3584

JOINT RESOLUTIONS

No. 39

(House Joint Resolution No. 53)

A House 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 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 expand the Chesapeake