EPA Critics Threaten 'Last Resort' Suit Over Chesapeake Bay Cleanup Plan

摘要

Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and environmentalists are threatening a coordinated suit against EPA for failing to ensure Pennsylvania and New York meet cleanup targets for the Chesapeake Bay, charging the agency is violating statutory requirements unique to the bay that require federal enforcement of the bay's cleanup plan. "This is a very last resort," Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) President William Baker said about a pair of notices of intent to sue sent May 18 to EPAAdministrator Andrew Wheeler and U.S. Attorney General William Barr. "EPA holds the reins. They can stop this litigation," Baker added. Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring (D) described the notices as "set[ting] in motion a conversation" with EPA and said, "Hopefully, we will be able to reach an understanding." But Baker, Herring and the attorneys general (AG) of Maryland and the District of Columbia, who all spoke together to reporters May 18, suggested EPA's actions to date indicate the agency is unlikely to take a strong role in advocating for the bay's cleanup.