The Federal Leadership Committee (FLC) for the Chesapeake Bay has issued the E.O. 13508 report summarizing achievements from Fiscal Year 2015 (FY15), utilizing nearly $513 million toward Chesapeake Bay restoration. This progress report will be the final report exclusive to the federal agencies, with significant progress made toward achieving the goals and outcomes set forth in the 2015 Action Plan. Annual reporting will now be incorporated as part of tracking the progress of meeting the goals of the state and federal Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnership’s 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, which incorporated the goals set forth in the federal agencies’ Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay.

The FLC is composed of representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security, Interior and Transportation.

Read the 2015 EO Progress Report (1.50 mb)

This Progress Report will be the final report exclusive to the federal agencies. Future annual reporting summarizing federal achievements will be captured as part of tracking the progress of the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement.  

Download the full report here. (458.98 kb)

As required by the Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, EPA released A Model Program for Onsite Management in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed in June 2013. On April 16, 2015, the states of Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to share data developed to document the performance of advanced onsite pretreatment units for nitrogen reduction and, therefore, to simplify and expedite the approval processes for these technologies in each individual state, as well as reduce costs to residents and manufacturers. Prior to this MOC, all states nationwide approved systems on an individual basis and many do not take into account data collected by other state programs.

The benefits of sharing this data are:

• Provides certainty with agreed upon protocols that can be used by manufacturing community and shared between states
• Can bring new technologies via additional manufacturers to market more quickly and expand the use of nitrogen reducing treatment systems
• Reduces burden on states to individually monitor and evaluate performance data
• Reduce costs associated with technology approval can reduce the costs of systems and pass that savings along to the consumer

"The members of NOWRA are pleased to have participated in the Memorandum of Cooperation of the Chesapeake Bay Data Sharing Agreement, and the States’ ongoing efforts to include the concerns of the onsite wastewater industry," says Eric Casey, Executive Director of the National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association. "This first step, in what we hope will be an ongoing process of looking to identify ways to speed up product approvals while lowering their associated costs, has the potential to greatly improve environmental and public health outcomes through reducing the regulatory barriers to product innovation."

These advanced treatment systems reduce nitrogen loading by an average minimum of 50 percent. Onsite system are the smallest source of nutrient loading to the Bay at 3-4% according the modeling efforts at the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program Office.

• View the MOC (582 kb)
• View the Test Plan Application Template (82 kb)
• View the Initial Data Collection Protocol (563 kb)

The Federal Leadership Committee (FLC) for the Chesapeake Bay issued an E.O. 13508 combined report summarizing achievements from Fiscal Year 2014, utilizing more than $460 million toward Chesapeake Bay restoration. This report also details specific actions to be carried out by federal agencies in 2015 as part of their 2014-2015 Milestones commitments as well as highlighting federal efforts since the issuance of Executive Order 13508, Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration in 2009. In addition, it includes planned Bay restoration and protection FY15 funding for each federal agency totaling more than $434 million dollars.

The FLC, comprised of the senior officials of the federal agencies responsible for Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts, issues the report annually as required by Executive Order 13508, however this report will be the final report exclusive to the federal agencies. Annual progress reporting will now be captured as part of tracking the progress of meeting the goals of the state and federal Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnership’s 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. This Agreement incorporates the goals and outcomes set forth in the federal agencies’ Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay. Future federal agency action plans also will be integrated into the management strategies and workplans under the new Agreement.

The FLC is composed of representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security, Interior and Transportation.

Read the 2014 EO Progress Report(1.05 mb)

USDA presents this final Chesapeake Working Lands Conservation Strategy.  This document supports the EO Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, which includes an outcome to permanently protect (i.e. through easements, etc.) an additional 2 million acres between 2010-2025, including 695,000 acres of high value forest land. USDA, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the United States Forest Service (FS), collaborated with Bay states and other partners to produce this Strategy. Public input was solicited for a 60-day period earlier this year.  This Strategy emphasizes the importance of protecting working lands to support environmental, economic, and community goals in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, including water quality goals and the Chesapeake TMDL. It also summarizes opportunities to strengthen working lands protection in the Bay, including recommended actions to advance these goals over the long term.

The Federal Leadership Committee for the Chesapeake Bay issued a combined report highlighting both achievements from Fiscal Year 2013 (FY13) as well plans for ongoing restoration activities for Fiscal Year 2014 (FY14). The committee, comprised of the senior officials of the federal agencies responsible for Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts, issues the report annual as required by Executive Order 13508, Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration.

The Federal Leadership Committee (FLC) for the Chesapeake Bay is composed of representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security, Interior and Transportation

The report examines federal agency efforts to restore clean water, recover habitat, sustain fish and wildlife, and conserve land and increase public access throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed – none of which would be possible without a continued commitment to working with state partners, stakeholders and citizens around the watershed.

These combined actions also support efforts to expand citizen stewardship, develop environmental markets, respond to climate change, and strengthen science, all in an effort to restore the Bay’s vibrant ecosystem for future generations.

"This report shows federal agencies are making great progress in restoring our 'national treasure' the Chesapeake Bay, and are committed to continuing that work." said DiPasquale. "Active federal agency participation through development of the new Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement is further integrating federal and state restoration efforts through the advancement of shared goals and outcomes."

View the full report here.

As required by Executive Order 13508, each year, the Federal Leadership Committee (FLC) for the Chesapeake Bay—composed of representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security, Interior and Transportation—issues a Chesapeake Bay Action Plan and an annual Progress Report. This year, for the first time, the FLC has combined the two together into one report. The Action Plan covers fiscal year 2014, which runs from October 1, 2013, through September 30, 2014, while the Progress Report covers actions achieved during fiscal year 2013, which ran from October 1, 2012 through September 30, 2013.

This Action Plan for 2014 and Progress Report for 2013 represents a collaborative effort across the federal government, in consultation with states and other partners, fulfilling the direction of the Executive Order “to ensure that federal actions to protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay are closely coordinated with actions by state and local agencies in the watershed and that the resources, authorities, and expertise of federal, state, and local agencies are used as efficiently as possible for the benefit of the Chesapeake Bay's water quality and ecosystem and habitat health and viability.”

The report highlights key accomplishments as well as work still needed to be done to restore clean water, recover habitat, sustain fish and wildlife, and conserve land and increase public access. Collaborative actions will also enhance supporting efforts to expand citizen stewardship, develop environmental markets, respond to climate change, and strengthen science.

Comments on the combined report will be accepted here through March 31, 2014.

Download the report

The Chesapeake Bay Federal Leadership Committee's Water Quality Milestones have been finalized. This second set of federal two-year milestones for water quality applies to calendar years 2014 and 2015. The Executive Order (EO) 13508 Strategy calls upon federal agencies to join the Chesapeake Bay watershed jurisdictions in establishing two-year milestones, many of which are designed to support the jurisdictions in meeting their water quality milestones leading to the 2025 implementation goal.

The milestones were selected to represent the activities that have the potential to have significant environmental outcomes, that require significant resources, or that directly support the jurisdictions in meeting Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) commitments. The remaining 2014-2015 federal milestone goals will be outlined in the Chesapeake Bay EO 2014 Action Plan to be published in early 2014. Completion of the Water Quality Milestones at this time is also in accordance with an EPA settlement agreement with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

USDA presents this draft of the Chesapeake Working Lands Conservation Strategy for public review and comment. This document supports the EO Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed which includes an outcome to permanently protect (i.e. through easements, etc.) an additional 2 million acres between 2010-2025, including 695,000 acres of high value forest land. USDA, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the United States Forest Service (FS), collaborated with Bay states and other partners to produce this Strategy. This Draft Strategy emphasizes importance of protecting working lands to support environmental, economic, and community goals in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, including water quality goals and the Chesapeake TMDL. It also summarizes opportunities to strengthen working lands protection in the Bay, including recommended actions to advance these goals over the long term. Public comments are due to Julie Mawhorter by February 14, 2014.