Chesapeake Bay TMDLs: EPA Hopes to Put Bay on a “Pollution Diet.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is working directly with Pennsylvania, five other states, and the District of Columbia to put the Chesapeake Bay on a strict "pollution diet." Total Daily Maximum Load (TMDL) is the maximum amount of a pollutant that a body of water can receive while still meeting established water quality goals and standards.
Through extensive monitoring, modeling, and assessments, experts have established that about one-half of the nitrogen and more than one-quarter of the phosphorus loads entering the Bay come from states not bordering the Bay, specifically Pennsylvania, New York, and West Virginia.
You can review presentations given to Pennsylvanian residents at four public meetings in late 2009. Pennsylvania's draft TMDL will be available for review and public comments in late summer 2010. Watch for updates on its status on EPA's Chesapeake Bay TMDL home page. You can also read a summary of a recent meeting between EPA and the Joint Pennsylvania Senate Environmental Resource & Energy, Agricultural, and Rural Affairs Committees.
Learn More:
EPA's Chesapeake Bay TMDL home page