EMBARGOED until October 31, 2002 - 2:00pm
PressRelease
Chesapeake Bay Program
A Watershed Partnership
410 Severn Avenue, Suite 109
Annapolis, Maryland 21403
voice 410-267-5700 • toll free 800-YOUR-BAY • www.chesapeakebay.net
For more information, contact Christopher Conner, 410-267-5758
Chesapeake Bay Restoration Leaders Highlight Successes and
Outline Future Challenges to Restoring the Bay
Washington, DC ( October 31, 2002 ) - At its annual meeting today on the banks of the Anacostia River,
members of the Chesapeake Executive Council marked the 30th anniversary of the Clean Water Act by
celebrating recent accomplishments and recognizing future challenges facing Chesapeake Bay Program
partners as they continue their work to protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay watershed in a time of
constraining economic conditions and competing regional and national priorities.
During the meeting, Chesapeake Executive Council members - District of Columbia Mayor Anthony A. Williams,
Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary
David E. Hess on behalf of Governor Mark Schweiker, Virginia Governor Mark R. Warner, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency Administrator Christie Whitman, and Chesapeake Bay Commission Chair Russell H. Fairchild
- addressed issues critical to the health of the Chesapeake Bay including reducing nutrients entering the Bay,
restoring and protecting the Bay's living resources and vital habitats, seeking funding opportunities for Bay
protection programs, and more fully engaging local governments and the citizens of the Bay region.
In their remarks, Executive Council members recognized that restoring the Chesapeake Bay is a monumental
task will not take place overnight. Rather, today's restoration efforts need to be accelerated, expanded and
allowed time to produce long-lasting results throughout the Bay's 64,000-square-mile watershed. While the
challenges facing the Bay are many, data released today show the resiliency of the Bay and potential for
significant improvement:
Preliminary data from aerial surveys of the Bay's underwater grasses show an unprecedented 27 percent
increase from the previous year, with 85,252 acres of grasses covering the Bay's floor - the largest
amount since baywide tracking began in 1978;
Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the District of Columbia have restored 2,283 miles of riparian forest
buffers along rivers and streams in the Bay watershed, meeting a Chesapeake 2000 commitment eight
years ahead of schedule.
-more-

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Chesapeake Executive Council Meeting - Successes and Challenges 2-2-2-2
With several provisions in the 2002 Farm Bill designed to assist farmers and protect the environment, the
Executive Council also signed a Resolution to Enhance the Role of the United States Department of Agriculture
in the Chesapeake Bay Partnership. The resolution aims to enhance the current partnership by exploring ways in
which federal support for farmers can also be used to restore the Bay and its rivers.
As part of continuing Bay restoration efforts, the Executive Council released for public comment a draft of a
Comprehensive Oyster Management Plan designed to improve dwindling stocks of one of the Bay's keystone
species, and accepted a Local Government Participation Action Plan that works to further coordinate the Bay
Program's restoration efforts with those of the 1,650 local governments in the watershed.
The Comprehensive Oyster Management Plan aims to rebuild native oyster populations by establishing
sanctuaries that protect oysters from harvest and allow the implementation of restoration projects, determining
harvest strategies that will rebuild oyster populations and support an oyster industry, and increasing hatchery
production. The Chesapeake Bay Program will be accepting public comment on the draft for the next 30 days
and plans to have a final draft adopted this winter.
Further expanding and refining the first Local Government Participation Action Plan adopted in 1996, the 2002
plan has been developed to more fully coordinate local government protection and restoration programs with
those underway within the cooperative Chesapeake Bay Program. With authority over many land use, storm
water and wastewater management decisions in the hands of local governments, Bay Program partners believe
expanded coordination between local jurisdictions and the Bay Program is key to the future health of the rivers,
streams and lands of the Bay watershed.
The Executive Council also elected Virginia Governor Mark Warner as its new chair. Since the signing of the
Chesapeake 2000 agreement in June 2000, Mayor Williams had served as the Executive Council's chair.
For more information about data released today including bay grass abundance, forest buffer restoration and the
oyster management and local government participation plans, visit the Chesapeake Bay Program online Press
Center at http://www.chesapeakebay.net/press.htm.
-30-
For more information, contact:
Christopher Conner, Chesapeake Bay Program Communications Director, 410-267-5758
The Chesapeake Bay Program is restoring the Bay through a partnership among the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency representing the federal
government, the State of Maryland, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Commonwealth of Virginia, the District of Columbia, the Chesapeake Bay
Commission, and participating citizen advisory groups.

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Chesapeake Executive Council Meeting - Member Statements 3-3-3-3
Statements from Chesapeake Executive Council Members
District of Columbia Mayor Anthony A. Williams, Outgoing Executive Council Chair:
"It has been a pleasure to serve as Chairman of the Chesapeake Executive Council where I have had the
opportunity to highlight the importance of the Bay's urban rivers to the clean up effort. Water quality in the
Bay depends on the health of all its tributaries, both rural and urban. As Mayor, I have made restoring and
revitalizing the Anacostia River and its waterfront a priority. Additionally, the District has presented the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency with a long-term control plan that has achieved a remarkably high level of
consensus on how to address our combined sewer overflow problems. We are also well on our way to
restoring Kingman and Heritage Islands to natural wildlife recreational areas that the public may enjoy.
I realize a major challenge lies ahead of us, especially during these times of fiscal constraints; however, I am
confident that the Bay partners will continue to work together on our common goal of a clean, healthy, and
productive Chesapeake Bay."
Virginia Governor Mark R. Warner, Incoming Executive Council Chair:
"Virginians have an enormous stake in the future of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. From the time
of the first human settlements in Virginia, the Bay has nourished and enriched our people. Responsible
stewardship of the Chesapeake Bay must continue to be one of our highest priorities in state government.
We remain committed to working with our Bay partners in achieving the goals and commitments of the
Chesapeake Bay agreement."
Chesapeake Bay Commission Chair Russell H. Fairchild:
"We face significant challenges in implementing our landmark Chesapeake 2000 agreement. We are likely
to need at least three times more than we are currently spending on Bay restoration programs from all
levels.
In short, to continue our progress and reach our goals, we must maintain our resolve, look for new funding
opportunities, focus spending on areas that achieve the greatest results and strengthen this unique
partnership called the Chesapeake Bay Program."
-more-
The Chesapeake Bay Program is restoring the Bay through a partnership among the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency representing the federal
government, the State of Maryland, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Commonwealth of Virginia, the District of Columbia, the Chesapeake Bay
Commission, and participating citizen advisory groups.

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Chesapeake Executive Council Meeting - Member Statements 4-4-4-4
Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening:
"Today, I am announcing new nutrient reduction targets that will put Maryland on track to achieving the
water quality goal of the Chesapeake 2000 agreement. Maryland will reduce nutrient discharges so that by
2010, we will cap our total nutrient discharges at no more than 38 million pounds of nitrogen and 3.1 million
pounds of phosphorus per year.
Since the beginning, our goal has been to restore the Bay, not "arrest it's decline." Admittedly, this is a tough
goal and means doing two or three times what we are already doing to reduce nutrients. We have far to go
to achieve success: the Bay Program is 18 months behind schedule in setting new goals and the pollution
reductions necessary to restore the Bay are so great, that waiting to "fine tune" targets will only make it less
likely that the 2010 goal can be met. We must now turn our focus to taking action. Maryland has hundreds of
Tributary Team members and stakeholders ready to move ahead to the next phase of implementation. That
is why I am announcing our new nutrient goals. There is solid scientific data to take action and we can't wait
for technicians to debate over where to put the decimal points. By making our announcement today we will
give Maryland its best chance to have the Bay removed from EPA's list of impaired waters by 2010."
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Whitman:
"We already know that our waterways are cleaner than they were 30 years ago. You can now fish in many
lakes and rivers where once garbage was the only catch-of-the-day - everyday. But we still have plenty to
do if we want to ensure that our children and grandchildren not only have clean water to drink but also have
the chance to find their own favorite fishing hole. The work being done to meet our Chesapeake 2000
commitments - in terms of pollution prevention, nutrient and sediment reduction, and the restoration of living
resources, habitats, and water quality - can certainly serve as a model for the kind of meaningful progress
we hope to make."
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary David E. Hess:
"In its efforts to continue reducing nutrients released to the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay,
Pennsylvania has granted $40 million for Growing Greener projects in the Bay watershed this year alone.
Another $3.37 million has been targeted for nutrient reduction technology that is expected to reduce nitrogen
entering the Bay by about two million pounds.
To meet its remaining Chesapeake Bay Agreement commitment, Pennsylvania will then need to reduce
nitrogen loading to the Bay by another 5.5 million pounds annually."
The Chesapeake Bay Program is restoring the Bay through a partnership among the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency representing the federal
government, the State of Maryland, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Commonwealth of Virginia, the District of Columbia, the Chesapeake Bay
Commission, and participating citizen advisory groups.

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