Pa. lags in meeting Chesapeake Bay restoration goals

Pennsylvania continues to trail other states in meeting its goals for the Chesapeake Bay restoration.

According to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, The Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint is a federal/state plan established in 2010 to restore water quality in the region’s rivers, streams, and Chesapeake Bay. It includes pollution limits allocated to each jurisdiction, specific plans to meet those limits with reasonable assurance of success, two-year milestones for accountability, and a commitment from EPA that there would be consequences for failure. The goal is to have programs and practices in place by 2025 that will result in a restored Bay.

Pennsylvania recently submitted a revised plan to meet it’s goals by 2025 but at last check the state would only get to 75 percent of its targets and is underfunded by 300 million dollars.

Monday’s Smart Talk gets an assessment of where Pennsylvania stands on bay restoration from Harry Campbell, Science Policy and Advocacy Director in Pennsylvania for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.