HARRY HUGHES, Governor
3581
No. 38
(Senate Joint Resolution No. 18)
A Senate Joint Resolution concerning
Chesapeake Bay - Nutrient Enrichment
FOR the purpose of requesting certain representatives of the
Governor of the State on the Chesapeake Executive Council to
develop update expand certain plans with certain goals and
strategies to address nutrient enrichment of the Chesapeake
Bay by a certain date.
WHEREAS, The United States Environmental Protection Agency's
(E.P.A.) Chesapeake Bay Program determined that nutrient
enrichment is a major reason for water quality degradation and
the decline of living resources in the Chesapeake Bay and its
tributaries; and
WHEREAS, The E.P.A.'s Chesapeake Bay Program recommended the
development of a basin-wide plan that includes implementation
schedules to control nutrients from various sources; and
WHEREAS, The nutrients, phosphorus and nitrogen, are present
in excess in the Chesapeake Bay's tributaries and originate from
industrial and sewage treatment plants, as well as from
agricultural, forest, and urban areas; and
WHEREAS, Some tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay clearly have
demonstrable nutrient enrichment problems, while other
tributaries contribute to nutrient problems through the transport
of nutrients to the Chesapeake Bay; and
WHEREAS, The Chesapeake Executive Council, through its
Chesapeake Bay Restoration and Protection Plan, established
general goals and objectives pertaining to nutrient enrichment;
and
WHEREAS, There are a number of strategies which can
contribute to control of the problem of nutrient enrichment,
including nutrient removal at sewage treatment plants, a
phosphate detergent ban, and land management practices to reduce
nutrient runoff; and
WHEREAS, The First Biennial Review of the Chesapeake Action
Agenda recommended the establishment of specific nutrient load
goals; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, That the
Governor's representatives to the Chesapeake Executive Council
are requested to develop a detailed plan on specific update
expand the Chesapeake Bay Restoration and Protection Plan,
including as it pertains to Maryland, to include specific goals
and strategies to address nutrient enrichment originating from
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