New York State on Track to Meet Pollutant Reduction Targets for Chesapeake Bay

 U.S. EPA News Release:

New York State on Track to Meet Pollutant Reduction Targets for Chesapeake Bay

NEW YORK (August 6, 2021) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that it has evaluated New York State’s final amended Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) as a part of a broad-ranging effort to reduce pollution entering the Chesapeake Bay from sources across New York’s Southern Tier. New York’s plan, if fully implemented, will meet the state’s pollutant reduction goals agreed to by the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnership. New York’s goals include having practices and controls in place by 2025 to achieve targeted reductions for nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment that New York is responsible for meeting in their portion of the watershed.

In an evaluation of New York’s final amended Phase III WIP, EPA identified sector-by-sector strengths in the revised commitments, as well as areas that could be enhanced to ensure New York’s goals will be maintained beyond 2025.

“EPA appreciates New York State’s commitment to reducing pollution that will help achieve important water quality goals to protect the Chesapeake Bay watershed and its ecosystems and local communities, including historically underserved communities,” said EPA acting Regional Administrator Walter Mugdan. “We will continue to work with New York to ensure that their proposed actions are realized and that they generate the necessary pollutant reductions.”

As it has done since the release of the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load in 2010, EPA will commit staff, contractual and funding resources to support the implementation of New York’s Phase III WIP and subsequent two-year milestones.

The seven jurisdictions (Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia) in the CBP partnership agreed to develop WIPs in three phases to provide a framework for reducing nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment loads to meet water quality standards in the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries. The CBP partnership established the goal to have all practices and controls in place by 2025 necessary to achieve applicable water quality standards in the tidal Bay. The Bay jurisdictions have committed to account for additional nutrient loads projected through 2025 due to climate change.

The evaluation is available on the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load website at https://www.epa.gov/chesapeake-bay-tmdl.

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