Washington, D.C. - Tomorrow, the U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to begin consideration of funding bills for 2005, including a formal funding request from the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Task Force. This regional coalition of members of the House has requested $84.2 million for Chesapeake Bay restoration. Under the bipartisan leadership of Congressmen Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), Bobby Scott (D-VA), Tom Davis (R-VA) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), fifteen members of the Task Force have requested funding for a broad array of new and existing programs and projects in 2005.
“The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States and, historically, the most productive. Like the Florida Everglades, its ecosystem is complex and nationally significant,” said Gilchrest. “We’ve worked hard as a Task Force to craft a meaningful and reasonable funding request to support Bay restoration in a tough federal budget year and believe this represents a small investment to protect one of the nation’s most valuable aquatic systems.”
“This group is not only looking at regional priorities, such as the $2.5 million for the restoration of the Elizabeth River,” said Bobby Scott, “but we’re looking at the Bay watershed as a whole ecosystem.” Scott pointed out the importance of including other key projects, such as $1 million to help the Bay’s migratory fish reach their historic spawning grounds in central Pennsylvania.
The funding requests range from $39 million for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which leads the federal-state cleanup efforts on the Bay, to $500,000 to the National Marine Fisheries Service to manage the diverse fisheries of the Bay. Other areas targeted for funding include oyster restoration; underwater bay grass restoration; shoreline erosion controls; Bay education; forest restoration and protection; and $6 million for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to continue to support Bay restoration efforts.
“This tremendous effort shows that cleaning up the Chesapeake is not a partisan issue. We have members from both political parties who are working together to restore this magnificent national treasure,” said Tom Davis.
The push for this increased funding comes just as the annual funding of the federal government through the Appropriations Committee begins. "Congress must demonstrate the political will -- and the wallet -- to restore the Chesapeake Bay," said Chris Van Hollen. "It is an uphill battle in these tough fiscal times to get increased funding, but the Chesapeake Bay is a natural resource critical to our economy, culture, and heritage. I am committed to protecting this national treasure."
The breakdown of this new effort in seeking to get Chesapeake Bay restoration funds is:
$39 million for the EPA; $18 million for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; $3 million for the National Park Service; $3 million for the U.S. Forest Service; $1 million for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; $6 million for the Natural Resources Conservation Service in USDA; $13.25 million for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and $1 million for the U.S. Department of Education.