Michael Regan wants to hire a 'Chesapeake Bay czar'

摘要

Michael Regan, President Biden's nominee for EPA administrator, signaled yesterday on Capitol Hill that he wants to fill an Obama-era adviser slot to help coordinate restoration of the Chesapeake Bay — a position that quietly went unfilled under the Trump administration. Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland at Regan's confirmation hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee yesterday called for the appointment of a "czar" to oversee implementation of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, a decadelong effort launched under the Obama administration to clean up the nation's largest estuary, facing the threats of pollution, development and climate change. Six states on a "pollution diet" are facing a critical 2025 cleanup goal under the program. "Under the Obama administration, we had a special assistant for the Chesapeake Bay, that was referred to as the 'Chesapeake Bay czar,' that acted as a point person to deal with administering the federal program under EPA for the Chesapeake Bay, a program that's been funded by Congress," said Cardin.