EPA Applauds Maryland Lawn Fertilizer Bill for Helping Meet Chesapeake Bay Pollution Diet Goals (PA)
(PHILADELPHIA - May 19,
2011) - EPA today applauded Governor
O’Malley and the Maryland House and Senate for passing
legislation that will minimize polluted runoff from lawns and
achieve measureable reductions in nitrogen and phosphorus to local
waterways and the Chesapeake Bay.
“Limiting the impact of fertilizers is exactly the kind of commitment that provides EPA with assurance that together, we will achieve our shared goal of reducing pollution from lawns, golf courses, business properties and parks,” said EPA mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin “Limiting the use of fertilizer on residential and commercial lands is one of the most cost-effective ways of reducing harmful pollutants that make their way into our rivers and streams.”
Garvin especially acknowledged the work of
members of the Chesapeake Bay Commission for helping to usher in
this new legislation: Delegate Hubbard, Senator Frosh, Delegate
McIntosh, Senator Middleton, and retired Maryland Senator Bernie
Fowler.
The bill will help the state meet its
commitments as part of a rigorous pollution diet or TMDL for
meeting water quality standards in the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal
tributaries, and restoring local rivers and streams throughout the
64,000-square-mile Bay watershed.
Maryland, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania,
Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia are expected
to have all nutrient-reduction practices in place to meet the
limits in the pollution diet by 2025, with 60 percent of the effort
completed by 2017.
For more information about the Chesapeake Bay
TMDL visit: http://www.epa.gov/chesapeakebaytmdl/