MD Legislature Passes Legislation to Help Restore the Chesapeake Bay

After weeks of intense negotiations between legislative leaders, both houses of the Maryland legislature made the health of the Chesapeake Bay a priority, passing a landmark sewage bill.

The bill will help upgrade the state's sewage treatment plants (STPs), a major source of nitrogen loading to the Chesapeake Bay. Nitrogen from STPs and other sources is the main cause of the Bay's huge "Dead Zone," areas of the Bay with low or no oxygen present, that harms or kills fish, crabs, underwater grasses and other aquatic life. The final version of Maryland Governor Ehrlich's bill establishes the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Restoration Fund, financed with a $2.50-a-month charge on sewer bills and an equivalent $30-a-year fee on septic system owners. The septic revenues will be used to upgrade or replace failing septic systems and provide farmers with cost share assistance to help plant cover crops to prevent nutrient runoff from farms. In a testament to the bill's popularity, both legislative chambers passed the measure overwhelmingly, thus assuring the bill will become law. To view the Governor’s press release, visit http://www.cbf.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&cmd=articles&news_iv_ctrl=1082&start=10.