
on a milestone to establish baseline data for total
extent of wetland acreage in the watershed based
on hydric soil maps compiled at the county level.
What is the basis for the target? The new
targets would be in addition to progress made
over the past decade and require an increased
rate of implementation. Between 1998 and 2008,
18,217 wetlands were restored and 97,738 acres
of wetlands were enhanced.
More Information:
http://immv.chesapeakebay.net/habitat_git_info.
aspx?menuitem=47173
http://www.chesapeakebay.net/status_
Tuetlandsrestored.aspx?menuitem=19698
-------
Forest Buffer Outcome
Outcome:
Restore riparian forest buffers to 63 percent, or
181,440 miles, of the total riparian miles (stream
bank and shoreline miles) in the Bay watershed by
2025.
Current Condition:
58 percent of the 288,000 total riparian miles in
the Bay watershed has forest buffers in place.
Background:
Why is it important? The single most important
indicator of watershed health is the amount of
forest in that watershed (Sweeney 2009). Forests
covered 95 percent of the Chesapeake watershed
prior to European settlement and now account
for 58 percent of the watershed. Because they are
situated along streams and shorelines, riparian
forest buffers play a particularly critical role in
processing nutrients and sediments that flow
off non-forest land uses before entering streams
(across the watershed, riparian forest buffers have
a baseline efficiency of 65 percent N reduction).
Riparian forest buffers offer multiple water
quality and habitat benefits including: stream
cooling, food for aquatic organisms that conduct
'in stream' nutrient processing, improved stream
morphology, and preferred habitat and migration
corridors.
What is the measure? Forest restoration is
measured in miles of land that borders water.
A buffer must be 3 5 feet or wider to count.
Outcomes of scientific research support a
70 percent target for riparian forest cover to
maintain healthy functioning watersheds (Goetz
et al. 2003; and King et al. 2005). It is not feasible
to reach the full 70 percent by 2025 with current
levels of funding.
What is the current condition? The baseline
for riparian forest cover is 58 percent (current
condition is being updated by USGS and USFS).
Riparian forest buffer loss is approximately 0.09
percent per year (Claggett 2010). The average
number of miles restored in the Chesapeake for
the past four years is 563 miles per year. The
average width of restored riparian forest buffer in
2009 was 135 feet.
What is the basis for the target? In the 2007
Forest Conservation Directive, all 7 jurisdictions
and the federal government agreed to collectively
restore at least 900 miles/year. At this rate of
restoration, with an additional 27 miles per year
to offset riparian forest loss, the 63 percent mark
can be reached by 2025, pending current analysis
of the baseline condition being done by USGS.
The current amount of forest restoration needed
to attain 63 percent is approximately 14,400
miles.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed C~5
-------
Appendix C: Outcome Measures Background
Fish Passage Outcome
Outcome:
Restore historical fish migratory routes by
opening 1,000 additional stream miles by 2025,
with restoration success indicated by the presence
of River herring, American shad and/or American
eel.
Current Condition:
Approximately 1,924 miles in the Chesapeake Bay
watershed have been opened and are accessible
for fish migration. Projects are currently being
ranked and prioritized through a collaborative
federal and state process designed to strategically
target priority projects.
Background:
Why is it important? Physical structures that
block or impede fish migrations to historic
upstream spawning habitats are potentially the
most important factor in the decline of migratory
fish like American Shad, River herring and
American eel. Implementing fish passage projects
by removing dams or installing fish lifts, ladders
and other passageways allows migratory fish to
return to upstream spawning and nursery grounds
while resident fish are able to move freely
throughout streams.
What is the measure? Restore historical fish
migratory routes by opening an additional 1,000
stream miles by 2025.
What is the current condition? Approximately
1,924 miles in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
have been opened and are accessible for fish
migration. Projects are currently being ranked
and prioritized through a collaborative federal
and state process designed to strategically target
priority projects. Number of miles opened per
project is a key criterion in the prioritization
process. Maryland has completed a ranking
process for fish passage projects. Virginia
and Pennsylvania are applying for funding to
complete the prioritization of the fish passage
projects within each state.
What is the basis for the target? ? Currently,
approximately 1,924 miles in the Chesapeake
Bay watershed have been opened and are
accessible for fish migration. The Chesapeake
Bay Fish Passage Workgroup believes the goal
is measurable and attainable under the current
working conditions because there are significantly
more than 1,000 miles to be reopened watershed-
wide. Many of the most significant blockages have
been removed or are being removed, and the vast
majority of identified blockages in the watershed
are small culverts that if removed will provide
limited benefit to diadromous fish resources. In
addition, many dams may not be removed or
modified due to lack of dam-owner cooperation
or other high-priority uses for those structures
(flood control, water supply, recreational areas,
etc.). Given these restraints, the Bay Program
partners have established the target of opening
1,000 additional miles by 2025.
More Information:
http://immv.chesapeakebay.net/fishpassage.
aspx?menuitem=14162
http://ww'W.chesapeakebay.net/status_fishpassage.
aspx?menuitem=l 9 701
http://archive.chesapeakebay.net/pubs/calendar/
fpwkgpj 2-1 l-09_Handout_2_l 0623.pdf
-------
Oyster Outcome
Outcome:
Restore native oyster habitat and populations in
20 tributaries out of 35 to 40 candidate tributaries
by 2025.
Current Condition:
0 tributaries with fully restored oyster
populations; several tributaries with successful
living oyster reef habitat.
Background:
Why is it important? Oysters are a keystone
species in Chesapeake Bay. They grow naturally
in reefs that create and provide habitat not just
for themselves and additional generations of
oysters, but for many species of commercially
and recreationally important finfish and shellfish.
Oyster reefs were once the dominant hard-bottom
habitat in the Chesapeake Bay, and it is thought
that the ability to restore the overall water quality,
habitat and fisheries in the Bay is likely closely
linked to our ability to restore oyster populations.
What is the measure? Re-establishing oyster reefs
and oyster populations in priority tributaries where
oysters once thrived. Restored oyster reefs should
not only provide habitat structure but should
support self sustaining populations of oysters over
time that contribute to the overall ecological health
of the tributary.
What is the current condition? (Current
condition: 0 tributaries with fully restored oyster
populations; several tributaries with successful
living oyster reef habitat.) Disease and overfishing
have reduced oyster populations to about 1 percent
of historical levels. Most oyster restoration efforts
since the 1990s have been small scale and aimed
at restoring the fishery. Recent large scale efforts
in the Great Wicomico and Lynnhaven Rivers in
Virginia show signs of success, with living reefs
having been restored in these tributaries. However,
large (tributary) scale projects supporting "fully
restored" and "self-sustaining" oyster populations
have not yet been achieved. For this reason, the
baseline of tributaries restored on a large scale with
self sustaining populations is set at 0.
What is the basis for the target? The USAGE
Final Programmatic Environmental Impact
Statement (PEIS) Record of Decision signed in
June 2009 recommends expanding, improving
and accelerating native oyster restoration and
repletion in Maryland and Virginia. This target
establishes a spatially explicit, tributary or large
scale based approach to significantly increase
the level of focused restoration effort and will
drive improved coordination among agencies
and partners Bay-wide. The number of candidate
tributaries is an initial estimate based on the
Draft Maryland Oyster Restoration Plan, the
Virginia Oyster Reef Restoration Map Adas and
the USAGE Master Plan. Based on these maps
and their associated information, there are at least
35-40 tributaries or portions of rivers identified
for potential restoration (most of these are not
designated as sanctuaries at this point). There
has been recent progress toward collaborative
restoration approaches in Maryland and Virginia,
and an emphasis on ecological restoration
focused on long-term success metrics of restored,
sustainable oyster populations. The Chesapeake
Bay Executive Order coupled with ongoing efforts
such as the USAGE Master Plan and the Maryland
Oyster Restoration Plan present an opportunity
for federal, state and NGO partners to implement
the first truly large-scale native oyster restoration
efforts across the Bay.
More Information:
http://TO'WU}.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/oysters/
http://www. mrc.state.va. us/
http://chesapeakebay.noaa.gov/oystermain.aspx
).nao.usace.army.mil/oysters/
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed C~7
-------
Appendix C: Outcome Measures Background
Blue Crab Outcome
Outcome:
Maintain sustainable blue crab interim rebuilding
target of 200 million adults (1+ years old) in 2011
and develop a new population target for 2012
through 2025.
Current Condition:
2007-2008: 131 million; 2008-2009: 223 million;
2 009-2 010:315 million
Background:
Why is it important? Blue crabs not only
comprise the most valuable fishery in the
Chesapeake Bay, but are major predators of
benthic communities and are prey for many
other fish species. The blue crab population is
vulnerable to increased harvest pressure, as well
as the effects of habitat loss due to poor water
quality. Proper management of the crab harvest,
as well as water quality improvements and habitat
restoration will help restore the Bay's blue crab
population and maintain this valuable resource
into the future.
What is the measure? In 2008, the Chesapeake
Bay Stock Assessment Committee (CBSAC)
recommended an abundance target labeled as an
'interim rebuilding target' (200 million age 1+
adults). The target level of 200 million is intended
as an initial rebuilding goal (seen as something
achievable in the short term). It is envisioned
that a 'new/updated' abundance target will be
identified and adopted through a peer-reviewed
process by 2012.
What is the current condition? (Current
condition: 2007-2008: 131 million; 2008-2009:
223 million; 2009-2010: 315 million). The Blue
Crab Advisory Report provides advice to the
management jurisdictions as they set regulations
for the blue crab fishery. Recently released winter
dredge survey results from 2009-2010 indicate
that the abundance of adult blue crabs increased
to 315 million.
What is the basis for the target? In 2008, the
Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee
(CBSAC) recommended an interim abundance
target (200 million age 1+ adults). The target
level of 200 million is intended as an initial
rebuilding goal (seen as something achievable in
the short term). The Executive Order provides
an opportunity to maintain the gains made in
the past two years and collaboratively establish a
longer term goal and implement ecosystem based
management approaches for blue crab.
More Information:
http://'www.chesapeakebay.net/bluecrabmanagement.
aspx?menuitem=14 769
-------
Brook Trout Outcome
Outcome:
Restore naturally reproducing brook trout
populations in headwater streams by improving
58 sub-watersheds from 'reduced' classification
(10-50 percent of habitat lost) to 'healthy' (less
than 10 percent of habitat lost) by 2025.
Current Condition:
388 of 1,294 sub-watersheds in Chesapeake Bay
currently classified as 'reduced' for brook trout.
Background:
Why is it important? Brook trout are a
quintessential component of headwater streams,
an important part of the natural heritage of the
upper Chesapeake watershed and an extremely
valuable recreational resource. The Pinchot
Institute is developing a credit for brook trout
habitat for trading in the BayBank. Land
Trusts in WV, NY and VA are finding that
the possibility of restoring brook trout to local
streams is a real motivator for private landowners
to take conservation actions, including livestock
fencing and easements.
What is the measure? Restore healthy
populations of brook trout to sub-watersheds
classified as "reduced" based on presence of
sensitive freshwater species as outlined in the
Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture's (EBTJV)
targeted watershed approach.
What is the current condition? 388 of 1,294
sub-watersheds being assessed (30 percent of
the total) in Chesapeake Bay are classified by
EBTJV as reduced for brook trout. A century of
declining brook trout populations has resulted in
lost economic revenues and recreational fishing
opportunities in the headwaters. Unless action is
taken to reverse these trends, fishery managers
agree that within 20 years brook trout could exist
as a relic fishery with little economic value and
be at risk of becoming regionally threatened in
3 0-40 years.
What is the basis for the target? One
component in the EBTJV regional conservation
strategy that is particularly important for the
Mid-Atlantic states is to improve population
productivity of brook trout in 30 percent of
reduced watersheds. EBTJV has developed highly
specified targeted watershed strategies to focus
action. The Chesapeake Bay will contribute half
of this regional goal by improving 58 of the 388
sub-watersheds (15 percent) that are reduced
within the drainage to healthy over 15 years, or a
rate of four sub-watersheds per year, with funding
support from the National Fish Habitat Action
Plan.
More Information:
http://immv.easternbrooktrout.net
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed C~9
-------
Appendix C: Outcome Measures Background
Black Duck Outcome
Outcome:
Restore a three-year average wintering black duck
population in the Chesapeake Bay watershed of
100,000 birds by 2 02 5.
Current Condition:
Recent mid-winter aerial surveys estimate the
2007-2009 rolling three-year average at 37,158
black ducks in the Chesapeake Bay.
Background:
Why is it important? The American black duck
has been called the "gold standard" of eastern
waterfowl. Historically the black duck was the
most abundant dabbling duck in eastern North
America and comprised the largest portion of
the waterfowl harvest. Despite its importance to
hunters and outdoor enthusiasts, the black duck
population declined by greater than 50 percent
between the 1950s and 1980s. The mid-Atlantic
region, including the Chesapeake Bay watershed,
supports the largest proportion of the overall
wintering American black duck population and
is critical to the long-term sustainability of the
entire population.
What is the measure? Black duck numbers in
the Chesapeake Bay watershed are estimated
annually as part of the mid-winter waterfowl
aerial surveys conducted by the Atlantic Coast
and Appalachian Joint Ventures. The number of
wintering ducks is dependent on sufficient food
resources (vegetation, tubers, bivalves) to support
them. One of the outputs to help achieve the
population goal is to protect, restore and improve
the carrying capacity of supporting habitats
mainly tidal wetlands.
What is the basis for the target? The target
is based on a continental breeding population
goal from the North American Waterfowl
Management Plan (NAWMP) revised in 2004 of
640,000 black ducks based on 1990 population
estimates. Because the core of the wintering
black duck population is in the mid-Atlantic,
biologists believe that obtaining the goal of
100,000 wintering black ducks in the Chesapeake
Bay Region will result in meeting the larger
continental goal and thus the removal of black
ducks from the Birds of Management Concern
(BMC) list. A rolling three-year average is used
because waterfowl populations vary year to year
and black ducks are managed on a three-year
average under joint agreement between the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service and the Canadian
Wildlife Service.
More Information:
http://immv.blackduckjv.org
http://www.acjv.org
http://www.Jws.gov/birdhabitat/NAJVMP/index.
shtm
-------
Land Conservation Outcome
Outcome:
Protect an additional 2 million acres of lands
throughout the watershed currently identified as
high conservation priorities at the federal, state
or local level by 2025, including 695,000 acres of
forest land of highest value for maintaining water
quality.
Current Condition:
7.8 million acres protected watershed-wide.
Background:
Why is it important? Land conservation is
crucial to ecological health and community well-
being. The Chesapeake's working farms, forests,
natural areas and cultural and historic lands are
central to a unique sense of place - and they
provide a suite of benefits. Forests and natural
areas safeguard air and water quality, reduce flood
damage and sustain wildlife. Historic areas and
working farms maintain the region's cherished
character. These lands also add billions of dollars
to the economy. The annual market value of
Chesapeake farm products exceeds $5 billion.
Chesapeake forest products deliver annual sales
of $22 billion and support over 140,000 jobs. Yet,
many lands are threatened by development; for
example, while trends vary locally, the watershed
has lost 100 acres of forest land daily since the
mid-1980s.
What is the measure? This outcome is
measured by the number of acres identified as
high conservation priorities at the local, state or
federal level which are permanently protected
from development, whether by purchase or
donation, through a perpetual conservation
easement or fee ownership for their cultural,
historical, ecological, or agricultural value.
Information on protected lands is reported
annually by MD, VA and PA to the Chesapeake
Bay Program. This measure would expand
reporting to include NY, DE and WV.
What is the current condition? Approximately
7.8 million acres of land are currently protected
in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, including MD,
PA, VA, WV, DE and NY.
What is the basis for the target? The target
of protecting 2 million acres by 2025 is based
on consultations with state officials, past land
protection trends (from 2000 to 2009 an average
of 125,000 acres were protected annually in
PA, VA, MD and DC - continuing this trend
through 2025 would conserve 1.875 million
acres in these states alone) and a compilation
of existing conservation priorities identified by
state governments totaling some 2.5 million
unprotected priority acres (this is a conservative
accounting that does not include a complete list
of state priorities in NY, DE and WV; nor does
it include any local priorities; and it does not fully
represent priority cultural landscapes). As data
gaps are filled, the acreage of priority unprotected
land is expected to increase.
More Information:
http://immv.chesapeakebay.net/landpreservation.
aspx?menuitem=14 779
http://executiveorder.chesapeakebay.net/file.axd?file=
2009 % 2/71 % 2f202e+Access+ %26+Landscapes+Rep
ort.pdf
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Q-"| "|
-------
Appendix C: Outcome Measures Background
Public Access Outcome
Outcome:
Increase public access to the Bay and its
tributaries by adding 300 new public access sites
by 2025.
Current Condition:
761 public access sites providing access to the Bay
and its tributaries exist in DC, MD, PA and VA;
data on existing access sites in NY, DE and WV
to be collected in the future.
Background:
Why is it important? Public access is the vehicle
through which people experience conserved
lands. Freeman Tilden, a pioneer in enhancing
visitor experiences in national parks, recognized
that people whose lives are enriched by personal
connections to the landscape become its most
strident defenders. Outdoor experiences are
critical to personal well-being, community
character and stewardship of the environment.
They also provide substantial economic benefits;
in 2007, visitors to heritage and recreation
sites generated $31.6 billion in Maryland and
Virginia alone. Yet, public access is limited in
the Chesapeake region; less than 2 percent of the
11,600 mile tidal shoreline is publicly accessible.
At the same time, the demand for water access is
growing and is regularly cited as the most needed
outdoor recreational opportunity.
What is the measure? This outcome is
measured by the addition of new public access
sites. A site is a location providing access to
the water through a boat ramp, fishing pier,
swimming area or adjacent boardwalk or
trail; water means the Chesapeake Bay and its
tributaries. Information on public access sites is
reported annually by MD, VA, PA and DC to the
Chesapeake Bay Program. This measure would
expand this reporting to include NY, DE and
WV.
What is the current condition? The
Chesapeake Bay Program currently reports 761
public access sites in MD, PA, VA and DC. A list
of sites in NY, WV and DE will be developed.
What is the basis for the target? The target
of adding 300 new sites by 2025 is based on
consultations with state officials, past access site
development trends (between 2000 and 2008
an average of 17 new sites were added annually
in PA, VA, MD and DC), the continuing high
priority for adding water access sites as expressed
in State Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation
Plans, and information provided by states, federal
agencies and a small sample of local and non-
governmental sites indicating over 100 possible
projects over five years.
More Information:
http://www.chesapeakebay.net/publicaccessrestoration.
aspx?menuitem=l 6774
http://executiveorder.chesapeakebay. net/file. axd?file=
2009 % 2/71 % 2f202e+Access+ %26+Landscapes+Rep
ort.pdf
-------
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Q-"| 3
-------
Appendix D
Critical Living Resources of the
Chesapeake Bay Watershed by
Region and Priority Habitat
-------
Appendix D: Critical Living Resources of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed by Region and Priority Habitat
Critical Living Resources of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed by Region and Priority Habitat
Region
Priority Habitats
Critical Living Resources
Stressors
Coastal Plain
(Tidal waters)
Estuarine
Tidal wetlands (including emergent tidal freshwater
marsh and forest)
Riparian forest buffers
Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV)
Open water
Benthos
Oyster reefs
Beach and dunes
Working/agricultural lands
Grass/shrub lands
Islands
Suburban and Urban
Blue Crab
Menhaden
Striped Bass
Oysters
Eel grass
Widgeon Grass
Black Duck
Scoters
Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed
Sparrow
Canvasback
Wood Thrush
Prairie Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Atlantic Sturgeon
Northern Diamond-backed Terrapin
Horseshoe Crab
American Eel
Soft Shell and Surf Clams
Delmarva Fox Squirrel
Bald Eagle
Bay Anchovy
Wild Rice
Tiger Beetle
Poor water quality
Eutrophication
Invasive species
Contaminants
Development/ habitat loss
and fragmentation
Climate change
Overharvesting
Sea level rise
Storm and drought
Saltwater intrusion
Altered freshwater
Dredging
Piedmont
(Non-tidal, strictly
freshwater)
Riverine
Forested wetlands
Riparian forest buffers
In-stream habitat
Freshwater marshes
Uplands
Working/agricultural lands
Grass/shrub lands
American Eel
River Herring
Shad
Smallmouth Bass
Yellow Perch
Bog Turtle
Leopard Frog
Prothonotary Warbler
Louisiana Waterthrush
Prairie Warbler
American Woodcock
Grasshopper Sparrow
Green Heron
Bald Eagle
Delmarva Fox Squirrel
Poor water quality
Eutrophication
Invasive species
Contaminants
Development/habitat loss
and fragmentation
Climate change
Overharvesting
Poorly managed forestry
Mining
Hydropower
Dams/ fish blockages
Dredging
Appalachia
(Uplands)
Terrestrial
Old growth forest
Isolated wetlands
In-stream habitat
Cold water streams
Freshwater Mussels
Brook Trout
Cerulean Warbler
Eastern Hellbender
Louisiana Waterthrush
Golden-winged Warbler
Worm-eating Warbler
American Eel
Indiana Bat
Poor water quality
Invasive species
Contaminants
Development/habitat loss
and fragmentation
Climate change
Overharvesting
Dams/ fish blockages
Mining
Poorly managed forestry
Source: Habitat and Research Activities to Protect and Restore Chesapeake Bay Living Resources and Water Quality,
Department of the Interior (USFWS) and Department of Commerce (NOAA), prepared pursuant to Section 202g of Executive
Order 13508, September 2009.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed D~3
-------
Appendix E
E.0.13508 Section 202 Reports
and Section 502 Guidance
-------
Section 202 Reports
Section 202 of the President's Executive Order
required federal agencies to develop seven
reports recommending actions for addressing
key challenges facing the Bay and its watershed.
The draft reports were released to the public
on September 10, 2009. The draft reports
were then reviewed by the Federal Leadership
Committee (FLC) for the Chesapeake Bay, in
consultation with relevant state agencies. The
reports were revised to reflect consideration of
the comments received during state consultation
and preliminary public input. The revised reports
were released on November 24, 2009.
The actions, strategies, and approaches described
in the Section 202 reports have been refined,
adapted, and modified as a result of further
discussion and consideration by the FLC agencies
and Bay stakeholders. Those revised actions,
strategies, and approaches are included in the
final coordinated implementation strategy
released by the FLC on May 12, 2010.
These reports are available at
http://executiveorder.chesapeakebay.net.
The reports developed to respond to Section 202
are:
202(a) Report: The Next Generation of Tools
and Actions to Restore Water Quality in the
Chesapeake Bay
This report identifies the pollution control
strategies and actions to protect and restore Bay
water quality and reflects consultation with state
agencies and input from other stakeholders.
202(b) Report: Focusing Resources to
Restore and Protect the Chesapeake Bay
and Its Tributary Waters
This report provides a series of recommendations
to leverage public and private resources in a
voluntary approach to protect and restore the
Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.
202(c) Report: Storm Water Management at
Federal Facilities & on Federal Lands in the
Chesapeake Bay Watershed
This report describes the federal government's
commitment to lead by example and implement
a new paradigm for storm water management
on federal facilities in the Chesapeake Bay
watershed.
202(d) Report: Responding to Climate
Change in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
This report focuses on how federal agencies can
and should respond to the impacts of climate
change and provide guidance and support to
stakeholders as they develop similar adaptation
strategies.
202(e) Report: Landscape Conservation
& Public Access in the Chesapeake Bay
Region
This report details a series of recommendations
for expanding the conservation of landscapes and
the amount of public access in the Chesapeake
Bay region.
202(f) Report: Strengthening Science
and Decision Support for Ecosystem
Management in the Chesapeake Bay and its
Watershed
This report identifies a series of actions designed
to strengthen science and technical assistance to
better plan, implement, and evaluate the actions,
policies, and trade-offs needed for ecosystem
based management in the Chesapeake Bay
watershed.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed E~3
-------
Appendix E: E.0,13508 Section 202 Reports and Section 502 Guidance
202(g) Report: Habitat and Research
Activities to Protect and Restore
Chesapeake Bay Living Resources and
Water Quality
This report focuses on actions that apply science
and technologies to improve management
decisions for habitats and living resources in the
Chesapeake Bay watershed and the communities
that depend on them.
Section 502 Guidance
As part of a series of actions designed to
help protect and restore the Chesapeake
Bay, Executive Order 13508 requires the
Administrator of EPA to publish, by May 12,
2010, guidance for federal land management in
the Chesapeake Bay watershed. This guidance,
Federal Land Management in the Chesapeake Bay
Watershed to Control Nonpoint Source Nutrient and
Sediment Pollution, provides information and data
on appropriate proven and cost-effective tools
and practices for implementation on federal lands
and at federal facilities.
Extensive studies of the Chesapeake Bay indicate
that the great majority of nonpoint sources in
the Chesapeake Bay watershed will need to
be controlled, and controlled well, in order to
restore the Bay. Accordingly, this guidance has
chapters addressing many categories of nonpoint
sources in the Chesapeake Bay watershed that
comprise a significant majority of all nutrients
and sediments currently being contributed to the
Bay; each of these categories of activities exist on
federal lands in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
The following categories of activity are addressed
in this guidance
Agriculture;
Urban areas, including Turf (excluding
sources regulated as point sources);
Onsite/Decentralized Treatment Systems;
Forestry;
Riparian Areas; and
Hydromodincation.
Each chapter contains "implementation
measures" that provide the framework for the
chapter. These are intended to convey the actions
that will need to be implemented in order to
assure that the broad goals of the Chesapeake Bay
Executive Order can be achieved. Each chapter
also includes information on practices that can
be used to achieve the goals; information on the
effectiveness and costs of the practices; where
relevant, cost savings or other economic/societal
benefits (in addition to the pollutant reduction
benefits) that derive from the implementation
goals and/or practices; and copious references
to other documents that provide additional
information. Note that the guidance document
has undergone a technical peer review.
The guidance can be found at http://epa.gov/nps/
chesbay502/.
-------
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
-------
-------
Appendix F
Executive Order 13508 Actions Index
Summary of outcomes and actions contained in the strategy
Number
Action
RESTORE CLEAN WATER
WQ 1.
a
b
WQ2.
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
WATER QUALITY OUTCOME: Meet water quality standards for
dissolved oxygen, clarity/underwater grasses and chlorophyll-a in the
Bay and tidal tributaries by implementing 100 percent of pollution
reduction actions for nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment no later than
2025, with 60 percent of segments attaining standards by 2025.
STREAM RESTORATION OUTCOME: Improve the health of streams
so that 70 percent of sampled streams throughout the Chesapeake
watershed rate three, four, or five (corresponding to fair, good or
excellent) as measured by the Index of Biotic Integrity, by 2025.
Implement the Chesapeake Bay TMDL, a rigorous accountability
framework for reducing pollution to ensure that all practices needed
to reduce pollution to meet Bay water quality standards are in place
by 2025.
o Create a system for tracking and reporting for TMDL
pollution reduction commitments and two-year milestone
commitments.
o Improve mechanisms for tracking and forecasting land-use
and land cover changes associated with water quality
degradation.
Take regulatory and other actions to support state and District
plans to implement the TMDL.
o Implement current regulations for concentrated animal
feeding operations (CAFOs) and propose new regulations
to more effectively achieve pollutant reductions necessary
to meet the Chesapeake Bay TMDL.
o Implement improvements to the current stormwater
program and initiate new national stormwater rulemaking
with Chesapeake Bay watershed provisions.
o Launch the Chesapeake Bay/Anacostia Green Streets-
Green Jobs Initiative.
o Engage in early dialogue with Bay states and the District
regarding how EPA will determine if state programs
achieve TMDL pollution reduction goals and meet minimum
federal program elements for stormwater and Concentrated
Animal Feeding Operations.
o Reduce pollution from wastewater dischargers.
o Reduce pollution from septic systems.
o Reduce pollution from atmospheric deposition.
o Reduce costs and provide flexibility through trading and
development of protocols and programs for offsetting new
and expanded discharges of nutrients and sediment.
o Reduce pollution through enforcement and compliance
efforts.
o EPA will coordinate with the Clean Water State Revolving
Fund managers to build cooperation and partnership in
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed p-"|
-------
Appendix F: Actions Index
k
1
WQ3.
a
b
c
WQ4.
a
b
WQ5.
a
b
c
c
d
WQ6.
a
b
WQ7.
WQ8.
WQ9.
WQ10.
a
b
using resources to better protect the Chesapeake Bay.
o Provide states with additional grants for regulatory and
accountability programs.
o Pursue funding of stream restoration grants.
Ensure the federal government leads by example in reducing
pollution from federal lands and facilities.
o Implement the Energy Independence and Security Act,
Section 438.
o Implement sustainable land management practices and
programs into all federal capital improvements, public
works management and energy management projects.
o Ensure that stormwater impacts are minimized as part of
environmental review of federal-aid highway projects and
other federally-assisted transportation projects.
AGRICULTURAL CONSERVATION OUTCOME: Work with producers
to apply new conservation practices on 4 million acres of agricultural
working lands in high-priority watersheds by 2025 to improve water
quality in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.
Focus resources on priority watersheds and practices for
agriculture to assist states in implementing their Watershed
Implementation Plans (WIPs).
o Target efforts at watersheds that contribute the most
nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment.
o Identify the most effective conservation practices.
Accelerate conservation adoption by working with partners to
leverage conservation funding and simplify program participation.
o Leverage funding for conservation in the Chesapeake Bay
watershed.
o Utilize EPA funding for agriculture challenges.
o Establish showcase projects in small watersheds.
o Monitor the results of showcase projects.
o Simplify conservation planning for producers.
Accelerate development of new conservation technologies.
o Fund research and development of conservation
technology.
o Evaluate effectiveness of next generation conservation
tools.
Develop a system of accountability for tracking and reporting
conservation practices.
TOXIC CONTAMINANTS
EPA, DOI and NOAA will work with state and local governments
and stakeholders to expand understanding of the extent and
seriousness of the toxic contaminant problem in the Bay and its
watershed and to develop contaminant reduction goals by 2013.
EPA will work with DOI , states and stakeholders to develop toxic
contaminant strategies by 2015.
STRENGTHENING SCIENCE SUPPORT: Federal agencies will
provide enhanced research, monitoring and models to support
prioritizing, monitoring and evaluating the effect of management actions
to improve water-quality conditions.
Prioritize
Improve computer models used to guide restoration activities.
o Use results from watershed models to prioritize locations of
actions.
o Develop groundwater models.
-------
c
WQ11.
WQ12.
WQ13.
WQ14.
WQ15.
WQ16.
WQ17.
WQ18.
o Ensure availability of Bay forecasts and modeling results.
Monitor
Improve water-quality monitoring in the watershed.
Improve tracking of management actions and land-use activities.
Monitor and assess restoration activities in small urban and
agricultural watersheds.
Improve monitoring and assessment of stream conditions.
Improve monitoring of tidal waters.
Expand NOAA buoy system to improve water quality monitoring
and assess new sensors for monitoring emerging contaminants.
Evaluate water-quality changes and progress to adjust
management actions.
Ensure TMDL allocations account for climate change impacts.
RECOVER HABITAT
RH 1.
RH2.
RH3.
RH4.
RH5.
RH6.
RH7.
RH8.
RH9.
RH 10.
RH 11.
RH 12.
RH 13.
RH 14.
RH 15.
RH 16.
RH 17.
WETLANDS OUTCOME: Restore 30,000 acres of tidal and non-tidal
wetlands and enhance the function of an additional 150,000 acres of
degraded wetlands by 2025.
Restore and protect priority Chesapeake marshes.
Increase incentives for wetland restoration and enhancement on
private land.
Strengthen federal coordination on permits that impact wetlands.
FOREST BUFFER OUTCOME: Restore riparian forest buffers to 63
percent, or 181,440 miles, of the total riparian miles (stream bank and
shoreline miles) in the Bay watershed by 2025.
Accelerate application of Conservation Reserve Enhancement
Program (CREP) to achieve state goals for riparian forest buffer
adoption.
Restore forest buffers in priority watersheds.
Explore alternative payment mechanisms for incentivizing the
installation of targeted riparian forest buffers.
Enhance technical capacity for riparian buffer restoration.
FISH PASSAGE OUTCOME: Restore historical fish migratory routes
by opening 1 ,000 additional stream miles by 2025, with restoration
success indicated by the presence of river herring, American shad
and/or American eel.
Remove stream barriers and provide fish passage.
Document return offish to opened stream reaches.
ADDITIONAL HABITAT ACTIONS:
Combat invasive species that threaten habitat.
Restore forest habitat in priority areas.
Restore living shorelines.
Restore island habitats in the Bay.
Mitigate impacts of highway projects on habitat.
SCIENCE SUPPORT: Federal agencies will provide enhanced
research, monitoring and models to support prioritizing, monitoring and
evaluating the effects of management actions to restore habitats.
Prioritize
Improve forest buffer and wetland habitat mapping.
Provide forest mapping tool to watershed groups and local
governments.
Improve tools for streams and fish passage.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed p-3
-------
Appendix F: Actions Index
RH 18.
RH 19.
RH20.
RH21.
RH22.
RH23.
RH24.
Integrate watershed planning for key tributaries.
Monitor
Improve monitoring of habitats.
Improve tracking of wetland restoration.
Evaluate
Improve baseline data for wetlands.
Predict impacts of stressors at the land-water interface.
Evaluate use of Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning in the Bay.
Evaluate impacts of river flow and sediment build-up on habitat.
SUSTAIN FISH & WILDLIFE
FW1.
FW2.
FW3.
FW4.
FW5.
FW6.
FW7.
FW8.
FW9.
FW10.
FW11.
FW12.
FW13.
FW14.
FW15.
FW16.
FW17.
OYSTER OUTCOME: Restore native oyster habitat and populations in
20 tributaries out of 35 to 40 candidate tributaries by 2025.
Launch a Bay-wide oyster strategy using scientific support for
decision making.
Restore priority tributaries and support enforcement.
Expand commercial aquaculture.
BLUE CRAB OUTCOME: Maintain sustainable blue crab interim
population target of 200 million adults (1+ years old) in 2011 and
develop a new population rebuilding target for 2012-2025.
Support continued inter-jurisdictional blue crab management.
Revise blue crab population rebuilding target.
BROOK TROUT OUTCOME: Restore naturally reproducing brook trout
populations in headwater streams by improving 58 sub-watersheds
from 'reduced' classification (10-50 percent of habitat lost) to 'healthy'
(less than 10 percent of habitat lost) by 2025.
Restore stream habitat through partnerships.
Consider climate change in prioritizing sub-watersheds for
restoration.
BLACK DUCK OUTCOME: Restore a three-year average wintering
black duck population in the Chesapeake Bay watershed of 1 00,000
birds by 2025.
Restore black duck habitat.
Increase nutrient sources on refuge lands.
ADDITIONAL CHESAPEAKE BAY SPECIES
Facilitate interjurisdictional, ecosystem-based fisheries
management.
Consider alternative fisheries management approaches.
Support the Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership (ACFHP).
STRENGTHENING SCIENCE SUPPORT: Federal Agencies will
provided enhanced research, monitoring and models to support
prioritizing, monitoring and evaluating the effect of management actions
to protect and restore fish and wildlife populations.
Prioritize
Collect and organize information to help identify and prioritize areas
to restore oyster habitat and populations.
Improve scientific information on selected freshwater species.
Improve scientific information to support Bay-wide restoration
efforts.
Monitor
Establish watershed program for brook trout monitoring.
Improve monitoring of black duck food sources.
-------
FW18.
FW19.
FW20.
FW21.
Evaluate
Use science to evaluate oyster restoration progress.
Develop ecosystem models to support decision-making.
Evaluate native bivalve restoration for water quality improvement.
Assess quality of Black Duck habitat.
CONSERVE LAND AND INCREASE PUBLIC ACCESS
CL1.
a
b
CL2.
a
b
c
CL3.
a
b
c
CL4.
CL5.
CL6.
CL7.
CL8.
CL9.
a
b
CL10.
CL11.
a
CL12.
LAND CONSERVATION OUTCOME: Protect an additional 2 million
acres of lands throughout the watershed currently identified as high
conservation priorities at the federal, state or local level by 2025,
including 695,000 acres of forest land of highest value for maintaining
water quality.
Launch a Chesapeake Treasured Landscape Initiative.
o Increase Land & Water Conservation Fund allocations.
o Create a public-private conservation funding partnership.
Coordinate and target federal land conservation funding.
o Increase collaboration in the Coastal and Estuarine Land
Conservation Program.
o Encourage consideration of Transportation Enhancements,
Scenic Byways and Recreational Trails programs to
support land conservation.
o Conserve priority landscapes around defense installations.
Conserve landscapes through National Park Service partnership
areas.
o Consider a new unit of the National Park System for
Chesapeake Bay & Rivers.
o Identify high priority landscapes along National Trails.
o Coordinate NPS conservation actions with FWS refuge
partnerships.
Achieve mutual conservation goals through National Wildlife
Refuge partnerships.
Develop a Bay wide strategy to reduce the loss of farms and
forests.
Support creation and expansion of protected coastal and marine
areas.
Provide community assistance for landscape conservation.
Identify culturally significant and ecologically important landscapes.
Establish watershed-wide GIS-based land conservation targeting
system.
o Improve monitoring of land-use changes.
o Describe land-cover change to evaluate progress toward
land conservation.
Develop integrated transportation, land use, housing and water
infrastructure plans setting forth smart growth and environmental
stewardship visions.
PUBLIC ACCESS GOAL: Increase public access to the Bay and its
tributaries by adding 300 new public access sites by 2025.
Develop a plan to expand public access.
o Identify public access needs and opportunities along
National Trails.
Prioritize funding for public access development.
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed p-5
-------
Appendix F: Actions Index
EXPAND CITIZEN STEWARDSHIP
CS 1.
CS2.
CSS.
CS4.
CSS.
CS6.
CS7.
a
b
c
STEWARDSHIP OBJECTIVE: Foster a dramatic increase in the
number of citizen stewards - of every age - who support and carryout
local conservation and restoration.
Expand Chesapeake conservation corps workforces.
Expand master watershed stewards program.
Prioritize citizen stewardship in Small Watershed Grants Program.
Expand outreach to private forest landowners.
Enhance visitor experiences and stewardship messaging at
designated Chesapeake sites and trails.
Build long-term local partnerships for engaging communities and
citizens along national trails.
Initiate robust elementary and secondary environmental literacy
initiative.
o Support and enhance outdoor student environmental
education programs.
o Provide high-quality professional development, tools and
resources for educators.
o Encourage the creation and maintenance of green schools,
including schoolyard habitat and green facilities programs.
DEVELOP ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETS
EM 1.
EM 2.
ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETS OBJECTIVE: Working collaboratively,
USDA, EPA, Bay States and other federal partners will develop
environmental markets for the Chesapeake Bay, including the
management infrastructure for measuring, reporting and verifying
environmental performance for a suite of ecosystem services.
Establish a market for trading pollutant reduction credits for
nutrients and sediments in support of the water quality goals in the
TMDL.
USDA will lead, in coordination with EPA and other federal
agencies, an interdepartmental Environmental Market Team to
coordinate efforts in establishing an environmental market
infrastructure for the Chesapeake Bay.
RESPOND TO CLIMATE CHANGE
CC1.
CC2.
CLIMATE CHANGE OBJECTIVE: Minimize the vulnerability of the
Chesapeake Bay watershed, including its habitats, public infrastructure
and human communities, to adverse impacts from climate change.
Supporting Objective: Improve information on the communities,
habitats and resources at risk from the impacts of climate change in the
Chesapeake region by conducting vulnerability assessments and
supporting research priorities.
Identify communities that are vulnerable to the impacts of climate
change.
Demonstrate and implement effective restoration planning in face of
land elevation change and sea level rise.
-------
CCS.
CC4.
CCS.
a
b
c
CC6.
a
b
CC7.
a
b
c
CCS.
CC9.
CC 10.
CC 11.
CC 12.
CC13.
CC14.
Identify and assess risk to key tidal and coastal habitats from
potential impacts of changing climatic conditions and rising sea-
level.
Identify and assess risk to key watershed habitats from potential
impacts of climate and land change.
Enhance federally-supported research to improve and streamline
vulnerability assessments.
o Provide land-use change data.
o Provide projections of land-use changes.
o Assist states and local communities with topographic data.
Supporting Objective: Develop communication and decision-support
products to increase knowledge and capacity to plan for and implement
projects that build community and ecosystem resilience.
Develop tools and training to provide states, local communities and
resource managers with effective climate adaptation planning and
implementation resources.
o Strategic land-use decision support.
o Adapting wetland restoration techniques.
Supporting Objective: Conduct monitoring activities to deliver routine
and sustained climate information products and services.
Improve monitoring of climate change impacts in the Bay and
watershed.
o Implement the Climate Effects Network.
o Developing monitoring framework for streams.
o Develop a complementary estuarine monitoring network.
Ensure monitoring results are integrated and available to assess
effectiveness and adjust management actions as necessary.
Supporting Objective: Integrate climate change information into
Chesapeake Bay Program decision-making and planning and into
federal land management and planning in the Bay watershed.
Integrate climate change information and adaptation into the
Chesapeake Bay Program.
Conduct technical performance review of agencies' climate
response effectiveness.
Predict potential changes in pollution loads due to climate change.
Develop adaptation strategies to manage vulnerable habitats and
public infrastructure on federal lands to increase resiliency to
climate change impacts.
Supporting Objective: Adopt practices that mitigate greenhouse gas
emissions.
Integrate climate response into federal growth and development
programs and strategies.
Coordinate with other national initiatives to enhance federal
mitigation efforts in the Bay watershed.
STRENGTHEN SCIENCE
STRENGTHENING SCIENCE OBJECTIVE: Strengthen science to
support ecosystem-based adaptive management, to more effectively
prioritize, implement, monitor and evaluate the actions and policies
needed, and to identify new threats to the health of the Chesapeake
Bay and its watershed.
Sub-Objective: Promote ecosystem-based, adaptive management
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed p-7
-------
Appendix F: Actions Index
SS1.
SS2.
SS3.
SS4.
SS5.
SS6.
SS7.
SS8.
SS9.
SS 10.
SS 11.
SS 12.
SS 13.
SS 14.
SS 15.
SS 16.
SS 17.
through enhanced coordination of science and decision-support
activities.
Expand scientific coordination and capabilities of the Chesapeake
Bay Program.
Establish decision support specialists.
Improve communication products.
Review and improve CBP science approaches.
Sub-Objective: Better prioritize and adjust management actions by
developing decision-support tools and an expanded set of models.
USGS and NOAA will ensure scientific tools, data and computer
model results are available.
EPA, working with Chesapeake Bay Program partners, will
establish ChesapeakeStat.
Improve modeling used for restoration activities and assessing
impacts of climate change.
Sub-Objective: Establish a Chesapeake Monitoring Alliance and Data
Enterprise to improve monitoring to document changes in ecosystem
conditions and progress toward goals.
Establish a Chesapeake Monitoring Alliance.
Coordinate regional water monitoring with national networks.
Increase monitoring by state, local and non-governmental partners.
Improve monitoring of climate change impacts.
Improve reporting of restoration actions and land-use activities.
Improve management of environmental information through a Data
Enterprise.
Objective: Better explain ecosystem change, assess restoration
progress and effects of management actions, and identify new threats
to the ecosystem.
Improve indicators of environmental conditions.
Create case studies of targeted restoration activities.
Explain the factors affecting progress toward restoration goals and
the effects of management actions.
Assess new threats to the Bay and its watershed
IMPLEMENTATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY
IA1.
IA2.
IA3.
IA4.
IA5.
IA6.
IA7.
Aligning FLC and CBP Functions
Milestones to Track Progress Toward Goals
Annual Action Plan
Annual Progress Report
Independent Evaluation
Adaptive Management
ChesapeakeStat
-------
Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed p-Q
-------
EPA-903-R-10-003
May 2010
------- |