EPA issues detailed, enforceable plan to clean up Chesapeake Bay; states worry about costs

UPDATE, Jan. 10: The American Farm Bureau Federation is suing to block the EPA regulation, saying the plan "will not only ruin agriculture in that region, it will also become a model for similar environmental restrictions nationally," Ken Anderson writes for Brownfield Network, which has audio of a 14-minute speech by President Bob Stallman to the AFBF convention in Atlanta.

The Washington Post reports, "The Environmental Protection Agency established an aggressive 'pollution diet' for the Chesapeake Bay on Wednesday, spelling out steps that six states and the District must take by 2025 to put the troubled estuary on the path to recovery."

We're a bit late on this story because The Rural Blog is running in low gear until Jan. 10, but we're posting this item because we have long followed efforts to clean up the bay, which has a huge watershed (left) that is one of the main intersections of agriculture, fishing and the environment. An EPA official called the plan is "the largest water pollution strategy plan in the nation," will affect "how pig and chicken farms dispose of waste," Juliet Eilperin writes. "Some state and local officials warned the plan could be costly and hard to execute, particularly at a time when state budgets are under immense pressure." (Read more)