{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.vanhollen.senate.gov/news/press-releases/team-maryland-looks-to-the-future-of-the-chesapeake-bay-after-current-multi-state-agreements-expire-in-2025", "Team Maryland Looks to the Future of the Chesapeake Bay After Current Multi-State Agreements Expire in 2025", "2024-09-26", "2024", "2024-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "MD", "Chris Van Hollen", "V000128", "www.vanhollen.senate.gov", "vanhollen", "https://www.vanhollen.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin and Congressmen Steny Hoyer, Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes, Kweisi Mfume, Jamie Raskin, and Glenn Ivey (all D-Md.)met Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol with senior representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Department of the Interior and Maryland Department of Natural Resources to discuss planning for the next stage of the Chesapeake Bay program and restoration efforts. This is a critical time for the Bay and the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, which was signed in 2014. Many of the goals and outcomes for the Bay had a target of 2025. As this date approaches, the Chesapeake Bay Program is determining how best to meet these goals and outcomes, incorporate new science and strategies, and strengthen the multi-state partnership.\n\nAt Wednesday\u2019s meeting, members of the Maryland delegation heard from key federal agency and state leaders working towards the next stage of the agreement. Leading the discussion was Adam Ortiz, who serves as the Administrator for EPA Region 3, which governs the Mid-Atlantic Region. In this role Administrator Ortiz is deeply involved in EPA\u2019s role in the Chesapeake Bay Program. The delegation also heard from Department of Interior Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, Matt Strickler, who serves at the Chesapeake Bay Program\u2019s Principal\u2019s Staff Committee Chair. In 2022, the Chesapeake Executive Council tasked its Principal\u2019s Staff Committee with making recommendations for the future of the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program\u2019s work. Representing senior state leadership was Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary Josh Kurtz, who directs Maryland\u2019s role in the multi-state partnership and has deep expertise in the stakeholder community.\n\nThe planning effort marked a milestone this summer when the Chesapeake Bay Program Beyond 2025 Steering Committee released its Beyond 2025 Draft Report and invited public feedback.\n\n\u201cTeam Maryland will always fight for the Bay. The Chesapeake Bay is a national treasure, and its restoration is a model for regional, multi-jurisdictional landscape stewardship. It is a model for other regions and other environmental protection efforts at many scales \u2013 and it is not simple,\u201d said Senator Cardin. \u201cAs the Chesapeake Bay program is recalibrated for the next phase of action, we are committed to securing additional federal resources. We have high expectations for future results.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe have a responsibility to protect the Chesapeake Bay \u2013 our people, our economy, and our environment depend on it. That\u2019s why we\u2019ve fought to deliver major federal investments to improve the Bay\u2019s health \u2013 and while we know they\u2019re making a real difference, the watershed states have more work to do to reach our restoration goals. As we near the Bay Agreement\u2019s 2025 benchmark, we must take stock of the challenges faced in meeting its goals and work together to drive further progress toward a healthier Chesapeake Bay,\u201d said Senator Van Hollen.\n\n\"I've been proud to work with our delegation to support the health of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries throughout my career \u2013 especially in the past decade since we secured the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement,\" Congressman Hoyer said. \"I was pleased our delegation could meet with our partners in federal and state government to discuss the progress we've made toward fulfilling the various goals we laid out in that agreement and to assess the important work that remains. The Chesapeake Bay is the beating heart of Maryland and a true national treasure, and we will continue working to preserve it for generations to come.\"\n\n\u201cTen years ago, we set aggressive but necessary goals to restore and protect our treasured Chesapeake Bay, which has taken an all-hands-on-deck approach from every level of government,\u201d Congressman Ruppersberger said. \u201cAs we approach our deadline, we must ensure we are leveraging new technologies and sciences and collaborating with our other watershed states as effectively as possible. I appreciated this opportunity to come together and discuss our long and short-term strategies, especially as my own time in office draws to a close.\u201d\n\n\u201cToday\u2019s discussions provided an opportunity to reaffirm our collective vision for the future of the Chesapeake Bay. It is imperative that the next phase of watershed restoration is centered around achieving goals and outcomes that reflect the current, best available science to ensure the health of our communities, the vitality of our region and a sustainable future for Bay ecosystems and natural resources. We look forward to sustained collaboration with federal, state and local government partners as we continue to support Beyond 2025 planning,\u201d said Congressman Sarbanes.\n\n\u201cMarylanders across our state depend on a healthy Chesapeake Bay \u2014 the largest estuary in the United States \u2014 for food, recreation, and to make a living,\u201d said Congressman Kweisi Mfume. \u201cContinued collaboration at the federal, state, and local levels is vital to ensure this national treasure flourishes and effective restoration and conservation projects are enacted throughout the Bay and its ecosystem,\u201d he concluded.\n\n\u201cTeam Maryland is united in our efforts to restore and protect the Chesapeake Bay, a treasured natural resource and cornerstone of our local ecosystem,\u201d said Congressman Raskin. \u201cI\u2019m grateful to our EPA and Maryland state government partners for their continued collaboration with the Maryland Congressional delegation to preserve the Bay for generations to come.\u201d\n\n\u201cProtecting the Chesapeake Bay is everyone\u2019s responsibility. We are grateful for our longtime Maryland advocates now on the federal and state level, Adam Ortiz, and Josh Kurtz, respectively. Local, state, and federal partnerships can help keep our national treasure, the Chesapeake Bay, available for all to appreciate and partake in. Crabbing, fishing, sailing and otherwise being active in and around its shores are activities we want to cherish well into the future and our actions today will make sure that our kids and grandkids can benefit from the Bay in their tomorrow\u2019s,\u201d said Congressman Ivey.\n\n\u201cIt is not an accident that the Bay recently received its highest grade in 22 years. Through historic investments and coordination, we\u2019re seeing progress and momentum in states and sectors that were previously lagging,\u201d said EPA Regional Administrator Ortiz. \u201cThe Biden-Harris Administration is making good on its promise to accelerate the Bay effort.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Moore-Miller administration thanks the Maryland congressional delegation for their continued strong leadership on the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay. Their efforts have resulted in improvements in water quality and the health of the ecosystem,\u201d said Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary Josh Kurtz. \u201cIt was an honor today to discuss our plans to focus our work post-2025 on rebuilding habitat, creating resiliency in the face of climate change, and charting a new future for the Chesapeake Bay.\u201d\n\nThe Chesapeake Executive Council consists of the governors of the six watershed states, the mayor of the District of Columbia, the chair of the Chesapeake Bay Commission and the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It establishes the policy direction for the restoration and protection of the Chesapeake Bay.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:43:57Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.vanhollen.senate.gov/news/press-releases/team-maryland-looks-to-the-future-of-the-chesapeake-bay-after-current-multi-state-agreements-expire-in-2025"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3007121160626411, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}