On the recordFebruary 18, 2011
I rise in opposition to the amendment offered by my colleague that would prohibit the use of funds made available by this bill to ``develop, promulgate, evaluate, implement, provide oversight to, or backstop total maximum daily loads or watershed implementation plans for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.'' In essence, the amendment would prohibit the EPA from spending any funds on the Chesapeake Bay total maximum daily load initiative in order to monitor and oversee pollution reduction into the Bay. It would result in rolling back the progress we have made on pollution reduction and restoring the Chesapeake over the decade. It would negatively impact not only the physical landscape of the Bay, but also the economic import and success of the Bay. And it would unfairly place the financial burden of reducing pollution squarely on the Chesapeake Bay states. The Chesapeake Bay is North America's largest and most productive estuary, with thousands of tributaries and 64,000 square miles of watershed that includes six states and the District of Columbia.
