CAN A “BAY FEE” SAVE THE CHESAPEAKE WATERSHED?
Rapid development, sprawl, new housing and population growth have always been key enemies of the fragile Chesapeake Bay and time is running out on a 2010 deadline for the seven jurisdictions that comprise the area’s watershed to make significant reductions in the amount of nitrogen, phosphorous and sediment flowing into the nation’s largest estuary. Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C. all contribute sewage and agricultural run-off to the bay and all agreed in 2000 to cut pollution in the bay by half by the year 2010. Much of the problem is money. And while more than $6 billion has been spent on bay restoration since 1995, a failure of leadership combined with a lack of state funds has hampered efforts to meet that goal. A recent article in The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, PA put forth the idea that states should consider creating a modest annual “bay fee” on every residence, business and farm in the Chesapeake watershed to be used “to
