Ehrlich on Washington column, April 16, 2001

MEWS FROM Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Second Congressional District of Maryland 1407 York Road, Suite 304 Lutherville, Maryland 21093 315 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 EHRLICH ON WASHINGTON Week of April 1 6, 200 1 By Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. It’s Time to Renew the Chesapeake Bay Program Cleaning up and preserving Maryland’s most important natural resource has been a part of Maryland life for many years. Thirty years ago, the state recognized damage done to the health of the Chesapeake Bay -- North America’s largest estuary — and took responsibility for reversing course. Every one of us - citizens and businesses alike - has been asked to take steps to conserve the Bay. Remember the ban on soaps containing phosphates? Could any of us forget the rockfish moratorium that lasted for several years? We put restrictions on development on land next to the Bay and its tributaries to control storm water runoff and erosion. We’ve spent millions of taxpayer dollars building and rebuilding sewage treatment plants. And perhaps most important of all, we have learned that what we do as a part of everyday life — driving our cars, recycling our waste, fertilizing our lawns — has a lasting impact on the Chesapeake Bay. These steps did not occur by accident. They happened only after scientists studied the causes of the Bay’s ills and worked with developers, fishermen, business owners, and elected officials to help cure them. The federal government has been at their side the entire time. For example, in 1992 the Congress established an office in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to coordinate much of the scientific research work underway at that Agency. This office is scheduled to close at the end of the year. Today, the Congress has an opportunity to reauthorize this central office and I am happy to support it. What may appear to be a narrow and obscure part of the federal bureaucracy is, in fact, a vital part of the Bay’s future. The proposal we are considering in Congress would do more than just reauthorize the NOAA office. It would put much of the scientific research and Bay conservation efforts in the hands of local Maryland organizations. The bill would establish a small but important program to distribute research money to community-based groups to study the Bay’s fish and shellfish habitats and populations. NOAA then will use the results to restore habitat and grow populations.