A New Year, a New Outlook on the Economic Benefits of Cleaning Up the Bay?

Last week, Virginia submitted its 2012-2013 Chesapeake Bay Milestones to the Environmental Protection Agency. They will be available shortly on the Virginia Bay TMDL website at http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/vabaytmdl/index.shtml. The milestones were required by EPA to gauge the effectiveness of Virginia’s initial efforts in implementing strategies intended to meet the pollution load requirements established for the Chesapeake Bay (aka, the Chesapeake Bay TMDL). We will need to wait and see if Virginia is doing enough, now, to satisfy EPA.

Submission of the milestones comes a week after the Chesapeake Bay Foundation issued a report finding that environmental regulations do not hurt the economy. Entitled “Debunking the ‘Job Killer’ Myth, How Pollution Limits Encourage Jobs in the Chesapeake Bay Region,” the report offers a counter-point to well-publicized criticism of the Bay TMDL and stringent EPA requirements, which, to date, have asserted that current Bay cleanup requirements are too expensive to implement, and are detrimental to localities and private enterprises already struggling in a down economy....