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Governors propose $1B federal investment in Chesapeake Bay cleanup | Govt. & Politics



Great Egrets and a mallard can be seen on eroding marshland near Poplar Island in Talbot County, Maryland.


COURTESY ALICIA PIMENTAL, CHESAPEAKE BAY PROGRAM

SARAH VOGELSONG The Virginia Mercury

RICHMOND – Virginia Governor Ralph Northam joined forces with other heads of state in the Chesapeake Bay watershed on Thursday to call for a $ 1 billion federal investment in the decade-long rehabilitation of the country’s largest estuary.

This “significant and much-needed infusion of new funds … will kick off the final phase of restoration of the bay and encourage people to build clean water infrastructure, including green infrastructure that reduces pollution of rainwater and agricultural water, restoring more natural.” Landscapes and helps us adapt to the effects of climate change, ”reads the letter in which the billion for the Bay Initiative is touted.

Along with Northam, who currently chairs the Chesapeake Bay Executive Council, the motion was approved by the governors of Maryland, Delaware, New York, West Virginia and Pennsylvania, the mayors of Washington, DC, and Virginia Del. David Bulova, D-Fairfax, signed, the chairman of the Chesapeake Bay Commission.

Northam spokeswoman Alena Yarmosky said the intent was to use the $ 1 billion federal grant “through additional government, local and private dollars to advance any country-specific cleanup plan.”

“This would be a one-time funding with the knowledge that it will be rolled out over the next few years,” she wrote in an email.