News

Maryland governor moves Chesapeake Bay rule

The on-going effort to reduce phosphorus levels in the Chesapeake Bay taking another step. Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley has forwarded a set of regulations including a phosphorus management tool to the state’s Joint Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review Committee.  The committee will review the regulations which could be put in place before O’Malley leaves office in January.

Maryland was supposed to have a plan to reduce phosphorus going into the Bay in place by 2013. A plan was developed by the University of Maryland and implemented by the Maryland Department of Agriculture.  A key element of the plan called for the transportation of large amounts of chicken manure for spreading away from land around the Bay.  The plan met with strong opposition from the farming community, it was withdrawn, re-worked and re-implemented then withdrawn again in late 2013.

The Annapolis Herald-Mail says Governor-elect Larry Hogan will not comment on any policy issues until after he is inaugurated on January 21^st.  Hogan had previously stated the rules would cripple the poultry and grain industries in the area.

EPA efforts to reduce runoff into Chesapeake Bay have been closely monitored by those along the Mississippi River as phosphorus runoff has been blamed for the “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico.